Attack of the Drones: Defending the Air Above Your Property, by RD, Prepper Law

Introduction

One night you suddenly see a drone hovering next to a window of your home. Outraged, you shoot it down. Somebody calls the police because they heard a firearm discharged, and ten minutes later you hear a knock on your door. Or, say a military plane swoops across your backyard, barely skimming the tops of your pine trees, and you hear a massive crash. You look out your window and see a fully intact missile stuck head first in the ground. Apparently the military accidentally dropped a bomb on your land. Can you do more than shake your fist?

The question: Who owns the air above your property?

You do, to a limit. The law says, “The entry of an aircraft into the airspace over land belonging to another person is privileged and lawful unless the entry is in such a manner as to interfere with the landowner’s use of the property beneath the airspace.” – 2A C.J.S. Aeronautics & Aerospace § 9

Your Property Rights

In property law, when you purchase land, you own what’s underneath. Yes, this is true all the way down to the center of the earth and the air above it, but it’s obviously not true to the moon. In short, your property is not just the dirt; it’s also the sky. However, in legalese, you own as much of the air above the surface as you can reasonably use in connection with the surface.

But how far up is “reasonable use”? Well, this is where the federal government comes in, and the federal government has exclusive sovereignty of U.S. airspace. The operative term is called “navigable airspace” (similar to navigable waters), and Congress delegated to the FAA the authority to define “navigable airspace” however it wants and also gave it the authority to regulate it. Note also the term Minimum Safe Altitude (MSA), which is a generic term that’s used to describe the altitude that’s unsafe to fly because of terrain and/or obstacles.

Navigable Airspace

At the present, according to FAA Regulations, “navigable airspace” is:

  • the minimum flight altitude of 1,000 feet while flying over congested areas, or open air assemblies of persons is 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle within a horizontal radius of 2,000 feet;
  • an altitude of 500 feet over uncongested areas (so airplanes can operate at an altitude of 500 feet above the surface); and
  • taking off and landing.

Airplanes can operate even lower when over “open water or sparsely populated areas.” But those aircraft must not get closer than 500 feet to any person, vehicle, or structure, except if:

  • the airplane needs to make an emergency landing, and the pilot must know that landing will not create an “undue hazard”;
  • when necessary for takeoff or landing; and
  • in an in-flight emergency requiring immediate action.

Government Overreach: How Much Power Over Your Airspace?

The above really applies to commercial aircraft. So, how low is too low before the government infringes upon your property? The FAA argues that it has authority to regulate aircraft in U.S. airspace at any altitude because according to Federal law, the FAA can “develop plans and policy for the use of the navigable airspace and assign by regulation or order the use of the airspace necessary to ensure the safety of aircraft and the efficient use of airspace.” This rule is broader than you think, which is no surprise because the government is always stretching the rules.

In addition, Congress gave the FAA the authority to prescribe “regulations and minimum standards for other practices, methods and procedure the [FAA] finds necessary for safety in air commerce and national security.” Under this section, the FAA regulates amateur rockets, motorized paragliders, and other vehicles below 500 feet. In other words, Congress has given the FAA nearly unlimited power to use “national security” to violate private owners’ airspace rights.

Finally, even if navigable airspace does not extend to the surface, the FAA has argued that it may regulate below navigable airspace because it can prescribe regulations “on the flight of aircraft for navigating, protecting, and identifying aircraft” and “protecting individuals and property on the ground.” While this seems helpful, it effectively gives the government the authority to trespass upon your airspace in order to “protect” whomever is on land.

Summary

Here are two important principles regarding airspace below the MSA from an important Supreme Court case:

  1. You have “exclusive control of the immediate reaches of the enveloping atmosphere”; and
  2. You own at least as much of the space above the ground as you can occupy or use in connection with your land.

However, these principles remain unclear, which is why airspace is still a controversial topic. At the moment, the FAA thinks it can regulate any and all airspace under the guise of national security. To limit the power of the federal government, the states should oppose the FAA overreach by arguing that regulating airspace below 500 feet is part of their traditional police powers. This still doesn’t solve the issue of private property rights, but it’s a closer step to preserve federalism.

