Long Term Situational Awareness Can Give You The Edge, by Todd S.

I’ve been fortunate to live in the same general area for my entire adult life, the Rocky Mountains of Utah. I am very familiar with the area made more so by various employments, a variety of interests all centered around the outdoors and twenty years of being a Scout Master. Being familiar with my surroundings for a long period of time increases my knowledge base of useful things to know, information unique to my immediate surroundings.
    
I have always been curious and a great observer, of both people and things.  Some years ago my brother mentioned something to me when we were talking about being prepared if anything big should happen. At the time he worked for a national car wash company, traveling around the region inspecting various car washes.  He said he didn’t need to store a fresh water supply because all of the car washes have enormous tanks of fresh water underground; most have more than 2,000 gallons. People didn’t know this so he figured he could use these as a source for fresh water. 
    
A light bulb went off in my head. This conversation was the start of what I call my Long Term Situational Awareness. I am always on the look out for information that could help me if I have to G.O.O.D. or heaven forbid if TEOTWAWKI happens; information, places and people that I store away in my data banks so I don’t have to figure it out on the run. For example the water tanks underneath car washes, I might have figured that out eventually, but now I know right where to head.
    
Here are some of the things I have made mental notes about that I think will give me an edge.  Maybe you can keep an eye out for this stuff in your immediate vicinity.  The longer you are in the same area, the more information you can collect.  The more stuff you know, the better your odds are of getting out and surviving.
    
ESCAPE ROUTES: Where I live we our bound on the West by a harsh desert environment, not a good escape route.  To the East are mountains, which I know intimately from hunting and camping, especially every paved and dirt road in an out of them for fifty miles. It would take several road blocks to prevent me from getting where I wanted to go if I choose to go that direction.  This direction is my choice if evasion or defense is the highest priority.  

There is only one North South freeway, which of course would prove completely useless. A bottle neck of both surface streets and alternate routes to the South make this direction a bad choice.  To the North, a bottle neck of alternate routes is still passable but not ideal. A little known closed rail road line, (Google Earth is a great source to start looking for these kinds of routes.) is only blocked by a flimsy gate. It bypasses the bottleneck by twenty miles.  A friend showed me this years ago as an access to some hunting ground.  I realized its other potential as an escape route and have never forgotten it. If I have to bug out, I’m going north.  
FOOD: We all know the grocery stores, convenience stores and restaurants will be looted first.  I’ve noted several places that might be over looked at least during the first few days. I keyed in an idea several years ago that anyplace that serves meals to large groups of people will have stores of food.  

There are two small convention centers within five miles of my house.  They are not in a retail, shopping or restaurant area, they are in the office and business districts.  I go to both several times a year.  Every night of the week they cook and serve dinner for several hundred people. The convention centers have storage rooms and commercial kitchens that will probably be overlooked in the first few days [of a societal collapse].
    
Any place with a snack bar, especially in an overlooked area, is a great source for food supplies.  I know of three indoor soccer arenas with snack bars.  All are in warehouse and industrial areas. All of them have snack bars and I’ve noted where the storage rooms are for the snack bars.  Two of the soccer arenas are on my bug out route.

The last several years I have seen an explosion of small gyms, many in strip malls and professional office districts.  Nearly all of these small gyms have supplies of nutrition and protein bars, bottled water and re-hydration drinks. Most will be overlooked the first few days.
    
Most Boy Scout camps store and cook food for hundreds of people everyday. I know of at least a dozen scout camps along different travel routes.

We have three, regional food distribution centers. These will be hit hard, but I know where they are and won’t have to look for them in the telephone book. What might be overlooked are the restaurant food supply companies. Not only might their warehouses be missed at first, some people might walk right pass a SYSCO semi truck and not realize it is filled with food. One semi truck from a restaurant supplier and I’m set.  I know the names of all the suppliers and their logos.  
    
