How to Create a Risk Mitigation Plan for Hard Times, by J.A.

We are a family of five living in Houston, Texas. Within the past several years, we have faced several dangerous situations where we were caught blindsided. Among those where several hurricane evacuations, and most recently, we experienced a forced evacuation from our home, after a chemical plant leaked and exploded nearby. Prior to these incidents, we had no thoughts of survival skills, prepping or preparing for disaster. While these experiences were very unpleasant, we are actually thankful for them because they served as a huge wake up call for our family to prepare.

One of the most important things we did was to write out a “risk mitigation” plan to help us through the upcoming hard times. This was a very basic plan of action that would help our family better weather any crisis, whether it be an economic, job loss, or any other natural disaster. This article is a synopsis of our plan.

Risk mitigation is the process of assessing certain risks, and developing a plan to minimize the impact of those risks. Your plan should include three basic steps:

Step One: Identify and assess which potential risks threaten your family. Examples of risks that you may want to consider are accidents, job losses, crime, acts of violence, natural disasters, economic collapse, long term unemployment, food shortages and medical crises.

Step Two: Prioritize the risks and determine which are more likely to occur. Do you live in an earthquake prone area? Do you have a chronic medical condition? Do you live in a large metropolitan city? Are you financially stable? No one likes to examine their weaknesses, but it is critical that you take a realistic look at your present situation, to find your weak areas. These are the cracks that may later grow into huge problems. It is better to work through them now!

Step Three: Develop a coordinated plan to minimize, monitor and control the impact of the risks.

I am going to share a basic overview of the basic plan that we came up with for our family. While it is not comprehensive, it will provide some readers an opportunity to see what our family is doing, and perhaps encourage others to get started. We recently had to put our plan to the test after we faced a huge setback – a job layoff! We were so thankful to have been prepared to help us navigate safely through the crisis!

We divided our plan in to four main categories:

1. Financial Security

2. Food Security

3. Home & Personal Security

4. Health Security

Financial Security

· Our first priority was to get and stay out of debt. If you are like most Americans, this will be a huge hurdle, but not an impossible one. We used the principles set out in Dave Ramsey’s web site and attacked our debt aggressively. We are Christians and committed our plan to God. He empowered us – miraculously – to pay off a huge debt that seemed like a bottomless pit. After years of struggling and feeling hopeless, we can say that “Nothing is impossible with God.” We are now living debt free. We follow Biblical principles with our money management and trust God to provide.

· We set aside a cash savings for emergencies. It is important to have funds accessible in a crisis. The amount isn’t as important as having something set aside. In a crisis, the ATM machines will likely be out of order or nonfunctioning. We experience this during Hurricane Rita. Make sure you have some cash.

· Eliminate as many extra bills as possible. We focus only on the basic needs of our family such as food, clothing and shelter. We have given up cable, fitness clubs, and instead read, garden and have learned new skills.

· We examined our investments and made some changes to better protect our assets. This included moving a larger percentage of our investments into gold, silver and precious metals.

· We save as much money as we can every month.

Food Security

· We started to maintain a three month supply of food in our home, at all times. This is our short term supply. Most of this is ready to eat or food with a shorter shelf life. We stock up on basic items and have built up our pantry.

· We slowly built a reserve of freeze dried foods for long term storage. This is costly so we are taking it slow, buying only what we can when we have the extra money. We would like to build up to having a year of food storage. Again, this is a work in progress.

· We store a two week supply of water, and have resources for purification in an emergency. We have purchased a Big Berkey water filter, water purification tablets, store extra bleach.

· Most importantly, we have become avid gardeners, and have started growing our own food in our backyard. We have several fruit trees, and several raised garden beds. We have planted foods that our family enjoys to eat, and have learned how to plant, grow and harvest heirloom garden seeds.

· We have alternative methods for cooking our food, should we lose power. We have a camp cook stove, propane, Sterno fuel and purchased a Volcano emergency cook stove.

Home & Personal Security

· Car Safety. We keep our cars well maintained, stocked with basic emergency supplies, a first aid kit, a tool box and maps. After watching the runs on gas stations during the Hurricanes’, we learned to keep our vehicles filled up with gas at all times. We maintain at least ½ a tank at all times, and store a small gas reserve in our garage.

· Personal Security. We took a class on gun safety and learned how to shoot a gun. This was very difficult for us, as we have never owned a gun. We have secured our home with alarm system, property lighting, guard dogs and a weapon for self defense. We are alert to our surroundings and are learning new evacuation routes using back roads.

· Bug out Bags. We have them packed and ready to go on a moment’s notice. They contain food, clothing and basic supplies for 3 to 5 days away from home.

· We have started saving to buy land and secure a retreat in the country. This is a long term goal for our family. We desire to become as self sufficient as possible.

Health and Well Being

· We focus on eating right; taking vitamins, exercising and getting proper rest.

· We are Christians and maintain an active relationship with our Lord, Jesus Christ. We attend church, read our Bibles, and surround ourselves with fellow believers who offer encouragement and moral support. We cast our burdens on God, and pray for wisdom in decision making.

· Due to a chronic medical condition, we store extra prescription medications. We have also assembled a large and well stocked first aid kits. We keep one in each vehicle and one in our house.

In conclusion, risks are always changing and you may never be fully prepared to face all of them, but that is not a reason to ignore them! Take some time to write down what dangers your family might face, and do your best to mitigate the damage by preparing for them now. Use all the resources available in the SurvivalBlog archives and start doing something today!

Letter Re: Learning From an OPSEC Failure

Dear Mr. Rawles,
I read your site daily and am very appreciative of your work and that it is from a Christian perspective. Thank you so much.

I wanted to relay a personal operational security (OPSEC) failure that happened last week that your readers may learn from.