Drones

Today, the hot button issue regarding airspace and privacy is the use of drones. Contrary to large aircraft, drones are quiet, and they often fly well below navigable airspace. As a result of increased drone technology and use (from military surveillance to Amazon deliveries), it’s very possible that “navigable airspace” could be lowered to the point of threatening the traditional airspace rights of property owners.

So, back to the opening question: What do you do if you see that drone above your property? The law hasn’t fully developed, but here is an example.

Letter Re: Universal Basic Income

Hugh,

Regarding the piece on Universal Basic Income in SB edition of 12-13-16, please consider the following:

Neither Charles Murray nor Milton Friedman are/were “libertarians”. The best operational definition of the term “Libertarian” is one who rejects the “initiation” of force as a method to achieve social or political objectives. It is the absolute right of any and all individuals to engage in the free exercise of the rights appurtenant to their existence. Neither Murray nor Friedman acknowledge this universal truth. Both engage in a discussion more akin to a question such as: “How many lashes may a master administer to a slave for insubordination?” In fact, the question in priority is: “Can slavery morally exist in a free society?”

Implicit in the examination of the question of “Universal Basic Income” is the presumption that such a system is morally proper, and that there is a “legitimate authority” to implement such a system. There are two, and only two, ways to exchange goods and services. They are:

1. By persuasion, through voluntary action between a willing buyer and a willing seller.

2. By force, as dictated by individuals or groups of individuals regarding various aspects of economic transactions.

The first recognizes the intrinsic “inalienable” rights of the individual. The second denies same and presumes that the individual is somehow subordinate to an individual (the king?) or some form of group (government, warlords, gangs, et cetera). To the degree that force is introduced into any economic transaction, by any entity, that transaction is to that degree immoral and is in violation of the inalienable rights of the participants. There are no exceptions to this universal truth. “ ‘A’ is ‘A’ ”, Ayn Rand.

Economics and Investing:

Something Wicked This Way Comes

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Italy proves that banks are not the risk-free fantasy we’re told to believe

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Video: Silver Manipulation, Mining Stocks & Freedom: Mike Maloney & David Morgan (Part 1) “It turns out the tin foil hats were right.”

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Italy lawmakers approve 20 billion euro plan to prop up banks

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SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Top 5 SHTF ‘Surprises’ – P.S.

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Immigration – B.B.

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Arrest made in ‘Vote Trump’ burning of Mississippi black church. Called a racial HATE CRIME, this sounds more like “a selfie false flag event”. – D.S.

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Consumer watchdogs say popular toys are secretly spying on your children – DSV

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Germany Tried to Deport Berlin Truck Terrorist… “Couldn’t” Because Home Country Wouldn’t Take Him – B.B.

Notes for Wednesday – December 21, 2016

On December 21, 1620, William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims landed on what is now known as Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

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Today, we present another entry for Round 68 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $15,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A $3000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate that is good for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,195 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper with a hammer forged, chrome-lined barrel and a hard case to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel, which can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools and a compact carry capability in a hard case or 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Gun Mag Warehouse is providing 20 Magpul PMAG 30-rd Magazines (a value of $300) and a Gun Mag Warehouse T-Shirt; (an equivalent prize will be awarded for residents in states with magazine restrictions),
  6. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  7. The Ark Institute is donating a non-GMO, non-hybrid vegetable seed package (enough for two families of four) plus seed storage materials, a CD-ROM of Geri Guidetti’s book “Build Your Ark! How to Prepare for Self Reliance in Uncertain Times”, and two bottles of Potassium Iodate (a $325 retail value),
  8. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  9. Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Second Prize:

