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A Bug Out Bag, Survival Vest or Both

As preppers we all spend a lot of time looking at, revamping and assessing our bug out bags (BOBs). Even once you think you have a great setup a new idea comes along and gives you a whole new perspective.

So why do we use bags, granted they can carry a lot of our gear and supplies and can be very comfortable but do they offer the best option for both urban and wilderness preppers?

In this article we will be looking at the pros and cons of using a combined tactical vest and bug out bag system to offer maximum comfort, optimization, safety and conserve the maximum amount of energy possible when on the move.

So, first things first, why have a survival vest at all? Wearing a vest can give you better personal protection from knives, gunshots and physical trauma. They can also aid in distributing the weight of your gear over your body and allowing you to carry more (if you need/want to) and have instant access to certain pieces of kit.

On the other hand a vest will add additional weight to your setup and can be difficult to move around in / wear with a pack. The next thing you will need to think about it what are you using it for?

Here are some points that you should consider before buying a vest:

  • Does the maximum storage allow you to carry more gear in weight than the vest itself?
  • Have you optimized access to important gear in your pack already? Once you have, will moving that equipment to a vest make things easier?
  • What are you putting in it?
  • Is it worth it compared to just storing everything in your bag?
  • Are you carrying weapons? Where will you be storing munitions? Do you need quick access to shells, magazines or loose rounds?

So You Decided To Suit Up

So, you are getting a vest. Which one do you want? There are many different types of tactical vest available designed for a range of climates, objectives and load outs. If you are going to buy a vest make sure you try it on first with your pack, check that it is breathable and adaptable. By adaptable I mean, can the pockets be removed, replaced or upgraded? Can the vest have a tactical belt attached or detached? Does the vest have additional webbing or facilities for attaching

UTG 547 Law Enforcement Tactical Vest

further gear? Do you want a built-in pistol holster or will you be using a hip or drop leg holster?

A good vest to start out with for maximum customization would be a basic Molle web vest. This allows you to attach your own pockets and facilities where ever you want and what ever size you want. The downside here is the webbing itself. The pockets can detach, be ripped off or the webbing itself tear and come loose.

To avoid this a basic commando vest could be a better way to go. This kind of vest allows the best of both worlds by having built-in pockets around the midsection about the size of an AR-15 single stack magazine, a medium sized dump pocket on one side of the chest and pistol magazine sized pockets on the other side. This type of vest can also come with a pistol holster and radio pocket depending on the brand. These vests usually also have molly webbing along the sides and back for carrying additional gear when not wearing your pack. Certain grenadier vests will also have a tactical belt laden with pockets that could be used for a variety of gear. A kind of prepper Bat-belt. Just remember what is in each compartment.

The down side to these vests is that they can limit maneuverability and get very hot when fully stocked with equipment. Finding one with mesh padding as opposed to leather or thick material is preferred.

The last type of vest we will look at is a heavy protection vest such as the U.S. army`s Interceptor body armor. These usually have a crotch guard and padded shoulder and arm plates that come down to the elbow joints. These vests have limited storage space and a significantly heavier and hotter than other types of vest. As they are built for heavy combat they can withstand gunfire and knife blows so they do offer the most protection of the three. The Interceptor vest, for example, was tested to stop a 9×19mm 124-grain FMJ bullet at 1,400 ft/s with minimal back face deformation, and it has a V-50 of roughly 1,525 ft/s. This means that the bullet in question must travel faster than 1,525 ft/s for it to have more than a 50% chance of penetration. (An unlikely prospect, given the muzzle velocity of a typical 9mm handgun or sub-machine gun) This vest weighs up to 33.1 pounds (15kgs) unloaded.

What are you packing?

A flashlight or headlamp. The contents of every prepper’s BOB will be different, so it makes perfect sense that the contents of the vest would also be different. But what do you choose to keep on your person at all times? A simple and easy way to decide what gear you should choose is to play out a survival scenario and what ever gear you will need as a bare minimum is. Here is a basic example of items you could store in your vest.

Keeping a miniaturized survival kit on your person at all times may also be worth putting together or spreading over the space of the vest compartments.

In conclusion…

A vest can be either a great help or a great hindrance. The best way to find out if it is going to help you or not is to test out a range of configurations and scenarios. Above all, remember that your setup will have to be suited to all the yearly conditions that you will be faced with.

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  A Bug Out Bag, Survival Vest or Both As preppers we all spend a lot of time looking at, revamping and assessing our bug out bags (BOBs). Even once you think

 

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 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

Preppers stockpile water, food, security, and health care items for TEOTWAKI or even a lesser SHTF event. This is wise, but it does nothing to address the angst in the hearts of those seeking meaning in their lives. The argument could be made the meaning preppers are searching for is the ability to satisfactorily provide for their families, to which I say is only one side of the coin for people such as myself. What’s missing is a sense of genuine accomplishment in day-to-day living – a sense what I do matters in the grand scheme of things. This is not ego in a grandiose way such as building the pyramids or being wealthy or famous; rather I have been a productive human being, have not squandered my time here, and have improved the lives of those around me. I seek to feel and to be useful and to be in charge of my own life by living deliberately.

(Originally in this part of the article I wrote about 800 words detailing my disdain for the rat race aspect of my job, my frustration with the economy, and my revulsion towards the decay of American society and government overreach [reasons to wish for societal reset] but no matter how I edited it I sounded like a whiny Communist angry at “the man”. My thoughts are much more complex, but suffice to say, I hate the way our country has made it quite difficult for a person to be his own master. I have thus omitted it in order to better focus on the benefits of homesteading.)

Above I cited the Wikipedia reference for Walden by Henry David Thoreau which also succinctly summarizes the chapter “Baker Farm” thusly:

While on an afternoon ramble in the woods, Thoreau gets caught in a rainstorm and takes shelter in the dirty, dismal hut of John Field, a penniless but hard-working Irish farmhand, and his wife and children. Thoreau urges Field to live a simple but independent and fulfilling life in the woods, thereby freeing himself of employers and creditors. But the Irishman won’t give up his aspirations of luxury and the quest for the American dream.

