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HomePosts Tagged "Preppers" (Page 9)

 

I’m a mother of two in Texas who is very concerned about the very real possibility of SHTF happening within the next several years. I began prepping in 2011 after having a series of nightmares about a huge disaster where people were hungry, thirsty and afraid. I wasn’t very informed of worldly affairs at the time, but after researching current events I found enough reasons to begin prepping.

My major fears are: civil war, severe societal unrest, world war and economic collapse. After reading about the ‘just in time’ delivery in the USA I decided that I wasn’t going to be one of the American parents who had to explain to their kids why they don’t have enough food or preparations when the power goes off permanently. I realized even squirrels with their tiny brains have a survival instinct to store food. I think it is very sad that so many Americans are completely oblivious and unprepared for the many disasters which might change their lives forever, seemingly overnight.

I’m writing this article to share my personal preparation ideas because I hope that others benefit from my slightly different ideas on what a SHTF lifestyle could look like. When I first began preparing I looked for lists of preparedness items and tried my best to purchase as many as possible. After I had accumulated a reasonable supply of all the standard ‘beans, bullets and Band-Aids’ I found myself always asking myself what I am missing. I was bothered by the nagging idea that preparations are never enough for a truly long-term disaster. I began watching apocalypse and zombie movies and documentaries about survivalism to try to consider what went wrong for the characters in the movies and what could make life easier if I had thought of it ahead of SHTF.

I consider prepping an ongoing lifestyle and opportunity to create fun, educational experiences with my kids. Here is a list of some of the items that make me feel comforted to have considered and my rationalization for including these items. Some of these items are ‘essential for long-term survival’ and some are part of my plan to create happiness and safety because I was able to think outside the box about unusual preparations and ways to prepare.

I am not afraid of SHTF because I believe that humans are uniquely gifted to create happiness and hope in all situations.

1. Music: One of my favorite preparations is the joy of music. I tend to be pre-occupied with crank or hand-operated vintage technology. I started collecting crank phonographs and old 78’s. My son and I love to have a quiet night playing old records just for fun, even when not in SHTF mode. It is fun to collect old music and discover old genres. I consider a lot of my preparations part of my son’s educational enhancement. I discovered crank phonographs can use cactus needles instead of metal needles and I have several cactus plants in my garden that have needles. I also have aloe Vera cactuses which obviously have several medicinal uses. I added some string instruments and music books to my preparations. I think that if times are very bad, music heals the soul.

2. Entertainment: I think entertainment in general is an overlooked preparation. I collect games and books about old pioneer and Victorian period games and ways to entertain. It is a good idea to disengage from technology and realize that when the lights go out life can be fun and families can enjoy their time together. Researching and reenacting old forgotten activities is educational and healthy. We live in an isolated society where everything is geared toward non-human activities.

Preparing means you cover more bases than you think you will ever need to.

Part of my preparations includes activities which engage our family in older, forgotten hobbies.

3. Books: After collecting SHTF books I concluded that education supplies and art supplies will be rare and important during SHTF. Any books that explain old skills, home medicines, herbs, seed saving, gardening, wine making, cheese making or other pioneer type skills are valuable. I collect these plus books on Native American survival, Bushcraft, edible plants, edible insects as well as the standard survival books. I found some good books for where there is no dentist or doctor in third world countries. I am not fond of the idea of eating insects but the thought of watching my children starve sounds worse than rounding up some cicadas. I think part of being prepared is being ready to consider options that are not appealing. I’ve heard stories of people in the Middle East who were trapped during wars and ate stray cats. Since I don’t plan to eat my cats, I prepare for them instead. It is a good idea to understand what insects and plants are edible. Several books like the Anarchist’s cookbook have good survival ideas. I believe having a huge library is essential for SHTF. After SHTF when society rebuilds, these libraries will be of utmost importance, in particular we need to preserve the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the writings of the founding fathers of the USA.

4. Think Third World: I researched survival items in third world countries. I found water filters, like the TIVA, designed for Africa and added this to my more fancy water filter and water barrel. I found camp stoves like the BIOLIGHT designed for third world counties which run on sticks and charge cell phones. Third world countries also rely on a disinfectant called DETOL which is quite cheap and has many clever uses, even for make shift hospitals where there is no good medical care.

5. Liquid Fish: On accident, I discovered the many uses of fish fertilizers. Not only do they work very well as fertilizers but they are cheap and very smelly. I believe they would mask the scent of food as well as deter looters because if the front of your house were doused in liquid fish no one would be able to stand trying to break into your house. Or, at least it makes your house less desirable.

Bushcraft 101: A Field Guide to the Art of Wilderness Survival

6. Archery: I learned archery with my kids. We like instinctive shooting with recurve bows. We learned how to repair arrows and I feel great peace thinking we have a good supply of arrows in the event the bullets run out one day. We also accumulated traps and books about trapping just in case. Part of thinking outside the box is considering a plan for after plans A, B and C run out so that you have several methods to try achieving basic needs.

7. Think Solar: I bought a solar oven and dehydrator set and some books on solar cooking. I also bought books on drying, preserving, curing and storing things without refrigeration. Of course, the cast iron camping supplies are useful but I like to have multiple methods for cooking. Solar items are very interesting. I’m not sure but I think they have to be stored in Faraday cages just in case of an EMP or Solar Flare. Solar lights are not that expensive and I found strings of outdoor lights for as little as $10. Solar generators, fans and other items could be highly appreciated one day. Some solar garden lights are very beautiful and when the lights go out they could bring a peaceful atmosphere. Black out curtains could be quite useful in this event as well.

8. Think Pioneer, Victorian, and Old School: As a hobby I am learning about growing tobacco, wine making, beer making, cheese making and other old skills. These activities are very fun to endeavor with family and great for preparedness. I find preparing is a lot more fun when it becomes an ongoing activity you share with your family as hobbies and learning experiences. Tobacco would be a great trading item and also doubles as an antiseptic. I believe that distilling water removes radioactive particles and is an important skill for certain SHTF scenarios.

9. Bicycles: If there are no cars, bikes will become important. Tandems are really fun. Those bike carriers for kids are useful trunks for your bike. Tandems are a joy for kids and a good way to become healthier. I enjoy any activity that triples as a preparation, a fun activity with my kids and a way to become healthier.

Tandem bike fun.

10. Think Holidays: If SHTF it would be awesome to have a few presents you hid for your children just to make an upcoming birthday slightly more normal. Sewing might one day become valuable and can also double as a way to create presents from recycled items like old clothes or blankets.

11. Think Hand Operated: Crank flashlights are very cheap and easy to find. There are zillions of hand-operated kitchen items from the 50’s and 60’s. I bought a hand crank meat grinder, a hand crank grain mill and a hand-operated herb grinder. Stored grains often get bugs and a good hand-operated grain sifter is useful. In the movies people always die because they lack hand-operated can openers.

12. Survival Medicine: Medical kits are very important. After assembling the standard survival kits, even including gas masks and iodine, I began to wonder about medicines. I stored fish antibiotics, antibiotics from overseas and a variety of homeopathic medicines. I realized there is a treasure trove of cures in the kitchen and it is easy to accumulate a huge supply of vinegar, baking soda, salt and spices. Vitamins, herbs and herbal seeds are a good idea as well. I had overlooked getting a snake bite kit but it occurred to me that snakes are a problem where I live, especially if no one were cutting the grass. Also, yeast is an issue in hot climates and I can’t think of a worse time to get a yeast infection than SHTF, thus stocking up on yeast cream is definitely important. There are also kits for bleeding and heavy trauma, including special bandages which clot bleeding. Hiking and camping medical supplies are often very helpful for traumatic injuries. I imagine that lice will become an issue in SHTF which is usually cured with over the counter medications or even olive oil. Parasites could get out of hand during SHTF so it is clever to stock up on parasite cleanses.

13. Think of Alternative Uses: Bleach and Clorox are not only good for cleaning but they could be used for self-defense if desperate. Several common items double as self-defense items. In history, several rebellions were won with farming tools. In my opinion, I will never become ‘chopped liver’ in the face of a home intruder. If my mom could fight off a burglar with her crystal bowl, I figure that weapons are all around us depending on our creativity and determination.

We learned how to repair arrows and I feel great peace thinking we have a good supply of arrows in the event the bullets run out one day.

14. Lock Picks: SHTF isn’t the time to find yourself without important hand tools, including a really good set of lock picks. Lock picking can be a fun and useful hobby that comes in handy in a variety of situations, saves you money and has a multiplicity of SHTF uses.

15. Clocks: Wind up clocks and sundials keep time without electricity. Part of a normal life is marking time and knowing which days are holidays or special days.

16. Water from Inside Your Home: You can use a solar generator with a dehumidifier to suck water right out of the air and then purify it. If desperate and unable to get water outside your house this could be a lifesaving idea.

17. Sanitation: Sanitation is a giant concern for SHTF. A camping toilet is necessary plus determining how to have an endless supply of toilet paper. Re-usable baby wipes can be washed. Old time wash buckets and a washing line, re-usable sanitary pads and solar showers are good additions to your preps.

As a mom, I want to be confident that I did everything possible to keep my family not only safe but also happy and healthy.

18. Redefine Normal: I realized a need to redefine my relationship with technology as well as money. What is ‘wealth’ during SHTF? What will people trade for a can of tuna, a roll of toilet paper, some seeds or a hotel bottle of shampoo?

19. Fire: I was bothered by how to start fire after the matches are gone and lighters are out of fluid. I stored magnifier glasses, parabolic fire starters as well as flint fire starters.

20. Recycle and Replant: Along with the standard survival seed gardens, I realized it is fun to learn how to save seeds and even re-plant parts of fruit and vegetables that we buy at the store on a regular basis. I like this preparation because it is basically free and fun for my kids. Pineapples are my favorite plant to replant from the part of the pineapple usually thrown in the garbage. I researched replanting fruit and vegetables from the parts you toss into the garbage and found a wealth of helpful information. You can recycle a lot of garbage into survival items. Heavy trash day can yield a treasure trove of goodies your neighbors discarded, minimally a constant supply of pots for gardening. Websites like ‘Freecycle’ can yield lots of survival goodies for free.

21. Learn from Your Environment: I lived through a hurricane where I was out of power for one week. I learned several important lessons during this trial run without power. I always store many bottles of water in the freezer to prolong the freezer time after the power outage. I always have a mental inventory of what needs to be eaten first from the fridge and the freezer. I realized how fast sanitation becomes an issue. I also realized the need to, if forewarned, stock up on as much water as humanly possible.

22. Heat: I don’t live in an area where heat is important but if I did I would buy a wood burning stove. I might get one anyway, it is on my wish list.

23. Bug and Pest Control: Mosquitoes and other bothersome pests can get out of hand during SHTF due to unsanitary conditions and lack of local response. This is especially a problem in the southern states and mild climates where a deep freeze doesn’t kill bugs and rodents. I found some plants naturally deter mosquitoes and there are a lot of home remedies for pest control.

24. Think of the Unpleasant: I realized it is better to consider some of the darker SHTF possibilities in advanced of being in the middle of an ordeal. For example, it is intelligent to formulate a plan to deal with insane people around you who turn into cannibals. Psychotic people whose medications run out and how to deal with mass burials if necessary. Sometimes life delivers very unpleasant experiences but it is better to face and overcome those obstacles with a plan, hopefully formulated in advance in order to gather necessary supplies.