My Husband is gone on an extended business trip and before hand I had convinced him to allow me to “prep” for his being gone. We have several young children and I didn’t want to have to go shopping regularly. While my Husband is not a prepper, he is slowly listening to me and allowed me to take a dry run for his business trip.

However, due to extending hospitality and several illnesses I had to run out to restock. The way I did it was a big mistake. I drew attention to myself and I had honestly never thought about that before. First, I filled my cart to overflowing. My thought process was I have several young children who I could tell were about to get sick, I was starting to come down with something and my Husband is away for a few more days. I figured get it all and get it home and then at least I don’t have to run out with sick kids in a few days. While this is a good way to manage my time and errands, something very uncomfortable happened.

People were staring at me. This was at a big box store, it should have been common place there…but it wasn’t. I haven’t left the house much in the last several months, but people’s carts were very empty. As I was going to the check out line a woman who worked at the store gave me a dirty look and loudly demanded to know “Where do you work that you can fill your cart up like that? I want your job” Several people shook their heads in agreement. I started to realize the situation and just wanted to get out of there.

In the line, people started asking me why I was buying so much (I honestly wasn’t…we are talking mostly one of each item and not more than one cart full..that is why this was so freaky). I told them I don’t get out much with young children.

I had planned to pay cash because we are teaching our children about using cash when we realized they kept playing grocery store using a “card” (I use a debit card). I had brought enough cash with me and it was a significant amount. I told the cashier I wanted to pay cash, and she gave me a double take. The people around me already staring started watching in earnest now. I realized I needed to get out of there and needed to not look like I had cash on me. I acted like I forgot the money then asked her to run my card like a credit card. I then got the heck out of there.

The cashier then made a big deal about how I needed someone to help me to my car. I had just one cart! She insisted that I had purchased so much I needed help. Then the manager insisted I accept help. I honestly didn’t know what the heck was going on. I wasn’t taking a sofa out. I just had a cart of some things. It was embarrassing, but it was also getting a bit scary. It brought everyone around me to watch me leave.

This was very, very strange. I by no means live in a low income area, in fact, quite the opposite. But I noticed people watching me, watching what I bought and what I paid for it. I have never had that happen.

I have decided that I will purchase more things either by themselves or online. I am trying to cultivate sources for things that are local and can be paid for cash, but this is very hard. However, I will not fill my cart again at one of these stores. It seems the economy has caused people to become very curious when someone is buying things..and possibly jealous.

I hope this might help another reader. I actually got a bit scared from all the attention and have never experienced that in my life. I am by no means rich, but I will be sure to look a a lot poorer next time I go out.
Thank you, – Mrs. R.

Three Letters Re: Surviving With Pets

Mr. Rawles,
Alex’s post on dogs in a post-SHTF world was very informative but I think he dismissed cats far too easily. I’ve been both a dog and cat owner my entire life and though my dogs throughout my lifetime have been wonderful hunters, protectors, and companions none have been quite as useful as my cats in keeping the mouse, squirrel, and roach (especially important having a retreat property in the deep south) population down to a minimum. Not to mention cats have a far lower daily consumption of food and water and take up less room in a bug out vehicle.
Sincerely, – A Southern Prepper

Mr. Rawles:
While I appreciate Alex C.’s recommendations for dogs in his “Surviving with Pets,” submission, I’d like to respectfully add some insight for him and others who may think like him. He wrote, “…it’s hard to see the value of a cat in a post apocalyptic world other than as a companion animal…and to alert to possible unseen threats….” Here are 15 reasons why cats (and I am referring to domesticated cats) will be valuable in a post-apocalyptic world. And while I sometimes contrast cats to dogs in my analysis, I am in no way trying to diminish a dog’s value after TSHTF, in my opinion both cats and dogs are always important assets.

1. The number 1 pragmatic, post-apocalyptic value to cats is their ability to control the rodent population (which is why barns always come with a barn cat or two). During times when access to modern rodent control methods may be in short supply, keeping one’s living space, food storage and harvest preserved from rodent infestation and diseases will be critical to survival. Furthermore, even pre-TEOTWAWKI, I don’t believe any modern rodent control method has yet managed to supersede the ability of a cat. While there are some dog breeds which are useful for killing rodents, I daresay none come as naturally equipped as the cat. This reason alone justifies keeping them around after TSHTF, but for those of you unconvinced, I continue.

2. Cats do not require much food, water or space–a good return on investment when everything is in short supply.

3. Though not as hygienic as owner-provided food, cats can manage to supply their own food–see above “rodent control.” Self-sustaining is always a good thing, right?

4. Cats are low maintenance which frees the owner for all those other needful TEOTWAWKI tasks. Cats need less (if any at all) training, attention, supervision, caution around strangers, exercise, bathing, grooming, medical care, “chewing management,” poop clean-up, kennel clean-up, and yard restoration (for diggers) than dogs.

5. While many dogs, by nature, foolishly rush in where angels fear to tread, getting into significant trouble at the wrong time (remember “I Am Legend?”), cats by nature are extremely cautious and stealthy. They would wisely rather let you go first and check it out. This trait unburdens owners from pet-created snafus.

6. Cats are safe companions. They do not attack unless provoked and cornered. Even in circumstances where they do attack a human, they are not a fatal threat to a human’s life. Neither do they form packs which threaten a human’s life. A cat may hiss, strike out and bite a person because they feel threatened (which, I admit, for some injured or ill cats may just mean coming within striking distance of them), but after making a brief show, even feral cats will always choose to flee and hide rather than to persist in subduing, maiming or consuming a human. This predictable, evasive behavior is an asset under TEOTWAWKI circumstances–in other words, you can trust your cat to remain a “safe” companion. A dog can unpredictably “go bad” and pose a threat, even to its own familiar human community. Now all of us intend to train our dogs so well that “this could never happen to us,” but the truth is aging, malnutrition, pre-programmed genetic instinct, lack of exercise, lack of stimulation, illness, stress, the introduction of another dog, etc. can trigger an unforeseen catastrophic attack–the dire impact of which will be multiplied under teotwawki circumstances where medical care is hard to come by.