Fuel:  Two miles from my home is a warehouse complex with over two hundred companies and a thousand semi-trucks, all with big fuel tanks, going in and out every day. It will obviously be looted, but it is so large the out lying trucks and smaller ware houses will go unnoticed at first.
    
Excavator companies and large construction companies often store their own fuel. I’ve hired several of these companies and have identified three that are located in areas that may be easily overlooked.

There is farmland all around me.  Many farmers store fuel.  This would be a last resort for me because they also have guns, know how to shoot, are willing to shoot and if any group will survive WTSHTF it will be farmers.

TEOTWAWKI         
A few random notes I’ve taken over the years in case I find myself in TEOTWAWKI situation. I know where three large sheep herds and two large herds of cattle graze in the summer. I know where a high-fence elk hunting outfit is located with 300 head of elk. I know of three small residential subdivisions in the mountains that are self sustaining, on there own wells and solar powered. I know of three large snowmobiling lodges in the mountains that are self sustaining.  They are virtually abandoned six months out of the year.  I know where a small, private fish farm, surrounded by a hundred fruit trees can be found two miles past a locked gate. I know where all of the wildlife resources fish hatcheries are. I know where a rancher has sixty head of domesticated buffalo penned in a remote mountain valley.
    
All of these observations have taken no extra time and effort, simply the realization that someday I may need to know this stuff and it would be a good idea to remember them.  Keep your eyes and ears open, you never know what will pop out at you if you’re looking for it.   You never know what piece of information you store in your data banks will give you the critical edge.

JWR Adds: Most of the foregoing would only be appropriate in the aftermath of a situation with massive depopulation, such as a pandemic. In anything lesser, appropriating “abandoned” supplies would simply be unconscionable theft, because those supplies would still have rightful owners. There have also been several discussions in SurvivalBlog about the inadvisability of crossing private land that belong to someone else. Even worse is shooting someone’s livestock. In essence, that is just a good way to get yourself ventilated, in the event of a societal collapse. I have posted this just to show SurvivalBlog readers one sort of threat that they will face. It is encapsulates the horribly astray and ill-advised “justified looting” mentality. Keep plenty of .308 ammo on hand. You may need it.

Letter Re: Afghanistan is 7.62 NATO Country

Dear CPT Rawles:

I’d like to bring your attention to a paper prepared at Ft. Leavenworth, titled, “Increasing Small Arms Lethality in Afghanistan: Taking Back the Infantry Half-Kilometer.”

Essentially, the old M14 rifle has not yet met its demise, even though Jimmy Carter did order the destruction of 700,000 M14 Rifles.

As you have known for years, the 5.56 NATO cartridge is not the best cartridge for a Main Battle Rifle. You have written extensively regarding this issue in your books.

For some time now, I have witnessed a sizable number of M14 Rifles, in various configurations, from the original wood stocked version, to the new Enhanced Battle Rifle, EBR-14, all “tricked out” with modern optics and night vision equipment capability.

As stocks are low, due to the ill-conceived destruction of so many M14s in the 1970s and the fact that the US sold the tooling and equipment for manufacturing this weapon, years ago to [the civilian company] Springfield Armory, in Geneseo, Illinois is the prime contractor for the EBR-14 platform.

Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF): We may see the Army Leadership finally realize that the old 7.62 NATO cartridge is hard to beat at not only close-in combat, but also at extended ranges as are common in Afghanistan.

There are many of us in the military community who believe that the M14, in whatever configuration is sorely needed by the soldier today and most likely in the future as well.

Best Regards, – M.B. LTC, US Army (Retired)

Letter Re: Finding Community

Jim,
A quick observation about a dog’s ability to judge character or to determine a person’s intentions: They can’t, they have no clue; they are terrible at it. What a dog can do, however, is study their master. Remember, we are their world and the object of their attention 24/7. Your dog knows your thoughts almost as fast as you think them. After all, they have nothing better to do but watch you. So if your dog doesn’t like someone new, they are picking up that vibe from you, and acting on it. Your dog doesn’t care about hurt feelings or offending someone. I find this most beneficial.

