Letter Re: Roger Mills County, Oklahoma as a Retreat Locale

Hello Mr. Rawles,
I live near the town of Cheyenne, in Roger Mills County, which is in western Oklahoma.
For your information:
Roger Mills County has a population density of just .75 people per square mile.
Not a single stop light in the county.
Not a single major franchise business in the county.
Local pharmacy, bank, motels and restaurants.
A very high percentage of the county are what you call “millionaires” because of the production of natural gas wells.
We have a very low crime rate.
There are people in this area who have not locked a door nor removed keys from an automobile in 30 or 40 years.
An agriculture area of mostly grassland with some alfalfa, wheat and sorghum production.
We have a problem with methamphetamine, the major drug of choice (depending on how you define alcohol).
Cheyenne does not have police department because the sheriff’s night patrol covers the town.
It is considered part of the Bible Belt
A homogeneous population, with a small number of minorities.
Lots of water, although in places much of it is hard water.
Excellent hunting with some thousands of acres of public hunting (Black Kettle National Grasslands)
The only county in Oklahoma with a National Park.
Lots of timber with ranchers begging people to cut down the trees for firewood.
It is a rolling up and down topography.
We have mountain lions and porcupines just like New Mexico and Colorado.

Our family is not originally from this area. We came from a less civilized part of America: New Mexico. We bailed out of that place.
Roger Mills County was in the past a hotbed of the Ku Klux Klan and elected the only Socialist legislator to ever serve in the Oklahoma legislature. Well, do tell.

I found this place in the early 1970s during my work with the USDA, Soil Conservation Service.

All in all it is a good place to retire to and to develop a “retreat”.

A factor that I do not see people considering when thinking “retreat area” is the accessibility.
My thinking is that any area that is does not have a grid of roads in the Township/Range fashion would be low on the list.
Furthermore any area that is not cut through by a major river(s) is low on the list.
Why?
The road grid is just too hard to control by the Powers That Be.
Yes, it does give the vandals and rapists the opportunity to expend their gasoline and come to your area.
But it is also easy to block roads with a line of steel posts driven into the roadway and a tangle of wire spread across them.
Contrary to [what is depicted in] movies, even a fast moving vehicle will not penetrate this kind of set up and if it does it could have the undercarriage ripped [fuel lines, brakes lines] or hung up on it.
The rivers are natural barriers and in Roger Mills County there are only four bridges crossing the Canadian River to our north. One of these is a private bridge for the oil companies and most civilians do not even know of its existence nor its location. This bridge is not on road maps.
Rivers are barriers…just block the bridge and burn the vehicles. All traffic stops. The 4x4s will get stuck in the sandy bottoms of the river and become monuments of stupidity for years to come as they rust away.

Selecting a retreat is difficult. But south of any major snow line in a longer growing season area is best.

I have written some 10 years ago about the flood of what I called “gypfugees”.
I said, “you will see them in the future”, people moving across the land looking for a safe place away from danger.
That’s them, the gypsies and the refugees. Hence, the term “gypfugees’. We are seeing the first of them living in their cars in places [around the US]

You have a wonderful site. Thanks, – J.W., Cheyenne, Oklahoma

JWR Replies: Thanks for that recommendation. Several times in the blog I’ve mentioned the advantages in living in a natural gas-producing region, like yours. Most cars and trucks will run on natural gas condensate (commonly called “Drip Oil”, or just “Drip”.) For some details on the availability of Drip, see my book “Rawles on Retreats and Relocation”.

Odds ‘n Sods:

A consulting client asked me what brand of AR-15 or M4gery that I’d recommend he buy as a secondary weapon. By coincidence, I had earlier that same day received a link from reader Bill N. that features a chart that shows which AR makers use full mil-spec parts. Before seeing that chart, I would have recommended Lewis Machine & Tool (LMT), but now it looks like Noveske Rifleworks has the edge. You may ask: Why not Colt ARs? I despise their concessions to political correctness–namely their over-grown lower receiver pins, weak chopped-out (half circle) bolt carriers, and their now perennial two screws-in-place-of-a-front-pivot-pin design. What a monstrosity!

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Reader “Panda”, suggested building an Alvin Vacuum Sealer, as shown over at the Instructables web site. This is a very simple hand pump design (using an automotive brake bleeder) that makes a great backup system for extended power blackouts.