  1. A Tactical Self-Contained 2-Series Solar Power Generator system from Always Empowered. This compact starter power system is packaged in a wheeled O.D. green EMP-shielded Pelican hard case (a $2,400 value),
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. A gift certificate for any two or three-day class from Max Velocity Tactical (a $600 value),
  4. A transferable certificate for a two-day Ultimate Bug Out Course from Florida Firearms Training (a $400 value),
  5. A Trekker IV™ Four-Person Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $250 value),
  6. A $200 gift certificate good towards any books published by PrepperPress.com,
  7. A pre-selected assortment of military surplus gear from CJL Enterprize (a $300 value),
  8. An infrared sensor/imaging camouflage shelter from Snakebite Tactical in Eureka, Montana (A $350+ value),
  9. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site, and
  10. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A custom made Sage Grouse model utility/field knife from custom knife-maker Jon Kelly Designs, of Eureka, Montana,
  3. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  4. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  5. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
  6. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  7. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances,
  8. Montie Gear is donating a Y-Shot Slingshot and a $125 Montie gear Gift certificate.,
  9. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value), and
  10. Fifteen LifeStraws from SafeCastle (a $300 value).
  11. A $250 gift certificate to Tober’s Traditions, makers of all natural (organic if possible) personal care products, such as soap, tooth powder, deodorant, sunscreen, lotion, and more.

Round 68 ends on January 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Bugging Out With Young Children- Part 2, by MPB

In Part 1, I described why I believe it is impossible to bugout into the woods with just a rifle and a backpack when you have young children in tow. In Part 2 I’ll be offering suggestions on what can be done to get your children to safety when you have no choice but to leave home.

Before I get into that though, let me stress that by far the best advice when you have kids (or even if you don’t) is to live at your bugout location if at all possible. Besides the many reasons outlined by JWR in his writings, let me add that it will be much easier on your children. A disaster is a traumatic event, and kids will be much better able to cope if they can stay in their normal environment and maintain at least some of their normal routines.

However, if you must go, here are some important tips:

  1. You must have a place where you are going, not a part of the country or an area with which you are familiar but a specific address. If you don’t own the property, make sure the residents of that address know you, expect you, and will welcome you in. Ideally this should be the home/homestead of a like-minded family member or a close friend. Helpful hint: They’ll be much more likely to welcome you if you’ve pre-positioned a large amount of supplies at their location.

    Unfortunately, young children are not very helpful. Kids may earn you a bit of charity here and there, but it would be unreasonable to expect a stranger to take in a family of five refugees knowing that only one of them will actually be able to give back in the form of meaningful labor. (Remember the other parent is taking care of the kids full time.)

  2. Bring help if you can. If you know any others who are heading to the same destination (such as your parents or a sibling), try to meet up with them and travel together. To some extent there is safety in numbers, and it will also spread out the burden of carrying and caring for your children among other adults.
  3. Travel in your vehicle as far as possible. Remember, children on foot will potentially only be traveling about three miles a day. Even if you have to wait in your vehicle three days until the traffic clears, it will take only a few minutes to make up the distance you would otherwise have walked. Try to get out early and plan your route to avoid bridges, cities or towns, and any other choke point that might prevent you from driving to your final destination. A vehicle is the best way to carry all the supplies you’ll need to keep your family going while evacuating. Abandon it only as a very last resort.
  4. If you must leave your vehicle, you need some other means of conveyance. As I mentioned, you can’t carry both a backpack full of supplies and a child. There are many options that will let you pull both when needed. These will also allow you to move much faster than a child’s walking pace, although keep in mind that they will still slow you down quite a bit from your single-adult walking pace. A heavy duty jogging stroller can carry a child over fairly rough terrain and has the bonus feature of doubling as a bed for your little ones. I recommend a folding double stroller even if you only have one child, so that you can transport more supplies. Other options could be a sturdy garden cart (very useful even after you reach your destination), a deer cart (easy to maneuver through wooded areas), or a sturdy child’s wagon (avoid the cheap plastic ones that can’t really go off road). I would even consider using a large recycling cart on wheels if you can get your hands on one. Just make sure it is clean. (I wouldn’t recommend using a used trash cart because of the smell and risk of bacteria/mold/etc that may be growing inside.) A recycling cart could even provide a simple shelter for one adult or two small children in a pinch.
  5. Bring a serious tent if there is any chance you will spend the night outdoors. As I mentioned above, you can’t throw together an emergency shelter for five people made out of all natural materials just before nightfall. Because you’ll have your vehicle or another means of conveyance with you, you can carry a serious tent. I would recommend buying a tent sized for one or two more people than will be traveling with you. That way you’ll have room to keep some supplies and equipment out of the rain as well.
  6. Bring food that your kids will actually eat. Never assume that if kids are hungry enough they’ll eat anything. That’s just not how most of them work. One box of cheerios will be worth a lot more than a #10 can of beef jerky, even if it doesn’t have nearly as many calories. With very young children, what they are willing and able to eat can change pretty rapidly. In those cases you might not want to rely entirely on a pre-packed supply of food in a bugout bag that gets rotated every six months. Instead (or in addition to that), plan to run to the pantry with a shopping bag and throw in whatever it is they’ve been eating well for the last couple of weeks.
  7. Avoid trouble at all costs. This means avoiding crowds, refugee camps, and pretty much all other travelers as much as possible. It will quickly become apparent to anyone watching you that you’ve got resources. Children are vulnerable, and they make an easy target for anyone who wants to “negotiate” for your supplies. The best way to protect your children is to avoid desperate/unprepared people altogether.