I have noticed that after the person that I deem to be ok is around awhile, my dogs will start to reflect how that person feels about them. If the dog’s reaction is positive or negative I don’t put allot of stock in their behavior, as the new guest has passed muster. It is their initial reaction to a person I’ve just met that I’m sensitive to. It helps me to hone my gut feeling and to pay attention to it when my dogs aren’t around.

There is a book called “The Gift of Fear” by Gavin de Becker. It is a great read and very informative with regard to how we humans act and how to read and interpret those actions. The author shares the same opinion about a dog’s observation skills that I do.

I hope this is of value to you and your readers. – JM

Letter Re: Some Comments and Personal Experiences in Haiti

Jim,

Concerning the lack of sanitation at some Haiti evacuation camps: Porta-john [chemical toilets] are nice, but must be pumped out, cleaned and refilled regularly in order to remain usable. A simple solution I have used on the farm is to cut out the bottom of the john’s holding tank. Then we dig a hole and position the outhouse over the hole. As it is used, we occasionally throw a little lime or wood ash into the hole to control smell and bugs. The outhouse is on skids and is easy to move by hand, so when the hole is half full, we pull the john aside, dig a new hole and use the dirt to refill the “used” hole. When we have repositioned the outhouse over the new hole, we heap the remaining dirt around the outside edges of the building for more smell and insect control and to keep out ground water. Thus we have an always ready, clean and private facility for when the need arises.

I suggest that readers call their local porta-john rental companies. The suppliers in my area often have ones in need of slight repair available for purchase, at low cost. A non-chemical using, easy to move and clean outhouse would make a very nice, and most helpful, addition to

Economics and Investing:

GG flagged this piece over at Zero Hedge: CLSA’s Chris Wood “In Five Years The US Dollar Paper Standard Will Collapse”

Greg C. suggested a piece posted at Money News: Rogoff: U.S. Has Defaulted Before, May Do So Again

Bob G. liked this piece: ‘Buy some gold every month’ as protection against falling currencies, says Marc Faber

Items from The Economatrix:

Gold Going Higher: Even George Soros Agrees With Marc Faber

Is Moving Out of the US A Way to Escape the Coming Economic Collapse?

Gold and Silver Supply: Get Some While You Can (The Mogambo Guru)

Odds ‘n Sods:

Mike T. sent this: Drug gangs taking over US public lands

   o o o

Wyoming House Passes Firearms Freedom Act. (Thanks to George S. for the link.) I suspect that this will be signed into law, following suit with Montana and Tennessee.

   o o o

I found an interesting article linked at The Drudge Report by South Carolina Republican Senator Jim DeMint: White House land grab

   o o o

Zac in Kentucky mentioned a congressional candidate from Missouri that is seeking donations of $5.56 apiece.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“He’d forgotten the precautions and the care a human had to observe in the depths of the arctic winter. How very easy it would be to cease to exist, by doing nothing, just being out there, getting lost, freezing.” “It’s called death by omission,” said Ian. – from the novel “Ice Trap” by Kitty Sewell , 2008

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 27 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 HAZARiD Decontamination Kit from Safecastle.com. (A $350 value.), and D.) A 500 round case of Fiocchi 9mm Luger, 124gr. Hornady XTP/HP ammo, courtesy of Sunflower Ammo. This is a $249 value.

Second Prize: 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 $350.

Third Prize: A copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, from Arbogast Publishing.

Round 27 ends on March 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.

Finding Community – Part 2, by Jim Fry

Suggestions on how a survival community might enlist new members.

The lights have gone out. It may be years, if ever, before they come on again. You haven’t seen a banana, orange or avocado in a long time. Of course that’s not surprising since there hasn’t been an open grocery store in a long while either. You have heard rumors that the death toll from disease in China and India is in the hundreds of millions, perhaps even in the billions. But you don’t really know, because you haven’t heard a thing from Washington or the State Capitol in quite a while.