7. Cats usually manage their own safety and can survive various threats without assistance from their owners. A cat evades threats on its own, which leaves its owner to focus on family safety. Hopefully, the cat will be retrieved once calm has been restored. While cats tend to stay out of the way, dogs, however, in the heat of an untrained-for circumstance, and in their eagerness to add value, can add a complicating, even fatal, factor to the fray. To be fair, I must add that dogs can also be a life-saving asset in such circumstances as well. Alex wisely advises that training is essential to minimize the negative contingency and maximize the positive, but my point is that with cats, one doesn’t need lengthy training because they are naturally evasive and non-confrontational.

8. Critical for OPSEC, unless meowing for food, in a fight, or in heat, cats are the embodiment of quiet, stillness, and “hiding in plain sight”–especially when they sense danger.

9. Critical for OPSEC, cats do not need to be let outside for bodily functions.

10. Critical for OPSEC, cats do not need to be let outside ever, whereas a dog needs outdoor activity for health and sanity. A dog moving around outside quite easily garners the notice of anyone within sight.

11. With their having perfected the art of relaxation, their lap-sized dimensions, ability to conform to your body, desire to sleep most hours of the day, their charm, beauty, purr, soft fur and warmth, cats have the ability to soothe and relax human companions like no other animal–an extremely valuable commodity under high stress conditions. Doctors have been known to prescribe owning a cat in order to lower blood pressure or reduce other effects of stress. Conversely, playing with a cat can be highly entertaining, eliciting much-needed comic-relief and laughter. Thus, add a cat to your TEOTWAWKI medicine chest.

12. As Alex mentioned in “Surviving with Pets,” cats are valuable for post-apocalyptic companionship. Like dogs, they are intelligent, affectionate animals which bring happiness and minimize loneliness for adults and children.

13. Also, as Alex mentioned, cats, like dogs, are able to detect unseen threats, but unlike dogs, they usually alert their owner without auditory vocalizations–another OPSEC benefit. Cats instead use an amazingly effective body language to convey alarm and they do it infrequently enough so that whenever an owner sees his cat in an alarmed state, he knows to pay attention. And if a cat’s visual cues to its owner are not enough, the cat will resort to “tactile” alerts in the form of firm, prodding claw pokes to the owner’s skin whenever the cat thinks the circumstance warrants it.

14. While it would be extremely rare for a cat to sacrifice itself for its owner as dogs are known to do, cats, probably due to their instinct for self-preservation, have been known to wake their sleeping owners to house fires or other emergencies–thereby saving the family. Although not guaranteed, one more potential safety factor I don’t mind having around now or then .

15. Survivalists should have some level of respect for the cat as the “ultimate survivor.” Who else gets the reputation for having “nine lives?” Maybe there’s something important we can learn from them.

Sincerely, – L.G.

 

Mr. Rawles:
I had to comment on Alex’s “Surviving With Pets” article. He was misinformed. I am not an expert, but my significant other and I train hunting dogs to the expectations of the AKC, UKC, NAVHDA, and the breed standard. We also train other various breeds for obedience. We stress to our clients that not every dog is “Hunting Material”. Some dogs just don’t have the instinct or the drive to become a dog you can hunt over. This is going to sound very opinionated, but it would be a ridiculous amount of work, if not impossible to train say a rottweiler to hunt upland game or track a deer you shot that took off. I speak from experience. I had the notion I could train some of our German Shepherds to hunt with our German Shorthaired Pointers and it was like trying to teach a pig to fly. They will hunt, stalk prey, and usually catch it. The problem comes in with trying to get the game from them. Their prey drive kicks in and they try to run off and find a quiet place to tear into it and eat it. They wont bring it back to their master. These are dogs that would retrieve a bumper thrown for them all day long. Something they consider a meal for themselves is a different story. Trying to get it from them is not an easy concept either. Also, Sporting breeds are trained to have a soft mouth. I have dogs that can retrieve an uncooked egg off the floor and fetch to hand without cracking it. the majority of “Non Sporting” Breeds are going to have a hard mouth and bite down with their back molars and crush small game, like rabbits, pheasant, quail, squirrels and you will be picking bones out of breast meat or trying to clean dirty intestinal contents off of what was usable meat.

The letter stated “Almost every breed of dog can be trained to hunt.” I’m sorry but this is very far from right in my opinion. I believe only dogs that fall into the the Sporting, Hound, and Gun dog variety as labeled by the AKC, UKC, CKC, and various other kennel clubs can actually be trained to hunt. Which is why so much research and work went into dividing the various breeds into different groups by these organizations.

I’m assuming the author has never trained a dog to hunt or track. It was kind of obvious they had no knowledge of how much time goes into this training. Most dogs have it breed into them through their pedigree. Into their working bloodlines. I think every sporting dog breed has this controversy between Field Trailers and Show Homes. For example, Shorthairs. We have breeders that breed to show quality. You could go five generations back into their pedigree and have not one hunter. Then attempt to put one of their Show dogs on birds and it has no interest. The instinct has been breed out of them. A lot of Sporting dogs bought in pet shops have this problem also. They were breed by backyard breeders who have no concept of improving and bettering the breed and sold to a pet shop to make some extra cash.

Alot was said in the letter in regards to Dry dog food and how to preserve it and so forth. If you were using your dogs to hunt for food for yourself and your family, why would you not just place it on the raw food diet? Hello? Wolves, coyotes, wild dogs and so forth eat their fresh kill. Most hunters feed their dogs a raw food diet or grind up beaver or venison and feed that cooked with rice to their dogs.