    As uncomfortable as it will be, I also recommend thinking ahead of time about potential scenarios in which someone does try to harm your children. You and your spouse should really spend time talking together about the best course of action. To whatever extent you can, create a plan now for how you will react and make those tough moral choices ahead of time. When someone has a knife to your daughter’s throat, it is not the time to think through the implications of negotiation vs. opening fire.

  8. Teach your children everything you can now. Children are constantly learning. In age-appropriate ways, introduce them to survival skills. It might start out with teaching a 2-year-old that fire is hot; don’t touch. At four, he might be ready to learn that matches and lighters create fire; don’t play with them. By six, your child could probably learn to safely add wood to a fire and roast a hotdog, and by eight he may be able to start a campfire with matches on his own. A similar process can take place for any skills you want to pass on to your children, but the timing and the exact steps involved will likely be unique for each child. Teaching children can be difficult and slow, but it is also extremely rewarding. Everything they can do for themselves makes the burden that much less on you.

As a final thought, I’d like to encourage those who haven’t yet read it to get a copy of JWR’s novel Liberators. In that book, he describes a successful bugout by a young family. The family utilizes many of the tips I’ve described here. They are heading for a specific location (a friend’s house in another state), they stay in their vehicle as long as possible, when forced to abandon their vehicle they obtain two deer carts to carry supplies, and they wisely strike off on their own rather than head toward a known refugee camp.

If you don’t already have kids, you may have read this article and concluded, “I don’t ever want to become a parent. Why would I willingly take responsibility for a group of slow, heavy, picky, loud, curious, unhelpful, vulnerable little people?” The answer lies in the other things that children are. They are also precious, lovely, funny, wonderful gifts from God. They stretch us in so many ways, causing us to grow. They inspire us, motivate us, and fill us with indescribable joy. Some of the most fulfilling moments of my life have involved passing on my faith and my skills to my children. There is truly nothing like it. And in a real sense, raising the next generation of godly, self-sufficient men and women is the ultimate goal of survival in the first place.

– Soli Deo Gloria (All for the Glory of God)

Letter: Getting First Aid Supplies Tax Free

Hello,

I just found a neat, and new to me, way of purchasing first aid supplies with pre-tax dollars that I thought I would share. For some years now I have taken advantage of my company’s Flexible Spending Account (FSA) program. For the unfamiliar, an FSA is money withheld from your paycheck that allows you to purchase eligible items with pre-tax dollars and is offered by many employers. If you have regular vision, dental, or copay expenses, it’s a great way to pay for these things. As I had more money withheld than I had spent this year, I wanted to make sure that it didn’t go to waste as plans are use-it or lose-it. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I could purchase Adventure Medical Kits and a number of other supplies that I would consider to be good preps online at fsastore.com with my FSA card. Now I’ve got two fairly comprehensive first aid kits coming my way with money that otherwise would have gone to waste. While some plans may allow carrying over these funds into the next year, you should check your actual deadlines as YMMV. – Jason in Colorado

JWR’s Comment: This is a useful tip, but under many corporate FSA programs this is earmarked as “use to or lose it” money. Under such circumstances, it is crucial that employees mark their calendars and spend those pre-tax dollars in the time allotted or risk forfeiting them.