25. Get a Plan: I learned ‘having a plan and executing it with determination is better than having no plan whatsoever.’ I add that having a backup plan upon another back up plan is ideal.

If SHTF people will die of

  1. Starvation
  2. Diseases due to lack of sanitation
  3. Violence and war.

As a mom, I want to be confident that I did everything possible to keep my family not only safe but also happy and healthy. I found that the best way to prepare is create a plan and then develop it over time. I mentally place my family in all sorts of disasters and imagine what coping methods are available and supplies are needed. I consider long-term situations and how to make the best of life without power. I am excited for whatever opportunities God places in my path because in life we have to consciously choose to survive, to love and to be happy. I do not live in fear of the future because I know that I have exhausted every avenue to prepare my family for whatever disasters come our way. I have resolved to do whatever is necessary for the survival of my beloved family and to always protect our freedom and health.

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  I’m a mother of two in Texas who is very concerned about the very real possibility of SHTF happening within the next several years. I began prepping in 2011 after

 

You were right! The SHTF event you have been preparing for has happened and you and your family are ready. Your bug-out bags are packed; your weapons are locked and loaded and you have trained your family for this moment, you have a plan and you’re putting it into operation.

Then it happens, the one thing that you didn’t foresee.

You are suddenly face to face with someone else, blood races through your body as the adrenaline kicks in….your family frozen in place behind you…arm straightened out in front of you, your finger on the trigger cramping up with the tension of the moment.

A lifetime flashes by in a blink of an eye.

Then the sound of the click breaks the silences as you remove your finger off the trigger and your thumb flips up the safety.

The person or people in front of you are not a danger they are just PWBs’ – Prepper wannabes

They are scared and it’s obvious they aren’t prepared for the SHTF event you are going through. It is like suddenly coming across someone in a lake, struggling in deep water, over their heads and panicking. What do you do? Let them drown? Let them die? Your wife and kids are looking to you for the answer. Perhaps there are others in your group, but you’re a take charge type of person. You made the decisions during your family’s training and now, you are suddenly facing the one thing you or your group didn’t really plan for.

Suddenly you find yourself accepting them, suddenly; it is not just about being prepared or about just having to take care of your family or your group. You’re the leader, you’re the Sergeant of your growing group. You now have a number of unknown survivors, with your group or do you? Did you plan for this? Should you have planned for this?

If your plans call for keeping all the food in a central location. Have them collect food, water and any other items from their homes and bring it to that location.

If you were to ask 1,000 different preppers, it is safe to say that you would get about that many different answers. Yet it could very well happen to you.

There are many survival articles that talk about being the gray man, keeping a low profile or the need to be prepared for the gangs or marauders that will be out and about in a SHTF situation. This is a different scenario and yet is more likely to happen as people form groups for survival and safety. This applies to either staying in place or bugging out. So let’s discuss these scenarios for a moment:

Staying in place:

In most places within the United States, homes are built close together within subdivisions. Most of us do not know our neighbors or at least not well enough to suddenly bet our life or the lives of our families on them. Yet, there is safety in numbers and there are many articles that detail the necessity of building a Prepper group within your neighborhood, so I won’t repeat that here.
However, no matter how hard you try, not everyone in your group and especially not everyone in your neighborhood, will want to be prepared, or train themselves and/or their families to the level required when SHTF is suddenly thrust upon them.

So, what is the best way to deal with this situation?

First: If your part of a group, hopefully you have discussed this issue. If your group plans on digging in and protecting your homes, you most likely have some background on the PWBs. You can still benefit from accepting them. There are things that they can do.

What training have they had? When were they last used? Do you have someone in your group or can you assign someone, to inspect the weapons? Do they need cleaning?

But remember that these PWB’s are most likely scared to death and some maybe close to panic. Some may not listen to reason. It will be your job to calm them, guide them, reassure them and even praise them to help stabilize their anxieties. If not, instead of being helpful they may become a threat that you may have to deal with later.

Security: be prepared to brief them on the current situation and what will be required of them. Team them up with one of your trained personnel guarding the access points to your neighborhood. Are there any with weapons training? Prior military or police experience. Are any doctors, nurses, day care workers?

Levels of confidence: While you will need to brief them, be sure that all your trained personnel knows to limit discussing your plans, where you keep weapons, additional supplies, bug out locations and routes with them. In short, provide them enough information for them to perform the duties assigned. Make them feel that they are part of the group, but keep your plans to yourself.

Food rationing: If your plans call for keeping all the food in a central location. Have them collect food, water and any other items from their homes and bring it to that location. Keep a record, or mark it with their names. While rationing will or may be required, seeing their names mixed in with others from the group gives them a sense of belonging.

Keep them busy: Select someone in your group to assist them in creating a bug out bag for each member of the family. Getting into their homes, building up a rapport as your team member guides them also gives you a chance to collect more information about them. That information could be vital if you have to suddenly bug out.

Weapons: Hopefully, some may have them. But, once again, what training have they had? When were they last used? Do you have someone in your group or can you assign someone, to inspect the weapons? Do they need cleaning? Do they have ammo and if so how much? Take the time to drill them on weapons safety. Create a hands on proficiency test. Be sure what you’re dealing with before you place a weapon in their hands.

Bugging out:

Suddenly having untrained personnel with you or worst collecting them along the way can quickly place you and your group in a life threatening situation. I’m sure there are many preppers out there saying that they would not collect PWBs or survivors that managed cross their path. After all, your supplies are limited and the more people in your group the more your group will stand out and perhaps become a target.

But, let’s look at the reality. In Canada, A huge forest fire displaced thousands of residents. The majority of the residents were not prepared and escaped with just the clothes on their back. I’m sure there were some that were prepared and suddenly found themselves surrounded by a sea of escapees. Can you honestly say that you would walk past a hungry and scared child? A most likely SHTF situation that we could encounter will be due to Mother Nature, Fire, Flood, Snow Storm, Earthquake, etc. Your plans should be flexible enough to adjust to the situation that surrounds you.

So allowing for adjustments based on your location, your means of travel, the actual situation that forced you to bug out go back to the various sub topics listed under staying in place and ask yourself how they apply to this situation, how they need to be modified.
You must also know when to say no and deal with the fall out from that decision-both externally and internally.

Sergeant! What do we do with these?

What will be your answer?

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  You were right! The SHTF event you have been preparing for has happened and you and your family are ready. Your bug-out bags are packed; your weapons are locked and

 

Walt Disney had the vision to create a place whose sole purpose was to help folks forget their world for a time- a Fantasy-land that could transport us out of reality for a day or so. As individuals that are concerned about our lives, we need to be sure we are looking at reality, not a fabricated fantasy-land as our world. First of all, this article is not meant to offend anyone, I am just humbly submitting my opinions. I have had the good fortune to be on this planet for 50 plus years now, and despite my own goof ups, I am still here.

I wanted to share a few life lessons I have learned along the way that hopefully show the difference of living in Fantasy-land vs Reality. What I learned in many cases shows how reality differs in substantial ways from the Fantasy-land that many preppers envision will be their lives in a TEOTWAWKI situation.

Growing up on a dairy farm I learned:

  • Hard work is hard
  • Weather cannot be controlled – You must prepare for winter, spring, summer and fall
  • Pipes freeze
  • Animals get sick and die
  • Animals are born
  • You want to stay out of the mud
  • Cows kick you – Watch out for the bull
  • Milk spoils
  • Insects win sometimes
  • Rats are not your friend- You need barn cats
  • Neighbors need help
  • Crops fail and boom
  • Tractors break down – Get your machinery ready ahead of time
  • Gotta have a good truck
  • Picnic lunches in the field are good
  • Bees don’t like tractors
  • It is satisfying to see content animals
  • The way people treat animals speaks volumes about how they will treat people
  • Sometimes things just go wrong
  • Good tools payoff
  • Gardens are hard work
  • Do it right once
  • Grandpa is usually right

Growing up, I moved to Alaska to become a commercial fisherman and learned:

  • Hard work is hard
  • You don’t have to like everyone you work with
  • There isn’t a person on the planet you cant learn something from from
  • Be a tourist wherever you go
  • Not everyone lives the way you do
  • Sometimes you have to eat Reuben sandwiches 5 days in a row – Be thankful you are eating
  • Animals also want to survive
  • One must adapt and overcome
  • Step out of your comfort zone
  • Sometimes 100 percent isn’t enough
  • Enjoy good food
  • Prepare for the weather
  • Be a friend
  • Work hard, play hard.

As a single dad, I learned:

  • Sometimes just having a meal on the table is enough
  • Life isn’t about the stuff
  • Kids grow up way too fast
  • You can talk about sex to your kids, and drugs, and alcohol etc.
  • Be their parent, not their friend until later in life
  • Be consistently adequate
  • Admit your mistakes
  • Don’t automatically hate their boyfriends, still show them the guns though…
  • Shut the TV off!
  • Go camping, fishing, volunteering
  • Love each other
  • Accept help when needed
  • Don’t put down your ex, the kids will figure it out
  • Encourage your kids to work hard, oldest is lawyer, next is scientist, youngest is coach
  • Protect your family, but be responsible with weapons, teach them to shoot, self-defense
  • With privileges comes responsibility
  • Don’t look down on others, but don’t get crapped on by others either. Be nice about it…
  • Treat animals well

As a Police Chief, I have learned:

  • People lie to you
  • Honesty goes a long way
  • There are always 2 sides to every story
  • Those that can do, those that can’t teach seminars, (not always)
  • Lighten up sometimes
  • Give breaks when you can, sometimes life just happens
  • It may seem unimportant to me, but not to the other person
  • People do awful things to people
  • Stay aware of your surroundings at all times
  • Hands kill
  • Treat people as good as they will let you
  • Use your brain
  • Slow down or too many unnecessary bad things can happen
  • Be prepared
  • Have a good flashlight
  • Keep backups of important things
  • Know how to shoot well
  • Know first-aid
  • Don’t escalate situations, everybody has somebody that can kick their arse
  • Protect your eyes
  • Encourage folks to do the right thing
  • The people you need to worry about aren’t the ones that tell you what they are going to do, but just do it!
  • Most little guys make up for their size with skill and speed
  • Learn something from everyone you meet, even if it teaches you what not to do!
  • Do all things in moderation!
  • You have the right to remain silent… use that right!

So, Reality vs Fantasy-land

I believe that reality is based on knowledge, coupled with action that is practiced and planned for ahead of the event or situation. Fantasy-land is having lots of gear, watching YouTube videos, owning 45 guns, but not being able or willing to mow your own yard or walk a few miles.

Trust your own skill-sets, improve on them, learn new ones, adapt, improvise and most importantly overcome!

So let’s not buy front row tickets to the 4 pm show at Fantasy-land, but perhaps we should work with the ones setting up the stage, maybe they are the true people that know how to get it done.

Each day, try to learn something, get the bugs out of a prep or tool or project, and make your preparedness reality, not just something you saw in prepper Fantasy-land. I personally love sitting down with elderly folks to enjoy a cup of coffee and hear about their lives, experiences, skill sets, etc. These folks are a treasure chest!!!

