A lot of time, I mention or focus on paramilitary style training because I am a veteran infantryman and associate with militias and groups like the Oath Keepers. However, not everyone has a group of people they can form up as team of SHTF soldiers. This is why I created the Scout/Combat Team format explained in TM 725-15 The American Homeguard Anti-Terrorist Handbook.
But, what if it is you and your family alone? Here is where individual tactics is a great boon for you against criminals and others who seek to do you harm. However, individual tactics is nothing if you don't train them and it nothing if you aren't teaching them to your family. Many times children like playing "cops and robbers" or "Army" with toy guns. This provides parents with the option to use a game to teach basic Individual tactics to their children. As the children grow older, team work and team tactics can be taught... The games of cops and robbers or Army can changed to sports like paintball where the same tactics can be used effectively in competition.
So as an individual you need to know how to fight and, I can spend all day typing up tactics or making Youtube videos on how to do this, there are loads already. That said, you also need to study trapping not only for food but, for defense as well. Those traps are what will defend your family alert you to a threat. Now my friend had a basic plan of moving out to a secluded location on high ground and waiting out whatever happens to cause the S- to Hit The Fan.
I found a few holes in his plan and I offered to help him. Here is a basic idea of what I advice I gave him and why... 1. He said he and his family will move to a hill top position and wait out whatever happens there. This is good and bad for a number of reasons. Good:
Most People will stack out a location close to a water or food source.
Most People are lazy and won't want to put too much effort into going out looking for resources.
Most people are not Military or Paramilitary thinkers, so they are just going to "Gaggle Fuck Mob" everything.
Bad:
A period of Without Rule Of Law (WROL) will likely end up becoming a period of EROL or Excessive Rule Of Law... Martial Law. You don't need to be seen as an open threat.
Under WROL you and your family might be relatively safe but under EROL you are going to deal with armed and trained paramilitary or military types. This is your worst case scenario.
Just cause it is the authorities doesn't mean its all bad news. So you might not have to deal with an encroaching army or if the Army shows up you might just be the little scared guy on the mountain top & not seen as a threat if you ask questions before you shoot. Gangs, Terrorists, Gun Preppers and so on will be a bigger concern & you don't want to appear to be either. Regardless you might be disarmed so be prepared to have a few things stashed away in case they do show up with a SWAT team to disarm you for your own protection.
Now I don't have the full layout but it has a single access route and has its backside to a cliff. This wavy lines at the top of the diagram. They are anchored ropes for his family to escape down the cliff in the worst case scenario. Stake Walls, will keep out most big animals and people...
It's made by lashing or nailing sharpened stakes together in an "X" shape and using smaller stakes at the bottom to prevent smaller critters from coming through. The Image above is an example. Are set along the trail that winds up to Survival Camp. And One that is bait to a Path to nowhere, if no where was a booby trapped area. A smaller wall can be made and placed as a kind of gate that will blend into the rest of the stake wall. Dead Falls made with melon & apple sized rocks and a few logs can be positioned along the ridge and over looking the path. This provides cover from fire and if need be can be used to "bring down the mountain on people trying to scale the cliff. One Dead Fall over looks the first Stake wall so you can drop the hill side on those trying to bypass the wall.
Of course you see the Cabin, Animal Pen (I suggest Chickens for eggs which means at least 1 rooster and some squirrels for easy to care for meat and protein), the garden and the old out house. If you look behind the cabin you will see a thick gray square, this is a panic room/underground bomb blast shelter accessible only by a "Spider hole" in the cabin floor.
Basically, all you need to do is sit tight and wait right? Wrong. Forewarned is forearmed...
Now there is a half-mile to a full mile radius that needs to be scouted, hunted and patrolled. I suggest bow hunting by the way as it is quieter then shooting a firearm and you can make more arrows easier then you make bullets. When Patrolling try to observe everything around you and conceal your tracks as best you can. Take a note pad and map of the area. This way you can make your own micro-grid over the area and note where you find signs of human traffic. You go out this way every few days and hunt or trap for food.
Within the Blue circle is a Security Patrol Radius its about a quarter to mile range. You check this everyday. You might even want to set man-traps) booby traps for human prey within this area. Now lets talk about our three red X's. "X" 1. is a fighting position, hasty or fox hole used to provide over watch, cover & concealment. So when Daddy goes out to do a security patrol around the Survival Homestead, Mommy is watching the trail entrance. If Daddy should run into Mutant Zombie Bikers (MZBs), Mommy can lay down suppressive fire and keep them off Daddy while he gets past the first stake wall. Daddy then moves up to the second and third stake walls and takes his position in X number 2. This allows Mommy to get the kids together (everyone in the family should have Bug-Out Bags anyway). If the MBZs (Mutant Biker Zombies) break contact after getting shot at. Then its all good...
If not, the kids get ready to evacuate and Daddy takes up position in X-1 while moving between the Dead Fall Cover to engage the MBZs (this is why any serious prepper or survivalist owns an AR15 or AK47). Mommy Stays in X-3 with the kids behind her covering the entrance to the homestead. In the Worst case scenario we see Daddy in X-2 covering the entrance while Mommy covers it from X-3. This allows Daddy to fall back to X-3 and help Mommy lay down fire to cover the kids' retreat. Mommy helps the Kid's down the cliff via tandem repel, and covers from the bottom of the cliff face while Daddy repels down.
Finally we set up a small booby trapped area behind the cabin so that the MBZs can't get behind the X-3. If someone is so highly motivated that they go through that kind of a obstacle to get to you, you have a problem. No, I mean you have a serious problem. But if you want the extra insurance this is it. Best of all, if you are smart enough to get a generator or solar panels to run a CB radio and make some friends on the CB or HAM radios you can have people you can trade with via "dead drop" and who can relay information to you.
This goes back to a much older video I did about a Civilian Intelligence Network:
And Basic Field Report Procedures:
Even a handheld Walkie-Talkie can be a life line to your wife and kids alerting them a head of time to a danger before it becomes a threat.
I would love to tell you I am expert on Nuclear, Biological & Chemical Warfare... but I am not. What I am is a grunt (infantry man) who got do some training with the NBC guys or as we also called them "No Body Cares" well at least your skin is burning or melting off or you are dying of radiation poisoning. So here is what I learned hanging with the NBC crew...
1. Radiation from a power plant is more dangerous then a bomb, why because the material in a power plant is intended to last for a longer time and so yes can poison an area for hundreds of years with radiation.
2. Radiation from a Nuclear Bomb is faster deteriorating due to the sudden release of energy as compared to the slow degradation of say a Nuclear Power Plant's control Rod. This means that you can wait out a disaster from a nuclear weapon but not from a nuclear power plant.
3. You need iodine. Iodine is used to treat cuts and such but liquid iodine can be taken by a 2 table spoon dose with a liter or quart of clean water. Iodine Water Filtration Tablets can be used with a 1-quart of water in a standard GI issued canteen. And of course their is Iodine Solution you can buy online for radiation poisoning. The latter is your best bet.
A gas mask is also good to have...
Now I will explain the construction of the bomb shelter.
What you will need is cinder blocks, mortar, concrete, 4x4 Wooden posts, ply wood sheets and 5 Steel external doors without peep holes.
So you need to start, the basic out outline needs to laid with cinder block producing the initial "box" that will acts as a foundation. I suggest building this on your basement , barn or with some other similar structure but if you are building it outside, you need to dig a hole about 6 to 7 feet deep. Then lay your blocks & Position your doors.