You are on your own.

It is the end of the world as we knew it. Disease, the collapse of the economy, the failure of power, water, septic, delivery and legal systems have seen to that. There’s no gas, which means no cars. All of a sudden you find yourself living in the 18th Century. About the only good thing that has happened lately is that you managed to find safety in a “survival” community.

You have a number of good people with you. There’s 24 hour security, enough food, (barely), everyone’s health seems to be holding out and the gardens are growing. But you have a problem. The group needs to expand in order to survive. There’s just too much to do. The herd animals you have must be cared for and watched constantly because you can’t risk losing any of them. Perimeter security must be maintained, but unfortunately security and animal herding are very different jobs, so that takes a number of separate workers. Making soap and candles, weaving cloth, sewing, and boot and harness making are all time consuming. And garden and field crop weeding is a full time job for many. Just doing the laundry is a major task, not to mention cutting firewood year ’round, and food prep. and cooking all day. 16 hour days of hard work are the norm, and mistakes are happening because some folks are just so tired.

So your group has met, and decided to seek out several more folks to join your community. The several bachelors would like to have a couple of more women join the community. And the single women feel the same about available men. You’d like some trades and crafts people who could start producing some trade goods like wooden buckets, tinware, paper, and a good bow maker would be great. More help in the house and gardens is certainly needed. Just getting someone to build a new pig pen would be wonderful. And there’s always the necessity for additional folks on security.

So what do you do ?

There’s still occasional “road people” and other wanderers. But picking the right ones to ask in can be very dangerous. You’ve heard that sometimes roving gangs will send out “spotters” who try to enter communities just to scope out defenses and resources. Anyone who might be sick is always a problem. Vaccinations are a thing of the past, so a touch of the “bad” flu could kill you all. And then there’s the personality problems, and the crazies. Strangers can simply carry many problems with them. Not the least of which is your need to first confirm that they are not an immediate threat. But if a stranger seems initially ok, there are a few things that might help you decide if you should consider them for community membership.

Fortunately, a built in human survival trait often called “gut reaction”, that is so often ignored in good times, will likely come into greater use. These feelings are sometimes called “the hair standing up on the back of your neck”, but in good times are usually dismissed as paranoia or “being judgmental”. Dogs have never had that problem and have always used it. You’ll need to quickly relearn to pay attention to it. It’s simply becoming more aware of, and learning to more often trust, your gut feeling, your first impression.

So the first thing to do on meeting someone is to trust your senses. If a stranger appears overly nervous, stands or walks kinda funny, seems too well fed, or too dirty, if their eyes don’t meet yours, or they stare too intently, if their skin appears yellowish or too red, even if their smell seems “different” somehow, you want to trust your first impressions. “Casually” study any strangers. Notice if they are making an attempt to stay clean, or seem to be dirty by choice. In a friendly way ask about the meaning of something they are wearing or carrying, if it is fairly unusual. You may be surprised at the answers you might get, that could indicate some sort of mental “weirdness”. Look for what doesn’t exactly fit. If something just doesn’t seem quite right, maybe it isn’t.

But so far, your, (informed), first impression seems ok. Then what ? Well, on meeting someone new, notice what they talk or ask about. If they ask inappropriate questions, or blurt out asking to be given food, that’s not so good. If they say they are traveling and looking for a place to settle, and ask if it would it be possible to do a bit of work in exchange for a bite to eat to help them on their way, that’s better. You’d also want to notice how they react to things said. If you ask the stranger how are conditions back up the road, and they spit out that those blank, blank so and so’s ran them off, that’s not generally a good sign. (Unless of course you happen to know the so and so’s don’t like anybody who’s decent.) If you make a joke, does the stranger laugh, or do they just frown or maybe laugh too much. Just really pay attention to how they react socially.