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  Walt Disney had the vision to create a place whose sole purpose was to help folks forget their world for a time- a Fantasy-land that could transport us out of

 

Whether you’re interested in home protection or looking to stay safe while hunting, you’re going to want the best accessories for your gun to defend yourself. There is no time to waste when you only have a few seconds to take action. Fumbling with your gun can be the difference between life and death. Not having confidence in your aim or your mechanics can also spell doom. And, if you’re not accurate, your technique won’t matter anyways — no matter how sure you are in it.

Competence in one of those traits without proficiency in the others typically ends in a disaster. You need to be confident, steady, and accurate when facing a threat, because you can bet that your rival will also be in survival mode. Luckily, there are various tools and fittings to help you in tight spots. There is no more comforting feeling than having the upper hand when faced with a bad situation. By simply adding some upgrades to your firearms, you can rest assured that you and your family will be protected in any circumstance.

While guns are great fun when shooting safely at the range, they can also act as a valuable and useful tool in the right setting. But, with all the gadgets and frills available now, which ones do you really need? Certainly you won’t require most of the contraptions out there, but there are a few that will come in handy when in a pinch. Good thing we have a starter list for you right here.

Some of the best accessories for your guns

Gun scopes

Bushnell AR Optics Drop Zone-223 Reticle Riflescope with Target Turrets, 1-4x 24mm

When facing a wild beast, you’re never assured of safety. While most who choose to hunt big game know how to take the proper precautions, having the right equipment certainly doesn’t hurt. Whether your rifle is built to take down a moose,  or a deer, having the correct gun scope will increase your accuracy and take-down ability. Trust in your gear may be the difference between coming back to camp with a trophy kill and not coming back at all.

Laser Sight

Vokul Shockproof 532nm Tactical Green Dot Laser Sight

Utilized more for home defense, a laser light is best for precision. Should you find yourself in a compromising situation while at home, this nifty piece of equipment will make sure you’re armed to handle yourself. Great for low light and target identification, laser lights are a near necessity for keeping your loved ones secure.

Gun Grips

Maybe you found a gun you like, but there is something that’s a bit off. A new gun grip could solve the problem. Find the perfect mold for your hand by attaching the accessory to the butt of your pistol. A little practice at the range may be necessary to find peak comfort level.

Holster

Glock 19/23/32 Holster – Tulster Profile Holster IWB

There’s no point in carrying a firearm if you can’t conceal it. From shoulder holsters to ankle holsters to hip holsters, having your gun easily accessible is a must. Finding the easiest spot on your person to carry should be a top priority for every gun owner.

Flashlight

Aimkon HiLight P10S 400 Lumen Pistol LED Strobe Flashlight with Weaver Quick Release

Sometimes all you need is a little light. Most flashlights easily attach to the front of your weapon and provide enough illumination to help you out in poorly lit areas. Find an LED or an infrared device for optimal usage.

Extended Magazine

Perhaps your six-shot clip isn’t enough to serve your primary carry weapon. An extended magazine may be just what you’re looking for. Using one will affect your grip on the gun, but the extra bullets could be helpful if caught in a hairy situation.

Gun Sling

Yahill(TM) Multi-Use 2 Point 2-IN-1 Rifle Gun Sling Adjustable Strap Cord

Attaching a sling to your rifle will improve flexibility. The add-on will also help you carry the firearm through thick brush and heavily wooded areas. Useful and practical, a sling provides relief during your hike so you can save your energy for when it’s needed most.

Weapon Cleaning Kit

Otis Modern Sporting Rifle and AR Cleaning System

If you have a gun, you need to keep it clean. Bullet fragments, material, and powder will influence your accuracy if not flushed out after each use.

Vertical Grip

KNIGHTS ARMAMENT VERTICAL Rifle GRIP KAC

Similar to a pistol grip, a vertical grip provides a better placement for your hand when managing a rifle.

Folding Stock Adapter

Law Tactical Gen-3M Side Folding Adapter Tool Genuine 5.56/223/308 –

Fold up your rifle into an easily portable piece of machinery by folding it in half with this adapter. No matter what type of firearm you have, there is always a way to upgrade it for safety and suitability.

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  Whether you’re interested in home protection or looking to stay safe while hunting, you’re going to want the best accessories for your gun to defend yourself. There is no time

 

One of the most important aspects of preparedness is the process of establishing a group of people who you can count on when the chips are down.  But what does that mean when the situation comes down to really basic survival, when there will be no power, accessible fuel, food or medicines for the foreseeable future?  What if every stranger you encounter represents a potential or real threat to the safety of your family and/or to your community, whether large or small? What if the tasks of achieving and sustaining security become the collective responsibility of individuals rather than local government?  If that happens, who can you trust?

I have not chosen the word “trust” lightly.  Trust is performance based.  For the most part, it is objective and, therefore, measurable.  Even where it may become subjective in nature (such as an assessment of someone’s character), it will be based upon standards that you have developed over a lifetime.  I may have faith in an individual, but even that term owes its existence to a steady build-up of confidence, like building blocks, which ideally leads to rock-solid trust.  Is such a thing possible?  I think it is, but it requires you to assess individuals in a way that you may have never thought about – at least in the context of survival.  Importantly, it is a process that must begin long before you are confronted with a life threatening crisis.

If you’ve raised any children you already know that every degree of trust that you give to them is based upon the demonstration of prior, as well as continuing, progress in every aspect of their growth, training and development, character and conduct.  So it is with individuals that you choose to stake your survival on.  Stated differently, if desperate circumstances forced you to throw in with a group that you had no prior knowledge of, you would be casting your fate to a far lower standard called “hope;” which can alternately be defined as desperation.

I want to emphasize that effective assessment of survival group participants is really a long-term process.  You have the benefit of knowing your immediate and extended family over a relatively long period, and it affords many opportunities to observe.  In urban settings, neighbors may come and go.  Some may not be very sociable, or you may only get opportunities to learn more about them at infrequent intervals.  That can make it difficult to assess their strengths and weaknesses as potential survival partners.  Don’t rush the process, but don’t neglect the need and value of building a survival support network, either.  The larger your support group is, the better off it will be for you and them.  It should go without saying that you can quietly assess people without disclosing your prepper orientation and objectives.  Final Prepper and its contributing writers have touched on this issue numerous times over the past few years.

If desperate circumstances forced you to throw in with a group that you had no prior knowledge of, you would be casting your fate to a far lower standard called “hope;” which can alternately be defined as desperation.

If you are married, your spouse must take an active role in helping select individuals or other families that will become part of your survival group.    Trust your instincts.  If, after assessing their prospects, either of you has a gut feeling that says “no” it’s best to pass on that individual, even if they demonstrate some aspects of prepping skill.  Your reasoning for accepting someone into your group has to be as rigorous as your rationale for declining someone.

Sources of Support

There are four sources of mutual support that you can potentially draw upon during a temporary or sustained crisis:

  1. Family (nuclear and extended)
  2. Neighbors
  3. Friends
  4. Your local community

You may think that your family members, by virtue of a blood relationship, automatically fit into the “trusted” category for survival purposes.  That could be a fatal assumption (more on that, later).  In similar fashion, just because you enjoy the company of a neighbor for his or her friendliness at a Friday night poker game does not mean that they possess the qualities needed to enhance your survival prospects, or even their own family.

The context that I use for friends is confined to individuals that share long-term common interests and skills as they pertain to survival.  For example, a hunting, fishing or backpacking partner.  In my experience these tend to be deep relationships that stretch over many years.  You may have known that person since childhood or developed a deep friendship and common interests with someone at work.

The concept of “community” might be a bit vague, depending on whether you live in densely populated urban areas or less populated rural settings.  That distinction is important however, and your prospects for developing a successful support system may diverge in very dramatic ways between those two settings.

I’ll come back to these mutual support sources later, but first, let’s examine what I believe are the essential building blocks of trust.  Your list might be longer or shorter, but here are my top five “starter” categories that should get you thinking.

You may think that your family members, by virtue of a blood relationship, automatically fit into the “trusted” category for survival purposes. That could be a fatal assumption.

The Foundations of Trust

  1. Character: The moral and ethical nature of an individual or group. I’m not trying to be moralistic with this category – your principal objective should be centered around avoiding individuals with a demonstrated history of behavior that could endanger your survival.  For example, you might know a neighbor that borrows but never returns, someone with an addiction or other serious behavioral issue. If so, you may justifiably view them as persons who might steal your food, other essential survival supplies, or place you in direct physical danger.  Once you are cooped up with a predator, it’s too late to hear your wife or daughter say that she doesn’t feel safe around him or her.
  1. Conduct: The manner in which a person carries out their activities, assignments, duties or obligations.  Whether at work, in your neighborhood or at family gatherings, you undoubtedly come to know people who are industrious and passionate about their chosen role in life.  It may be a neighboring family that enthusiastically invests countless hours in gardening, an associate that is always trying to find a better way to perform a task, or a relative who overcomes difficulties with dignity and poise.  In contrast, you probably also know people who make a career out of taking shortcuts, exhibit unsafe practices, take unnecessary risks, or never quit seem to complete a task without intervention.  The question is, do you want to surround yourself with achievers, slackers or reckless people when you are in a survival situation?
  1. Judgment: The ability to accurately assess risks, needs and courses of action.  That is, people who demonstrate good analytical skills and sound judgment in the course of their work, a specialized activity or daily living.  In a protracted survival situation, you will be confronted with innumerable challenges, many of which you will have never encountered before.  You will need people around you that are able to think well, both inside and outside of the box and provide good counsel, rather than people who simply react to fear.  Remember this:  Real survival situations mean that your margin for error is far smaller than in ordinary, day-to-day living.  You don’t get to take a Mulligan if your risk analysis is faulty.
  1. Knowledge and Experience: The knowledge and skills that provide someone with the ability to effectively and consistently perform a task. This is an issue of training, experience and, to a degree, physical capability.  It requires that you objectively determine what types of expertise a person possesses.  There is a huge difference between “exposure” and experience.  Assigning the wrong tasks to an individual may bring harm to them or to the entire group.  Since we are talking about trust in the context of survival, this necessarily means that several members of your group should have demonstrable skills in field craft and the effective use of firearms.  Failure to select individuals with vital survival skills will put your group at risk in the long run.  By contrast, selecting only individuals that are skilled in the use of firearms – and nothing else – means that your group is only fit to be a raiding party.  Give me an accountant that was a combat medic and I’ll be happy.  Give me an accountant and a combat medic who each possess additional survival skills, and I’ll be four times as happy.
  1. Capacity: This includes physical ability, stamina, age and health as it pertains to certain tasks. For example, you may have a high trust level in someone’s ability (young or old) to stand watch, even though they are not physically able to dig a well.  He or she may be able to patrol a one-mile security perimeter, but not have the stamina to perform a 20 mile foraging hike in rough terrain.  In other words, someone may have perfectly adequate capacity for certain tasks, while being limited in other areas of need.  A person’s physical limitations should not be an automatic disqualifier, particularly if they can contribute in other important ways to group survival as described in the preceding categories.  In essence, “capacity” is a function of matching knowledge and experience with physical durability under specific circumstances.

These five criteria, and others that you may wish to add, provide the basis for establishing a level of trust about individuals that you may wish to include in your survival group; whether they be family, friends, neighbors or the community at large.  My list comprises more than these five, and includes a shared religious faith in God.  Your list may include other diverse requirements that are perfectly valid for the circumstances that you envision.