You need a twelve foot by eight food living area. This can accommodate four people quite well. Ideally you might only need to be here for two weeks to a month. So keep in mind the space is going to be limited and well you need to maximize the room you have. This means bunk beds, storing supplies under beds or stacked into boxes.
So you need for 4 adults (assuming teenage children as adults) 4 gallons of water for 2 weeks (14 days) equals 56 gallons of water. Add some board games, playing cards etc. You will also need gas masks, hazmat suits and other items. Once you have about four feet of wall built you need to add 1 and 1/2 inch pipe as an air vent, this vent needs to be built with an "S" curve as shown and allows for a flow catch to catch heavier partials of debris in the air open end on the outside should face down, this prevents falling partials of debris from entering the air flow pipe as well. The hole cut into the wall is patched with mortar and concrete poured into the cinder blocks to strengthen the walls.
This provides some protection. After the walls have reached the desired height a roof can be fashion with the plywood sheets about 1/2 to 1 inch thing. Concrete is then mixed and spread over the plywood in layers of 2 to three inches at a time. They may need to be reinforced with 4x4 support columns to bear the weight until the concrete dries & you need 24 to 28 inches of concrete over head to provide protection.
A Faraday cage should be used to protect any electronics key electronics should include but not be limited to an emergency radio, a handheld CB radio, any night vision devices and any power inverters and charge controllers for solar kits. Needless to say food should be rationed, as well as water. Major targets for a nuclear war will be are military bases, especially naval bases where nuclear submarines are based carrying Inter Centennial Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs), large industrial centers, large population centers and any major airports. So you want to be away from them as best you can.
Once the bombs go off, hopefully you have gotten some warning and can get you and your loved one's into the Bomb Shelter, DO NOT got out of the Shelter in the first 48 hours. Remember the 7/10 rule radioactive fall out breaks down at a rate of ten every factor of seven increase in time. Meaning that after seven minutes a unit of radiation breaks down to 1/10th, after seven hours breaks down to 1/100th, after seven days breaks down to 1/1000th and so on exponentially.
So 2 weeks is a safe minimum; so you need to stock up on food and can get instructions on how to build your own Hazmat Suit from Poorman's Guide to Prepping & you can find free resources on Nuclear Protection here. Building such a shelter in one's basement or an old cave or mine, only adds Nuclear defense protection & adds concealment of prepper OPSEC.
Now allow me to explain the need for so many doors. The doors provide for an airlock system to reduce contamination to the shelter chamber. Leaving the shelter one would move to the first airlock, which doubles as washroom. Once here one enters the suit room, closing the airlock door and puts their hazmat suit (whether commercial or home made) as specified by its proper design. One exits the suit room, entering the scrub room and then the outer airlock, closing each door behind one's self. One then scavenges for supplies and does whatever one wishes to do outside...
Upon returning one uses warm soapy water and washes off beginning with one's hands up to the elbows, then one's head and down to the feet. Once one does this preliminary washing down, one enters the Airlock and locks the door behind one's self. If there is a lot of debris being blown around one can avoid this step until inside the Airlock. One moves to the scrub room using a new clean bucket of warm soapy water to wash off again as before using a scrub brush this time. Once in the suit room, one exits the Hazmat suit and enters the internal airlock. Here one washes off their skin and hair directly and consumes potassium iodine to prevent any radiation sickness.
I must stress this, one should not exit the Bomb Shelter before the first 48 to 72 hours and remain their a possibility of 14 to 30 days. So with all this talking of nuclear war from Russia and China, now is the time for people to start thinking of dealing with that threat and perhaps even pulling our resources to get things done.
In light of both the Baltimore Riots & the media creating a narrative of race and class warfare. In light of the Garland, Texas attack & the media (certain parts of the mainstream media anyway) who are using it to attack the 2nd Amendment, I've decided to make this blog.
Four years ago, looking at both history and future I developed a Civilian Counter-Terrorism doctrine. This doctrine is based on Level 1 Counter Terrorism training I received from the US Army & my own initiative. Before you get all "yay US Army Counter Terrorism" let me put this into prospective, it was done via an internet course taken over a computer in the office. I was 11B US Army Infantry in an Air Assault unit (1/503 Air Assault out of Camp Casey Korea) which is now an Air Borne Unit out of Italy. I got out the US Army in 2005. Here is a brief history of 1/503: http://corregidor.org/heritage_battalion/iraa.html. All this is background information to the fact I already had Infantry training which included room clearing and urban warfare similar to what SWAT teams get. What the Level 1 Counter Terrorism Course gave me was a factual reference to spotting terrorist threats in a civilian environment.
So for civilians I don't consider the tactical combat stuff valid, after all you have cops and military personnel with the right training and experiences. It is their job (bluntly put) to kill and to die, so you don't have to. A civilians best bet for fighting terrorism is simple; Be Aware to Threats, Avoid the Threat before it Becomes a Danger & Report the Threat providing as much detail as possible. So four years ago I made these videos...
Everyone loves the Tactical Moniker & guns are cool, sexy and tough guys carry them... In truth, the people who carry guns have to able to use them. I fully support Concealed Carry, Constitutional Carry & Open Carry they are manifestations of our God given right to self-defense. But, like in Garland, Texas, the "bad guys" sometimes show up with bigger guns and wearing body armor, and you might be out gunned. So use common sense, use the system.
We covered what you need to prepare for in part but not what might trigger said breakdowns to occur. If you didn't read part one, I'd suggest going back and reading it. Just to save time and recap there are only 5 events to prepare for (1) a breakdown in social order, (2) a breakdown in communication, (3) a breakdown in transportation, (4) a breakdown in energy and/or fuel infrastructure and (5) a breakdown in the availability of basic resources. What can cause one breakdown can cause others. No power means gas pumps don't work and causes a fuel shortage. A fuel shortage can keep coal from getting to power plants, causing a electricity distribution shortage. No power communication like TV, internet and even simple 2 way radios goes out. Its all interconnected and as it all breaks down the most basic resource we all take for advantage; food and water, doesn't get to us. When the machine of society breaks down, people fall back to their most basic nature. They become opportunistic and savage & as I have already stated I believe the criminals in our society will organize in the chaos far quicker then many preppers.
So lets examine what can cause those breakdowns and examine how that effects survival preparedness.
(1) a breakdown in social order:
Loss of trust in local government, once people no longer trust their local government or federal government on a national level can cause people to turn to crime outright.
Terrorism, the specific targeting of civilians is called terrorism. Any mass attack on civilians is likely to cause certain members of society to take their self-defense into their own hands. This in turn causes others to feel threatened and old hostilities flare up leading to skirmishes and violence.
Civil Unrest, we can just chalk this up to large scale crime like the riots and looting taking place in the US currently Baltimore, Ferguson, etc. in the name of justice. A large violent outbreak is by design a breakdown in social order and can lead to more such social chaos.
Natural or Manmade Crisis effecting one or more of the other crisis elements, people who are starving will take food they cannot purchase or that is refused them. Take away other critical resources and elements of our functioning society and people are likely do whatever it takes to get by.
War, Rebellion or Invasion, not so much a single terrorist act but a protracted bout of fighting between two or more side such as what is happening in the Ukraine at this present moment.
Institution of Martial Law, the government dissolving and maintaining its order via the institution of military powers, martial law quite simply means military rule. This can lead to rebellion, terrorism and civil unrest causing a breakdown on social order.
Economic Collapse, the de-valuation of currency, seizure of private assets, inflation, stagflation and other economic chaos that makes currency worthless in its value can be lead to riots, looting, rising crime, and other social chaos as people attempt to acquire basic necessities they can no longer buy with currency.