I agree with Thoreau and see most of us as John Field caught in the rat race because we’ve been promised that piece of cheese. I would choose to do with less if I could start over; yes, I would choose to work smarter, not harder. As I have entered my thirties I have realized what key element is missing from my life: the lack of real, tangible freedom to be my own master. You see, the regular work-a-day world is like slot cars. You keep going, don’t rock the boat, and eventually you’ll reach the end. SOSDD as we used to say in the military. We’re pretty much expected to toil away to make other people rich (help them fulfill their dreams) while they toss us paltry wages to keep us appeased. If you can save enough from the tax man to eke out a little fun here and there, the tax man will be sure to reap the remainder from your heirs when you die.

I don’t believe this is the way we’re supposed to live for several reasons. First and foremost as a Christian, I believe the Bible shows us God’s intended plan: “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return” Gen. 3:19. I believe this means we’re supposed to physically toil for our daily bread. Does your job require toiling? If it doesn’t, I bet you have a desk job like mine – one which is entirely unhealthy and killing us as we spend 1/3 of each day doing it. We abuse caffeine, get bathed in electromagnetic fields, sit, snack mindlessly, stare at computer screens (I have five), take work home / don’t leave work at work, use mobile devices, and wear ear buds (a double whammy). I don’t believe God intends for us to get cancer from the work which He commanded us to do, yet I can sure believe it’s a consequence for us deciding yet again to do things our own (“easier”) way.

Secondly, even if there is no God or no mandate to till the earth, our western way of life is not sustainable. Most preppers acknowledge this and see a complete collapse as a real possibility because of it. Going back to the articles which inspired me to write this one the discussion of “bug-in vs. bug-out” was breached and I’m throwing my hat into the ring on behalf of team homesteading. It’s sort of the best of both worlds in that: a) it’s your home so you don’t have to go anywhere unless under direct threat because; b) you’re probably somewhat removed from urban centers right from the get-go.

My third consideration is both providing for my family and for my own personal fulfillment as a human being – not ego, mind you, but the peace one finds in doing what he knows is right and good in life. Living the homestead life is work. Not work like you go to work, living is your work. You work all day from sun up to sun down so that you can eat for that day or the next. I’m not talking about hand-to-mouth, per se, but there’s not much room for error unless you’ve got a good root cellar full of wonderful meat and vegetables you’ve canned after you hunted, fished, or farmed. One might ask what’s so fulfilling about that, to which I say if I am going to work all day it might as well be for my family’s direct benefit, rather than to help someone else attain their dream in exchange for after-tax fiat currency.

It is for these reasons that I see homesteading as a viable method to rediscover purpose without a massive die-off related to a reset event. I’m also not talking about going back to the middle ages (though I do have a great desire to do so myself and would in a heartbeat via living history museum if I could). I’m not above using a gas chainsaw over an axe. Modern amenities can make life easier and even speed your progress towards your prepping goals. Three years ago I caught a stomach bug and was out of commission for three days. After unrelenting bouts of nausea, vomiting, dizziness, sweating, fever, and all the other pleasantries I wanted to do nothing else but die. I had the conveniences of modern hydration, medicine, a warm and safe place to sleep, television and a loving wife who nursed me with all the kindness of an annoyed porcupine, but I was ready to end it all to escape the misery. I don’t want to be without modern medicine and have to cauterize a wound with a red hot knife, a biting stick, and some whiskey. But what I wouldn’t mind is knowing how to sew up a small wound and have the peace of mind that I could do those things if I really had to – whether to save my own life or that of someone in my family.

Many TV shows show us (often contrived) homesteading scenarios. One of the better ones, in my opinion, is Alaska: The Last Frontier. It follows the 2nd – 4th generations of the Kilcher family on their land in Alaska. What I like about this show is the constant work the families are shown doing from mucking chicken coops, to thawing frozen tundra to dig a new outhouse hole in the middle of winter because they slacked in the summer, to smoking fish, to making soap. Yes, it’s TV and designed to entertain, but there is truth shown here ready to be gleaned by the keen observer. I don’t think I’m ready to jump on the rewilding bandwagon just yet, but even they can teach us something.

What are your thoughts on homesteading? Is it realistic? More hype than substance? Are you too late in the game to attempt it?

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Preppers stockpile water, food, security, and health care items for TEOTWAKI or even a lesser SHTF event. This is wise, but it does nothing to address the angst in the

 

When the SHTF and Nellie has Dementia

Dementia is not just about forgetting things. Memory loss, confusion and incontinence are some of the earlier symptoms, but definitely not the only things to face.

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke defines dementia as: “A group of symptoms caused by disorders that affect the brain. People with dementia may not be able to think well enough to do normal activities, such as getting dressed or eating. They may lose their ability to solve problems or control their emotions. Their personalities may change. They may become agitated or see things that are not there.”

According to the American Alzheimer’s Association (2015), five million people in the USA are living with dementia – that’s one person in 64; most of them over the age of 65 (younger people can develop dementia).

For the last five years, I have been caring for my mother who is now 87 years old. She has vascular dementia. Many of the observations made in this article are drawn from my own experience and from talking to other carers. Some of this article will be of use to those living with other disabilities. Not all people with dementia will have all these needs and there will be other things I have not mentioned – it is not meant to be a primer on dementia care. Some points are more relevant to those who are bugging out, but most can be applied to any situation.

For this article, I have chosen to give a name to the person with dementia. Her name is Nellie.

Prepping for those with Dementia

Add to your stockpile: Spare parts and the tools to repair and maintain mobility aids eg. tires, pump, water dispersal spray, oil, small spanners etc. You can fit/hide more than you think in the frame of a wheelchair!

Black cloth or plastic (it must be black) – Nellie may be a compulsive wanderer. Three or four large pieces of something black strategically placed around your living space may reduce the chance of wandering (Alzheimer’s Foundation of America). Why? Nellie’s brain sees the cloth as a hole and instinct takes over to prevent her from falling in!

Melatonin pills (unless contra-indicated) – Nellie may sleep for 20 hours a day, which as long as she is happy, presents few issues. But on other days, she seems to survive on only four. Nellie’s carers (and the rest of the group) need their sleep in order to function.