I think it is important to say that trust is something that you confer to an individual, rather than to a group.  In other words, the trust that you develop with one person should not automatically extend to his or her associates, particularly if you don’t know them.  Simply stated, you are ultimately responsible for assessing the trustworthiness of every member of a group that you may choose to form an alliance with.

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  One of the most important aspects of preparedness is the process of establishing a group of people who you can count on when the chips are down.  But what does

 

I live in Chicago, the most dangerous city in America.

Not only is it the most dangerous city in America, but it is obnoxiously difficult to get out of even in the best of times. Geographically, it is three-sided (lake Michigan prevents egress to the east) and the only high-speed avenues of approach run North/South. Dismounted movement in any direction is not a viable option, as you would most likely become prey even in a situation where society has not collapsed. Most of the antagonists (see: gang members) in the city are already well armed, and if not well-trained they are nonetheless combat-hardened and more than audacious enough to be a serious threat. To make matters more complicated, I have two children under the age of 7.

I know… why on earth would any preparedness-minded individual choose to live in such an indefensible position? There are many reasons why a family might find themselves in such a survival nightmare, ours is very simple and, unfortunately, equally inexorable: I am in the United States Military and I am stationed here. I won’t go in to what I do here other than it is very routine and far from glamorous, and I am here for a three-year tour.

So hopefully that should put to rest all of the obvious questions. Suffice to say I now understand that there are reasons why NOT living in the city isn’t necessarily a viable option, at least not in the short-term. Not everyone can just uproot to the rural redoubt property, plant some corn and put up a solar array.

I have several combat tours as an Infantryman in the middle east. Through these experiences and the balance of my 20 some odd years in the military, I can easily make the mental leap between what a metropolis like Chicago is today and what it could be after a societal collapse, in fact I have experienced it firsthand in Baghdad circa 2005 or so. In central Iraq, we were not the primary danger to the average Iraqi citizen. Most dangerous to them were the rape gangs, terrorist cells that used murder and extortion to raise funds to fight coalition forces, and regular members of the criminal element present in every place in the world. AQI (Al-Qaeda in Iraq) was the dominant terrorist network that rose out of the ashes of Baghdad in the years following the invasion. They were notorious for their strong-arm tactics to wring funds out of the indigenous population. They kidnapped young girls from families with means to pay ransoms. These girls were subjected to the most unspeakable captivity, raped many times a day, and had little chance of being returned to their families alive, no matter how much those families paid. Citizens were tortured and maimed in order to instill in them enough fear that the terrorists would reliably be provided materiel support and the victims would be far too afraid to speak to us or tell us who they were. Our patrols lasted 12 hours…. The terrorists lived among them and controlled them through fear and intimidation.

I don’t think most preppers realize how hellish the collapse of our society would be. I don’t think most reasonable people can imagine the magnitude of violence that people will readily visit on their neighbor when propelled by ideology, hunger, or sometimes simple profit. Can you imagine living in a place where your wife and your daughters were commodities? Where your sons are either killed or kidnapped or forced to fight for and perform suicidal tasks for evil men? Preppers talk about bugging out, and getting their families to safety… but I’m not sure most realize that the concept of safety is an illusion if you are alone. Much like the United States, Iraq is a large country, and most people lived in cities, but rural areas of Iraq were terrorized just as much as the urban areas. In many places it was more so due to proximity to resources and opportunities for the terrorist networks to conceal their own activities.

A family alone was prey. Nothing more.

I would like to dispel some myths about the way preppers in America think about how we will survive the coming collapse. Here are my top three:

1. I will bug out with my family to our cabin in the woods and we will grow a garden, raise chickens, and wait out the worst effects of the collapse.

Maybe, if you’re lucky…. but if you are alone in the woods you will most likely be found and be raped, killed, and looted. We know that the 240,000,000 plus people who live in our American cities will run out of resources and begin the process of starvation after about 72 hours or so. They are going to go somewhere. The strongest will have already preyed on the weak, sick, and stupid. The ones who find you will be strong, they will be motivated, and they will be ruthless. If they weren’t they would never have survived the urban exodus. They aren’t going to knock on your cabin door in broad daylight. Your chances as a family alone are very low.

Contact! A Tactical Manual for Post Collapse Survival

2. I am safe because I have the 5 best SHTF guns that I saw in a cool online survivalist forum and a zillion rounds.

Congratulations. If you have no or very little training, you’ll be lucky to make it to your first magazine change. Smart bad guys will back off after you shoot at them and simply wait for the opportunity to kill you and take your awesome weapons and free fodder. And they will be smart… or they would be one of the dead dumb ones who didn’t make it out of the city

3. I have enough food and resources to survive indefinitely, and I have a foolproof plan of egress and evasion, and I have thought through all the variables.

I hope you do. Have you done several complete rehearsals of every aspect of your plan? A wise old NCO once told me “don’t expect what you don’t inspect”. You don’t know what you don’t know unless you have run through the plan on the ground to shake out the bugs. It is very likely that there are fatal flaws that could be easily corrected given an honest rehearsal. This rehearsal must include your entire family or group, it must include all the physical movement and labor that the real thing would include. You must use the gear and resources that you would be using were the worst to occur. If you do not regularly train on your plan, then what you have is not a plan… it’s called a theory.

Pulling yourself and your family through is far more about physical conditioning and mental toughness, confidence in your training and in your plan, and good old-fashioned luck. I survived over 500 combat patrols with a single weapon, my issued M4 with a good weapon light, and the seven loaded steel magazines I kept with me on my body armor. I didn’t carry huge knives or tomahawks or pounds and pounds of the newest and coolest “tacticool” useless crap… just a multitool and an expandable baton. Sometimes we were out for 12 hours, sometimes up to 36 hours. The point is that it’s way more about the gear between your ears than the gear hanging off of every molle loop or picatinny rail.

Along with my training and a solid plan, I had my brothers on my left and right. They were my survival community. The truth of the matter is that in order to survive a collapse, we must build communities. In a community we have sentinels on guard 24 hours a day. We have a person on duty monitoring communications equipment to stay in contact with neighboring communities 24 hours a day. Our community has guards that patrol for resources and interdict incursions. In a community there is a division of labor where we can teach our children, grow our food, mend our shoes, and stand watch over our fences simultaneously. In a community we are strong enough to live in peace. Whether that community is our extended family, or a network of like-minded citizens who prepare and TRAIN together, it is precisely hanging together that will keep us from hanging separately.

That’s how the people survived after we destroyed Iraq. They relied on the members of their communities and their tribe, and they rebuilt. If the worst happens, we can learn much from them.

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  I live in Chicago, the most dangerous city in America. Not only is it the most dangerous city in America, but it is obnoxiously difficult to get out of even in

When our society collapses, so too will unlimited access to clean water, quality food, and medical care. Most diseases that have long been eradicated in the developed world will once again rear their ugly heads, and many will die. Preparing now will ensure that we and our loved ones have a better chance of surviving.

WATER

One of the first things to go, regardless of the cause of collapse, may be access to clean water. Bacterial infections (such as cholera, dysentery, and typhoid), protozoan infections (such as giardia and cryptosporidiosis), parasitic infections (such as schistosomiasis), and viral infections (such as polio and hepatitis A) will arise primarily due to fecal matter in the water, and even water from the most pristine high-altitude streams will not be safe to drink without treatment. In the emergency preparedness classes that I taught, I collected water from a scummy pond. With an abundance of algae, it was very green and contained a lot of solid matter. I made for samples for demonstration purposes: 1) passed only through a coffee filter; 2) boiled; 3) distilled; 4) treated with bleach. Without revealing the treatment methods used, I asked the class which water looked best and safest to drink. Hands down, everyone chose the clearest, cleanest, purest looking sample—the water that was only passed through a coffee filter. The boiled, distilled, and bleach-treated samples were all off in color. It was at that point I realized that once the collapse begins, we need to be prepared to purify all of our water ourselves, and not rely on anyone else.

Platypus GravityWorks 4.0L Filter System can make 4 liters of water safe to drink in minutes.

FOOD

While illnesses arising from impure water will start quickly after collapse beings, increases in cases of food poisoning won’t be far behind. There is a wide variety of bacteria that cause food-borne illnesses. Some will only cause vomiting and/or diarrhea; others can be fatal. Of course, that is the case even now, when all is apparently well in our world. However, when people become desperate due to dwindling food supplies, they will also start eating food they normally would have tossed out. And they may become less cautious about the hygiene standards for those preparing the food. The pathways for potential contamination are numerous:

  • contaminated water used for washing or cooking;
  • under-cooked meat;
  • infected people handling food;
  • food held too long at improper temperatures;
  • botulism, not only from improperly canned foods—commercial or home canned, but also from baked potatoes baked in aluminum foil and then left at room temperature;
  • poor hygiene among food handlers.


To prevent illness, use only purified water for food preparation, cooking, and washing dishes. Carefully wash all produce. Cook all foods thoroughly. Enforce rigid hygiene practices for all food handlers. Practice strict observance of all guidelines for home canning. Don’t permit strangers to prepare your food. And don’t save leftovers—practice cooking what will be eaten in one meal.

MOSQUITOES

The incidence of malaria and yellow fever will definitely surge, as also will in all likelihood cases of zika, chikungunya, and dengue

Mosquitoes can carry bacteria, viruses, and parasites, making them an efficient vector for the transmission of dozens of diseases. While they pose a much greater threat in tropic and subtropical climates, mosquitoes range throughout North America. The most serious diseases spread by mosquitoes in North America at this time are western equine encephalitis and eastern equine encephalitis. However, in a grid-down situation, where municipalities are no longer actively combating mosquitoes and when filters and chemicals for backyard swimming pools are no longer being used, the mosquito population will increase astronomically—as will the number of diseases and cases. The incidence of malaria and yellow fever will definitely surge, as also will in all likelihood cases of zika, chikungunya, and dengue. To reduce chances for mosquito bites, wear clothing that fully covers the skin, eliminate open sources of water, utilize window screens and mosquito netting where possible, and apply mosquito repellents to exposed skin.

ACCIDENTAL INJURIES

As the society we have been raised in regresses to the 1800’s, as access to unlimited amounts of clean water and quality food decreases, and as people start working more physically, the number of accidental wounds and injuries will increase. As good nutrition decreases, the ability of the body to fight minor infections will also decrease. Simple scratches, even hangnails, will have the potential to become life-threatening. The first line of defense is to maintain strict personal hygiene—keep your skin clean. Second, make sure your tetanus vaccine is current.

Third, wear protective clothing always. This includes sturdy shoes and socks and gloves appropriate to whatever task you are performing. Fourth, whenever there is even the most minor of scratches, cuts, or wounds, practice thorough cleansing of the affected area, apply antibiotic ointment, bandage carefully, and change the dressing frequently. And get into these habits now.

COMMUNICABLE DISEASES

Careful hand-washing and avoiding crowds will go a long ways towards avoiding infection, as will keeping current on vaccinations. For those illnesses that breach your defenses, make sure you have an area that can be used for quarantine. Have a generous supply of plastic sheeting for sealing windows and doors, as well as medical gloves and N-95 masks. In addition, store antibiotics commonly used for treating strep throat, scarlet fever, and pneumonia, in addition to others routinely used for conditions to which you are susceptible.