A breakdown in social order is the primary crisis element as it is the most extensive and destructive. Hurricane Katrina did not last as long a the social chaos that made matters worse after the storm ended. In some cases, letting neighbors know you are have preparations is ill advised. I certainly let my neighbors know I have US Army infantry training, weapons or a HAM set up during martial law or an invasion. I would want to help organize the neighborhood during civil unrest or a natural disaster by highlighting my military training and ability to organize, weapons to help defend my community or a radio set up that permits me to gather information. Operational security doesn't mean clandestine preparedness, it means limiting available information where pertinent.
You can address preparedness from the FEMA recommended stand point and withhold information on one's personal preparedness beyond standard of a FEMA Basic Disaster Supplies Kit 3 days of stored food (page 35/Slide 23). Either way, you as an individual must prepare by getting self-defense or martial arts training and getting training to use a firearm. Most importantly you must own a firearm or at least a bat ball bat, a big ass knife & bow and arrows but guns are best. Stock plenty of ammo and practice at least once every 3 months or more.
(2) a breakdown in communication:
Disruption of Power, remove electricity and most communication systems; cell phones, internet, landlines, and radio communications are dependent on electrical power to function.
Natural or Manmade Disaster, a natural disaster can knock out lines of communication. Since most currency is nothing more then electronic signal in a computer network and not tangible cash, gold or silver disruption of the communication system(s) could effect other areas like finances and transportation. A disaster could effect not only effect communication lines directly, utility lines and transportation lines keeping the utility and communication lines from being quickly repaired.
EMP & Solar Flare, an electromagnetic pulse often associated with a nuclear weapon and a solar flare could disrupt power lines but are capable of burning out any computerized electronic device.
Cyber-Terrorism & Hackers, a direct attack on communication lines from cyber terrorists and hacker can disable communication and compromise sensitive information.
Terrorism or Military Action, the US military attacks enemy communication lines to isolate enemy soldiers. Terrorists can and have repeated this operation by disabling power and communication lines in some attacks.
System Overload, during the Boston Marathon terrorist attack people were calling 911 and trying to reach family to check on their welfare. This overloaded the communication system & caused an unintended communications breakdown.
(3) a breakdown in transportation:
Natural or Manmade Disaster Cutting Utility and Communication Lines, everyone thinks of road ways but communication disruptions can disable air travel and shipping as well. Plus of course travel along waterways and through our nations ports.
EMP & Solar Flare, an electromagnetic disturbance can effect communications (yes) but what about other systems like GPS, engines and voltage regulation systems that can disable cars, boats, ships & aircraft.
Traffic Disruption, not just limited to ground traffic and roads ways, I am also thinking of air traffic and sea traffic that can be effected by sabotage and terrorism.
Civil Unrest, Terrorism & Crime, protests in California over "racial violence" stopped traffic on the interstate this disrupted (only momentarily) shipping and infrastructure keeping "just in time" deliver of goods, including food and medicine, to be late and prevented people from getting to their jobs.
System Overload, yes too many people on the road, river, leaving the docks and trying to file flight planes to leave in private planes or simple overbooking of flights in mass could conjest and cause a transportation breakdown. This is confounded with traffic accidents, vehicular malfunction and human nature tat will lead to conflicts.
There is another element to a breakdown in communication that emergency services may or will be disrupted or non-existent. What happens if you can't travel from your location and an ambulance can't get to you while a loved one needs medical attention? What happens when you can't leave and the police can't come to save you from a criminal? In those cases, a disruption in transportation can cause a breakdown in social order. Hence why I suggest gun ownership.
(4) a breakdown in energy and/or fuel infrastructure:
Natural or Manmade Disaster Cutting Transport Line, cutting transport lines (yes this was mention under transportation breakdown) but if you can't get oil to international ports, fuel to airports and gas stations or coal to power plants, electricity isn't s readily available. No electricity and fuel doesn't get pumped or communication to ensure delivery doesn't occur. Its an interconnected system; energy and fuel.
EMP & Solar Flare, again all those computer regulated and controlled system can be damaged or disabled with an electromagnetic pulse.
Traffic Disruption, a simple traffic disruption can cause delays and disrupt services without the need of a disaster to cause them.
Civil Unrest & Crime, as we've seen in a civil unrest scenario parts of a city can be isolated by the unrest and property damaged. Criminals have disrupted power to disable alarms in part of the city, arson can effect an area especially where gas lines are involved and so on.
Terrorism or Military Action, the military forces of the world have had a long standing tactical tradition of cutting off supply lines, that includes electricity and fuel lines to effect communication and travel.
With a breakdown in energy (including fuel infrastructure) comes loss of a lot of technology we take for granted. Without a power grid your cell phone might have a battery but no juice is getting to the cell towers, traffic lights won't work beyond their limited battery life and fuel pumps won't work either so if you need gas for you generator.
(5) a breakdown in the availability of basic resources:
Lack of Utilities, how long will food last if you can't keep it cool? How long will social order last when you get the most basic necessity, water? You can buy all nonperishable foods like canned goods, ramon, pasta and so on but I love a good steak & a fresh salad.
Economic Collapse, food & clothing are basic resources we all need. In an economic collapse scenario you won't be able to buy a coat to keep you somewhat warm or food to eat because you money will have less value and de-value even faster. This is why gold and silver are important investments but so are acquiring barter value items while your money has value.
Natural & Manmade Disaster, whether it is a wildfire, flood, a tornado or nuclear blast and radioactive fallout it is possible your garden could be lost. Its possible your home, preparations and local shopping centers could be destroyed. Imagine is all you have to eat is the food in your home, how much do you have? What happens if the water coming out your sink is toxic or not running at all?
Civil Unrest & Crime, civil unrest like we've seen recently where stores were burned, plus criminal activity of a less grandstanding nature. Looting after a crisis or disaster such as in the fictional account of World War Z with the store scene might leave local shelves bare causing people to rob one another for basics like food, medicine and clothing. This it can't happen, it did in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina.
Traffic Disruption, of course disrupt shipping and supplies don't make retail outlets. No retail outlets you can just order from Amazon, except they can't deliver either.
Communication Breakdowns, likewise remove communication no one know where to ship supplies and deliver basic resources.
Desperate people do desperate things, fear dominates most people's thoughts the world is threatening and more so to someone who panics. Values and good reputations mean nothing when people are hungry, and desperate. There logic de-evolves to primal and savage thinking. Leaving a person to face a life threatening event (even if only to them), will be considered no different then killing them yourself.
Stuff I didn't cover...
Nuclear war, the Yellowstone Super Volcano, Zombies, Space Aliens and other shit are massive "End of Days" events. I know I briefly brought up nuclear weapons but a nuclear war is a no win option meant to ensure mutual destruction. You need a bunker, hydroponics bay, staffed with security and medical staff and an exercise room & 20 years of stock piled food and ammo. Even then you're still gonna die, the mountains, caves and coal mines of West Virginia might shield me from the blast, stuffing my survival laptop, radios and inverters in an old microwave may protect them from the EMP (might not), I still get to live in a toxic Mad Max world. I might be better off smoking a dooby and dinking a cold one at ground zero for all I know.
Minus radiation, toxins, the T-virus, undead and aliens wanting to anal probe me, I think much of elements over lap. My best safety measure is self-sufficiency and careful planning. You take precautions for fallout, Falling Skies and being the Lost of Us which means everything I just covered plus, gas masks, hazmat suits and a means of growing food and raising animals (including feeding them) indoors. Even in those highly improbable scenarios the basic breakdown structures will be largely the same.