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SF in Hawaii recommended listening to an audio clip by archaeologist Dr. Joseph A. Tainter on the history of economic collapses.

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Thanks to JT for this one, from The Jerusalem Post: Emirates calls on GCC countries to de-peg currencies from US dollar

Notes from JWR:

I’m scheduled to be interviewed this evening on the Fox News network, at around 5:40 p.m., eastern time. The subject will be the 2012 preparedness movement.

Kathy McMahon (aka “PeakShrink”) penned an excellent piece over at The Energy Bulletin web site that summarizes the varieties of Doomer psychological types: Three types of doomers and fantasy collapse. In the article, she gently pokes fun at my novel “Patriots” and at those of us that fall into what she calls the “Do-More” preparedness mindset.

Letter Re: Thoughts on Static Retreat Defense

Mr Rawles,
Before I start, I must congratulate you on your remarkable and down to earth approach to informing your audience of both the practical ins-and-outs and theory of preparedness. I’m a mid-20s town planner with a minor in building design, living in Western Australia. I share many of the same concerns regarding the status and direction of society as your audience. I came across your site in the last four months, and have then spent a great deal of time searching your archives. I recently ordered your “Rawles on Retreats and Relocation” book, and await it eagerly. My town planning occupation has granted me various edges on location viability, design versus aspect, map interpretation, cut and fill techniques, earth engineering standards and natural hazard assessment – which I might add is imperative in initial design (landslide, flooding and bushfire hazard) and maintenance (also very importantly for bushfire hazard).

Being a city dweller, I’m at the initial stages of designing our rural retreat, and am meticulously working on the best design for retreat ballistic protection (small arms) and safe and strategic return of fire in the event of TEOTWAWKI against unwelcome and potentially harmful trespassers. I will be implementing the Vauban principles through corner build-outs [a.k.a. corner bastions or “Cooper Corners”] to allow observation of all lengths and aspects of the retreat. However I’m eagerly seeking your opinion on the design of the openings or ‘ports’ in which to station arms, observe and return fire where necessary. The retreat walls will be steel reinforced Besser Block (cinder block) concrete filled (although I did watch your referenced video on urban warfare and the effects of arms on standard building materials – and was quite concerned), I feel concrete filled Besser block is probably the safest option available to me in terms of funding at this point. I have over a thousand sand bags to implement in the event of a worst case and consistent/prolonged attack. So, I have a 200 mm thick wall, with an opening of any size I design. The weapons for these build outs will be SMLEs and other bolt action high-power rifles. I believe it is bad habit to have a barrel extend out of an opening for various reasons, primaries being visual detection of the defender’s location, weapon damage probability factor, and manipulation by undetected enemy at close quarters (although retreat’s [avenues of approach] observation design will nullify the later’s impacts), so therefore the weapon will be positioned back just behind the wall, however this will limit the portal of observation given the opening would be small to restrict incoming fire. I believe half inch steel reinforcement ‘around’ these gun ports would be ideal given the position of these ports, in an unpleasant scenario, would probably sustain significant ballistic hits in comparison to other non-strategic defense positions. I do plan to have half inch steel slide shutters for these openings when not in use, and for a myriad of other reasons, however I am struggling with the setup of weapon position versus wall opening size versus wall opening shape/design for observation and for safe return fire.

This also leaves my current design issue of ‘standard window’ design – for habitable room ventilation, access to daylight and sunlight and for a ‘taste of the norm’ feel. I envision half inch steel sturdy shutters welded to deliberately exposed reinforcement of the retreat walls (as I have for the primary ‘airlock’ style entry door hinges and lock studs to the retreat) is the finest option given a SHTF scenario, but openable on days of ‘no threat’. I do however, believe it is an important element to ensure the retreat does not feel like a jail which, as in the event of TEOTWAWKI, would adversely impact on the retreater’s morale given the world/nation status and general situation. If you have any information on ‘standard window’ design also sir, I would be most appreciative.