VERMIN

While lice and bedbugs don’t necessarily transmit disease (they may), they do make people uncomfortable with either the itching or the mere thought of their possible presence. Don’t share personal items such as combs, brushes, sheets, or towels. As with most diseases, prevention is easier than treatment. However, consider adding some lice treatment supplies to your storeroom, just in case.

As society collapses, so does the government’s ability to provide services such as garbage collection. Mice and rats will be living the high life. So that they do not enjoy their newfound prosperity at your expense, have plenty of bait and traps for them.

MALNUTRITION

As the new normal lingers, malnutrition will become increasingly common. As a group, we have a reputation for having gathered and stored food to see us through to the other side. However, we can’t store food for everyone and we need to be prepared to improvise if for whatever reason our supplies run out.

Most nutritionists agree that a ratio of 40% carbohydrates, 30% protein, and 30% fats is healthy. However, what we actually consume varies widely, with women more likely to consume more carbohydrates and less protein, and the opposite for men. When the grid goes down, we’re going to be spending more time in physical labor, and our caloric and nutritional demands will change, sometimes drastically. And sometimes, people will have to make do with what they can find for food. So here we’ll address what various deficiencies in the diet look like and what can be done to remedy them.

The symptoms of protein deficiency are varied and non-specific and include weakness, fatigue, and reduced immune system function. Symptoms of carbohydrate deficiency are similar to those for protein deficiency but also include depression and mood swings. Symptoms of fat deficiency (which can occur even on overweight individuals) are similar to those of carbohydrate deficiency but also include reduced brain function and an increase in skin problems. And fats are essential for the body to be able to absorb the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, and E.
In the developed world we have been blessed for so long to have ready access to a widely varied diet that we have not seen manifest the effects of vitamin deficiencies for the most part, or at least those deficiencies due entirely to diet alone. Even when things fall apart, it will be a long time before we see problems with vitamin A and B deficiencies. When we run out of fresh or preserved fruits, problems with vitamin C deficiencies will likely arise. Teas can be made from pine needles or rose hips, or juice can be made from wheat grass to provide this essential vitamin. Vitamin D occurs naturally in only a few foods—generally fish and eggs. Most vitamin D in a North American diet comes from fortified milk and grains. When these dietary options become limited, just make sure to get at least a few minutes of sun each day, exposing as much of the skin as reasonably possible, and without sunscreen.

As variety in the diet and as food in general become restricted, conditions caused by dietary mineral deficiencies will present themselves. The best prevention will be raising your own vegetables and fruits and including whole grains and beans in your diet. Add in some eggs from your flock of chickens and use iodized salt and you’ll be well covered. For times when growing vegetables due to the season or due to having to leave your home is not possible, stock a generous supply of vitamin and mineral supplements for everyone in your family.

MEDICATIONS AND MEDICAL SUPPLIES

MegaFood – Men’s One Daily, Supports Energy Levels & a Healthy Stress Response

The aforementioned diseases will be making a comeback. That’s just what happens when societies collapse. While we are pretty powerless to stop that collapse, we can dramatically increase our chances of making it to the other side by ensuring a clean water supply and ready access to good food, and by observing strict personal hygiene and sanitation.

However, some illnesses and injuries are still bound to occur. It is important to stock a variety of OTC pain relievers including ibuprofen, acetaminophen, aspirin, and naproxen sodium. These will effectively help with most of our minor ailments. For those killer headaches that come on hard and strong, have some children’s chewable versions of these pain relievers. They are more expensive, but they begin acting in about half the time. Benadryl is useful not only for allergies, but more importantly for insect bites or stings.

Despite medical and governmental counsel to the contrary, don’t throw out unused prescriptions. Of course, they can only legally be used by the person for whom they are prescribed, but you never know when they may come in handy again. Long-term studies have shown that most medications, providing that they are stored in a cool, dark place, retain their efficacy long past the posted “best by” date. The most notable exception to this is the tetracycline antibiotics, which should never be used past the date given on the package.

As people experience changes in their normal diet, stomach and intestinal upsets are bound to occur. Peppermint tea has been used for centuries to calm upset stomachs. Anti-diarrhea remedies should be available for mild cases of intestinal upset, but in severe cases of diarrhea, as will happen with cholera and dysentery, more will be needed. Electrolyte replacement solutions like Gatorade or Pedialyte take a lot of shelf space and storing an adequate supply gets expensive. Make your own using the following recipe:

  • 1 quart water
  • 1-1.5 tablespoons sugar
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon of salt substitute (potassium salt)
  • 1 pack of sugar-free drink flavoring (Kool-Aid packet, or something similar—it’s not necessary, but especially helpful when trying to get someone to drink as much as possible)

In addition to the masks and gloves already mentioned, also stockpile a generous supply of:

  • Bandages in all types and sizes;
  • Topical creams such as triple antibiotic, hydrocortisone, Benadryl, and silver nitrate;
  • Betadine or iodine;
  • Mineral oil;
  • Epsom salts;
  • A wide variety of medical tapes;
  • Alcohol wipes;
  • Cotton balls;
  • Your favorite cold, cough, and flu remedies;
  • Essential oils you have found useful.

Also obtain a few medical books such as Physician’s Desk Reference and The Ship’s Medicine Chest and Medical Aid at Sea (get an older copy from the 1980’s or earlier—with the advent of satellite and cell phones, a lot of advice in later editions has been to “call the mainland” for help).

Cleaning supplies will be critical in maintaining safe environments post-collapse. Unfortunately, bleach doesn’t have a long shelf life, and neither does peroxide. If you are among those thinking you’ll be able to make “one last run,” include these items on that list. Rubbing alcohol, soap, and vinegar last forever. What many people don’t realize is that white vinegar is a great disinfectant for almost all hard surfaces, and true apple cider vinegar (with the mother) has numerous medicinal uses. Storing several gallons of each (depending on the size of your group or family) would not be excessive.

The Survival Medicine Handbook: A Guide for When Help is Not on the Way

And finally, antibiotics. While sanitation and clean water were rated number one in a survey concerning the greatest medical advances in history, the discovery and development of antibiotics were a close second. When the collapse is in full swing, it may well be easier to find a doctor who knows how to prescribe antibiotics than it will be to find the antibiotics themselves. They may become worth their weight in gold.

However, it is very difficult to find a physician who will prescribe antibiotics for you “just in case.” Federal regulations make this a very risky activity for the doctor. Fortunately, there are two ways to work around this problem. There are several companies online that sell a wide variety of fish antibiotics. While there is some debate about whether “fish” antibiotics are safe for humans, it is generally acknowledged that the “fish” antibiotics and “human” antibiotics are coming from the same manufacturer. They look the same because they are the same. Unfortunately, the “fish” antibiotics can be a little pricey.

The other option is ordering “human” antibiotics from an overseas pharmacy. These are much less expensive than the “fish” antibiotics available in the United States, even after you factor in the shipping. I can’t compare companies, as I have only used alldaychemist.com. I have ordered from them several times and have always been pleased with the service. However, they have a nasty habit of calling you frequently to remind you to place another order. So when you have to provide a phone number, make sure you give them a number for a phone you rarely use. (FYI: When you are asked if you have a prescription for the medication you are ordering, just say “yes.”)

Based on my family’s history and recommendations online for what to store, the list of antibiotics in our storeroom includes the following:

  • Amoxicillin (strep throat, pneumonia)
  • Erythromycin (same uses as amoxicillin, but safer for pregnant women and children, and safe for those allergic to penicillin)
  • Doxycycline (same uses as amoxicillin, but for those allergic to penicillin/amoxicillin, cholera)
  • Ciprofloxacin (anthrax, urinary tract and prostate infections, pneumonia, bronchitis, diverticulitis, dysentery, typhoid)
  • Metronidazole (diverticulitis—when combined with ciprofloxacin, some STDs, giardia)
  • Cephalexin (strep throat, pneumonia, staph infections—but not MRSA)
  • Azithromycin (respiratory infections, skin infections, ear infections, STDs, cholera, cryptosporidiosis)
  • SMZ-TMP (some respiratory and urinary tract infections, especially useful for MRSA)

Again, these antibiotics should not be acquired with the intent of self-diagnosing and self-treating our illnesses. They really should only be utilized with a licensed physician’s recommendations.

We all know a collapse is coming. History teaches us that all these diseases will be making a comeback. Being prepared won’t guarantee survival, but it will greatly improve our chances.

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When our society collapses, so too will unlimited access to clean water, quality food, and medical care. Most diseases that have long been eradicated in the developed world will once

 

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This article will look at a range of modern tools for creating fire, also known as fire craft, as well as a few old ones, and look at the issues with each. It will also cover ways to help prevent them and look at age-old advice and tips from bush-craft masters such as Dave Canterbury, Cody Lundin and several others.

What is Fire Craft?

Fire craft refers to the ancient art of building, creating and maintaining a fire. It is not just sparking a lighter or striking a match. True fire craft requires a great deal of time collecting resources and skill when generating an ember or spark. It should always be at the back of your mind when on the trail in the form of collecting resources and at the very front of your mind when engaged in the act of attempting it.

As many experienced survivalists know fire craft can easily be explained by the Fire Triangle. This is well explained in Dave Canterbury’s Bushcraft 101. The triangle consists of three main elements: fuel, oxygen(air) and heat. For the purposes of this article we will be looking at the heat element.

What does modern man have to offer?

Modern methods of fire craft date back to as far as 27BC when the flint and steel were used by the Roman Empire, and most likely before then. This man-made method relied on a simple piece of flint rock and a piece of iron pyrite, later on steel, to achieve a spark. Char Cloth is also used here to aid in the process by holding an ember within the charred fibers of the cloth. This is also known as percussion fire lighting.

Since then we have come up with several new ways to get a fire going. Aside from the obvious match or lighter, many bushmen use one or more of the following tools in fire craft:

The Ferrocerium Rod

Bushcraft 101: A Field Guide to the Art of Wilderness Survival

The ferrocerium rod is at the heart of most bushmen’s and survivalist’s fire starting kit. The rod itself is made up of a mix of iron, cerium, lanthanum, neodymium and magnesium. However the composition of the metal may vary depending on the manufacturer.

Most rods on the market today are about 0.5cm thick and 6cm long. However, more high-end rods will exceed these measurements. The sparks themselves burn at an excess of 3000 degrees Fahrenheit. This is a substantial increase over the sparks thrown from a traditional flint and steel which are about 800F. While we all want more bang for our buck we still need to know what we want in the first place and why we want it. Here are some key points, issues and solutions concerning the ferrocerium rod:

  • A common issue is the grip or handle, coming off of the rod. This is due to the action of the knife or striker on the rod. You can fix this with a strong glue around the grip socket.
  • If you are improperly striking you rod you will find it getting grooves and dents along it. To remove these you will have to adjust your grip and the angle in which you strike it. You should be aiming to expose the rod to as must of the striker as possible in one long, smooth action.
  • This will happen over time to rods that have had a lot of use. You can use a simple layer of spray paint to cover the rod and prevent further damage. Any and all oxidation should be ground off right away before spraying.
  • The rod requires a striker or knife to make a spark. If you lose that you are in trouble. However, there are some one-handed models on the market that will eliminate this problem.