Now that we've covered what to prepare for and what can cause such breakdowns you need to apply the Strategic Planning Process...
Strategic Planning Process:
I will briefly outline the strategic planning process, and provide a sample using this process. You of course will have to adapt it to your needs and develop your own plan. We start with our end goal, use reverse planning. In other words, we decide on an end result and establish a time table, then figure out what we need to do to reach that point. Those things we need to do become long term goals and then work back figuring out what needs to happen to make those possible and so on. In some cases we may need to break goals down into steps or phases.
Each objective has a specific tactic to achieve it's end. So each goal has a list of acceptable tactics to meet that goal. Like chess, we may achieve our ends through circumstances we did not plan for but adapt our strategy to account for that success. One must plan for success and for failure in each stge of the planning process.
Overall Mission Objective: To Survive a Crisis that will alter my way of life for the next 20 to 30 years... Plan for a 30+ year effect. Achieve self-sufficiency in all 5 areas of critical survival elements. Tactics Used:
Order: Establish a community information network, a community support & defense network & an established emergency protocol for crisis events.
Resources: Develop a long-term food storage, long-term medical storage, develop alternate sources of food acquisition & develop alternate medical care acquisition.
Communication: Develop long-term community relationships, develop alternate means of spreading local news, develop alternate means of local communication & develop alternate means of long range communication.
Long Term Mission Objectives: Develop means of/foundation for "life long" survival after a crisis event. Plan for 15 to 20 year term investment. Tactics Used:
Order: Use pre-crisis support groups, not for profit organizations and association with community leaders to develop network and crisis protocols.
Transportation: Take up hiking, backpacking, BMX riding to learn alternate routes off known roadways, develop alternate fuel stockpiles: Bio-Diesel, Alco-line, etc.
Resources: Develop stockpile of food of purchased and self-prepared/self-raised food stuffs. Take a medical first-aid class and research alternative medicine, stockpile and raise medical herbs and stockpile purchased medical supplies.
Energy/Fuel: Develop and stockpile alternative fuels (yes, I already mentioned this), develop off-grid power supplies, solar, wind and hydro-electric.
Communication: Develop a community relationship, become associated with community leaders, local organizations & become associated with the CB and HAM local communities.
Mid Term Mission Objectives: Develop a specific series of plans for major life altering crisis events within 5 to 15 Years. Tactics Used:
Order: Find a small group of trusted friends who are also preppers to get together for training & teamwork development. Each team member should have a primary and a secondary role, with free cross training in other roles so that everyone can do someone else's job if need be.
Transportation: Acquire a BOV (Bug-out Vehicle) that is secondary to your POV (Personally Owned Vehicle) as an emergency vehicle to be used for evacuation. This BOV can be an ATV, Motorcycle, Boat, RV or other vehicle that allows flexibility in your ability to remove yourself from a threat and safely leave an area. Store at least 10 gallons of gasoline per vehicle & do not let tanks fall beneath 1/2 so that you can use your vehicle in an emergency.
Resources: Store X amount of purchased foods & grow Y amount of food at home with Z amount of grown food stored in canning jars.
Energy/Fuel: Invest in an alternate source of power for off grid emergency use, solar, wind, water or a generator. With additional fuel storage for the generator if you use one.
Communication: Establish a "call tree" for trusted friends & alternate communication methods such as Citizen Band (CB) radios in home and vehicles.
The difference between mid-term and short-term objectives is the difference between individual and community preparedness. One's priorities change from generalized to specific individual needs.
Short Term Mission Objectives: Develop and acquire a specific preparedness plan customized to local geography, local social/cultural acceptance & work with others to develop community support for preparedness within 1 to 5 Years. Here considerations like Order are replaced with Security and other changes. Tactics Used:
Security: Off grid alarm systems, acquire advanced tactical firearms training and barriers for defense.
Shelter: Begin to acquire own home and/or arrange safe locations with friends and family away from home in case of emergency evacuation (bugging-out).
Food/Water: Acquire and stock pile additional food supplies and water, that is rotated "first in, first out" & a water collection system, as well as begin a garden and produce your own food stuffs.
Transportation: Maintain good working order of POV and store at least 10 gallons of gasoline & do not let tanks fall beneath 1/2 so that you can use your vehicle in an emergency. Build a car kit with blankets, extra fluids for the car (oil, transmission, anti-freeze & so on), water & food, road flares.
Communications: Set up a CB Radio in one's POV and at home, establish a presence on citizen band radio & use internet to continue research improve your knowledge base.
Immediate Term Mission Objectives: Develop a basic preparedness plan and acquire basic equipment within 6 months to 1 year. Tactics Used:
Security: Get basic firearms training, take a self-defense combatives course & knife training.
Shelter: Create a bug-out support kit (in addition to the bug-out bag), items to buy for support kit: Axe, Shovel, Saw, Tarp, Pry Bar, Solar Kit, Batter & Inverter System. Add 5 changes of cloths, anti-bacterial soap, military cot(s), large first-aid kit, lanterns, cooking burner and fuel. Create Secondary Support Kit: With only food and water. These kits can be used in the house or loaded into your POV for emergency evacuation.
Food/Water: Buy more canned food/non-perishable food items. Cycle out of Bug-Out support kits every month "first in-first out" cycles.
Transportation: Maintain preventative maintenance of one's POV and if possible acquire a POV with 4-wheel or All Wheel drive capability.
Communications: Acquire a wind up emergency radio & walkie talkie handheld radios.
Skill Development: Survival skills, First Aid Skills & basic vehicle maintenance.
Initial Term Mission Objectives: Develop a means of basic survival preparedness & initial planning can begin from Zero-Minute (right now, literally this second) to 6 months. Tactics Used:
Security: Acquire a firearm & hunting style knife for self-defense usage. Research a good self-defense based martial art or combatives system. First Aid Kit, Have a Bug-Out bag for each person in your household; cheap premade bug-out bag are good for children.
Shelter: Acquire a Good Tent or learn to use a tarp for shelter. Minimum 2 methods of starting a fire. This goes in the bug-out bag.
Food/Water: Buy a Water Filtration Straw, a minimum 2 qt water storage container, mess kit, & store 3 to 5 days of food.
Transportation: Rather then bug-out on foot, I suggest a good BMX bicycle with off road capability as a back up for one's POV, in case it needs to be abandoned. Otherwise buy a good pair of hiking books or running shoes.
Communications: Buy a flare gun, road flares, glow sticks or a handheld emergency radio to get information.
Skill Development: Develop good Physical Fitness; to help prevent injury and illness, take up hiking, back packing and camping; to get used to the outdoors and, learn to fish and hunt; for basic outdoor living skills.
Note: A minor investment of $70 you can acquire a Wise Foods 5 Day Survival Backpack, but you have to add the Water Filter Straw (an additional $20), a small tarp, trail tent or Emergency Survival Tube tent, Emergency Radio, Flares or Glow Sticks and, a personal firearm. Allowing one to meet many of the Initial Objectives. There is also freely available information on self-defense that one can research and practice from online sources. That can give the beginning prepper something more then reliance on a weapon they may not always have at hand, these free sources of information are nothing without hard work and self-training and even then will not make you a martial arts master. Basic Self-Defense Moves from Lifehacker
You are not fighting a war, you are trying to stay alive. You may find that your bug out bag makes you are target for unprepared bullies & criminals. After Katrina people were being killed in the streets for supplies in garbage bags and in the ultimate end you will do what you have to survive. Work with what you have, a buddy to train with can make the basic techniques demonstrated in the videos above more effective then just watching them alone.