In terms of retreat security, I have designed this retreat in response to the ideals of two mindsets, 1.) myself as a defending retreat owner and 2.) myself as an marauding woodsman intent on conquering that retreat. The latter may sound odd to some. However, to catch a thief, many say, is to think like a thief. How would I disable my own retreat? Would I, if I were the rogue woodsman, position myself in a temporary camouflaged OP and snipe on the retreat from 300 meters at vital retreat hardware, such as downpipes to rainwater tanks, or solar panels? Perhaps my response to that would be – by location, design and security mechanisms, not allow the woodsman into those positions in the first place, however you cannot stop all contact, as if you can view a landscape from your retreat, someone can view your retreat from a landscape. I believe that is how one must design a retreat or harden an existing one. The solutions for these examples are many (internally fed downpipes, or clever roof design and visually ‘hidden’ solar panels), however I believe it will come down to thinking like the ‘woodsman’ to mitigate the majority of the adverse conflict situations that may reduce the lifestyle and longevity of you and your family.

I leave you now in peace and gratitude with a many and true thanks for your significant efforts in the survival niche, and am only certain you will have guided many thousands to a better standard of preparedness and significant increase in their survivability. Thanks, – Shamus

JWR Replies: Retreat architecture and self-sufficient retreat design involve a number of tradeoffs, including:

Security and ballistic protection versus construction expense.

Unobtrusive siting (such as behind a screen of trees) versus clear fields of fire

Permanent security features versus aesthetic design and resale value of your house

Ballistic protection versus visibility of potential attacker’s approaches

Ballistic protection versus ventilation and solar exposure (windows and PV panels)

Self-sufficiency versus security. (For example, livestock and their associated outbuildings are needed, yet they add complexity and some risk to defensive arrangements–most importantly by blocking line of sight. Tending to livestock will necessitate greater exposure for retreat residents. The same applies to gardening. A stove chimney is necessary, yet it represents an exploitable weakness.)

Convenience versus security (A single, very stout “castle door” is great for security, but inconvenient in normal times. Ditto for sharp s-turns in your lane.)

Security features versus “blending in” with the more mundane neighboring homes

How you rectify these tradeoffs depends on a number of factors, including your retreat locale (and the ambient population density/proximity to major cities), how heavily manned your retreat will be, and your most likely envisioned scenario.

I agree with your approach of laying in a large supply of sandbags. These can be filled and set up in a variety of configurations after times get hostile, yet can be unobtrusively stored in the interim. (Ditto for rolls of razor wire or Concertina-type defensive wire.) Buy plenty of extras. The excess will be ideal items for barter and charity.

While setback from a shooting port is normally desirable, it requires a much larger shooting port, to avoid accidental near-muzzle bullet impacts and ricochets, in the stress of defensive shooting situations. My approach is to place muzzles nearly flush with the armor plate. I’ve also laid in supplies of some “junk” barrels, including some de-militarized scrap M16 barrels (complete with flash hiders) that I plan to employ sticking out of false shooting positions, with the intent of having them draw fire.

I describe my standard ballistically-reinforced window and door designs in my novel “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse”.

Letter Re: Biofuel Problems and Sustainability

Hi Jim,
A recent article in Der Spiegel gives us some real insight into food prices. My guess is that if we continue down this path we will see some important events start taking place in Third World nations that cannot afford high food prices.

Here is how this can effect us here. It takes 400 pounds of corn to make 25 gallons of ethanol. This might be a weeks worth of fuel for a person commuting to work. It could be many months worth of food for that same person. You may say that you don’t eat that much corn. Actually you do. Dr. Henry Schwarcz at McMasters University in Canada, studies nitrogen isotopes in human bone and teeth. The average north American diet effectively consists of 47% corn! This is because what you eat, eats corn. Beef, Chicken, Pork, Milk, Ice Cream, Butter, Cheese, Eggs, etc. The figure I have seen for beef is six to seven pounds of corn to make one pound of beef. About 30% of the American corn crop is now going to bio fuels. With the number of people in the world (seven billion by 2012), I don’t think that this is sustainable.

Also another note on sustainability: The American Solar Energy Society did a study that showed it takes 10 calories of fossil fuels to put 1 calorie of food on the average American’s table. This includes planting, cultivation, harvesting, processing and transportation. Cooking too, I would guess. In looking at what is happening with oil and natural gas prices and their availability, I wonder how long we can sustain this. – PED

Letter Re: The Handwriting is on the Wall for the Big Three Auto Makers

Mr. Rawles,
Anyone who is paying attention would have seen the mess that America’s “Big Three” auto makers are in. A smart Peak Oil [market] player would have shorted them a while ago. But consider this little fun fact – As of this last Friday, the market capitalization of General Motors (GM) was just over $5 billion. That’s all. Toyota has about 25 times that. So are several other healthy auto makers and they all know that times are tough yet GM expects sales to pick up later this year? But consider that $5 billion. It’s cheap yet no one is touching GM. No one wants to buy it, even to take it apart and shut it down. Why? Every single asset GM has is pledged multiple times as collateral for loans that it cannot repay while it is losing $41 billion per year.[JWR Adds: No to mention their huge pension fund obligations.]