Next, check out what they are carrying. (Remember that earlier you had already confirmed they were no immediate threat.) Explain to them that if they are going to be allowed to stay in the area, you need to know they are okay. There’s the obvious security issues involved, and you need to know what weapons they have. But also, what a person chooses to carry on their back says a lot about that person. If their kit is well organized, that’s more likely a useful person. If they are carrying mood altering drugs, dirty utensils and unclean firearms and knives, they are more likely to just be a problem. If they object to a “friendly” search, its probably time for them to hit the road.

So, now you’ve met a person who has passed the “smell” test, seems socially appropriate, and appears well organized. You still don’t know much about them, but it seems like maybe a work for food trade is all right. You don’t want to let them into your community proper, they haven’t been cleared for medical issues and diseases, and you never let anyone in for security reasons unless you fully trust them. But, since they asked to trade work for food, you can set them to work cutting firewood, in the wood lot outside the fence, or some other such job. It also would be a good opportunity to work with them to see if they can use a saw or axe without getting hurt. And you could push them a bit to see how they do with some hard labor. Pay attention to their ability and attitude towards what they are doing. And notice how well they take direction.

Then set down with them, serve them the food they earned, and talk. Ask them about being on the road, what their skills are, what they are looking for, maybe even what their dreams are. Ask if they have any family or friends they are looking for, or hope to find. And ask if they have been married, or would want to be. You could tell a story about some charity work you had done before TEOTWAWKI, and ask if they had done any themselves, (which can be an indication of their selfish or giving nature). If you make it a conversation and just have a casual talk, they may answer more fully and truthfully than if you act like it is an interview. Most people who have been alone for awhile, and still have their head screwed on right, like to talk if the person they are talking with seems at ease. So just be informal. It is amazing how much you can learn about a person by asking the right “inconsequential” questions.

If they pass all those tests, it’s time to get down to business. It’s time to be very, very clear and forthright. Tell them you are looking for a member or two. Ask if they are interested. If they are, explain they will need a complete medical check. If they pass that, they will go on probation. For several weeks, they will work a full day every day, be talked with a lot, be expected to make a few examples of the craft or trade they claim to be proficient at, and will live in a removed tent, cabin or teepee. In return they will receive fair trade for their work, and the same food as the rest of the community. Tell them if they get along with most everyone, pass the medical quarantine of living separate and have showed no new disease or illness, can work enough to contribute, and actually have the skills they claim, they will be held up for vote to become a member. Finally explain to them in detail the community’s rules. And explain in as much detail the communities cultural norms, such as folks like to share meals, or pray together, or hold book readings and sing-a-longs every evening, ..or whatever. Every group or community has its own ways, and new members need to know what they are going in.

If they agree with all that, you’re possibly on the way to growing.

But just remember. Do your due diligence in checking them out. We all often approach new opportunities and people with overly optimistic hope. It isn’t until later we become more realistic. Living in a close knit community can be a bit like marrying into a family. Make sure that the “family” you choose, will continue to be the family you want. You really need to get along with each other as well as possible. Someone who always seems to need to do things in a way counter to the rest of the group, or who later displays an initially hidden problem personality, can tear a group apart. Then they are going to have to leave, one way or another.
–Problem is, in a survival situation, if you banish someone, they may come back with new friends. And the “problem person” will know every single one of your weaknesses and strengths. Having them leave, (vertically), may not be an option. And that will be one of the hardest decisions you will ever have to make. Who you take in can really matter. For the good or the bad.

–Note: For the past 35 years, I have had folks living in my home, out in one of the cabins, in tents, motor homes, or in various teepees at my place. One guy was here for 20 years, others only lasted three days. There’s been homeless women with infants, recovering drunks, new age moon gazers, kids in school, some goof offs, others with no teeth and a few with too many lice. Some were good, some terrible. The suggestions in the above article are some of the ways I have developed over time in order to avoid the “terrible”. I suggest that if you are able, take in some people now during good times, give them a break, help them get on their feet, then send them on their way. In return, you will have done a good thing, and learned many lessons about how to get along with folks. You will also learn some quick and valuable lessons about how to decide who to take in. You will find the experience very helpful in the coming TEOTWAWKI.