Economics and Investing:

Bail-Ins Coming? World’s Oldest Bank “Survival Rests On Savers” – DSV

o o o

America created 10 million new jobs in the last decade. Almost all of them are temporary or contract gigs. – G.G.

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GM Inventories Highest in 8 Years, Multiple Plant Shutdowns Coming

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U.K. Retail Sales Grow at Fastest Pace in More Than a Year

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SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.

JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

Books:

Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand. (Later made into a feature film of the same name, now available on DVD.)

Fool’s Talk by Os Guiness

Young Men and FireYoung Men and Fire by Norman MacLean

Movies:

Sully. Tom Hanks plays pilot Chesley Sullenberger, who made an emergency water landing on the Hudson River, saving all of his 155 passengers.

Lone Survivor. (Mark Wahlberg plays Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell.)

Television:

12 Monkeys A time traveler from 2043 attempts to prevent a global pandemic that killed seven billion people, by traveling back to our present day. Originally aired on the SyFy channel. Season 1 is now available on Hulu.com. Both Season 1 (available now) and Season 2 (pre-order for shipment in January) on are on DVD from Amazon.com.

Note: This series is a much more detailed storyline than in the feature film of the same name that starred Bruce Willis.

Dark Matter. This sci-fi series is not quite Firefly but something close.

Music:

Jean Michel Jarre: Recollection

Afro-Celt Sound System: Capture 1995-2010

Instructional Videos:

John Heisz: My Top Ten Workshop Projects

Money Making Welding Projects – 3 Point Carryalls (Three Parts)

Magazines:

Molly Green

Backwoodsman

Blogs:

Notes From The Bunker

Podcasts:

Lost Skills Podcast

The Self-Sufficient Gardener

Gear:

U.S. Military Surplus Heavy Duty 25mm Ammo Boxes. These bargain-priced boxes (two for $40, postage paid!) are sold by a long-time sponsor of our non-fiction writing contest– CJL Enterprise.

Fox Outdoor Products Rifle Butt Stock Cheek Rest, Olive Drab

Clothes:

SCOTTeVEST Enforcer Jacket – 30 Pockets (CCW Tactical)

Comfort Fit Men’s Microfiber Fleece Lined Thermal Top & Bottom Underwear Set

Odds ‘n Sods:

How to Store Vegetables Without a Root Cellar – DSV

o o o

CNN Responds to Islamic Terror Attack in Berlin by Blaming Conservatives – T.P.

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Egyptian police arrest five people for using children to stage fake ‘Aleppo’ footage – W.C.

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Russian diplomat ‘found dead from gunshot wounds at home just hours after ambassador killed at art exhibition’ – DSV

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An interesting article. These stingrays have grown in use over the recent years. Imagine an aerial based platform, small, and remotely operated. Cell site simulators – Congressional Report and article – G.S.

Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“In all our associations; in all our agreements let us never lose sight of this fundamental maxim – that all power was originally lodged in, and consequently is derived from, the people.” – George Mason

Notes for Tuesday – December 20, 2016

On December 20th, 1606, the Virginia Company loaded three ships with settlers and set sail to establish Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in the Americas.

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Today, we present another entry for Round 68 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $15,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A $3000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate that is good for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,195 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper with a hammer forged, chrome-lined barrel and a hard case to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel, which can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools and a compact carry capability in a hard case or 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Gun Mag Warehouse is providing 20 Magpul PMAG 30-rd Magazines (a value of $300) and a Gun Mag Warehouse T-Shirt; (an equivalent prize will be awarded for residents in states with magazine restrictions),
  6. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  7. The Ark Institute is donating a non-GMO, non-hybrid vegetable seed package (enough for two families of four) plus seed storage materials, a CD-ROM of Geri Guidetti’s book “Build Your Ark! How to Prepare for Self Reliance in Uncertain Times”, and two bottles of Potassium Iodate (a $325 retail value),
  8. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  9. Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Second Prize:

  1. A Tactical Self-Contained 2-Series Solar Power Generator system from Always Empowered. This compact starter power system is packaged in a wheeled O.D. green EMP-shielded Pelican hard case (a $2,400 value),
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. A gift certificate for any two or three-day class from Max Velocity Tactical (a $600 value),
  4. A transferable certificate for a two-day Ultimate Bug Out Course from Florida Firearms Training (a $400 value),
  5. A Trekker IV™ Four-Person Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $250 value),
  6. A $200 gift certificate good towards any books published by PrepperPress.com,
  7. A pre-selected assortment of military surplus gear from CJL Enterprize (a $300 value),
  8. An infrared sensor/imaging camouflage shelter from Snakebite Tactical in Eureka, Montana (A $350+ value),
  9. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site, and
  10. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A custom made Sage Grouse model utility/field knife from custom knife-maker Jon Kelly Designs, of Eureka, Montana,
  3. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  4. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  5. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
  6. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  7. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances,
  8. Montie Gear is donating a Y-Shot Slingshot and a $125 Montie gear Gift certificate.,
  9. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value), and
  10. Fifteen LifeStraws from SafeCastle (a $300 value).
  11. A $250 gift certificate to Tober’s Traditions, makers of all natural (organic if possible) personal care products, such as soap, tooth powder, deodorant, sunscreen, lotion, and more.

Round 68 ends on January 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Bugging Out With Young Children- Part 1, by MPB

The concept of bugging out is an integral part of preparing for an uncertain future. I won’t list them here, but there are dozens of reasons why it may be necessary to leave your home/homestead on very short notice. Page after digital page has been published online addressing this subject… some of it quite good and some of it good for nothing more than a laugh.

But there is one aspect of bugging out that I think has been largely overlooked in the survival community. It is the special considerations needed when bugging out with young children. My focus in this article is on families with one or more children in the age range of 1-10. I’m not writing as an expert on child development but as a father of two boys who has spent a lot of time thinking about this subject out of concern for my own family.

If you don’t have your own children in this age range, please keep reading anyway. If you are young enough you may have children someday, and if you are old enough you may have grandchildren someday. In any case, you may find yourself in a situation where this knowledge would enable you to help a young family in need of guidance when that day comes.

In the first part of this article I will address what can’t be done in terms of bugging out with young children, and in the second part I will offer tips on what can be done.

To get started, I will state emphatically that you cannot bugout with young children. It cannot be done. End of story. But before you get too discouraged, let me explain. What is impossible with young children is the stereotypical, bugout-fantasy of heading off into the wilderness with a rucksack on your back and a rifle in your hand, determined to live off the land like the mountain men of old.

The follies of this theory have been pointed out numerous times on SurvivalBlog, so I won’t get into them here. I’ll just say this: some people might argue that a young, healthy individual with the right skill set and the right tools could “live off the land”, but no one can argue that such a person could support a family of five “off the land”.

Don’t believe me? Then go to the local library and look for a book on wilderness survival for families. Even the few books written with children in mind generally assume the child is lost and alone. Search Amazon for “bug out children”, and the first book that pops up shows a dog in a ladybug suit. There are thousands of videos on Youtube showing how one person can build an emergency shelter to get himself through a long cold night, but I didn’t find any on how one person can quickly throw together an emergency shelter that allows an entire family to sleep warm and safe for the night before they continue their bugout journey at dawn.

Why is a stereotypical bugout impossible with young children? First, it’s because children are slow. A very fit 25-year-old might travel cross country at two or three miles per hour for up to 25 miles in a day on foot. So, if your bugout location is 75 miles away, you’ll be there in three days. However, a healthy young 5-year-old will travel at a pace closer to ½ mile per hour and cover maybe three miles in a day. So now, it will take 25 days to reach your bugout location, and you’ll need an awfully big backpack to carry 25 days worth of food.