Regarding the discussion of barking dogs, it’s becoming a fairly common practice nowadays that vets are removing the voice boxes on dogs to eliminate barking. It cuts down on the amount of dogs owners have to relinquish due to their neighbors complaining to the homeowners association or police department about the noisy dog dog next door.

This author knew so much about a dogs nose, but nothing about the time and work and expense that goes into training a hunting dog. To take a pup at six months and put it all the way through the various tests and end up with a finished AKC Master Hunter that’s qualified to be a guide dog at a hunt club roughly cost $10,000 which includes your birds, tests, time, and proofing. Do a web search on “Buy a Master Hunter quality dog” to check out the prices a finished dog sells for.

The author also referred the readers to contact their local pet store for classes. Seriously? That is bad advice. Stores like Petco and Petsmart will just refer you to the local humane society. Maybe the readers should refer to their Breed Club, or the local dog Club who usually offer classes taught by qualified instructors who have finished numerous dogs. Another option would be to hire a professional handler. In which case the dog gets sent away for six months to a year and comes back finished. – Christine in Illinois

Economics and Investing:

G.G. suggested this: Niall Ferguson: Two year time horizon for US fiscal crisis

Andrew H. spotted this piece over at Jesse’s Café Américain: Silver leaving the COMEX. Andrew asks: “[I]s there a reason why some of these well-heeled investors suddenly want their silver, and are either going in person to get it or arranging for armored car delivery? It makes one wonder what might be coming our way in the coming weeks.”

Brian B. sent this: The Associated Press: Canada’s economy is suddenly the envy of the world

Thanks to Brett G. for flagging this: NIA Releases 2010 U.S. Inflation Report

Items from The Economatrix:

Stocks Fall After New Housing Sales Drop 33%

Oil Prices Slide As Stockpiles Build

Bob Chapman: Fiat Money and Schemes Collapsing

Cost of Seizing Fannie and Freddie (financed properties) Surging

Financial Overhaul 101: Protecting US Consumers

Battered Eurozone Vulnerable to Crisis

Rise of the New Gold Rush

Gold’s Good Times

The US Dollar Falls By Fall

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“We should do well to remember that, since time immemorial, gold has successfully acted as the ultimate extinguisher of debt — until it was forcibly removed from the international monetary system in 1971. Since 1971 governments have pretended that paying debt in U.S. dollars extinguished it, too. But in fact it did not. Debt was merely transferred from the debtor to the U.S. government and kept accumulating. Debt accumulation has a natural limit. This limit has now been reached.” – Dr. Antal Fekete, What You Always Wanted to Know About Gold

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 29 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 29 ends on July 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.

Surviving With Pets, by Alex C.

In our day-to-day lives most people seem to take our pets for granted. They are a welcome sight after a long day’s work, and a loyal companion with whom we can share our deepest darkest secrets. Our pets love without condition, and many of us return that love to our pets when our lives seem to be going well. However, far too often our animal friends are either left out of survival plans unintentionally and left to fend for themselves, or removed with cruel forethought and left to suffer alone.

It can be understandable that a person would want to ensure their own welfare and survival or that of their family over the welfare of an animal; however, those who consider themselves “preppers” have not rightfully earned that title until they have implemented plans to deal with the problem of surviving with pets. Pets can be valuable survival tools or terrible hindrances depending on how well you have prepared. Being a dog person myself, it’s hard to see the value of a cat in a post apocalyptic world other than as a companion animal to help stave off loneliness, and to alert to possible unseen threats (something a dog is also capable of along with many other endearing traits).

Almost every breed of dog can be trained to hunt. When your very survival could depend on being able to find the sustenance provided in the meat of just one rabbit or squirrel, a dog’s acute sense of smell and hearing, plus that inexplicable 6th sense to tell them when something else is “out there”, could mean the difference between living to see another day, and dying a slow and painful death from starvation. The unconditional love that a dog feels towards its owner can compel the dog to heroic feats of courage in the face of deadly attacks from other animals (be they two or four legged), and in the coldest throws of the darkest nights, the warm embrace of a K-9 friend as they lay their head against your chest and breathe softly and calmly can be the emotional support one needs to get up the next morning and start the daily cycle of surviving once more.

Of course, trying to survive with pets does present greater challenges as well. They are another mouth to feed; another body that needs water; they attract dangerous animals as they are usually easy prey; they can be loud when it is imperative that no sound be made; and they take up room in cars/boats/shelters that might be used for storage. Make no mistake, having a pet after the SHTF will become a more difficult task than just having to get up in the middle of the night to let them outside. Rigorous training needs to be in place so that every command given to your animal is followed to the letter, and if that’s not possible, you may have to face letting go of your beloved friend to ensure the safety and survival of your family. To help prepare you for that inevitable day, here are a few things that one must consider when prepping yourself and your pets for TEOTWAWKI: (We’ll use dogs as an example because after all, dogs are man’s best friend, and arguably present the best possible chance at surviving because of this)

#1 – Bringing Your Pet: First and foremost, you need to know ahead of time if your pet will be joining you on your quest to survive after TEOTWAWKI. If so, then you need to start training now (if you haven’t already). Training must include the ability to stay completely still without any movement, and to remain absolutely quiet unless otherwise ordered. In a post apocalyptic world, man will join the ranks of “beasts”. We will have to rely on our senses to find food, and to avoid danger. Our animal instincts will need to be sharpened back to the point of our cave dwelling ancestors if we want the best chance of surviving. Since that will not happen overnight, we must rely on our K-9 friends to use their already impeccable senses to keep us out of harm’s way, and to keep food in our stomachs. This will not be possible if your dog runs around barking at everything and not listening to your commands. A barking dog could alert a hungry animal or worse, a hungry person, to your whereabouts. The ability of your animal to remain still and silent while you use your advanced brain to assess the situation at hand will prove to be invaluable when the ruffling of leafs, or just a few decibels of sound at the wrong time can mean the difference between life and death.