We are currently having free Disaster Preparedness classes. Please see the Survivalist Groups “Meet-up” web page–a listing posted on Feb. 28th, listed under “Ohio & Midwest”. Lets help each other now, in order to be able help those less fortunate later. – Jim Fry, Curator, Museum of Western Reserve Farms & Equipment

Three Letters Re: Some Comments and Some Personal Experiences in Haiti

Sir:
I thought that you and your family might be encouraged by the following: There was an extraordinary occurrence in Haiti on February 17th. Here is a blog entry with a YouTube link about a nationally declared three days of fasting and prayer in Haiti. Amazing grace.

The final sentence in the entry is the most sobering:

“The only sadness that I feel today is for our nation. While a nation that has long been under Satan’s domination is turning to God with total commitment, our nation, founded on Godly values, has rejected God and is rapidly trying to forget that His name even exists. Let us pray for revival.” – Sheila M.

Hi James,
Its been a while. I just spent eight days in Haiti building a radio station in Crois des Bouquets. We were working with a church and pastor I have worked with before. He had about thirty Haitian people who lost everything in his home, plus 10 Americans, three on our radio team, and an evangelistic team out of Florida.

Our team went in with tent, MREs and Mountain House food. a water filter plus all of our necessities. fortunately we didn’t need our food but donated it to the house hold to aid others. We left our tents, sleeping bags, and air mattresses behind and told the Pastor to give them to people he knew who really needed it.

We got a radio message from the states inquiring about an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp who had been sent aid
by a ministry in Indiana. Apparently they had not received their aid yet. We checked and thought we had the right IDP camp. They had not had anything to eat or water in over a week.

My first thought being an old army sergeant was: “Where are the privies?” There were no sanitation pits dug, and people were relieving themselves out in the open. This was just about three miles from the airport at the river bridge. There were two large tent cities in the same location with absolutely no sanitation facilities.

I talked with the leader of one camp and ask why they had no latrines dug. They had absolutely nothing to dig a hole with. I told him that if they didn’t do something immediately about the problem, that disease would go through that camp in short order, and could wipe them all out. I told him I would get a pick and some shovels. I did so the next day.

On the following day we were leaving and the camp had a team out digging privies. Praise the Lord.
James, and readers, there was at that time absolutely nothing being done about sanitation in the camps. The U.S. Army was really concerned about this issue, but their hands were tied. There were no NGOs addressing the problem either. It is a major issue with the medical people I met.

I did see about ten brand new porta Johns at the IDP camp across the street from the presidential palace. But there was no one using them. I’m sure they were put there for the news nosies, just for the cameras. I know in the next month there will be a second disaster developing, and there already is in one camp. (I got word from a person that I trust and that is in the know, that a large TB outbreak had already occurred in one of the IDP camps.

The Haiti government is very inept and un prepared for any disaster. the UN, USAID, UNICEF, Red Curse, et cetera are all just having meetings and doing very little to help the situation.

All I saw when I was there was Christian ministries getting the job done. I know the Samaritan’s Purse, Operation Blessing, Friend Ships, Catholic Relief, Mennonites, Baptists, et cetera are in there getting their hands dirty and getting the job done.

I would just say in closing that the first thing after a disaster strikes, and people are having to camp out, or go into a camp is to dig a suitable latrine, and make some effort to keep clean. One of the first things that our servicemen in all of our services learn in basic training is field sanitation. If our military were turned loose to help I know full well they would go in there and help provide some form of field sanitation.