I know there are holes in the plan I set out, they are there because I tried to keep things generalized. My goal wasn't to give you a plan but you give you the framework to develop your own plan. Some of you (most of you) may not (will not) need to plan for 20+ year of a crisis. Not all preppers are doomsday preppers expecting the end of the world as we know it. Surely having more then a bug-out bag is important for those who look at the aftermath of hurricane Katrina and hurricane Sandy. Use what works and disregard what doesn't.
Everyone wants to be Tactical or Tacti-Cool but no one wants to be Strategic. What does it mean to be strategic anyway? Strategy is plan to reach a specific long term goal, by meeting various other goals. Most people think of strategy in the terms of warfare or strategy games but, strategy also plays an important role in starting & running a business as well. So lets treat this much like a game of chess, you begin by prioritizing options based on odds of success (odds and options) and you plan out your moves in accordance.
Lets start you plan with one question... What are you preparing for?
The answer isn't important, because it doesn't matter. You may think "What the is he talking about?" when you read that but lets keep things simple. Our society and infrastructure is based on key elements and if anything that breaks down those key elements creates a crisis event, otherwise known as the proverbial "Shit hitting the fan." Those key elements are;
1) Transportation
2) Energy/Fuel
3) Communication/information
4) Rule of Law/Societal Order
5) Basic Resource Availability
Knock down one and you might knock down all of them. In the past we travelled by horse back and cooked with wood, using oil to light our homes. Transportation advancements like the intercontinental rail road and wire telegraphs allowed people to travel safer and information to be transferred at a faster rate. Advancements in cars, computers, aircraft and in other areas have exploded everything but one key element Rule of Law/Societal Order. Societal Order is maintained under those other four elements. A breakdown in order can also occur when it appears the rule of law is invalidated by the appearance of corruption. The purpose of the Rule of Law is not ideological but purely function, to create order where in a society functions.
Yeah the image sucks but it serves its purpose...
Order can collapse on itself through corruption and when it does it can knock out the other elements. Transportation isn't just about people moving about but the movement of resources, without the basic resources other elements collapse as order breaks down. Energy (this incudes fuel) is required to transport resources and people to maintain social order and the rule of law. Communication is a key element to keeping transportation, energy & resources following through a society and social order functioning. It doesn't matter if an EMP, a nuclear war, hurricane, earthquake or economic collapse breaks down one or more of these elements, as prepper you need to prepare to lack one or all of these elements.
So lets get to basic planning... How do we prepare for breakdown in Social Order and a lack of transportation, energy, available resources and communication? One word by becoming self-sufficient and using alternative means to do so. Lets get something straight most preppers are urban and sub-urban types, people in rural communities often lack having these things so readily available. So rural people have more then 1 way to light, heat their homes, cook, travel, acquire food, fuel and medical treatment, communication with their family and friends and so on. Once you have a general understanding of how to make up for a lack of supply and support in one of these areas, the reason(s) for the deficiency can be addressed.
So what are alternative means of maintaining Social Order?
Uniform Social Code based on belief structures (i.e. religion, culture, etc.)
Local Community Organizations (Neighborhood or Town Committees, Militias, Volunteer Organizations)
An Armed Community: Simple logic if people can defend themselves criminals will pass them over for easier targets, why else do gunmen shoot up schools and churches (gun free zones) but never attack a police station or hunting club?
Sense of Community as a Social Environment: There was a time when people got out and met their neighbors, today TV and internet make it easier to be entertained in our homes. Internet allows us to communicate with people across he world with similar views and interests to our own, so we talk to our neighbors less and know less of our community or the people within. Now Preppers fear the hordes of "zombies" coming for their supplies and keep it all a Secret under the idea of OpSec.
Guard Dogs & Simple Non-Electronic Alarms: I have an interesting story about my "guard cat" (another time perhaps) but my neighbor's dog bars when anyone comes near his house at night. This means the same dog barks when anyone comes near my house at night. This kind of community alarm deters night time burglary. So do neighbors looking out for each other, a uniform social code...
So what do we need to do to help maintain social order? Become involved in local groups and clubs, churches and so on to develop a simple uniform social code. We can become involved in a local community organization to help organize people in a crisis to organize the community. We can be armed, I suggest everyone own at least one, rifle, shotgun and pistol. We can get to know and associate with our neighbors in and outside of local organizations develop both a report and a reputation within our local community. All of this can be used to help maintain social order if the Rule of Law breaks down.
Totals: $586.99 to $1,075.99
Totals using Rossi .410/22LR Combo Gun: $350 to $388
Firearms serve 2 primary uses, acquiring food and self-defense.
Bows and Crossbows can of course be used as well.
You don't need to dump $1,000 on one AR15 style rifle.
What are alternative means of Transportation?
Animals: horses, mules and ponies we all know but I have a cousin who used to ride a bull. We all have forgotten the Ox Cart in the US.
Motorcycles, Mopeds and ATVs: Just because a car or truck can't get through doesn't mean a smaller, less computerized vehicles can't be used. Roads might be impassable but what about hiking and off road trails. This includes electric cars and motorcycles.
Boats & Rafts: If waterways are available or you have access to a coast you can make use water travel, in the case of roads being cut off after a crisis event.
Bicycles, Tricycles and Peddle Cars: EMP Proof and doesn't need gasoline, you can pack more on them then just yourself.
Walking & Hiking: Finally you can walk out or hiking out and well that means you need to practice backpacking and get used to act of walking out.
In China, they carry a great deal on their tricycles, so yes you can get your preps out on one of these.
This image comes from http://politicsandpreppers.com/ presented here as an example of what most preppers think they can load on a bike.
What about alternative means of Energy and Fuel?
Gas Generators: Gas generators need fuel but can make a great short term power source in or after a crisis event. The issue is fuel for the power.
Solar, Water & Wind Generators: Solar doesn't require fuel nor do wind or hydro-electric generators but require batteries and converters to run electronic devices. Basic devices without a lot of circuitry like light bulbs, heating filaments & such can be used even with an EMP.
Manual Operated Generators: Bicycle and hand crank generators can be bought or made and require you to manually rotate a magnet over a copper or other metal coil to generate electricity. A converter is needed to convert the direct current into alternating current for most electronics but charging a battery for lighting is another easy enough.
Cooking & Heating Fuels: Using cooking & heating fuels to include coal, wood and oil is an important buffer. Many people do not realize the same grease that comes from cooking meat can be saved and used as a cooking or heating oil.
Candles & Lamps: Using and making candles and lamps, as well as fuel for such is a skill one should develop to help with cooking, lighting and heating without normal services due to a crisis event.
Here is an example of a home made Bicycle Generator from YouTube:
What about alternative means of Communication?
CB, Walkie-Talkie & HAM Radios: Without cell phones or a power grid to power cell towers and land lines, citizen band radios and handhelds as well as HAM radio may be an available alternative. Many Preppers consider this already.
Message Delivery/Curriers: Before the US Postal Service many people depended on couriers, hired to deliver messages and merchants travelling between settlements to deliver messages. Some people included messages sent by family who travelled to other towns. In a post crisis world, which might only last weeks or months, you could send a letter with someone travelling to check on their family headed in a direction.
Alarm Bells & Community Message Boards: Another old pioneer and pre-TV & radio means of communication was using church bells to signal an emergency and a community message board (where online message boards get their name) that allowed anyone to post a public notice. In the inner city, graffiti acts as a kind of public message board to those who know how to read it.