Teaching your dog to aid in hunting will also be valuable. Their highly tuned senses alert them to the presence of other animals far before we humans have any clue that an animal has been anywhere nearby.

“The structure of a dog’s nose gives it a sense of smell that is much better than a human’s. A dog’s nose has two hundred million nasal olfactory receptors. Each receptor detects and identifies the minute odor molecules that are constantly flying off different objects. Of all a dog’s senses, its sense of smell is the most highly developed. Dogs have about 25 times more olfactory (smell) receptors than humans do. These receptors occur in special sniffing cells deep in a dog’s snout and are what allow a dog to “out-smell” humans. Dogs can sense odors at concentrations nearly 100 million times lower than humans can. They can detect one drop of blood in five quarts of water! Sniffing the bare sidewalk may seem crazy, but it yields a wealth of information to your dog, whether it’s the scent of the poodle next door or a whiff of the bacon sandwich someone dropped last week. When a dog breathes normally, air doesn’t pass directly over the smell receptors. But when the dog takes a deep sniff, the air travels all the way to the smell receptors, near the back of the dog’s snout. So for a dog, “sniffing is a big part of smelling”.

Hunting and obedience classes and training aides can be found in nearly every city across America. Local pet stores should have information on clinics and schools nearby, and if you still need help, a simple Google search will produce a wealth of information online.

Of course, not every dog can be trained to serve as a survival dog. Some dogs are simply too old already to learn how to aid in survival. Too many bad habits have already been formed, and the amount of time required to correct them simply isn’t realistic. Other dogs have cognitive disorders akin to A.D.D. that prevent them from ever really learning how to obey commands. That doesn’t mean that you can’t have years of love and faithfulness with them, it simply means that they will most likely hinder your ability to survive after the SHTF. If you find that such is the case, it is important that you plan accordingly. If your pet is nearing or already in their twilight years, a natural ending is most likely going to occur before TEOTWAWKI. However, if your dog is still young and you’ve found that no amount of training has been able to correct unwanted habits, you will need to face the decision of ending your dog’s life.

Already in our day to day life, the prospect of living without our beloved canine friends is heart wrenching. The thought of being the one to end their lives is more than even I can bear to think about without stressing my emotions, yet it is a situation that needs to be addressed. You must think about it ahead of time so that you will be prepared when the day comes because when faced with the possibility of a slow and painful death, or the grotesque demise of one’s family, the decision on whether or not to part with your dog must be made. If you choose to part ways, please, please be humane about it. Do not tie your dog up and leave them as easy prey for whatever my roam by. Make it quick, and make it painless. The guilt of doing otherwise might also hinder your chances at survival.

#2 – Food and Water: It’s likely that you’ve already planned out your own food and water needs. You may have large air tight containers filled to the brim with purified mountain spring water, or perhaps a steadfast filtration system and a nearby water source. You may have large bags of grains or legumes piled high in a basement, or a garden with a variety of foods and the ability to harvest seeds year after year. Whatever the case, it’s doubtful that you have considered how much of that food and water would be spared for your pets should you need to ration. The Golden Retriever and the Labrador are the most popular breeds of dog in America. Each of these dogs can weigh anywhere from 60 to 100+ pounds from the time they are one year old to the time they pass away, and can live nearly 20 years! “The average dog drinks about 1/2 to 1 ounce per pound per day”. That means that an 80 lb Lab or Retriever needs roughly 40-to-80 ounces or 5-10 cups of water. That is proportionally the same amount as a human. So when calculating your water needs, remember to add one more “person” to the equation.

When it comes to feeding dogs, things may get a little tricky. Dogs can eat almost all the same foods as humans, with a few exceptions such as onions, chocolate, macadamia nuts, and a few others. So if you have food stored away, chances are you will be able to share some with your canine friend. However, the daily caloric requirements for dogs is roughly the same as that of humans, so if you’re planning on sharing food, make sure you count one more “person” in on your food storage needs also. A better alternative might be to start stocking up on dog food. One thing to keep in mind is that according one good authority “most dry foods have a shelf life of one year, while canned products are usually good for two years from the date of manufacture”

It’s doubtful that you will only plan on surviving for that long, so additional measures will need to be taken to preserve the pet food longer. Dry dog food isn’t totally dry; it has oils in it that are good for the dog. You might notice this if you pick up a handful of food and rub it between your palms. Storing the food in vacuum sealed containers will help preserve it, but it cannot guarantee the same texture for years to come since most vacuum containers do not remove 100% of the air. The food will likely dry out, but will still be good to eat. The only question at that point is will your dog still be a picky eater. (And yes, it is generally safe for humans to eat dog food, though the lack of moisture and lower protein concentration found in most foods make them not the best choice for long term survival).

#3 – Space: Unless you have horses, cattle or other farm animals as pets, most household pets don’t take up very much room. Whether you have a cabin in the woods, a small apartment in the city, or a moderate suburban home, chances are you have enough room for an animal companion. But what if you need to get out of dodge in a hurry by car? Is there enough room to pack all your gear, your family and your pet? Do you drive a Prius or an F-350? Do you have a small Terrier, or a Great Dane? If you’re not planning on staying put, transportation in a bug out scenario needs to be planned out.

If you’ve already decided that your pet is coming with you then you need to make sure you can actually bring them with you when you leave. True “preppers” will have most of their survival supplies in place already, with a Bug Out Bag or Kit ready to go in case the trip to safety demands a little survival of its own. But how much room is allotted for your pets? Do they get a full seat? Are they in a carrying case in the back with all your gear? Will they be on your lap or spread across a few laps in the back seat? Pets can’t teleport to where you’re going so you need to bring them with you and if you’re not adequately prepared, that may mean you need to leave some supplies behind in order to fit them in.