I do have to say the Christians are pulling together in Haiti, and people are turning to Christ by the thousands.
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Blessings, – Dave M. (A Blessings For Obedience World Missionary Radio volunteer)

Mr. Rawles,

I thought I’d drop a note having been in Haiti from the day after the quake to a couple weeks ago, and having run an ongoing program there for a few years now. I wanted to comment on the issue of rioting in Haiti versus. Chile. I think the core issue was that people in each country were faced with different immediate challenges.

In Haiti, like many other developing countries lacking Chile’s level of building codes and construction standards, Port Au Prince was extremely vulnerable to a quake. Because the quake hit only a few miles from Port Au Prince you had complete destruction of entire zones of the city, with entire blocks where 4/5 of the buildings just collapsed. As a result the death toll was 220,000 people.

The immediate job for a large percentage of the city became how do I dig through these buildings to rescue those 220,000 people or at least recover the bodies. The self organized work crews were pretty incredible. For much of the rest of the population the immediate task became how do I find my family and find shelter. Most of those alive were in front of completely destroyed houses (1.5 million homeless) Even when looking for a few immediate resources because so much was destroyed people were salvaging collapse sites more often than looting.

In addition the atmosphere was somber and surreal, the work crews pulling out bodies everywhere in the city and piling them, the people crying for help, the surgery taking place on the street. I would say that everybody I spoke to who emerged from that situation left with a truly profound sorrow in their hearts. Missing a day or two of food was pretty secondary for most people. Many Haitians have dealt with food insecurity and hunger before, that wasn’t as much of an immediate issue. Even for aid workers it was hard to even remember to eat much less worry about it.

Outside Port Au Prince people were largely just melancholy, it is a small country, everybody had somebody who died, everything was shut down, you couldn’t get money from banks or buy food in stores for a week, yet there weren’t people in the streets till the very end of that, and even then it was just some organized marches in front of the banks for them to re-open. Within four days in Port Au Prince many of the aid services started emerging and food and water started to become more readily available. Within 6 days some money transfer services started opening in the rest of the country and commerce started again.

Thankfully in Chile, outside of the terrible devastation in the Tsunami zone, comparatively many of the structures in the earthquake zone stood. So the challenges faced were different. The people seen on television looting seem more concerned about scarce resources than trying to dig out their trapped friends and family out of the rubble. With a death toll under 1,000 so far the number of people who are directly missing people or who came back to find their home collapsed on their family must be much lower. Which leaves more people concerned about “Where do I get food, where do I get water” than “How do I dig these people out, dear god there are so many people dead, everywhere”

I think in the end the Chilean people will look back on this tragedy and realize how prepared they were as a nation, that they had put the standards in place to keep their buildings standing and they will take that to heart in preparing on a personal level. I am hopeful things will calm and they will find the strength to rebuild.

For the readers who want to know how to prepare for seismic situations let me offer 3 bits of gear advice, always have a full unbreakable water bottle on you, always carry a whistle, and always keep a respirator (even if just an n-95 mask in a pocket, you would not comprehend the toxic cloud that is created when a city collapses, it was like 9-11 everywhere). Beyond that if you are in a developing country in a seismic area with poor cement block construction (lots of parts of Peru, Guatemala, Thailand, Dominican Republic, India, Pakistan, etc) in older style buildings try to sleep near an exit to an open courtyard, try to stay in one story buildings, stay away from adobe. The safest bet is to try to stay in modern hotels, the big chains force proper construction techniques. If the quake hits get out and watch for falling hazards. Many prayers that the readers of this blog never have to face anything like what people are facing in Chile or Haiti. Sincerely, – Peter H.

Letter Re: The Art of Humping a Pack

Sir,
In the articles concerning Humping a Pack, I observed comments about not using wool for foot wear.

I would strongly disagree for a few reasons. My reasoning is based on over 16 years of active and reserve military experience in the Infantry, and from my experiences as a teenager helping Lane County (Eugene, Oregon) in the mid 1970s.

Wool is a superior resource.