The Magnesium Block

The magnesium block works as both source of ignition and tinder all in one. This piece of kit has all the advantages of the ferrocerium rod and does not have the disadvantage of the grip issue. By using the striker or a knife to grind off small slithers of magnesium from the main block into a small pile, you create an extremely flammable and ready for use tinder source. These shavings can be used as they are or to enhance an already existing tinder bundle or birds nest. While these shavings are finite an average block will give you dozens, if not more, of sets of shavings for tinder before it is worn out.

The block itself is composed of magnesium, but depending on the brand other metals may be present. Magnesium will ignite at a temperature of around 1000 degrees Fahrenheit and burn at a temperature of 5610 degrees Fahrenheit.

The ferrocerium rod is at the heart of most bushmen’s and survivalist’s fire starting kit.

While this tool requires very little maintenance it is susceptible to oxidation and should be cared for by oiling the block when not in use and spraying the rod if left unused for long periods of time. While I find this to be a great method for lighting a fire it does have one flaw. As the rod is built into the block the surface area of the exposed rod is cut by about half. This means that the life of the rod is also cut, unless you can separate it from the block.

To get the most out of your block keep it well oiled, shave it carefully and keep it in your pack or pocket to avoid unwanted chipping of the block.

The Spark Wheel

Simply put the spark wheel is a lighter without the gas. It is small, light weight and able to create a spark strong enough to light fine tinder. While the simplicity of the wheel is in its favor it is a distance second to a ferrocerium rod or magnesium block due to the heat that the spark puts out. This being similar to that of a piece of flint. The main advantage is the size, weight and the ability to work without a striker. It is an all in one piece of kit that can fit on your keys for any occasion. The downside here is the need to replace the flint inside. However, in this modern age flints can be found everywhere. A discarded lighter will act as a spark wheel in a cinch, but if you prefer your own you can always harvest the flint from the lighter when yours blunts.

The Fire Piston

The fire piston or fire syringe as it is also called has been around for longer than all of the previously discussed methods of making fire. European explorers in 1865 found evidence that the fire piston was a well established way of making fire in the jungles of Indonesia, Burma, the Malay Peninsula, French-Indo China and Borneo. This leads us to believe at it was invented well before that. It works around a basic principle. When air is compressed under high pressure it raises in temperature very fast, causing the tinder at the end of the rod to ignite. The internal heat of the rod gets up to around 500 degrees Fahrenheit. Cover the end of your bike pump and see for yourself. Place your finger over the end and you will find the metal thread gets hot, fast when you pump it suddenly.

Creating a fire takes some finesse with the right elements of tinder, ignition and fuel.

Traditionally fire pistons were made entirely of wood and required a lot of craftsmanship to achieve the airtight seal required for ignition of the tinder. However, modern pistons are made of steel, aluminum, bass or even plastic. Rubber o-rings make the seal and modern materials such as cotton or char cloth are used for tinder.

While the science is sound, in a real situation using the piston is not as simple as it seems. Like all things it takes a lot of practice and experimentation.

The big advantage of the piston is that the outside conditions play less of a factor and it does not require a great deal of time to get an ember if don’t right. However, there are several things to be aware of when using it as your main fire making tool. First of all, like all machines it requires maintenance. The o-ring must be lubricated and if you do not push down as a straight angle the rod may bend or break, making the piston useless. Also, it does require very small and highly combustible tinder. The tinder that you can light with a ferrocerium rod may not light with a piston. You should look into what types of tinder work best and keep a good stock of them in your pack or on your person.

The Magnifying Glass / Sun Glass

Everyone has heard of frying ants with a magnifying glass or seen a desert island show where someone has made fire with a mirror or a pair of glasses. The truth is that it is not so easy. It can take minutes to hours to ignite even the best tinder via this method. The lens should be at least X5 magnification and at large as is practical for you. The biggest draw back is the dependency on the weather. Also, this method is only useful during the day. To create enough concentrated sunlight to cause ignition you will need a highly polished surface or a decent, clean lens to focus the light. The light itself must also be consistent and focused on a single point. This will mean adjusting your position as the sun passes and keeping very still. A clear container filled with water can also achieve fire if the same principles are applied.

Other Modern Methods

There are countless chemical combinations and electrical devices that you can use to make fire. Fire example a battery and some wire wool or aluminum foil. However, these methods are usually only suited to work once or twice before they are done.

Oldies but Goodies

Three tried and tested methods of making fire out of nothing but what nature provides are the hand drill, bow drill and the fire plough. This is known as friction fire. While these methods can be extremely difficult at first and require a lot of knowledge about different types of trees and tinder sources they have been around since before the modern-day survivalist tools and gear began to make its make on survival.

So when it comes down to it what is the best tool for the job?

This question could be answered by every single survivalist or prepper in the world and you still wouldn’t get a solid answer. The truth is, a good outdoors-man learns to be proficient in all means of fire craft. All of the tools above have their pros and cons but ultimately it is the user and not the tool that is at fault if you can’t get a fire going.

That said, in my opinion, I find the combination of the Swedish Ferrocerium rod, due to its superior grip and striker and a separate magnesium block to be a winning combination. The reason for this is that the issue of the surface area of the blocks rod is solved via the addition of a second rod. This setup gives you two ready sources of ignition and a tinder source that is not water sensitive. Even losing one of these tools still leaves you with a working method for creating fire.

If you do have the chance, it is always best to try to practice the primitive methods. By doing so you prepare yourself for loss of gear or simply being in a bad situation that you hadn’t planned for.

Tips and Tricks

  • When using a rod or magnesium block, pull the rod towards you while keeping the striker stationary. This will prevent you from accidentally hitting and destroying your tinder bundle or heap or shavings and allow you more control when directing the sparks.
  • Use Vaseline as a lubricant for your fire piston. The Vaseline can also be spread on the tinder to help with ignition or lengthen its burn time.
  • Keep your arm (which ever is used to hold the bearing block or socket, not the bow) pinned to your knee or shin when attempting the bow drill. This will give you more stability and a more controlled spin on the drill. Also, don’t make the mistake of going to fast too soon. If you do you will generate a lot of heat without having ground off the wood fibres needed to create the coal.
  • Making a solar fire is easiest between the hour of 10am and 2pm and will always be easier in the summer rather than the winter.
  • You can buy ferrocerium rods that don’t have a handle. Longer thicker rods can be taped at one end for grip and will last much longer than the standard store-bought ones.
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  Forward This article will look at a range of modern tools for creating fire, also known as fire craft, as well as a few old ones, and look at the issues

 

When you own a long-range shotgun, it’s all about taking those perfect, accurate shots. But it’s not always easy, not even if you’re a seasoned shooter, but especially if you’re a novice. So mounting a scope on your rifle seems like the obvious and easy solution, but it might not actually be as easy as you thought. Unless you are zeroing your rifle scope before you count on it to help you hit the target, there’s no use if firing a single shot. So here are a few tips and tricks on how to do that, with very little effort or time involved.

Defining the process

First of all, zeroing your rifle scope simply means adjusting your sights so that you can hit with precision the target you have in mind when firing from a given distance. Speaking of distance, it varies depending on the type of shooting you’re doing, the caliber you are using, the scope adjustment unit of measurement and, last but not least, on your personal preferences.

Normally, the shorter the distance the easier it is to zero your scope, keep it that way and shoot your target with maximum accuracy. This is because on a shorter distance, the point of impact is less affected by external variables. A short-range here means approximately 100 yards. A longer one of, let’s say 300 yards, will be a lot more difficult to shoot and it will actually render your scope pointless on the long run. Which is to say that you need to zero it all over again, after each shoot, because the external variables have changed.

Setting up your scope

This is the first step you need to take in the whole process of zeroing the scope on your shotgun. First and foremost, adjust the eyepiece, which is the rear lens of the scope. This part can actually be rotated in order to focus your eye on the reticle. Don’t forget to do this, as you need a perfectly sharp reticle when it comes to long-range shooting. It will also help to look at your target solely through the reticle and not with your naked eye, or, worse, to keep shifting your gaze at it between the reticle and the naked eye, which leads to unnecessary eyestrain. When the image is crisp and clear, you will know you have gone through this step correctly.

You also need to level the cross-hair. It’s probably best if you mount the shotgun on a stand, so that it can be held in a steady position. You need its stock to be level and square to the ground. Rotate the cross-hair so that the vertical one is right in the center. If it helps, you can imagine a line running through the cross-hair that also runs directly through the center of your rifle. Certain adjustments can be made later on as well, but it’s a very important step to get it correctly aligned now, before you tighten it down.

Testing the scope

After you mounted and properly adjusted the scope on your shotgun, the best way to test it is to head out to the shooting range, where you can shoot it safely and repeatedly. It’s also easier to measure the distances and the backstops while you’re there, as opposed to being out in the open, for example.

Here are some tips and tricks for practicing at the range while testing your scope:

  • Practice on a bulls-eye custom-made for zeroing. They normally have many measurements, which will make the adjustments very accurate.
  • Study those measurements thoroughly after each shot, in order to determine how “off” you were. Only by doing this will you be able to tell what you need to do next and if you’re improving or not.
  • Always follow the rules and regulations of the range you’re shooting at. This will help you develop a correct shooting technique.
  • Mount the gun on a rest. Although you might be tempted to hold the rifle yourself, remember the ideal way of shooting with high accuracy is when the rifle is securely locked on a rest. This eliminates user-error or slight trembling of the hand.

Choosing a scope

And last, but not least, be careful when you select your scope. All the steps mentioned above will come to nothing if you have the wrong scope. There are many great rifle scopes you could go with, so here are some pointers to help you choose.

  • Don’t go over the top. Indeed, the technology used for making shotgun scopes keeps getting better and better every year, producing bigger and more accurate scopes all the time. But that doesn’t mean you have to choose those ones. Remember the simple rule of not buying a Ferrari just so you can go grocery shopping. Choose the one right for your eyes, your prey, your shotgun and the distance you’re shooting from.
  • Do your homework on technical details. This is the easiest and surest way to know which scope is best for your needs. You need to find out and learn that, in a 3-9X40 scope, 3 means three power. The image you’ll be seeing through your scope will be magnified three times. The nine means 9 power, or 9 time, 9X closer than you see it with your naked eye. You can find many articles and tutorials online with a simple search.
  • Understand a rifle scope’s anatomy and learn the terminology. Although it might look simple at a first glance, a scope is actually a complicated and delicate piece of equipment, made up of many intricate parts. Take knowledge on your side and find them out. You will want to learn about the eye piece, the ocular lens or the eye relief. If you don’t choose a proper eye relief, for example, you might get a black eye. Why? Because if the eye relief you’ve selected doesn’t allow for much space between your face and your gun, the recoil will hit you right in the eye. These are all things you should know before getting into the business.

So there you have it; some easy ways in which you can make zeroing your shotgun’s scope fun and less time-consuming. And with hunting season in full swing, we definitely need this advice.

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  When you own a long-range shotgun, it’s all about taking those perfect, accurate shots. But it’s not always easy, not even if you’re a seasoned shooter, but especially if you’re

If we want to be successful at gardening or raising crops, and most of us do, there are some things that can make us much more efficient and successful. Explaining potential ways to maintain a seed book and field/yield notes takes a lot longer than actually doing it, happily. Both tracking seeds and their results and separating seeds in storage can help limit some of the pains and aggravations of gardening. In some cases, being able to look something up or have a backup set of seeds can have major impact on our success, which in some situations might mean the difference between thriving and barely scraping by.