“Melatonin production slows as we age and is especially compromised in Alzheimer’s disease, a factor that may contribute to disrupted sleep in dementia sufferers. Melatonin supplements may improve some sleep-related symptoms in Alzheimer’s disease.”- (Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation).

Monster spray – A few squirts from a decorated spray bottle of colored water can scare off many of the frightening things lurking in Nellie’s version of the world. In this respect, and in many others, Nellie is like a child. Some will say the monster spray is just playing to her insecurities. Maybe; but a drug-free way to a calm Nellie (leading to a calmer group!) is not to be discredited.

Incontinence supplies – Disposable diapers, pull-ups and incontinence pads are convenient but they are expensive and eventually, supplies will run out. There are washable alternatives, worn with water-resistant plastic pants (watch for irritated skin).  (absorbs up to 570ml of urine) or cloth diapers (absorbs up to 400ml of urine). Expect Nellie to use several pairs of underwear every day. Pads from a lightweight fabric bag stuffed with soft and absorbent sphagnum moss can work for mild incontinence. The moss is available from many garden centers and some hardware stores. Night time requires something much more absorbent but so far, I have not found anything I am willing to recommend.

You will also need to stockpile nappy rash cream, at least three draw sheets (puppy pads or similar are a useful back up), urinary tract infection remedies, soft wash cloths, disposable gloves (they can be washed and reused a few times) and plastic bags.

Suitable food and utensils – secure everything else out of sight – Many people with dementia, especially in the later stages, will lose interest in food; often because they are losing their sense of smell and therefore, of taste. Bitter and sweet are the last parts of taste to be lost. I prefer sweet foods to bitter ones: those with dementia are no different. Nellie may pile on the salt so she can actually ‘taste something’ and reject anything she perceives as tasteless. Are you going to anger Nellie by rationing the sweet things?

Nellie may have difficulty swallowing and will need a soft diet, or even pureed food. Do not be tempted to think that commercially available baby food is the easy option. Nellie will most likely not eat it. Have you tried the stuff? Most of it is almost tasteless to the adult palate, therefore to someone like Nellie, it is totally unappetizing!

A study done by biopsychologists at Boston University (2004) showed that people with Alzheimer’s ate up to 25% more when their meals were presented on a red plate. Why red? Red is highly visible and contrasts with many foods – if it doesn’t, use another color for Nellie’s meal. If she can see it, she just might eat it. You may need to rotate the plate during the meal as Nellie’s brain may not register the whole plate. It may be easier for Nellie to use children’s crockery (plates with a lip, cutlery with chunky or even angled handles, sipper cups or a mug with two handles) when eating her meals.

A word of caution: as the dementia progresses; compounded by the decreasing sense of smell and taste, Nellie may not realize that soap is not food and disinfectant is not safe to drink.

Extra clothing, towels and laundry supplies – You will need extra clothing because of the incontinence, especially if you are unable to wash and dry things every day. A ringer bucket will make laundry day easier. But even then, things may take two or three days to dry; longer if there is not much sunlight. In springtime, mum’s draw sheet took only 3 hours to dry when hanging on the line but a day or more inside. The incontinence pants took 4-6 hours to dry on the line and two days inside.

Lightweight microfiber towels used by hikers are surprisingly absorbent, very compact, and quick to dry. Mine takes about half an hour to dry in the sun or two hours if I hang it up inside.

Twiddle – Appreciated by professional care givers for its calming effect

If you judge it safe to do, write Nellie’s name and address/destination on her clothing in case she wanders.

Something to comfort Nellie – People with dementia can sometimes draw a great amount of comfort from a familiar soft toy to cuddle, a ‘twiddle muff’ or a ‘twiddle blanket’. A favorite piece of music helps too (another reason to include a small musical instrument in the SHTF kit).

Learn how to:

Repair mobility aids – Unfortunately, even with the best of care, wheelchairs, walking frames etc will eventually break or wear out. The ability to fashion new ones from the remains of the old (or whatever random parts you can scavenge) will be a useful skill to have.

Sing Nellie’s favorite songs – As well as providing entertainment, it may help reduce Nellie’s fear and agitation/aggression.

Live in Nellie’s world – Reality may confuse or upset Nellie. Unless it is a matter of life and death, always agree with her: it’s easier on everyone. A lie can be your friend, especially if the short-term memory has gone and they are living in the past. When she asks for the third time this morning “Where’s Johnny?” don’t tell her Johnny died last month, just say he has gone to get some bread, or whatever seems suitable.

Recognize triggers – Similar to PTSD, some things can trigger extreme distress in those with dementia. In mum’s case, a low-flying fighter plane will send her looking for an air raid shelter. In some situations, if you know what the triggers are, you can have a well-timed distraction in place.

And if the SHTF?

Nellie is going to be slower than you or me – “We have to leave NOW!” is not going to be easy, especially in darkness or low-light conditions. Nellie will pick up on the urgency and become distressed even if she doesn’t understand what’s happening. And that means it will take longer than usual to get her ready to leave.

When walking, the group can only move at the pace of its slowest member. If Nellie is mobile, she may tire easily and not be as sure-footed as you or me. Walking frames are not designed for rough terrain and most of the time, their brakes are useless for anything except a straight and level surface. Some wheelchairs are better suited for sand and rough ground than others but none will be of any use with a flat tire. Have someone scan ahead for accidentally – or deliberately – placed tire traps. And someone still has to push the chair. If you think it’s hard work pushing a toddler, try pushing a fully grown adult, even if she is underweight. Test yourself. My current limit pushing mum’s distinctly average wheelchair uphill and down and along slightly muddy ground is about 90 minutes.

Some things are not so obvious:

Nellie may have no depth perception – Shadows may be perceived as steps to avoid, or rocks to go around. And nothing will convince her otherwise. When Nellie is getting agitated and grabbing at ‘nothing’, it may be her trying to reach for something she wants 10′ away.

Nellie may be noisy and will not self-censor – Nellie may not understand the need to remain quiet. She may even make involuntary noises. This could pose a security risk. And if Nellie announces “Gee, he’s fat!” to the lout blocking your way, the rest of the group may not have a chance to smooth things over.