Here’s the final hint for anyone still in denial. As of June 30th, GM slipped beneath $20 billion in remaining cash assets but is burning $17 billion per year. In other words, GM probably has just 9 to15 months of life left, at the most. And if I were one of GM’s creditors, I’d prepare to swoop in and call all my loans after Congress goes on holiday break shortly after the election. No one will be able to stop it and GM will be history. And the lenders will still only get pennies on the dollar for each dollar they loaned.
Ford and Chrysler are in similar situations. If the economic system implodes, the Big Three will cease to exist. Sincerely, – Dave R.

Odds ‘n Sods:

I recently had a consulting client ask me if I thought the credit crisis was over. Over? No way. Even after a year of credit contraction, we’ve only seen the first wave of the credit crisis. The entire global credit market is still spiraling into the abyss. The recent steep downgrades of MBIA and AMBAC (the folks that insure municipal bonds) are the latest red flags, showing another aspect of the problem. MBIA has been downgraded five grades to A2, and they are on “negative watch”. That is the term used when a forced liquidation is expected! The bottom line is that world’s credit pool has dried up. Mark my words: Many of the same problems that crashed Bear Stearns–and forced a huge taxpayer-funded bailout–will spread to municipal bond issuers, regional banks, and community banks.

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Eric sent us this bit of news from England: Government asks stores to stockpile food to overcome hauliers strike

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Reader Ben L. mentioned this humorous piece: The Gospel According to John (Moses Browning)

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SF in Hawaii recommended Kevin Kelly’s Streetuse Blog. SF’s comment: ” This blog is loaded with clever ideas that will inspire any survivalist.” My comment: After reading the Streetuse blog, as well as the Farm Show 30 year compendium book (previously mentioned in SurvivalBlog), you can see how important it is to have your own oxyacetylene welding rig and plenty of stored welding gasses and welding rod. Welding skills will make you the local “go to” guy (or gal) in hard times.

Letter Re: Securing Needed Prescriptions for Family Preparedness

Dear Mr. Rawles,
First, I must thank you for the great service that you provide to society. I simply can’t tell you how much I have learned since beginning to read SurvivalBlog daily. I’ve decided that 10 cents per day is not enough, and plan to double it soon. Though I pray that I will die peacefully at the age of 98 without ever having to activate my prep plans, the feeling of security that comes from preparation will make my remaining years much more pleasant!

As a pharmacist, I wanted to make a few additional comments regarding Matt R.’s important suggestions regarding medication procurement. First, he is correct to assume that most manufacturer’s expiration dating is very conservative, and is often predicated on the worst possible storage conditions. Like for most other storage items, cool and dry are the most important considerations in extending the shelf life of drugs. As you so correctly point out in my new favorite book, Patriots, very few drugs degrade to toxic compounds; it is usually a matter of loss of potency over time. Since many drugs needed in a post-SHTF world, like antibiotics and vitamins, have high therapeutic indices (the effective dose is far smaller than the toxic dose, leaving you some “wiggle room” in dosing), one could titrate the dose up in an emergency situation if the expiration date has been exceeded by several years. Obviously, this is a “better than nothing” approach, and is not to be advocated while the world is still “normal”!