Perhaps you’re leaving on foot. Why not utilize your K-9 friend to help carry some gear? www.ruffwear.com has a variety of packs that every true “prepper” with a dog should have (no matter how you plan on “bugging out). Your dog could help lighten your load, or bring along extra supplies that you don’t have room for. They can even carry their own food and water in a pack that detaches and leaves a harness still securely around the dog. Dogs can be trained to help with just about any task, but putting a pack on and walking is something that requires no training and no special skills.

Whatever your SHTF plan is, it should be constantly evolving to help you survive after TEOTWAWKI. If you are a pet owner, you need to decide early on what you will do with your pets and begin training with them just as you would with the rest of your family. Do not underestimate the usefulness of a trained animal in your ability to survive. Think of all the reasons why you love your pet, and then add to that the ability to truly save your life with the right training. Wouldn’t you want to do them the courtesy of including them in your plans for survival? After all, they may be your best chance at doing just that.

Letter Re: A Source for Rifle Racks and Build-It-Yourself Rack Plans

Jim,
I found an Internet vendor who makes and sells gun racks right here in the USA! His prices are good and he publishes the dimensions of the racks on his site so anyone who is handy can build them at home.

I know you hear this everyday but I’ll say it anyway. I sincerely enjoyed your books and SurvivalBlog. I am sorting my way through the “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course.

I want you to know I appreciate your attempts to open the public’s mind to the crisis which is coming to our country. Knowledge gained and then positively applied is true wisdom. You have enabled me with knowledge and I am now applying it positively.

Best Regards, – Doug T. in West Virginia

Letter Re: McAfee Report Highlights the Vulnerability of SCADA Systems

Hello,
McAfee recently sponsored and published a report on global cybersecurity gives some startling statistics on the preparedness of critical infrastructure in various countries to attack. It is available for free download, as a PDF. Here is a brief excerpt on security for Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) and Industrial Control Systems (ICS) , which run our infrastructure:

Executives generally reported very high levels of connection of SCADA systems to IP networks or the Internet, despite widespread acknowledgment about the risks involved. Seventy-six percent of respondents with SCADA/ICS responsibilities said their networks were “connected to an IP network or the Internet.” Nearly half of those connected, 47 percent, admitted that the connection created an “unresolved security issue.”

Connections to IP networks pose a vulnerability because they might allow unauthorized users access to the systems at the heart of critical infrastructure, said one veteran IT security executive. “The original SCADA design generally didn’t assume that the control systems would be exposed on networks where untrusted people had at least some level of access to them.” Much SCADA software was written “quite some time ago and has not been modified since.” The systems “are not [running] on the newest platforms, so they have those vulnerabilities that have been discovered over time.”

Because SCADA systems often combine hardware and software, they cannot be updated like regular software can be and replacing them is “hugely complex and hugely expensive,” said the veteran. There is “no mechanism for revisiting the system and changing them once vulnerabilities are discovered.”

It is important to note that the sample size for this survey is not very large, as only a handful of the overall sample of interviewed IT executives had SCADA/ICS related work. But it is still quite shocking. – N.R.

JWR Replies: The SCADA and ICS vulnerabilities to cyber attack must be one of the most ignored and under-reported news stories of the early 21st Century. Within the related industries, (like electric power, refining, water utilities, et cetera) management awareness of the threat seems to be lacking. In many cases, designers have added an IP interface to existing SCADA systems, but without any robust protection from external attack. This created an essentially unlocked “back door” to their systems. (By unlocked, I mean interfaces that can be compromised by only moderately sophisticated hackers.) For many years, embedded software writers lived in the fantasy land that they were somehow isolated and insulated from cyber attack. Open architectures changed all that. Any connection to “the cloud” is a threat. And they need to learn that that a manually-generated seven digit password is insufficient security! There are a few notable exceptions in the industry. One is the software work being done by Schweitzer Engineering Labs (in my old stomping grounds). Another is the work being done by Sandia National Laboratories. But generally, SCADA users are behind the power curve on the threat posed by terrorists and even just prankster hackers. It will be many years before a robust follow-on to SCADA is fielded. This will presumably have high security inherently designed into all layers and nodes. In the interim, we will continue to see cobbled-together systems that have huge hacking vulnerabilities.

Don’t be surprised if someday our nation’s power grids simultaneously go down for weeks, and we find out later that it wasn’t EMP, and it wasn’t a Carrington-scale solar flare. No, it was the Bu wei ren zhi team from Jiaotong University, or perhaps just a pimply-face teenager from Minot, North Dakota that stayed up late nights, drinking Red Bull.

Economics and Investing:

Brian B. kindly sent this link: Financial Reform Is a Disaster For Banks, Consumers: Bove. Did you notice how the key topic of derivatives trading wasn’t even mentioned per se in this article?

California on ‘Verge of System Failure’. (Thanks to Brett G. for the link.)

Items from The Economatrix:

Global Systemic Crisis/Second Half of 2010: The Global System’s Four Single Points of Failure

The Euro’s Inevitable Failure Will Be Horrendous for All of Us

Spain Could Test the Euro to its Limits

Finding Gold in the Mainstream

Fresh Economic Worries Trigger Fresh Rush into Gold

Three Reasons You Should Buy Silver Right Now

US Homebuilding Craters After Tax Break Expires

Stocks Slide on New Concerns About Housing, Banks

May Home Sales Dip as Housing Market Struggles

Natural Gas Prices Drop for Third Straight Day

Odds ‘n Sods:

There has been an e-mail widely circulating, with pictures of a Zeta drug cartel camp that was found near Higueras, Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. They uncovered quite the little arms cache–enough guns to make even my old friend “Dan Fong” envious. These photos were recently posted to a web page. It is noteworthy that the Zetas are just one of the many Mexican drug cartels. By the look of it, the majority of the weapons came straight from the Mexican Army. No doubt some very large stacks of cash changed hands with some Generals. And to answer one criticism: no Nancy and Diane, most of these guns did not come from gun shows in the American Southwest. You can’t buy selective fire M4s with 14.5 inch barrels, RPG-7s, and 40mm grenades at gun shows. More about the M4s: If those had actually been smuggled commercial M4geries from the States, then they’d be in umpteen different configurations and have 16-inch barrels. Notice how those rows of M4s all look identical? Obviously, those were built to Ejército Méxicano contract specs. Now I suppose those two Barrett .50 rifles might have been smuggled from the States. They aren’t in the TO&Es of most Mexican Army units, but they are used by their Special Forces.

   o o os

Reader EMB sent a link to a brief entry at the Al Dente blog: A Helpful Home Canning Resource

   o o o

Thomas Sowell asks: Is U.S. Now on Slippery Slope to Tyranny?

   o o o

Trent H. Suggested this: “Gasland”: Will Natural Gas Save America … or Destroy It? FWIW, my next novel (now nearing completion) is set primarily near Bloomfield, New Mexico. Why? Not only is Bloomfield bordered by natural gas fields, it is also served by one of the few truly self-sufficient independent power utilities in the country, the Farmington Electric Utility System (FEUS).

Notes from JWR:

Here’s a gift for the prepper that has everything: A dedicated digital device “Playaway” of my latest book. (I had no idea that such a product even existed. It looks like a pair of ear buds are included. Wonders will never cease!)

—

Today we present another entry for Round 29 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 29 ends on July 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.

A Checklist for Beginning Gardeners by AK in Texas

You’re sure there aren’t any bugs in the garden.  The plants, the few that grew, don’t look like there’s an infestation or fungal problem.  There’s no odd spots or discolorations.  And yet, the radishes and carrots, with their deceptively lovely tops, haven’t produced anything more than pencil-thin roots underground.  The tomatoes produced one or two extremely delicious globes of fruit so that’s encouraging, but they never got to the height you expected or produced the amount you thought they would.  And forget about the lettuce.  It didn’t even show.  In fact, the only thing that seems to be doing well is the parsley and sage you planted as an afterthought.

This pretty much sums up my first two years gardening.  Discouragement haunted me those first two years and only four things kept me from giving up entirely:  the articles here on SurvivalBlog about prepping and TEOTWAWKI, the beautiful pictures I saw in Howard Garrett’s book on gardening in Texas, comments I heard at the local farmer’s market, and that one delicious tomato that had a taste I didn’t know was possible inside those typically mealy and expensive fruits.

For those who have started gardening and feel like they have a black thumb, I offer a list of things to check that I used, one beginner to another.  My garden looks much better today because of it and we may even have enough tomatoes to add salsa and spaghetti sauce to our food storage.

1.  Soil

Ideally, this should be checked before you even put plants in the ground.  We did.  But we didn’t know what to do with the information.  Our soil test said we needed to add more nitrogen.  We’re trying to avoid using conventional [petrochemical fertilizer] methods of growing since we doubt it’ll exist after the collapse.  So, we did some research online and found some who said nitrogen is always low because of the nature of the test and not to worry about it, while others said the problem could be fixed by adding more compost. 

We tried adding more compost.  It didn’t work.

We then read a book called Gardening When It Counts by Steve Solomon.  I highly recommend every beginning gardener read this book.  Through it, we learned not only that soil must be balanced, but so must compost.  I won’t go into all the details here since every garden’s soil is different.  The book does a much better job of explaining.  To sum up, compost is not the answer to every soil problem.  In fact, if it’s unbalanced, it will make the problems worse.  In our case, we found cottonseed meal and blood meal did an excellent job of adding nitrogen.  Our plants are growing much better than we expected, even with our laxity in the other items I will add to the checklist in a moment.

Another important question to answer is whether your soil leans toward clay or sand.  It’s a pretty simple test and I’ve seen it in more than one place.  Solomon’s book discusses it, as does another gardening book I like, the e-book Growing Your Groceries by Kimberly Eddy.

Take a quart canning jar with a lid that will screw on tight enough that no water will escape during the test.  Then, take about a pint of soil from where you plan on growing your garden.  Clear out any plant matter and rocks, pummel the soil until it’s as fine as you can make it, put it in the jar, make a line or similar mark to show where the top of your sample is inside the jar (we used masking tape and a permanent marker), fill it up with water to about an inch from the top, add 1 teaspoon dish detergent to help break up the soil, screw on the lid, and shake vigorously for five to ten minutes.  Older kids and a spouse come in real handy during this process.  What you’re trying to do is break the soil up as completely as possible.  Once your soil is looking uniformly finely ground, set down the jar in a sunny window or some other well-lit place and time two minutes from the moment you set the jar down.  While you wait, get a flashlight since you may need it for the next part as well as a marker and possibly some tape.  We found masking tape worked well.  At exactly two minutes, you’ll see that some of the soil has accumulated on the bottom.  We didn’t have any difficulty seeing it because of the nature of our soil, but some might, so shine the flashlight on the jar to help find the top part of that accumulation.  Make a mark.

That first mark is the amount of sand in your soil.  We have extremely sandy topsoil;  that’s why ours was easy to see.  At two hours, make another mark to show where the accumulation is at that point.  That’s your silt level.  If you really want to be thorough with this test, wait until the water turns clear to get your clay level.  It could happen within a day.  Ours took several days.  It looks like we have very fine clay in our soil.

Once you have all these marks, calculate the percentage of each.  Divide the height of that original mark into the other marks you made after the shake-up.

Solomon recommends doing this for every soil layer up to three feet deep or until you reach the point at which roots can’t go beyond, whichever comes first.  We’ve only done topsoil so far. 