“I want to go home!” – Nellie and others with dementia need to feel safe in their own world (even if their world is not the same as yours). Routines help them to feel safe. In a SHTF situation, this may be impossible. Often the desire to go home is a deep-seated feeling that things are not right, not familiar in the world she suddenly finds herself in. If Nellie is mobile, she may try to get home. Home may actually be her childhood home, not the home she raised you in. This is where the ‘black holes’, the songs and the cuddly toy can really help.

But what about Nellie?

I know there are some out there who would cite their version of the Greater Good theory, saying it is too difficult and too risky to have Nellie in the group. Ultimately, like many SHTF-based decisions, it comes down to “Which decision will haunt me the least?” In other words: a matter for your conscience.

All I can say is that during the Blitz, Granny stayed behind and sheltered mum when she could not get her to the air raid shelter. Mum would never leave me behind and I will not leave her when she needs me the most.

Before you go, you may also like:

This is more than just about your guns…
How to survive any medical crisis situation with ease
10 Easy Steps to Secure your privacy
Secret Military Solution For Power Independence
DIY Unlimited water source
Why a food reserve is way better than the Federal Reserve
Lost Skills of our Ancestors that still work today

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  When the SHTF and Nellie has Dementia Dementia is not just about forgetting things. Memory loss, confusion and incontinence are some of the earlier symptoms, but definitely not the only things

 

The phrase “guerrilla gardening” was first used in 1973 in New York City, when Liz Christie and her Green Guerrilla group transformed an empty private lot into a vegetable and flower garden for community use. While not legal it was not challenged, and eventually became part of the NYC Parks Department.

Guerrilla gardening today can be done for either personal benefit, or as a form of activism to draw attention to urban blight. In our case, I will discuss guerrilla gardening for survival.

I got the idea for a little guerrilla gardening last year, when I read this Survival Blog post and decided to give it a try in two places – my own backyard, and an abandoned farm not too far from home.

I had never grown field corn before last year, but in the mid-West you see it grown everywhere for cattle feed. In a TEOTWAWKI situation, being able to grow corn for your family would be vital their survival. Why? Because it’s easy to grow, packed with calories, and lasts for several years once harvested.

Here’s how to test the technique in the backyard:

  • Select the area of lawn to be converted to corn field. Make sure it is fenced in, or otherwise kept clear of pets and toddlers for a few days.

Do you have the skills you need to be your own source of food if the grid goes down??

  • Chop holes in rows every 12-18”, plant a couple of corn kernels about 1” deep, and cover with the chopped dirt. Water in the seeds, and the next day spray the whole area with glyphosate (Roundup) prepared as directed on the label. The grass dies before the seeds sprout, and within ten days the corn sprouts should be poking out. Thin the ranks once they get a couple of inches tall.
  • When the corn stalks get about a foot tall, plant two climbing bean seeds (like dried pinto beans from the grocery store) a few inches away from the stalk; the bean plants’ roots fix nitrogen in the soil for the corn-stalk, and the corn stalks provide support for the bean plants so they get more sunlight. Beans and corn together provide an excellent nutritional base of carbohydrates and protein. Also, if you can plant another set of bean seeds a couple of weeks before bean harvest time in late July/early August, you may be able to get a second crop harvested by corn harvest time in October/November.

By the end of the growing season, the grass and weeds rotted away, and I had an established garden area. I tried this on my lawn last year (on about 100 sq ft), and I was able to harvest 16 pounds of field corn, and 6 pounds of pinto beans, for a total of about 35,000 calories. Since my family of four needs about 8000 calories a day, I would need about 85 of these plots to cover their needs and have seed corn/beans for the following year. That’s only about 0.2 acres – smaller than most subdivision lots! If you were able to get a second crop of beans, that would provide you with calories to spare, or some extra beans to trade to your neighbors.

This was lawn in the spring of 2014, before converting to corn last year.

Naturally, in a SHTF scenario, I would like to plant more to account for bad weather (like the monsoon season we are having in lieu of summer this year!), infestations, or thievery by two and four-footed critters.

This is where the true guerrilla gardening comes in.

There is an abandoned farm at the end of our subdivision street. The rumor is that it is owned by the subdivision’s developer, but he is in jail on drug charges for a long time, and so any further development is in limbo. Maybe you have seen a similar fallow field or empty lot around your neighborhood that you could control if things go to hell.

An abandoned farm in our neighborhood

Residents occasionally hike through some parts of the farm, so there are trails that wind around the edge of the field, but the tall grass and thorny bushes stop most people from going through it – all the better for me.

Around the first of June, I put a bag of field corn, a hedge trimmer, and a bulb planter into my backpack, and took a little hike. I selected a patch of field that was mostly tall grass for ease of planting, and got to work. Although I was nervous as hell about getting caught, I chopped the grass as low as I could in a 15’ x 15’ square, and threw the grass to the side. Then I got busy with the bulb planter, punching holes in the dense grass root systems, and pushing in the corn seeds. The next day, I packed in a small sprayer loaded with glyphosate, and sprayed the whole area. Within two weeks, I had little rows of corn seedlings.   Yay, it worked! When they got about a foot tall, I planted the bean seeds as described.

That’s the good news, but here is the bad news – within a week, I noticed that the grass next the plot was flattened, and the tops of my little corn plants were being nipped. Deer! Those little bastards found the seedlings a tasty change of diet, and are doing their best to commandeer the crop.

So here is what I have learned –

Deer like to snack on corn and beans in bed (rear left).

  • It would be too expensive to fence my little plot now (about $100), and fencing would draw unwanted attention.
  • If I were to guerrilla garden post-TEOTWAWKI, I would do it with whatever surviving neighbors I could trust. We would use fencing acquired after the disaster, and/or take turns patrolling the field until the seedlings matured and were less tasty. This would also provide us an opportunity to hunt deer drawn to the plot, and put some fresh meat on the table. I have also heard that human urine is a natural deer repellent, but I haven’t tried it yet.
  • I need to stock up now, to be prepared to implement this plan.
    • Fifty pounds of feed corn costs about $5 at a feed supply store, should germinate adequately, and covers about an acre and a half. You could trade or give some to your trusted neighbors that will be part of your guerrilla gardening group.
    • 50 pounds of dried will complement the corn, and is good for eating if gardening doesn’t work out.
    • A variety of other garden seeds – tomatoes, cabbage, and other foods that can be kept/canned.
    • About a gallon of glyphosate and a couple of sprayers.
    • A couple of bulb planters, trowels and/or shovels.
    • Adequate firearms and ammo for guarding the crop and hunting deer.