“It’s no problem,” you might think, “I’ll just carry my little ones, like we do when we’re at the mall.” That brings us to our second point: children are heavy. Though many of us would struggle to do it, a good prepper fitness goal is to be able to carry a 40lb bugout bag on a multi-day hike. Well, guess what? That is almost exactly the median weight of a 5 year old(1). So, if you are carrying your children on your back, you won’t be carrying much else: not much food, not much water, not much with which to make shelter, and not much in terms of self defense.

Can you partially offset that lack of carrying capacity by foraging for wild edibles? Probably not, because many children are picky eaters. Most wild edibles taste different than the foods we eat on a regular basis, and to a child “different” usually means “yucky”. Add to that this consideration: in the absence of human competition, a skilled forager might find enough calories to sustain himself for quite a while (at least during certain times of the year). But in the long-term, a family of five will need at least 10,000 calories per day to break even; that’s 3,000 calories for dad, 2,500 for mom, and 1,500 for each of three kids. For reference, that equates to gathering about 39 pounds of blueberries, 78 pounds of unprocessed cattail root, or six pounds of raw acorns each and every day(2). Gathering and processing that quantity of food would drain nearby resources fast and wouldn’t leave much time for any of the other activities essential for survival.

Hunting, fishing, and trapping are other options for bringing in calories (although human competition is likely to quickly decimate the wild animal population in most areas). Again, though, few of the websites that advocate this have in mind what you would actually need to feed a whole family. It comes out to about 76 individual squirrels, 13 individual rabbits, or 19 pounds of trout each day or about one whole deer every six days to meet your family’s calorie needs(2). Hunting, fishing, and especially trapping also all require gear, and remember that you can’t carry much of that because of the weight of the children. Also, keep in mind that children are loud. You won’t have much success stalking a buck with an 18-month-old strapped to your chest. So the kids will have to stay back at the camp.

This leads in to the next point: someone will have to watch the children almost constantly, because children are curious. Don’t think that both Mom and Dad can be out hunting at the same time to bring in those 13 rabbits. Most young children simply aren’t mature enough to be left alone at your shelter in the woods where you (presumably) have an open fire, some knives sitting around, a loaded firearm or two, and endless opportunities to get lost. As any stay-at-home mom can tell you, keeping two or three children changed, fed, safe, and marginally clean is a full-time job for one person. Don’t expect it to get any easier if you are fleeing for your lives in a disaster.

Someone out there is probably thinking, “Wait a minute. It can’t be as bad as you’re making it out to be. The Native Americans lived off the land while frequently moving around among hostile tribes. If they can do it, so can I!” I would point out that they had a few key advantages over us: a very low population density, a very high ratio of resources to people, and the accumulated wisdom and skills passed down by generations before them who had lived that lifestyle. A little research also shows that despite those advantages, their lives were much harder and shorter than the idyllic picture we often imagine. The life expectancy of the very healthiest Native American tribes has been estimated at 35 years(3) and the child mortality rate in the pre-industrial world was about 20-30%(4).

So if the balloon goes up and you grab your family and march out into the woods, it probably isn’t going to end well for you. In a day or two you’ll find yourself 10 miles from home, carrying your children, with no food and very little gear, facing the hopeless task of providing your family with shelter, water, and 10,000 calories per day.

I know this is a gloomy picture, but I thought it was important to go into the details of why the stereotypical bugout is impossible with young children. I don’t want anyone to start thinking “Maybe I could pull it off if I just…” It can’t be done, period. Tune in tomorrow to find out what actually can be done to get our children and families to safety in a hurry when it really counts.

Notes:

(1) Median weight of children was taken from this website on 28Oct16: http://www.cdc.gov/growthcharts/clinical_charts.htm#Set1

(2) Calorie counts for various wild foods were taken from these websites on 28Oct16: https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list http://woodtrekker.blogspot.com/2013/09/living-off-land-delusions-and.html

(3) Native American life expectancy was taken from this website on 27Oct16: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/29/science/don-t-blame-columbus-for-all-the-indians-ills.html

(4) Child mortality rate estimate was taken from this website on 28Oct16: http://www.pbs.org/fmc/timeline/dmortality.htm