Interestingly, the U.S. Dept. of Defense has initiated a program throughout the active duty medical services called “SLES” or “Shelf Life Extension System”. As I understand it, the DOD, in cooperation with the FDA, conducted their own stability studies for many high volume drugs on their formulary. In order to save money (always a good thing when it’s taxpayer dollars that are being saved!) by using their own expiration date rather than the manufacturer’s, their “extended” shelf life is being employed. Of course, their findings are closely guarded, and is is prohibited to leak any information to the general public, as it would counter the very conservative expiration dates that cause millions of dollars of waste annually in the private sector. To be fair, the storage conditions can be more carefully controlled in the Defense system that throughout society. Though the true numbers are almost mythical, I did find a transcript of a speech given by a medical officer to a civilian audience. In trying to illustrate how much money the DOD is saving the public through this program, he cited one example: At controlled room temperature, ciprofloxacin (generic) tablets had been found to retain potency for 10 years past printed expiration date – he then said that further testing would probably extend the shelf life even further! Now before we all get excited, please remember that this is a highly anecdotal example, and is meant only to underscore the point that with proper storage, most published expiration dates are loose guidelines. Of course, biological drugs, such as insulin and cell growth factors are inherently less stable, and will present a real problem for those dependent on them during an extended SHTF or TEOTWAWKI occurrence.

With regard to Matt’s reference to his dentist writing prescriptions for Tamiflu, don’t be surprised if some pharmacists refuse to fill such prescriptions. In all states with which I have any familiarity, it is illegal for a doctor, or dentist to write prescriptions for drugs outside the scope of their practice. Pharmacists are usually held legally responsible for saying “no” in such cases by their State pharmacy practice act, though it usually takes something pretty obvious to trigger a rejection. Matt’s dentist may be prepared to argue that it’s hard to work on teeth when his patient’s nose is running like Niagara Falls, so it is within his scope of practice to treat influenza! Also, if you’re using insurance to pay for “stockpile meds”, just be aware that the practice may be misinterpreted as fraud by some insurance companies. I’m sure a sudden high volume of claims for unrelated medications would probably prompt an investigation or claim rejection.

Just my two cents worth – I will put more thought and research into specifics, and try to help out more in the future. Best Wishes, and thanks to all who share their knowledge and insight on your terrific blog! – S.H. in Georgia

Letter Re: California’s House Prices Plummet to Surprising Depths

Hi Jim,
We’ve been good about our refinancing. As the house appreciated, we took a little here and there on two re-fi[nancing]s, to pay off most of our credit debt, and to start a business. At this time a couple of years ago, the house was worth $440,000, conservatively. In January, $351,000. Just last night, using a very good evaluation tool called Zillow.com, we were surprised to find that in the last six months, the house’s value dropped [still further,] to just over $250,000. That was a shock. Almost [a] $190,000 [on-paper loss] in less than two years, in an area where we didn’t think that it would go this low. We’ll be fine, due to the sale of another house soon, but the feeling is one of being robbed. Eh, what the heck, we were part of the problem with the re-fi, but those were modest compared to the majority of them out there, and we did do well with what we pulled. We trust God to keep telling us what to do. If we’d listened to your advice, we would have sold the house two years ago [at the top of the market] and rented it back. That $190,000 in the bank would have been great. (Sigh.)

We’ll get by okay. I hope others are able to find their way out via some means that doesn’t include walking away from their homes and their responsibilities. – Randy in the People’s Republic of Kalifornia.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader KMA found a web site with photos of Antique Farm Tools dating from about 1600 to 1940 (chaff cutters, dibblers, flails, etc.). Though most are from England, Wales and Scotland, others from the USA are also included. Remember: Part of of our future lies in the past. Nineteenth Century technology is appropriate technology.

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Jack B. sent us this commentary link from The Economist: Bearish battalions. Continue to stay away from equities for the next few years, folks. They are a losing proposition in a credit-starved and slowing economy. As I’ve often said, if you want safety, then buy tangibles.

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Here is a “must read” piece in Barron’s by Alan Abelson: No Place to Hide. Here is key quote: “Credit for at least two decades has been what made our world go ’round, and suddenly somebody pulled the plug and it was gone. And gone, too, are the fabulous bubbles and booms that it so generously fed, leaving a horrible mess that we’re nowhere near mopping up.”

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Chris S. flagged this alarming news article: New West Nile virus strain may worsen epidemic

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“From housing to the dollar, banking to commodities, national debt to soaring Medicare and Social Security obligations: it’s difficult to see the period since 2002 as anything other than one of profligacy and utter fiscal mismanagement. I am not a bear by nature, but when you consider the average debt of the average household and the concentration of household assets in housing, it’s difficult to see happy retirements for many baby boomers.” – Brett Steenbarger

Note from JWR:

The following is another article for Round 17 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The writer of the best non-fiction article will win two valuable four day “gray” transferable Front Sight course certificates. (Worth up to $4,000!) Second prize is a copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, generously donated by Jake Stafford of Arbogast Publishing. Round 17 ends on July 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entries. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival will have an advantage in the judging.