While it is a little late in the season to expect to harvest, why not try it anyway soon near you? Better to learn now what works than later!

1 Comment

  The phrase “guerrilla gardening” was first used in 1973 in New York City, when Liz Christie and her Green Guerrilla group transformed an empty private lot into a vegetable and

Imagine this scenario: It’s the dead of winter. The ground is covered in snow, the temperature is below freezing during the daylight and worse after the sun goes down. Your power goes out. You’ve got water and a decent amount of food in storage, but your heat source went with the power and the temperature inside your dwelling is rapidly dropping. What can you do?

The best option, one that people have come back to time and again throughout history, is to fire up the stove. If you have a woodstove or wood cookstove, chances are you’ve never worried about this situation. If you lose power and have to rely on yourself for heat, all you need to do is grab a couple blocks of firewood, throw them in the stove, start a fire, and in no time at all your living space will be just as warm as with any other heat source. The difference, however, is that wood heat from cutting the tree to splitting and loading the wood is entirely your responsibility.

If you’ve got the time and energy, cutting your own firewood for the winter is one of the most rewarding aspects of living in a cold climate, both mentally and economically. There’s something to be said for the satisfaction of surviving the winter on your own terms: Gas, propane, electric they all require middle-men in some way or another. With wood heat, you have the option of gathering your own fuel and maintaining sole responsibility for how it’s burned and why, all at a cost that is far lower than that incurred by other heating methods.

But we’re not talking about just ordinary woodstoves, we’re talking about cookstoves. What’s the difference? Let’s go back to that scenario:

Your only source of heat is a stove, but what about preparing food? Sure, you can get by on the standards like canned goods, freeze-dried foods, MREs, etc. But when you’re looking at an extended period of time without access to proper power, you’ll want variety in order to avoid the very real issue of appetite fatigue. Survival isn’t just about getting the proper amount of nutrients into your body, it’s also about maintaining your sanity, and being able to cook food that actually tastes good will go a long way towards helping you hunker down for the long haul.

That’s where cookstoves come in.

A cookstove has two main features: A firebox and an oven. The firebox works essentially like a standard woodstove and, depending on the stove, will heat just as effectively. However, that heat and the smoke from the fire is also routed through an adjacent oven (in ways that vary between stove manufacturers), allowing you to bring the oven to a temperature that will effectively cook anything you want.

 

Most cookstoves even offer independent controls for each side, as well as a universal damper system for total control over how much heat- if any- you wish to allow into the stove. If you can cook it on a normal household stove, you can cook it on a cookstove via wood heat.

The advantages of a cookstove aren’t limited to personal warmth and cooking, though: Many cookstoves also offer options for domestic hot water. With steel coils installed in the firebox and connected to a water reservoir located on the stove (or remote tank, in some cases), a cookstove will also create hot water when in use. This technology operates on the basic principle that hot water rises and cold water falls, using absolutely no additional electronics, pumps, or pressure tanks. You heat up the stove, the stove heats up the water. It’s that simple.

Cookstoves are not a new invention by any means, and chances are if you’ve heard of them or seen one before, it was collecting dust or in a state of disrepair in the household of a family member from a previous generation. Wood cookstoves have a long history in America, but fell by the wayside as social and economic forces led coal to replace wood as the main source of energy in the early 1900s. Wood still has its drawbacks as an energy source, particularly if you’re not living near a forest, but for many the benefits far outweigh any issues and always have.

The Esse Ironheart Cookstove.

Wood is reliable, and that reliability has kept cookstoves on the market and improving over the years. Today’s cookstoves aren’t your grandma’s cookstove left over from the Great Depression: They are simple but robust pieces of technology built on generations of experience, and with proper maintenance, will keep burning and cooking for decades.

That reliability and self-containment is invaluable to anyone living the prepared life. You can take all manner of precautions against society and what will happen when the grid goes down, but you can’t survive mother nature without a consistent source of heat and food. If you’re a prepper living in the north, or anywhere with temperatures that regularly dip below freezing in the winter months, you need to prepare not only for a large-scale disaster, but for a seasonal one as well. Every year winter storms regularly knock out power for tens of thousands of citizens across the country, often for weeks at a time. Being snowed in without power or a way to restock supplies is still a part of life for many Americans in the winter, and if you’re relying on a third-party to provide your heat in such a situation, you run the very real risk of freezing to death. Keeping a cookstove around will not only alleviate that risk, but allow you to do so relatively comfortably.

As mentioned earlier, a cookstove will open up a variety of options in the event of the grid going down, but that’s not limited to how you prepare your already stored food. And it’s just as well, because no matter how you ration it that food will eventually run out. If you’re to survive through self-reliance and meet all the dietary needs of the human body, you’ll need to raise or hunt your own meat, and that meat will need to be cooked. The benefit of a cookstove here is that you won’t be using multiple devices to accomplish this- your heat source will also provide you with an efficient way of preparing your meat.

A cookstove will go a long way in itself to sustain a person, but if you can also cut your own firewood and kill or grow your own food, a cookstove will provide almost everything else you need. Regardless of whether you’re a prepper or just interested in living a bit more self-sufficiently, a cookstove offers enrichment and security for your life. And on those long, cold winter days in the more out-of-the-way parts of the land, you can’t ask for more.

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Imagine this scenario: It’s the dead of winter. The ground is covered in snow, the temperature is below freezing during the daylight and worse after the sun goes down. Your

 

Many Prepper and survivalist web sites contain an abundance of material about the likelihood of gun confiscation in the aftermath of a major disaster. The general premise is that government agencies and/or military units will be going door to door after a declaration of martial law to forcibly deprive you of weapons and ammunition. You resist – you die, or end up in a prison cell on the back side of some undocumented FEMA camp in the middle of nowhere; or so the theory goes.