1) Unlike synthetics, Wool socks can be repaired.
2) Wet Wool unlike synthetics still maintains up to 80% of its heat retention value. Granted, wet wool weighs a lot.
3) Wool does not burn and melt like synthetics can.

I mention this for not just backpacking, but for disaster and other survival situations.

I will recommend if one has allergies to wool, then synthetics may be a solution, but the ability to re supply or repair things like Gore-Tex, Velcro, or Polypropylene cold weather clothing is some what problematic in areas or situations where there are no means to obtain a re-supply.

I will applaud spending good money for good foot ware. I have three pairs of Materhorn insulated boots with solid dependable soles.

I spent the at that time $150 for each pair and those same boots are still in service today. Granted I do not wear them every day, so this is why I still have three pairs.

The fact of training in various terrains and conditions is extremely advisable. If one has a small child and kiddy back pack carrier, this could be a good alternate training method, without raising eyebrows.

Starting slowly, and getting into shape to back pack is also a good idea.

Other than the items I mentioned above, Each article that you have posted rings true, practical and correct.

I thank you for your blog. I am re-reading your “Rawles on Retreats and Relocation”, your novel “Patriots” and your latest “How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It” and I have your “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course. Wonderful work, Great Blog, Blessings, – Grog

Economics and Investing:

Economists: Another Financial Crisis on the Way. (Thanks to “Straycat” for the link.)

Fronm Brett G.: Greenhouse Gas Taxes to Push Gasoline to $7 a Gallon?

Items from The Economatrix:

Stocks Falter After Drop in Pending Homes Sales

US Economy Continues to Slow

Pending US Home Sales Fall 7.6% in January

Investing In Gold: Protection From Runaway Inflation

Karl Denninger: Speculative Premium and Why the Markets Will Crash

Darryl Robert Schoon: Will the US Devalue the Dollar?

Odds ‘n Sods:

“Luddite Jean” thought that a nuclear bunker listed on eBay.uk might be of interest to British readers of SurvivalBlog. Jean’s comments: “It’s a bit small, but in the UK, there is no restriction or planning permission needed for underground buildings.”

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Louisiana police envision TEOTWAWKI in their cities: Bossier sheriff launches ‘Operation Exodus’. Thanks to “B9” for the link.

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From Cheryl: US Gun Owners Buy 14+ Million Guns in 2009–More than 21 of the World’s Standing Armies

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Marko marked this one for us: Quake mission casts the [Chilean] army as good guys at last

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“… [M]any gun owners readily concede that their right to keep and bear arms is “not absolute” and is subject to “reasonable” regulation. This concession to moderation or reasonableness is fatal to the right. Yes, there are people who should not have guns. However, the point of the Second Amendment is precisely to deny government the power to decide who those people are, just as the point of the First Amendment is to deny government the power to decide what you may read and hear. Rights are not reasonable, and are not to be made reasonable, because government itself is not reason; it is force.” – Jeff Snyder

Notes from JWR:

The situation in earthquake-ravaged Chile is still quite tenuous. SurvivalBlog reader “Zed” suggested that I mention this article from the BBC’s Stephen Mulvey: Chile earthquake: Why do people loot. And don’t miss this related article: Chileans protect, feed themselves after quake. Doesn’t this sound a lot like “a neighborhood watch, on steroids”? The conjecture about societal breakdown in SurvivalBlog that was once castigated as “fanciful” is now sounding quite plausible. Get the gear, and get the training, folks. Be ready, willing and able to dispense charity and to help restore order and re-establish free commerce, if and when things go sideways.

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Today we present another entry for Round 27 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 HAZARiD Decontamination Kit from Safecastle.com. (A $350 value.), and D.) A 500 round case of Fiocchi 9mm Luger, 124gr. Hornady XTP/HP ammo, courtesy of Sunflower Ammo. This is a $249 value.

Second Prize: 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 $350.

Third Prize: A copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, from Arbogast Publishing.

Round 27 ends on March 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.