Community Meetings: Just getting together within your community and talking, passing along information via verbal discussion. One should be cautious of rumors & misinformation but that is true in all communication with other people.
LAN Networks: Even if the internet is down, a wi-fi system can support a local area network between computers. Provided one has power, one can send messages to another person computer provided they are networked together and as I have been told over greater distances uses a CB or HAM radio.
Smoke Signals & Flares: Signal fires and smoke have been used to send messages over a great distance. In a post crisis event, burning an old tire and using a blanket to create breaks in the smoke (yes, like "indian smoke signals") can be used to send Morse Code. It can also be used to signal people within area, in a flooded area or stranded in a blizzard, that black smoke from an old tire can signal your location. We all know flares are used to signal people a sea but its been used in The Walking Dead.
Morse Code, International Maritime Flag Signal & Semaphore: Used with lights, bangs on a object like a gong or with hand flags and road flares, these signaling codes are used send messages over a great distance.
Morse Code:
International Maritime Flag Signal:
Semaphore:
Admittedly, I don't know any of these either, haven't used Morse Code since I was kid but, I'm learning them as part of survival preparations.
What about alternative means of Basic Resources?
Farming: Farming growing crops and raising live stock admittedly is something many people consider. In many third-world nations, their middle class rely on low consumption animals like goats for meat, milk and making cheese or yogurt and gardening to buffer their food stuffs. These can be used by Americans without a lot of land at their disposal for cows. Most Americans are aware of rabbit starvation (where the lean meat of rabbit lack essential fatty acids and consumption actually burns more calories then it provides) which makes squirrel a better animal to farm for meat then rabbits.
Gardening: Growing crops is fine but lacking those essential fatty acids and oils, you can lose calories. However, you can get pretty good carbohydrates (a source of calories) out of potatoes, sweet potatoes, basic vitamins out of green beans and protein from pinto or dried beans. An herb garden can also add flavor and plants that are useful as medical herbs.
Hunting & Fishing: Hunting and fishing are always something someone suggests. Trapping of course falls in the hunting category since you have to find a location where your target animal is likely to travel to set a trap. However, how long until other with a similar idea deplete natural resources in the area? One can hunt and drive animals to an enclosed area to "farm" them such as Boar, Deer, Squirrels and catch fish from rivers and creeks to stock a pond. Table scraps can be used to feed the fish, depending on breed as well as natural plants and algae, some of which you can eat yourself.
Trade & Barter: Trade and bartering for supplies is also possible but just remember that ounce of gold that trades of over $2,000 you are carrying now could only be worth 3 potatoes & jar of pickles to someone who has food and little interest in gold. Barter requires skills and/or items to trade in exchange for other items or skills. Here things like tobacco, alcohol, bio-diesel, charging batteries, first aid and medical herbs, cooking spices, gun powder, archery equipment, ammo, guns, bicycles and several others explained in a Poorman's Guide to Prepping all have value and depending on a person's needs can more value then money.
Canning, Curing & Storing: Storing food is a common act of Preparation, but few people know how to can food themselves. Canning food can be used to store food from your garden and curing a means of storing meat.
Collecting & Filtering Water: Having a alternate means of collecting water, such as collecting rain water, well water and so on can provide off grid water you a) don't have to pay for (everyone needs water so that's a barter item, if you want to be an asshole) and b) it is sustainable, meaning you aren't dependent on someone else to provide like the utility company.
Assess Possible Threats to said Key Elements:
This will be covered in Part 2, once you realize you can subsist without depending on others to provide you those key elements and have prepared yourself to provide those elements on your own, you only need to look at possible case for those elements to de disrupted.
If you know me you know I'm a ninjutsu guy and I admit ninjutsu is the biggest joke of the Martial Arts world. Well actually the martial arts world is the biggest joke of the martial arts world. Ninjutsu ranges from "fraudulent instructors" to "legitimate instructors" trolling and harassing people online and basically comes down to the pussification of martial arts. Martial is another term for military and Martial Arts are Military Arts; meaning art used for combat. So instead of fighting wars martial artists are waving rank certificates and talking shit online, because they don't have the courage to talk shit to someone's face. It gets even funnier when so called adults, brag about talking trash to someone online.
Lets look at that behavior as we were still in high school, you talk shit online but don't say a word when someone is in your face. You loose a) creditability and b) look like a pussy. This is why my response to internet challenges, many times no one showed up, is to either make the challenge to my face or else you're a bitch. Martial arts have only two legitimate manifestations; contact sports & self-defense. Anything too deadly to spare is useless & anything devoted totally to restrained competition is likewise useless, just less useless.
Now regardless of my opinion of how much BS is floating around in the so-called martial arts community, survivalists, preppers, doomsday preppers and militiamen can make use of modernized codified concepts like Espionage and Strategy that come from ninjutsu. Do you need some enlighten philosophy to deal with creditable threat to you, not everything is warfare, civil unrest and human threats or do you need to know how to plan, think & establish a information network in your area? What benefits you more, understanding universal justice or understanding likely threats to you and developing a plan to limit that threat as much as possible.
Most preppers I know are more concerned self-defense and community organization. Rather then try to understand the "Will of God" or the "Universal Will" they deal with simple survival strategies like Economic Collapse, Civil Unrest (you know like in New York, Baltimore, Chicago and Boston...), Crime, Hurricanes, Floods, Landsides, Tornadoes & Earth Quakes. The simple truth, Ninjutsu is more relevant to people planning and thinking of solutions to problems then people living a mystical ninja fantasy life.
As my belief that both potentially lethal techniques and less then lethal competition techniques both need to be part of your arsenal, that's simply a judgment based on experience. Not every fight has been against a trained opponent I wanted to or felt I had to severally harm. In some cases I just restrained a drunk friend and in other cases I tried to seriously hurt someone. A simple palm heel strike can be a "show stopper" for someone but so can a rear-naked choke, course in a court that palm strike and whether it came in response to a verbal threat or a physical threat holds a lot of sway in court. There isn't much use for Espionage and Strategic planning in the martial arts, in business, paramilitary groups, strategic war games players and others it has great value. So I deal with whom, information is more valuable to...
Plus, I'm a survivalist. I share an interest in survivalism and emergency preparation. I consider survival skills like first-aid, wilderness bush craft and similar associated with both ninjutsu and survivalism/prepping a hobby. This includes tactical training as well...
I often like to offer advice of how the "enemy" thinks or think what I would do in the bad guy's place. Why? Because I'm a trained bad ass! Well in the fantasy world of people who think something other then yourself can make you a bad ass, being former US Army Air Assault Infantry & a hand-to-hand combat instructor makes me a bad ass. Personally, I don't want to be known as a bad ass because if your a bad ass you either attract other bad asses because "normal people" don't want to associate with you or wannabe bad asses who want the reputation to act tough. No... no... I like to explain what the "bad guys" will do because I like to burst some of those fantasy bubbles people create.
I'm a survivalist, a prepper if you want to be more politically correct but I prefer survivalist. I hear or see a lot of survival fantasy BS among the preppers online, like I hear and see a lot of self-defense fantasy BS among martial artists online as well. So what is my point? That criminals "train" to be criminals, that criminals associate with other criminals and that playing "bad ass" or trying to be a "hero" can get you killed. This is especially true in a Without Rule of Law environment.
Online Prepper Myth 1: Criminals are Stupid...