Unfortunately, the distinction between local or regional disasters, such as a hurricane or earthquake, and a wider SHTF or “end of the world as we know it” event, are rarely made. In any historic disaster that you can name, government has always continued to function at both the state and federal levels. A varied collection of mostly nameless bureaucratic agencies have always been able to respond to a recognized need. The degree to which they were timely in their response, or even effective, is not an issue. The point is that a constituted and functional government (the people who you think you elected), were responding to a recognized need because they had a political motivation or statutory obligation to do so.

Most frequently cited in Prepper articles is the warning that gun confiscation is an inevitable consequence of a declaration of martial law. In the case of Hurricane Katrina, law enforcement personnel were, in fact, going door to door to confiscate firearms. There were numerous highly qualified Search and Rescue teams that refused to go to New Orleans because they were not allowed to carry firearms for their own protection.

If the entire system were to suddenly go sideways, what is the probability of an enforceable martial law declaration, followed by gun confiscation? For example, if a solar coronal mass ejection (CME) event took out the entire national power grid could you realistically expect an army platoon to break through your front door in search of firearms, ammo and surplus food? I think not.

In order for martial law to be effective, you must first have a means of declaring it to the general populace. Second, you must have a means of enforcing it. The absence of either factor renders the declaration a moot point. Even without a means of communication, citizens will realize that a major catastrophe has happened. If there are no lights on at city hall, it won’t take a genius to figure out that civilization has gone south. Without a means of communication (TV, radio, Internet, posters on telephone poles, etc.) there is no way the general populace would know that martial law has been declared.

Second, if the command and control communications infrastructure has been disabled, government will have no ability to issue notifications or orders to law enforcement agencies (federal, state, county or local). By using the term “infrastructure,” I refer to computer based network communications, the ability to transmit communiqués via radio, the ability to contact and muster enforcement personnel, and essential coordination of resources. Stated a bit more directly, Fort Bliss will not dispatch a battalion of troops from the 1st Armored Division to Albuquerque, New Mexico (a distance of 225 air miles) to confiscate your firearms. They won’t be doing it in Humvees, M1-A1 tanks or Blackhawk helicopters. And they most assuredly won’t be on foot.

Finally, the enforcement of martial law (including gun confiscation) presupposes that county and local law enforcement personnel will be willing to carry it out on a national scale. It is one thing to suppress looters and arsonists, but requiring the military or state/county law enforcement to confiscate 350 million legally owned firearms is an entirely different proposition; especially if they are faced with determined resistance. Importantly, there are an increasing number of county sheriffs across the U.S. that have gone on record to refuse cooperation with federal initiatives that would lead to gun confiscation.

Doing house to house searches – whether vacant or occupied – is a very time-consuming and labor intensive process; not to mention the risks involved. Based on national averages, patrol officers number about 2 per 1,000 residents across the country. In rural communities, that number may be as low as one per thousand. In crime ravaged cities like Chicago, Washington DC and Baltimore, it can exceed four per thousand. When you consider housing and population density in urban areas, gun confiscation would be a daunting task to assign to any police force.

Excluding overseas deployments, the number of active duty Army and Marines in the contiguous U.S. is significantly less than 500,000. That is less than 1.5% of the entire population. The number of Army/Marine personnel that would be trained and equipped to deprive you of your personal defense weapons would actually be less than one per 10,000 population. Within a matter of days, every state-side military installation will be in the same situation that you will face: No gasoline, no diesel or jet fuel for vehicles or aircraft, no resupply for commissaries or mess halls, and no direction from the federal or state branches of government. They will be eating MREs for breakfast, lunch and dinner. If the grid is down for you, it will be down for them, too. If you don’t have fuel, or if the semiconductor circuits in your vehicle have been fried, do you think the military will escape a similar fate? You can think of it as an ‘equal opportunity’ form of calamity.

A More Probable Scenario

In my view, the disintegration of government and the abandonment of Constitutional rule of law would rapidly lead to a collapse of civil order. Without a functioning government, looting, arson and home invasions would erupt within hours – if not minutes – in major population centers. Any form of effective law enforcement (civil or military) would quickly evaporate. Instead, as the realization that civilization as we know it has come to an end, local communities and individuals would institute their own versions of martial law, but in a distinctly reverse manner.

The important distinction is that communities would be relying on citizen’s firearms to prevent being overwhelmed by refugees and looters. In other words, if you are inside the compound or town limits, and have possession of a firearm, you will be a defensive asset to the community. Moreover, local law enforcement will likely be aiding your collective defense. The enemy will be on the outside of the barricade.

In a total SHTF scenario, I believe that you are far more likely to be engaged in defending your family, property or survival community from raiders than you would be from government-backed confiscators of your weapons. The more tangible danger is from a still-functioning government that has abandoned Constitutional rule of law.

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  Many Prepper and survivalist web sites contain an abundance of material about the likelihood of gun confiscation in the aftermath of a major disaster. The general premise is that government

 

Whenever I meet preppers, I’m usually fascinated by their level of preparedness. The majority have ample supplies of food and water, weapons and the latest technological gizmos. However most seem to be failing to prepare their most indispensable asset, their body. You can have all the fancy gear money can buy but if you’re not able to run, climb a tree, jump over a fence and push that big boulder out-of-the-way, you ain’t gonna survive for long.

Why does a prepper need to be in good shape?

When the SHTF your normal routine will go bust and you’re gonna have to get that lazy ass of yours from off the sofa and start doing all sort of manual chores. From cranking that water pump to installing barricades to your house, everything takes a toll on your body. If you plan or are forced to Bug Out, the demands on your body will be even greater. You’ll have to walk for miles, usually with a heavy pack, full of your fancy equipment, and when looters get you in their targets, you’ll have to run with that pack. If they catch up with you, you have to fight your way out of it.

To me it seems obvious that a prepper should be in optimal physical shape. A prepper is a dormant soldier who has to spring into action when the need arises. So it comes as no surprise that a prepper should have similar physical capabilities as an active duty soldier.