The reason this test is so important is because it lets you know how much water your soil will hold, if any.  Ours is almost entirely sand.  There’s so little clay in it, it’s not worth measuring.  It doesn’t hold any water.  Judging by how bad our foundation is, I’m guessing the subsoil is sand as well.  I’ll come back to this when we discuss watering.

For those with the resources, it may be easier to add topsoil and ignore the ground underneath.  Some of our friends did that, and they have found the cost is worth it in the amount of vegetables they got.  We feel strongly we should try to improve the soil in our area, if not for ourselves, then for those who may try to grow something after we’ve moved elsewhere.

If you don’t have the money to do much to your soil, or feel as we do, then the next item becomes even more important.

2.  What Are You Growing?

My husband and I discovered we were trying to grow medium to high maintenance plants in poor soil.  We also were growing them too close together for our climate.

When we first started, we used a very popular book on gardening as our guide.  The plants ended up spaced very close together and it felt like we were watering all the time to no effect.  Sometimes even with daily watering they would look incredibly limp during our blistering Texas summers. 

Based on what we’d been reading, we asked ourselves a few questions:

*  Is the soil right for this plant (each one has slightly different needs)?
*  Is it too close to other plants?
*  Is it getting too much sun?
*  Is it native to this area?  If not, does it grow well anyway?
*  Does anyone else have success with this plant?  (Places to find out include farmer’s markets, neighbors and co-workers who garden, local gardening clubs, etc.)  If they do, what do they do and how much effort does it take?
*  Is it getting too much water?  Too little?

If you planned your garden using a book, cross-reference your plant with other books to see what they have to say.  Definitely check out any and all guides you can find on growing plants in your specific area, the more local, the better. 

In our case, we found out that tomatoes do fantastic in Texas in our area.  They adore the heat.  We have planted lots of them and accept whatever free tomato plants others are trying to give away.  On the other hand, we’ve chalked the peach tree off as a loss now that we know they’re very high-maintenance trees in our area.  We are going to focus on blackberries instead.  We’ve also learned carrots are tricky when it comes to watering initially and have decided to focus on them next year.

If I had it to do over again, I would start my initial garden with a focus on herbs, beans, greens (like kale and collard), barely domesticated edible plants (like Jerusalem artichoke), and maybe some beets for soup.  Oh, and tomatoes.  All except the tomatoes are easier to grow.

3.  Water

Perhaps water is not an issue in your area.  If so, you are blessed. 

Here in Texas, it is.  We learned from Gardening When It Counts that spacing the plants too close together means the water in the soil gets absorbed faster by the plants.  Sure enough, this year, when we planted them a bit further from each other (closer than recommended in Solomon’s book) they seemed to like the room and water, though still an issue, was not as desperate a situation as previous years.  At least until the dog days arrived early.  However, because they had a better start than other years, they’re handling the heat somewhat better.

So, if your soil is appropriate, and the plants are low-demand, but they aren’t growing as well as they should, water should definitely be checked.  Unfortunately, the best advice we found is also the most frustrating for those like us who like measured amounts:  the right amount of water for a plant is whatever it needs. 

Another fantastic book we used this year is the American Horticultural Society Encyclopedia of Gardening.  Our tomatoes looked a little dry so, as opposed to just following what that initial gardening book said, we looked it up in the “EofG”.  The initial book recommended one to two gallons a week for tomatoes.  The recommendation from the EofG worked out to five to six gallons per plot a week in hot weather.  The latter one works much better for our tomatoes and has perked up our sluggish cucumber plant as well.  Now that we have an idea of just how much water our plants take, and now that we know the nature of our soil, we find ourselves, during dry spells, watering twice a day.

It is also possible, as we learned with carrots, to over water.  So, just like in the previous section, read lots of books and find out how much water locals use in their gardens and what they’ve found. 

Finally, on this subject, it’s also important to watch your garden plot during a storm or a similar deluge.  Watch where the water goes.  Does it sink in quickly or pool on the surface?  Does it gather in one particular spot while the rest stays dry?  I’m sure others could think up several more, but those are the questions that stand out when I watch the rain hit my yard.  I’ve tried to plant with those natural pools and drier spots in mind and that’s helped this year.

The point is to avoid any water-related stress.  It will stunt your plants’ growth at every stage.  Even if they seem to recover, a plant never entirely recovers from it.  It will affect growth.  I’ve found there’s an art to watering correctly.  With so many variables, it takes checking on the garden every day to make sure things are going well;  or, in our case, checking twice a day.

If you’ve done this much work so far, I’m sure you’re asking yourself, do I really want to do this?  I personally believe everyone should have a garden.  I believe this because of what I’ve found a garden requires:  discipline, a good work ethic, the ability to prioritize, diligence, and observational skills.  If a person doesn’t have these, a garden helps you acquire them, and at a faster rate than you thought possible.

A garden will help you understand the myths and stories of our ancestors.  If you’re Christian, it will help bring to life many parts of the Bible.  If you have children who work with you in the garden (even our four year old has learned how to pull weeds) it can become a shared metaphor for things like bad habits (they’re like weeds, easier to get rid of them when they’re small) or how our actions affect our lives (you reap what you sow… even if it takes three years to figure out how to sow and reap correctly).

It also encourages humility.  All it takes is one hailstorm to realize how dependent we are on Providence for whatever we get each year from our efforts.  Mistakes, cut corners, and any slacking in the above mentioned character traits also encourage humility.  Humility is definitely something we need in this age when we think we can control nature itself.

So, even if it’s a struggle to keep your plants alive, there are more reasons than fresh tomatoes to grow a garden.  Growing a garden makes one a better person.  With that in mind, please keep trying, keep learning, keep investing time while trying to make sure you aren’t wasting money.

And if, after all this, it turns out you truly can’t put in the effort, hone a useful skill and barter with the gardening friends you’ve made along the way for their produce.  If they’re anything like my friends, they’ll be willing to share with those who have something of value to trade.