Tracking Seeds & Results

Notebooks are something most gardeners would benefit from. It’s not just for big growers and stock keepers. Consider a ledger your memory – because very rarely can our minds be relied on, especially if we have multiple companies’ offerings and multiple varieties of seeds.

Ideally, we also keep notes at least during key periods of the year. How many little green things popped up out of roughly how many seeds?

I like binders so that I can add a page for each successive year after I collect seeds, and so that I can add to my radish and squash/melon collection easily. Somebody with good backing-up procedures who aren’t worried about an EMP and who have a little solar charger for a tablet might be happier just making an Excel or Access chart. I know a guy who uses copier paper and the little report folders from green-sign Dollar Stores, keeping plant classes separated a little as he expands. A woman does the same, but hers are divided into ideal planting months for her climate. Lots of ways to tailor a seed book.

Regardless of what form our ledger is in, it’s there to tell us how seeds of certain cultivars and from certain companies respond to our soil, the climate and weather, and our culture practices (growing schemes).

Specifics to track in a binder

A basic seed book contains quick-reference information about our seeds, the information provided about them that tells us how to plant them and when. We do it for each variety by each supplier and each year, and ideally also have pages for our saved seeds from them, because all romaine lettuce and roma tomato seeds are not created equal.

Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners

Ideally, we also keep notes at least during key periods of the year. How many little green things popped up out of roughly how many seeds? How many grew up into strong plants? What fertilizers and treatments did we put out that might be affecting them? We also track climate conditions our little darlings survived, weekly or monthly – or during an extreme event. Hot and dry? Cool? Super wet season? Lots of wind?

Include notes about biotic conditions, too. How many bees are we seeing, and compared to previous years and bumper/bummer crop years? How many vegetarian creepy crawlies? Carnivorous buggaboos? Bats? Swallows? Crows? Was there a tragedy involving a border collie and a ball (or an idiot and a truck) that *possibly* affected a variety this year?

Include our feelings after we eat the produce (which is one place a dry-erase or chalkboard in a kitchen can be huge). Did we actually like the flavor of what we grew, or are we going to stand there with our eyes clenched closed trying to remember which one of those tomatoes/squashes was soft and kind of grainy and which was the most perfect thing we’ve ever put in our mouths?

The quick-list for a seed book:

  • Seeds – cultivar, provider/manufacturer, days to harvest, spacing needs, seeding rate, planting dates, hot-cold sensitivity, drought/disease resistance
  • Germination rate
  • Plant health
  • Weather
  • Insects and animal activity
  • Amendments and treatments used
  • Yields (by cultivar and by location if micro-climates differ)
  • Taste/texture and use preferences

Ideally in a format that can be quickly and easily accessed during planning and evaluation phases before and after each year’s crop seasons.

A seed book might also contain generic information like:

It’s ideally in a format that can be quickly and easily accessed during planning and evaluation phases before and after each year’s crop seasons. Too many books and bookmarked sites, and it gets hard to have it all accessible on a kitchen table for easy consumption.

Using notes for planning & evaluation

A well-kept notebook can help us identify trends, and from that successful cultivars. It’s too easy to forget that something happened, and it’s too difficult to accurately judge productivity of peas if we’re not keeping track of harvest even just by using pint jars and baskets and colanders as our measure.

For kitchen garden and egg tracking, I find it easiest to stick a $2 Ollie’s dry erase board and a map pen by my kitchen door. That’s where stuff gets dropped, anyway. I can see it and note it immediately, while I suck down my ice water or sandwich, or when I move to dealing with it. I use a birdwatcher’s pocket notebook for large-scale crops going into drying bins, cellars, and curing sheds.

I find it easiest to stick a $2 Ollie’s dry erase board and a map pen by my kitchen door.

Then there are a few minutes then spent transferring the information to the specific seed/variety pages and to this year’s overall harvest pages later.

Seems like a lot of work?

It can be, and initial setup can take some time – a good winter or blazing-hot afternoon project. Once it becomes habit, it’s just adding tick marks on a chart of crops in rows and columns with the harvest size – individual fruit, pint, gallon, quarter-bushel – and a note that berries are getting nibbled on out there, then on with washing and sorting and processing.

Fast and easy enough, since I don’t want to waste more money on things that aren’t producing well, and I’d rather concentrate on things that we eat – especially if I’m hoping to make a dent in groceries off all this time and labor. Compared to weeding a conventional garden or suckering tomatoes, maintaining yield and field notes takes no time at all.

Our seed books also let us pre-plan our gardens without dragging all our seeds in and out of their nice, stable environment and exposing them to moisture and temperature fluctuation.

Once we have a notebook, we can also easily keep our printed/drawn garden and field plans – with notes right on them in some cases. That’s one more tool in our arsenal for future planning and identifying if and what went wrong.

If we don’t have previous years’ layouts and our yield notes, we don’t have the ability to study what went right and what went wrong, what plants followed each other and were near each other, or to act on it in the future. If we can’t identify which variety/varieties produced those bumper and bummer crops, we’re doomed to repeatedly plant the wrong one – or we might be looking for a condition that’s causing a change, rather than quickly identifying that it’s a particular seed type that’s varying plot to plot or year to year.

A good binder helps us in a lot of ways.

Segregated and Backup Seed Stocks

I separate seeds by type and season, especially if they’re being stored in a fridge or freezer. That way, when I’m frost sowing, early spring sowing, and summer sowing, I’m only exposing one set to condensation and moisture. Likewise, I separate my herbs and my longer-season carrots and rutabagas, because they’re only coming out twice, whereas my greens and radishes may come out to get planted and replanted 4-10 times a year. I don’t want to expose plants I don’t have to, and limiting their exposure to accidents can only be considered a good thing.

It’s also a time saver. I have multiple gallon Ziplocs of my “small crop” seeds and there are additional paper bags of beans, corn, some squashes, and peas. Sorting through individual packets in a box, larger bags, or bucket to grab the 5-20 packets I want for today can take longer than planting them.

Granted, inspiration can strike when a packet wings out at you, but for the most part, we want to get in and get done.

Backups are good. I also segregate by 2-3 year spans, and keep backups that are not coming out into the kitchen for pre-staging or out into the garden with me. That way grubby fingers don’t affect those backups, and if a cup of tea spills or there is a snafu involving slick, wet mud or a hose, I don’t expose every seed I have and end up needing to plant it all, now, or losing it because I can’t dry it effectively to re-store.

We backup data on our computers. We keep backups of important documents in our bags and vehicles and offsite. We keep and sometimes carry a backup firearm or an EDC kit. We have backup smoke and CO detectors. (Or we should – for all of them.) Some of us maintain studs or backup studs for livestock, or know where we can run in an emergency and secure one.

Seeds are no different. Because sometimes, seeds or whole plant strains end up wrecked.

Wrecked seeds are a bummer. Moisture or bugs get to them in storage, maybe they weren’t as dry as we thought when we bagged or jarred them and they mildewed, or they might have crossed, which we won’t know for six months or a year*.

(*The parent plant determines the shape of the fruit and the seeds inside. The pollen from a different squash variety can be hidden deep inside that seed, and it won’t show up at first. We might find out that we have weak plants early in a season, but we might not find out that we have only thin shells of “meat” or something more like a loufa or gourd until fruits grow and are harvested and cut open to consume – same deal with a lot of seeds, broccoli to corn to beans.)

We combat the chance of having seeds wrecked between harvest and planting, and the chance of a hybrid we don’t know about for a year, by keeping two or three sets of our seeds. One set we hope we’re planting out. One set we’re caching somewhere safe and holding onto for at least an extra year or two. That way if this year’s seed-saving doesn’t go so hot or if our spring planting reveals a problem with the previous autumn’s crop, we can revert back to a 2-3 year-old source that we have faith in.

Tracking and Separating Seeds

There are probably people more than capable of keeping track without a stock book or ledger for plants or livestock. Most of us can use the memory aid. Try it for a year or two, go simple with it, and if it’s not working for you, ditch it. I think a lot of gardeners will find that maintaining a seed book is helpful, even if they don’t go whole-hog with planning sheets and segregating seeds for efficiency. Maintaining backup stock to saved seeds is something I think everyone should be doing. If not for everything (I don’t backup everything) then for the best performers and severe-weather crops we count on.

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If we want to be successful at gardening or raising crops, and most of us do, there are some things that can make us much more efficient and successful. Explaining

 

There may be situations if you are trained and armed when you will have to take aggressive action and counter-attack those who are attacking you.  For example, an ambush that does not kill all those in the kill zone or just disables your vehicles, to get out of the kill zone you may have to attack the ambush party. An attack on a residence where access has been gained by the attackers, the residents or security team must clear any attackers from the residence.  An attack on a shopping mall or hotel where you may be visiting or staying and aggressive action would be required to evacuate the location.

This is very basic information and can help you establish your own procedures if you are in a situation where you have the capabilities for counter-attack options. This is based on basic procedures for close protection teams and can be adapted to most situations.

Note: You cannot learn the skills required for this by reading a book or this document, you have to learn to shoot and train tactically for these tasks. This section can help you establish your procedures; you won’t become a Ninja by reading this!

There are three fundamental elements to aggressive actions:

  • Speed
  • Surprise
  • Aggression

For your action to be successful you must have at least two of the above elements

Mobile counter-attack

The conventional military response to an ambush is to attack the ambush.  In most cases an individual or small security team would not be able to attack an ambush, for to do so would leave a client or family members without close protection when the need is greatest. Also an individual or two-man security team would not usually have the weapons or ammunition to do so to perform and assault.

The best means of attacking an ambush is to use a separate security team not responsible for the client’s immediate protection. The counter attack team should consist of people who have received training in small unit tactics and have sufficient firepower to deal with all threats.  It should consist of not less than two people, in one vehicle. The counter attack team follows the client’s vehicle at a distance so that it will not become caught in an ambush on the client’s vehicle but close enough to be able to an attack the ambush quickly.  The distances the team will have to be from the client will vary due to terrain, traffic etc.  The protective surveillance team/personnel can be trained and used as the counter attack team.

Actions on a terrorist ambush by immediate close protection personnel:

  • Return fire
  • Drop smoke
  • Cover Client’s vehicle and attempt to break out.
  • Send contact report

When counter attack begins:

  • Give covering fire.
  • Remove Client from the killing zone to a safe location.

If the opportunity arises to escape before counter attack team takes action and never endanger the client because of your concern for the counter attack team.

Actions on a terrorist ambush by Counter Attack Team:

  • Move to killing zone at best speed
  • Use lights and siren for distractions
  • Debus and attack ambush or drive at ambush.
  • Do not hesitate. Fast, aggressive action is vital.
  • If Client has been extricated, do not attack ambush but cover move to safe house.
  • Weapons. Maximum use must be made of automatic weapons, grenades and CS gas etc.

Counter-attack on buildings

A counter attack on a building must be mounted quickly; the longer the delay, the more time the attackers will have to fortify their positions. A counter attack plan must be made and, if possible, practiced.