How to make sure you are in shape?

There are several strategies you can adopt to make sure your body is at the same level of preparedness as the rest of your supplies and gear. The following is a guide to get you preppers in shape for a SHTF situation. I start from the very basics so that even the couch potato preppers amongst us can slowly but surely achieve this.

You don’t want to have your health working against you in an emergency.

If indeed you happen to be a couch potato you need to start slowly and build up gradually. Get into a routine of regular exercise (at least 3 times a week) and base your training on the principle of progression; i.e. making every workout more challenging than the previous one. Start with 30 minutes’ walk and each week add a few minutes. Once you are able to walk for more than an hour start increasing the intensity as well. You can do this by walking at a faster pace or by carrying some sort of weight such as a backpack (ideally your BOB, maybe with a reduced amount of equipment at first).

Once you feel comfortable with long walks at high intensity you can progress to incorporating short sections of running. Do not use any weight/backpack when you first start incorporating running. Each week increase the time/distance you spend running vis-à-vis the time/distance you spend walking. Once you start running relatively long sections you can start wearing your backpack. In a few months’ time you’ll be able to go for long runs with a decently sized backpack on your back. Your body is now ready to start other cardio exercises that increase stamina such as cycling, swimming, cross skiing…The options are endless.

Let’s take care of your upper and lower body strength

Now that you’ve got a good level of stamina and some lower body toning, it’s time to start putting on some muscle. You could enroll with a fitness center or set up a home gym in a room or garage. The decision simply boils down to your personal preferences, availability of space and current finances. Setting up a small home gym will require an initial investment of a few grand but there will be no annual fees to pay. You’ll also get to workout any time you want and there will never be a waiting time for using any particular piece of equipment. On the other hand a fitness club membership will only set you back a few hundred bucks but it has to be paid annually. You’re likely to have a larger variety of equipment at your disposal and there’s also the social aspect of attending a gym.

Irrespective of whichever approach you choose, here are a few of the key exercises you should be performing in order to gain overall strength and muscular endurance.

Upper body

Hard

  • Pull Ups
  • Bench Press
  • Military Press
  • EX Bar bicep curls
  • Dips on parallel bars
  • Decline sit ups

Easy

  • Lateral Pull Down
  • Chest Press
  • Seated Shoulder Press
  • Hammer Curls
  • Triceps push downs on cables
  • Crunches

Lower body

Hard

  • Weighted Squats
  • Dead-lifts
  • Weighted Seated Calf Raises

Easy

  • Air Squats
  • Leg Curls
  • Standing Calf Raises

Raising the bar- getting Rambo ready

After several months of doing cardio activity (running, cycling, etc…) and strength exercises, you can progress to more challenging activities which are very rewarding and also provide a lot of functional strength and endurance. Functional strength and endurance is a fitness concept whereby you improve your physical abilities and at the same time get your body used to doing activities that help you in your everyday life, job, or in our case in a SHTF scenario.

Such functional benefits can be achieved from exercise routines such as Cross Fit and HIIT, which apart from the normal weight training exercises also include jumping up and down from boxes, throwing and slamming medicine balls, flipping tires, climbing ropes, swinging kettle-bells, hammering with sledgehammers and several others. These exercises mimic directly or indirectly activities a prepper could be doing in a SHTF situation. Attending combat classes such as kick boxing, Muay Tai and MMA is another good alternative. These classes typically include very intense physical exercise. Apart from that, being competent in unarmed combat is another feather on your prepper’s hat.

Test yourself

Once you have achieved a good level of physical fitness and the required mental attitude to go with it, you could give yourself a ‘trial run’ and subscribe to an adventure / fitness race such as the Men’s Health Urbanathlon, Men’s Health Survival of the Fittest or Tough Mudder. The basis of such endurance challenges is a run of several km (usually 10km-15km) combined with numerous obstacles which range from crossing ice ponds on monkey bars to running across high voltage wires. Few activities could get you as mentally and physically prepared for a SHTF situation as these challenges.

The bottom line

Start investing on your physical fitness now and make sure that you and your family can depend on your stamina and strength if the need ever arises. Make sure you could jump over that wall to take cover from the barrage of bullets coming your way and lift that downed electricity pole to free your trapped son. Being in good physical shape will also come handy in your everyday life. So are you ready to start your journey to being the sexiest prepper in town?

1 Comment

  Whenever I meet preppers, I’m usually fascinated by their level of preparedness. The majority have ample supplies of food and water, weapons and the latest technological gizmos. However most seem

If you are new to Prepping, then you have come to the right place. Final Prepper was created specifically to help as many people as possible learn about Prepping. Whether you are looking for the supplies you need to make it through a short-term emergency or to the opposite end of the spectrum which is becoming completely self-reliant; we have the information on Final Prepper that will arm you with the tips and ideas you need to start down the path to becoming a prepper. What is a prepper? It depends on who you ask, but for me a prepper is simply someone who is taking steps to ensure that their families are as best prepared as possible within their own resources to handle whatever life throws at us. It really doesn’t matter to me the “what” that people are prepping for, it is the “why” that drives you and makes your efforts sound. I like to think that everyone from the single mother of 3 to the ex-military, living on 200 fortified acres contributes to our community and can learn from each other in some way.

How to start Prepping

Prepping is a lifestyle, not a destination and I don’t think any of us can realistically say we are prepared for anything. I don’t put too much stock in the title of expert as there are not many of us who have survived much more than what we would call minor inconveniences. Living through a power outage or going hungry for a day doesn’t qualify you as an expert. If you have camped out in the woods or eaten a bug, that doesn’t mean you know all there is to know about surviving anything. Each of us has our own experiences and there are those who have more experience in some aspects of living than others, but we are all human. Our drive and determination account for so much more than a lot of people want to consider. Each of us can survive almost anything with the right mind-set, resources and circumstances.

If you would just like to know where to start, we have a lot of articles that get you headed down the path. For a great head start into the things you can do and actions you can take to become prepared, I might recommend you start with the following articles to someone interested in getting started in prepping.