Checking Your Preparedness with the PACE System, by Wolverine

I had been using the PACE system for years, I just didn’t know that is what it was called, or that it even had a formal name. I first read about the PACE acronym over on the Viking Preparedness site, in a post by Joe. Growing up we joked that the system was called one’s good, two’s better, and three is about right. It is the same spirit of “two is one and one is none” that the PACE system stresses.

PACE stands for Primary, Alternate, Contingency, and Emergency. It is a good solid way to break down your preps to make sure that your survivability is high. It doesn’t have to be a long hard plan, it can be very simple. Ask yourself the question for each major category of survival.

Water
What is your primary source of drinking water? If you are like most of us you turn on the faucet. Okay, your primary source is covered. Most likely all of us have the primary items covered by our “normal” living. You throw a light switch for lights, turn up the furnace for heat, and open the fridge for food. We live with our primary supply system.
The first level of survivability is at the Alternate level. When the power goes out-what next? For some it is 12 volt back up, others light candles, and still others fire up the Coleman lanterns. The totally unprepared sit in the dark and grumble. So what do you do when the power goes out and you can’t draw water from the system?
I can tell you my plan. I had to use it about a year ago when I still lived in town and the city put a No Drinking of Water notice on our block. I got the sealed water cooler bottles I had stored and opened one of them for drinking and cooking. The bottles cost under $4 each and hold 5 gallons of pure drinking water. There is no chemicals added and they store well. I checked with the dealer and found out that if I buy the natural water, same price, it will store well over five years as long as it is kept in a cool and dark place. They said it might store forever but they couldn’t tell me that. I keep four of them stored as my Alternate plan for water as well as several camping jugs, one gallon jugs and a couple cases of bottled water.

If we go into a long term situation and I run out of my stored water I have to fall back to my Contingency plan. I have a filter system that will allow me to make lots of drinking water before I have to change the filter. Either rain water or water from a point well can be cleaned and ready as needed. Another layer of my contingency plan is water tabs to us as well.

My emergency water will come from the stream a quarter mile to the west of my farm. I have a Katadyn filter to use to clear it and make it drinkable. We can also boil water to clean it. I can draw the water from my hot water tank if needed. We also have bleach. Our water back ups are more than just [three] PACE levels because water is so important. Besides, it is not that hard to develop a few good purification methods for water.

Heat
Without power we lose the furnace and our heat. We heat with propane so I can drop into the Alternate plan easily and turn on the fire place and the stove to heat our “cocoon” room. If needed, we can live in our kitchen/living room for days on end. While not really part of our PACE plan, it is good to know that we can heat a smaller area and stay comfortable during cold weather. Our contingency plan is to bring in the kerosene heater out of the barn and use it to heat the cocoon room. If we are in a long term grid down situation I can pull the fireplace insert and convert it to a wood burning fireplace in a matter of minutes. We consider that our emergency plan.

Food
I will not speak much about food because if you have read any of the survival blogs you know that you need to store food, canned and packaged, grow a garden, store grains, harvest wild edibles, and plan on hunting and trapping.

Shelter
I am very fortunate to live at my retreat. I moved back to the family farm less than a year ago. My wife and I had already stored a large amount of our preps in the barn and had planned to bug out to here even if the house was not completed. Our plan was to make as much of the house livable as possible if TSHTF. If that was not possible for us than we would build living quarters in the barn. Unable to do that we would put up a tent and camp out. Now that the house is complete and we are living in it we have revamped out plans to stay in the house and moved the living in the barn to our emergency plan.

Life in General
The PACE system is easy to understand and follow, and gets easier as you do more of it. Pick any aspect of survival you want and work out a PACE plan. Say you want to have weapons in your plan. Okay, primary will be your MBR. Your alternate might be your shotgun or bow and arrow. Contingency, sling shot. Emergency, Atlatl and spear.

Back ups to the back ups are a necessary part of life. You already use them and probably never thought about them as an emergency plan. If your car dies what do you do, call a friend for a ride, take the bus or ride a bike? More than likely you are already PACE-ing yourself. Keep that mindset toward the forefront of your thoughts and your prepping should get easier and deeper. – Wolverine