Criminals live a lifestyle of crime, sure their are stupid punk kids who wannabe tough guys and bad asses and lack brains. However, any experienced criminal, any criminal raised by other criminals and anyone criminal who really wants to succeed will think first. Smart criminals outnumber dumb criminals as part of a process called natural selection; dumb criminals are either dead or locked up. Don't expect a criminal threat to be stupid, police informant programs protect the dumb asses and in a WROL scenario snitches without police protection will be scared and hiding in the deepest hole.
What you can expect;
Snipers: 100 yards might not seem worthy of Chris Kyle but I'm not talking military or police snipers & I'm not talking trained marksmen. I'm talking concealed shooters. You'll see this more then military style fire and maneuver actions because lets be honest most people are cowards. The sniper fantasy of many civilians is based on the idea of being able to shoot you from a concealed position and to far away for you to respond (i.e. a safe distance).
Ambushers: The ambushers might use anything from an improvised knife (shank or shiv) to a firearm. They will attack from concealment & in you will begin the engagement on the receiving end, i.e. defending end of the attack. It is possible that you may not even survive the initial assault.
Con-Men/Women: More likely then any armed group or individuals which in itself is sign of desperation as force is likely to be resisted with force, is cons and scams. People will try to appeal to your sense of sympathy, faith or charity to get you to give them something. People will use women and children as an excuse. The con game is more likely to be the most used and most common form of exploitation. Beware those we want to combine resources post SHTF, they often have less then you do and want a portion of your own supplies.
Threats from Children: Child soldiers are common among warlords and child criminals are especially common among gangs and criminal families. It might seem inhumane or unmanly to harm a kid however, that won't stop them from harming you. This is a harsh reality that many people don't want to face but you'll have to face it in a WROL scenario.
Organization: Don't expect criminals to be disorganized come SHTF. Organization might be a matter of the bully herding his followers into following him and doing as he says, it could be gang structure or mafia. During the fall of the Soviet Union, many police and military from former Soviet States sided with gangs and syndicates against Soviet forces & civilians so a paramilitary police structure could be adopted. In prison and jail an informal structure of organization among criminals occurs, in a WROL environment expect it occur as well. It is in fact likely criminals will organize faster then the authorities.
Don't expect mindless and confused "zombies" just because some online "expert" says so. Some criminals might also be prepping and they will likely be gun preppers, with self taught concepts from media and books (old military FMs & TMs included). Sure they aren't professional soldiers but let me ask you (the reader), are you? Sure some people have military training and are preppers but a lot of preppers aren't and don't any training including self-training. Just something to think about...
Online Prepper Myth 2: SHTF & WROL = Do whatever you want...
Just because it is SHTF and there is a without rule of law scenario now doesn't mean you get a free ride to do anything. I had a fellow soldier when I was in the Reserves who was a Virginia State Trooper & was sworn in as a New Orleans police office to help out after Katrina hit. He wasn't par of the gun confiscations and said he'd warn people to hide guns from the police because they were taking guns. I made a comment that if I were in New Orleans and police tried to disarm me, I'd have resisted and would either kill them or get killed by them.
Like was pointed out to me, if I followed that line of thought I'd have faced charges and police after the event was all over. In hind sight, it would have made better sense to stay in contact with people around me by CB or similar mechanism and hide my weapons. Thus the story behind why I suggest this level of thinking over top the grab an gun and defend yourself, You against the WROL world. Eventually some form of stability and government will exist, whether its a local warlord, county sheriff, the city council or FEMA and martial law.
For that matter, that thief you decide to hang in your front yard might have family who take offense to the act. You might have to deal with the friends and family of someone you shoot in self-defense during or after SHTF. You need to consider what your goals are before you tae an action and how to reach those goals with your actions. Sometimes taking the course of action you want to take doesn't produce the results you want.
With or without government to enforce the law, there will still be a reaction for every action and, an action to every reaction. Ideas like staking out looters with signs that read "You Loot we Shoot" might not be a good idea in the long run.
Online Prepping Myth 3: I Need to Be the Gray Man because People will Kill you for Your Gear...
I don't who came up with this but lets be honest here, who do you think is most likely to get robbed for their stuff?
A: This Homeless Guy
No weapons visible, maybe a knife, certainly a dog but he has a Bug-Out Bag.
B: Paramilitary Guy
He has an AK47,side arm and knife; all that tactical gear, even with a backpack/ruck sack (B.O.B.) he still looks like he can defend himself.
C: Hunter/Backpacker
Well he lacks the paramilitary look but he's still armed and able to defend himself.
If your choice was A: You risk being bitten or maybe stabbed, B: You risk being shot or stabbed & C: You risk being shot or stabbed. Criminals chose weak targets for victimization while options B & C might draw attention from authorities but they certainly won't attract criminals. In fact most people period will avoid them, especially B.
But what about the authorities? This is an important question because whether gun grabs like Katina or like what is happening in the Ukraine right you will want to be able to switch from one appearance to another when it suits you. This means concealing you gear. Lets look at deferent WROL cases in the past...
LA Riots 1992:
Watts Riot 1965
This one has some music but footage shows the military used in response to civil unrest, and limited martial law in an area.
Detriot 1967 Riots again more examples of the military used against civilians to quell civil unrest.
Ferguson Riots 2014
Ukraine War 2014-current
Syrian War 2015
Natural Disasters:
After Hurricane Katrina
People Aming themselves for Self-Defense After Katrina
Hurricane Katrina: Secret Race War
Gun Confiscation & no Police Protection After Hurricane Katrina
Footage Analysis:
In every case different situations projected different responses and different tactics. The police disarmed law abiding citizens who admitted to being armed for self-defense. In the Ukraine both rebels an the military would shoot the Paramilitary Guy and probably the hunter. In the Katrina aftermath a man defended his neighborhood with an old shot gun. In the case of the Secret Race War footage, people who harbored a secret racial fear projected that fear onto people who not a threat. Of course it only made news because it was white on black crime, there were also cases of black neighborhoods where violence was directed against whites. In the LA Riots footage the Koreans defended themselves & their businesses by being armed and presenting a Force Projection.
At night there were reports of gun fire in New Orleans, do you think the people shooting admitted to being armed to the police? You see people left dead in the street in New Orleans who had less then the homeless man pictured above. In each case, the Homeless, Paramilitary & Hunter have certain advantages as a tactic of camouflage and projecting a certain image. Certainly, your choices need to be able to adapt project force or blend in when needed. All of this is to hammer home a point, there is no one size fits all survival strategy. One thing must be accepted, criminals pre on the weak.
Following that logic in a WROL environment, even one with a police presence that only harassed law abiding citizens, you need to be willing to deal with a thinking threat. One which will seek easy prey and one for which you are easy prey. Being gray is effective in some cases and so is force projection.
Tactics are one stage solutions to problems such as ambush, flank or concealment. Strategies are a series of overlapping goals and a tentative plan to reach each goal. If you Prep I want you to consider how in your area, with your gear, you'd operate going from a post-Katrina environment, to a civil warzone environment (like the Ukraine or Yemen) and finally to Riot scenario and back again. Adapt & Overcome.
I been online very little in the last few days, came back to plenty of spam and stupid shit, from stupid people. Most was deleted without even being read but then I came across this in a closed Facebook group of which I am a member. This report was found at http://adaptforsurvival.com/ where I had to surrender my e-mail for this free report and subject myself to being offered a free survival gizmo & the occasional news letter with free survival advice. Some of this advise is good and some not so good but nothing I'd qualify as bad advice.
So here is my review.