The articles above will cover a considerable amount of information on basic preparedness, but the basics all deserve their own section as well. There are really 4 main areas that almost anything to do with prepping can fall into. Those are Water, Food, Shelter and Security.

Water

Let’s start with the obvious. The average person under normal conditions needs approximately 1 gallon of water for daily use. While a portion of this is for hygiene and cooking, you don’t want to plan on less than this amount in your Survival preparations. Without water our bodies quickly become dehydrated and that can make a bad day worse very quickly. For some great articles on how you can make sure you have enough water, you can check out the following:

Food

When you start to consider prepping, one of the first things you need to start prepping for is food. Simply put, food is one essential you need if you plan on living and your family must have a supply of food on hand regardless what the day or your situation is. Because of our just in time supply chain model, most grocery stores do not have more than 3 days’ worth of food stocked. In any type of emergency or disaster situation, the store shelves are cleaned quickly. You do not want to be one of those people who realize you have nothing in the house for dinner and a major snow storm, hurricane or other event is imminent. You will go to the grocery store and find bare shelves like they did during hurricane Sandy. This happens in every instance where people could face the possibility of going hungry. The stores are cleaned out and the larger your city, the quicker the shelves are bare.

Not only will there be no food on the shelves, but the shelves could stay that way for a long time. What if the roads are impassable? What if there is some supply disruption. You could be out of food for a long time and this should never happen. You eat every day and so does everyone else. Running out of food should not be an option for your family at least for a reasonable amount of time. For information on how to stock up food, we have the following articles.

Shelter

Shelter is a broad subject and applies to a lot of different aspects of prepping, but it essentially speaks to providing a way of keeping you out the elements. Optionally, shelter can be providing you a place that is secure from people meaning to do you or your family harm, or keeping your body temperature at a level that will keep you alive. Here are a few of our articles dealing with the subject.

Security

There are few things more likely to start a fight than the discussion of firearms and more specifically, what the best options for a defensive weapon are if you are just starting your emergency preparations. There are entire survival forums on this subject alone and if you want opinions, there are lots of places to find them. Similar to the conversation regarding Bugging Out Vs. Hunkering down, there are a lot of options, opinions and reasons why you should or should not do one or the other given by everyone. I for one believe that all things being equal, every responsible adult should have a firearm at their disposal for security. For a wide array of topics on this subject we have listed just a few of our articles below.

The sections above are really just a sampling of the over 400 articles we have on Final Prepper. I hope that the above give you a great start and we will keep it up and provide more as the days march on. I hope you will join us on this journey.

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If you are new to Prepping, then you have come to the right place. Final Prepper was created specifically to help as many people as possible learn about Prepping. Whether you

In this article we are going to discuss different methods of securing your home or business in areas that tend to have higher crime rates than some other areas. On our community we often spotlight areas and analyze crime statistics to try and be solution orientated as to a relevant solution.

City Life

Areas that do have high levels of crime such as burglary, theft and criminal damage are these days unfortunately commonplace and the statistics tend to increase if you live in a city. This is obviously due to the higher population but in my opinion there are many other factors to be considered when looking at this cold hard fact such as poverty, availability of work, education and housing. But alas this is not a political or economic article, it is merely meant to give advice on how to improve your home security intelligently without sticking out like a sore thumb.

Trip Wires

Protecting your home in these areas can be quite difficult and is definitely not straight forward. Aggressive technique can sometimes have a back firing effect. Simply trying to improve security in the wrong way or as mentioned above, using aggressive techniques can make you the target of criminals or thieves who simply have too much time on their hands to test out your new 12 camera CCTV system and 10 feet proximity alarm with added trip wires. This is obviously stretching out an example of a paranoid setup but the point is to try and attain a balance between security needs and having a practical solution to securing your home.

BS3621 vs 5 Lever Locks

First of all you should look at what you have mechanically first. Do you have 5 lever sash or dead locks in your main exit doors? This is a requirement for most insurance companies but sometimes people overlook the BS3621 part of this area and just go ahead and get a 5 lever lock. The problem with this is that the non BS3621 models rarely come with the required extras to make this grade such as anti drill plates, anti pick curtains, minimum bolt throws of 20mm and additional testing of the lock itself to make sure it makes the grade. This grading can be found by the BS3621 stamp found on the faceplate of the lock itself. Ensuring you adhere to the BS3621 will ensure that you are protected against these methods of entry and also a very subtle way of improving your security.

Windows

Windows come in a few different forms; the most common are sash and casement windows. One of the main forms of entry of a criminal is through the windows. Ensuring that you fit window locks is key to preventing this and also can provide some added benefits outside that. For Instance, fitting window restrictors can reduce the chance of someone opening the window from the outside but also will help if you have children around the home and need to secure a second floor window. Window stops can also achieve the same effect while stopping the window from being completely open, leaving a gap of around maximum 4 inches would be sufficient.

Having closed circuit TV camera’s on your home can alert you to intruders.

CCTV

Having recorded images and video of criminal activity can be extremely useful when it comes to prosecution of criminals in court. What I would like to stress is not to overdo it. If you think this system would benefit you, time really should be spent on thinking about the area of installation, model and components you will need. We recommend checking the IP rating and Lux rating of the CCTV camera to see how it will perform in rough weather conditions and during the night time hours. Placement of the camera should be out of sight from passersby but visible when close by if possible. Adding 1 or 2 pieces of CCTV signage will work wonders as a visual deterrent but please don’t overdo it as you will certainly bring attention to your home or business for the wrong reasons.

Access Control

These types are of systems are soon becoming commonplace and will replace older style mechanical locking solutions. At the moment we are in a bit of purgatory and manufacturers have been designed models to work standalone but also to work in conjunction with mechanical systems rather than straight up replacements for front and back doors. We design a wide range of access control systems and our specialists speak to customer’s everyday regarding this interesting type of security. In areas that tend to have higher crime rates these models will unfortunately be less effective though and you are much better off relying on a high quality mechanical 5 lever lock to take care of your security unless you are looking to have them work in conjunction with each other in which case your security would be improved two fold.

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In this article we are going to discuss different methods of securing your home or business in areas that tend to have higher crime rates than some other areas. On

 

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