The counter attack team should consist of at least two people, but not more than five; i.e. a team leader and two pairs. The team leader needs as much information as possible on the situation in the building.  This could be obtained from civilians, locations security team, staff by the use of radios or cell/mobile phones or social media.

The information required includes:

  • The number “of attackers.
  • The description of the attackers.
  • Method of entry
  • Types of weapons and equipment used by the attackers
  • Location of the client
  • Physical state of the client
  • Location of any family or household staff
  • Overall casualties

Methods of Entry

  • If restricted by protective measures use same entry point as attackers but only as a last resort
  • Enter by stealth whenever possible.
  • Enter at the roof or top floor whenever possible.
  • Early contingency planning to identify possible means of entry.
  • Secure the entry point.

Room Clearing

  • Work in pairs.
  • Clear the door.
  • On entering the room IDENTIFY targets before engaging with fire.
  • Check all hiding places.
  • When room is clear, secure and lock the door if possible.

Progression

  • Control will be difficult.
  • Clear the building progressively; room by room, floor by floor.
  • Stairs.  Once taken, stairs must be held.
  • Use fire and Maneuver
  • Avoid confrontation with other team members.
  • Avoid being silhouetted or illuminated
  • Use natural and locations lights to your own advantage.
  • Use sound to disorientate the attackers: 1) Alarms. 2) Sirens. 3) Concussion Grenades.
  • Use of vehicles for approach and escape. 1) Must not spoil surprise. 2) Must remain secure. 3) Must not be put to unnecessary risk,

Action when building is clear

  • Ensure that the Client is safe.  Do not, however, remove them from a safe room.
  • Check that all attackers are dead or secured as prisoners.
  • Ensure that the perimeter of the building is secure.  Secure the entry point(s).
  • Decide whether to hold or escape
  • Co-ordinate external agencies on their arrival.

It is unlikely that plans proposed before the event will be put into effect as envisaged. The plan must be carefully thought out and rehearsed by all members of the team.

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  There may be situations if you are trained and armed when you will have to take aggressive action and counter-attack those who are attacking you.  For example, an ambush that

 

People who are interested in preparedness routinely end up looking further into the future than an event and the aftermath, and eventually end up looking at sustainability and self-sufficiency. Whether we want to augment an affordable beans and rice diet or we want to never need a supermarket again, growing food rears its head. There are lots of factors that go into gardening and crop raising. It starts with the very seeds we plant, so I’d like to look at two of the seed sources we see in the preparedness fold, and how to test seeds to find out if stored seeds are still viable.

How to Procure seeds

Seed kits and especially the long-storage seed vaults can be had good and bad, like any other one-size-fits-all gear or a multi-tool. There are some charts available that tell you how long regular ol’ seeds last, in a fridge or at a constant temperature in a closet. Various vaults and long-storage kits will provide their own estimates.

I tend to think there are a lot of people making a lot of money off fear purchases. I dislike the claims of feeding a family for one year without specifying the calorie contents possible (veggies are diet food). I feel a little better about the “Plants an Acre!” claims, although method affects that, too. I think a lot of the packaging of those kits are window dressing with little effect – and it should be noted that with a lot of kits, their “use by” date is derived from the longest lasting seeds inside. They may boost storage time some, but it may not be enough of an expansion to warrant paying for a “vault” or Mylar instead of a Ziploc freezer bag.

Nobody agrees about seed shelf life across the board, but that’s pretty common in both life and gardening specifically, and there are always exceptions. Maybe freezer, fridge, 65-75-degree shelves make a difference to other people’s spinach, but mine and a lot of my brassicas tend to hit 50% germination at 3-5 years no matter what storage location I go with, fancy kit or saved seed in a junk-mail paper packet.

There’s also the factor of climate.

Very few seed kits or vaults are tailored to Arizona, Alabama, Alaska, or the Adirondacks (some have regional planning). There are some tried and true varieties that will thrive almost anywhere if you have good garden soil – if; not intended for tilling a clay or sand yard for the first time without serious amendments – and some that are a little more lenient toward poor soils. Few kits, however, account for both the short growing season of North Dakota and the sweltering heat and humidity of South Carolina. There’s likely to be something in there that anybody can plant, but you may not be able to use everything in the kit.

Crunch numbers to see what applies to your region, what you’re growing seasons allow for, and figure out how much of the cost is seeds you can’t or are unlikely to use.

Crunch the numbers on the types of seeds you’re getting, too, and be aware that most seed kits provide way more tomatoes than I could keep up with and very, very few calorie and protein crops, so you still need additional seed stocks (deer corn and pigeon peas not crazy talk). Something like a third or half of those “More than 20K seeds!!!” may be leafy greens of some kind – not only near-nils in calories, but also with seeding rates of 3-5 seeds at 2-3” and then thinning to 6+ inches. In other words, not a lot of food value for a lot of seeds, but they go far toward ballooning numbers for advertising purposes.

I’m sure there’s a ton of examples for when buying more expensive kits meant for long-storage would be worth it. I can actually think of a couple. I can also think of a couple of little kits or bucket kits that are just nice, handy, fairly economical ways to get a start. I just want people to be aware of the limitations so those can be considered as well. It may end up that you’re better off buying the seeds you specifically want instead of a kit or vault.

I’d also like people to consider whether they can survive to the next planting, growing and harvest seasons in their regions before they delve on a long-storage seed kit – and from that, decide if they’d be better off applying their budget elsewhere.

Sale seeds may or may not be a great alternative. Grandma and great grandpa didn’t need fancy packages to keep seeds for a couple of years, but they did typically keep them cool.

Early on in the season, seeds have come right from growers and packaging plants, where they were somewhat cared for. By the end of the season and the start of next spring, seeds have spent months or a year going from blazing hot to cold on a daily basis in a lot of storefronts, or at least hitting 30-40-degree swings, with exposure to high humidity in a lot of the garden centers. Like coffee that goes in and out of a freezer, this degrades the seeds. The more extreme the conditions and fluctuations, the more at-risk the germination rate is.

I do buy the 10/$1, 4/$1 and $1 seed packs at the beginning and end of seasons, but I limit myself to $5-10. I am more likely to take advantage of end-of-season seed sales from an internet provider (that I already trust) where there is some expectation that my seeds have been stored properly over the spring and summer than I am a brick-and-mortar shop, especially the ones with seed racks right by doors where they’re getting the greatest temperature fluctuations for 6-8 months. I do buy my field-plot seeds at the end of the seasons from bulk distributors, and so far they’ve been fine for next-year planting.

If it works for you, great. If you’re buying them without doing germination tests, maybe check that out before you go whole-hog with a garden or really depend on producing food.

Use germination to test seeds

Germination testing isn’t difficult. It’s highly valuable in determining how viable your seeds are – and for how long. I will understand if somebody doesn’t want to pop a $200-$300 seed vault or set of #10 cans, but if it’s already several years old – and as good as some claim – go for it anyway. General commercial seed packets will be fine after opening as long as they stay dry. There’s no change in storage life opened or unopened for them.

To do the test, snag some plastic storage bags or bowls, paper towels or smooth dish cloths/hankies or some fast food napkins, and a dry erase marker for “good” dishes, a Sharpie for disposables or Ziploc bags. If your seeds need scarification or stratification, do it. A lot of seeds benefit from a pre-soak for 4-24 hours, even if it’s not a requirement. For a germination test, I have no problem giving everything the best chance, even if I don’t plant them as soaked seeds in real life.

For a plastic bag, mark it so you know which variety and intended planting year it’s from (or the year you saved it) as well as the date you’re starting the test and the days it should take to germinate. Dampen your napkin or paper towel, toss in your seeds, stick them somewhere warm, and cover them in dark cloth (or stick a bunch of bags in a stock pot with a good lid).

For “good” bowls, use the dry erase marker on the container or snag a disposable plastic container like a milk jug or old blinds to cut up and mark with the same information. If you’re sure it’s not going to get rattled and your seeds will stay segregated, you can line a baking sheet with a smooth towel, put a drying rack on top of it, and cover that with an additional damp towel. For bowls, damp hanky- or bandana-like cloth or paper towels go in the bottom and you cover them with another damp towel. These dry out faster than Ziplocs, so they’ll need checked twice a day or more frequently.

Keep an eye on the seeds for mildew and so that you can update your notebook with how many have sprouted and the age of the seeds tested. Eventually, you’ll develop an average for seed shelf life in your storage conditions even within general classes and types like spinach, squash, buckwheat, crowder peas, and grass grains.

Running the numbers

Sets of ten are easiest to reach a rate for without doing any math at all – add a zero, that’s your percent (8 of 10 sprout – 80% germination). Multiples of ten give a better baseline, and it’s simple conversions for them. The “real” way to figure out the rate is to divide and then multiple by 100. Say 32 of 50 sprout, then…

32/50 = 0.64, then 0.64 x 100 = 64; a 64% germination rate.

If you’re good with eyeballing estimating and relationships, just go with that. 32 of 50 is 3 of 5, 6 of 10, so 60%. It’s close enough. This is to make your life easier, not harder.

Applying the results

There are some seeds that are just finicky and some that may germinate but the survival to transplant or harvest size is a little low. If you’re hitting a 50-75% germination rate routinely, get some help to make sure there are no test problems. Mold under 7-14 days means you need to find a slightly less-warm spot and possibly reduce some of the moisture.

If the test’s fine and those are your germination rates for a specific package, you need new seed for storage. Whether it’s age, manufacturer, or storage conditions, yours don’t have too much life left to give. In most cases, it’s going to be a combination of these factors that degrades seed shelf life.

When you plant and start seeds with those germination rates, you may want to double the seeding rate, because you know half aren’t going to even sprout.

Germination testing isn’t a one-off. Doing it once and never again doesn’t work. If these are your storage seeds, you need to be testing batches every 1-2 years, because viability drops off. That said, unless they’re saved seed (which I test at harvest time) you don’t really need to do a germination test on anything intended for planting this year or last year. Unless they got soaked or baked sometime or have had a really hard life, they should be fine.

Local help helps more – generally

Two of the greatest assets for growers is the nearest county, university, or state extension office, and the local Master Gardener’s association. They’re right there. A lot of our states have a whole handful of regional variables, but most have somebody who’s familiar with them – and might have somebody right there in your backyard.

Use them. The more local the advice, especially about pests and growing season and crop varieties that thrive, the better the advice is going to be.

Do, however, beware of five monkeys in a cage – the “we’ve always” syndrome; we no longer use leaches as healers or wipe only with our left hands, and those kinds of advances apply elsewhere as well. We now have all kinds of growing methods that do not involve tilling in lime, but that remains fallback advice north, south, east and west. (If any amendment is part of your gardening plan, you’re going to want to stock up on that, too.)

Advice should be taken with a grain of salt and additional information sources should be sought out, for anything, but if you’re strolling around or looking at pictures of a highly productive garden, and you’re growing using the same methods in the same place, these people might be worth listening to – from where they get their seeds and baby trees, to how they handle them.

Additional seed tips

There’s another round of seed tips coming up, specifically dealing with tracking seed varieties and their yields, and storing seeds for convenience, efficiency and contingencies. With any luck, some of the points raised in this one will help you decide for or against certain seed sources and you’ll be able to rest more comfortably knowing the results of germination tests, as well as be able to find somebody to help if you’re having garden problems.

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