A lot of material is common sense like how generators produce noise and how that was invitation to criminals and the military that took the generators for themselves. Now I have the upmost respect and faith in my nation's military, in their oath to protect the Constitution and Ideas of the Constitution that we all swore to. I have faith in their code of conduct & warrior values each branch has it own version, the Army Values are Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage. However, I do not trust law enforcement & do not credit them with the same standard of values. Certainly criminals won't have these same values. The point being that simple Noise & Light Discipline & OPSEC (Operational Security) are important to preppers when SHTF.
A lot of the material confirms common sense thinking. That tactical looking gear and clothing were taken or the needs of the government, the rebels or the criminals that were organized. Same for generators, medical supplies, weapons and even basic electronics. The most important aspects are when people decided to leave the cities and those who became stuck due to not leaving soon enough. All in all, I'd suggest getting the free Ukraine Report from Adapt for Survival and you can always cancel the e-mail news letters.
I give it a 3/5& you definitely get what you pay for & then some...
Prepping is in some ways a joke; our grandparents, their parents and grandparents were prepared to face hardships and weren't called preppers or survivalists. As a kid the term survivalist was heavily associated with anti- big-government, Christian fundamentalism & paramilitary philosophies. As a kid I lived through a blizzard with literally 2 to 4 feet of snow in 1993 & the ise storm brought on by the 92 Nor'Easter before that. We were fortunate to have gas heating but we had kerosene heaters as a back up, to. We my mom a prepper?
No, my grandfather survived the great depression as kid and self-sufficiency wasn't a fad or popular hobby, it was survival. It was common sense, we had electric heaters, kerosene, a fire place & other means of heating my grandparent's house. My grandfather had a had a generator, a garden, chickens & no, he didn't own a farm. My grandfather just knew how to survive, he was a redneck, a hick, a hillbilly or whatever you want to call him. But, I promise you he survived being one of those homeless teens who took on any job, including dangerous jobs like coal mining, lumber & stoop work on farms like we attribute to the many illegal Mexican immigrants in the US. And he taught that planning, preparation and self-determination for survival to his kids (my mother, my aunts and uncles) which was passed down the family line to me, with some wisdom directly relayed to me from my grandfather himself. Most of this I never understood until I was older.
Prepping is a fad hobby based on fear and worry. All trying to sell you the latest and greatest in tactical widgets and what nots. Survivalism is a philosophy that is often paramilitary in nature, also built around selling you on gear or skills training. Poor people have been surviving for years and the survivalist movement had its roots in both doomsday Christians and cold war fears of nuclear war.
Poor people and people in general have been surviving with less resources and less gear forever, or at least as long as there have been people. This book outlines some basic skills & talks about low tech/low cost methods for survival including plans of Do-it-yourself bomb and blast shelters, do-it-yourself hazmat concepts. So whether you fear a nuclear war, economic collapse or being left behind at the second coming this book will help you survive without spending excessive amounts of cash on the latest high tech gear. Whether alone or as a group this book uses simple common sense methods and survival strategies, used by previous generations and today by poor men, in poor countries, without all the high tech gadgets social support networks of the US during bad times and disasters. What you'll Find Inside:
Basic Tactics for Reacting to Contact, Convoy Operations & similar,
Alternative Medicine using herbs found in the Wild & in Your Kitchen,
Basic Field Craft for Bugging Out,
Do It Yourself Hazmat Suit design, Decontamination kits & Blast/Bomb Shelters,
9 Stages of Preparation to Match Even the Wealthy in Safety & Security,
Caching & Barter Economics Explained in Detail,
And much more...
Consider this THE FIELD MANUAL for the low income to lower middle class prepper or survivalist!
This book was written for those who can't spend all the money on the latest most tacti-cool prepping gizmo. It is a basic foundation of low incoming living, i.e. being poor & some stuff I picked from other preppers and in the army. It breaks preparation down into nine overlapping stages built around feeding yourself and sheltering from extremes. Gardening and canning are addressed, as well as, Do-It-Yourself Hazmat materials. Barter economics allows the poorman to invest in catastrophe to stocking various items they can use as added supplies or to barter with others. Herb medicines have been addressed in detail, with pictures and a list of kitchen herbs one can purchase and store to enhance and augment one's own medical supplies.
I cover some basic tactical drills for small teams and organizing as a group with a less paramilitary mindset then what is discussed in TM 725-15 American Homeguard Anti-Terrorist Handbook. Some information overlaps like building a cache & understanding a Nuclear, Biological or Chemical Threat. Disaster strikes, that's a fact of life but you don't need to invest massive amounts of money or paramilitary tactical/tacti-cool toys to prepare for it.
Poorman's Tip 1: Black Pepper
Black Pepper from Wikipedia, Black pepper (Piper nigrum) is a floweringvine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit, known as a peppercorn when dried, is approximately 5 millimetres (0.20 in) in diameter, dark red when fully mature, and, like all drupes, contains a single seed. Peppercorns, and the ground pepper derived from them, may be described simply as pepper, or more precisely as black pepper (cooked and dried unripe fruit), green pepper (dried unripe fruit) and white pepper (ripe fruit seeds).
Black pepper is native to south India, and is extensively cultivated there and elsewhere in tropical regions. Currently Vietnam is the world's largest producer and exporter of pepper, producing 34% of the world's Piper nigrum crop as of 2008.
Dried ground pepper has been used since antiquity for both its flavour and as a traditional medicine. Black pepper is the world's most traded spice. It is one of the most common spices added to European cuisine and its descendants. The spiciness of black pepper is due to the chemical piperine, not to be confused with the capsaicin that gives fleshy peppers theirs. It is ubiquitous in the modern world as a seasoning, and is often paired with salt.
Crushed Black Pepper can be used to treat bleeding and speed healing in open wounds. Because it is native to tropical regions cannot be sustained in colder climates, where the temperature drops below 60 degrees Fahrenheit. So it should be stocked up in northern states, desert states & can only be grown in hot, humid locals. This is a poorman's "thick clot" and doesn't need to scrubbed from a wound, however treatment for the wound may require one to scrub out dead tissue and other contaminants but, this is another matter of wound care.
Poorman's Tip 2: Water Purification Tablets
It is a little known fact that the commercial iodine water purification tablets are based of the iodine tablets used by the US military. Certain civilian water purification tablets copy the older military potassium iodine based anti-bacterial water purification tablets, that can be dissolved in 1 quart of water and offer some protection from radiation. For more detailed information on Potassium Iodine follow the link to the CDC site below; http://emergency.cdc.gov/radiation/ki.asp
Poorman's Tip 3: Barter Basics
Everyone was curious about a former CIA agents mention of the "Bubba Effect" on Glenn Beck some years ago; 2009.
Glenn Beck also addressed the Bubba Effect last on the Blaze Network...
The Bubba Effect is a willing removal from mainstream culture and resources. This is best exemplified by removal from government programs, like public education (part of the reason home schoolers are seen as threat) or accepted economic transactions. Trading goods or services for other goods or services instead of the National Currency. Bartering was used in the US by Karl Hess to make it harder for the IRS to seize his wages and as a form of tax resistance. Hess explained this in an op-ed for The New York Times in 1975. The IRS as of the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 requires such exchanges to be reported on a 1099-B form.
But how does one prove such an exchange? If I give you a compound bow, 7 arrows, & 2 chickens for your weed eater & 3 tomato plants who has documentation of said exchange. The Bubba Effect is when common people seek to exclude the government (city, county, state or federal) effecting their lives. This could be in the highly dramatic example outlined by Glenn Beck or in the quieter (but still illegal) means used by other grandfather (my father's father) of making moonshine & trading it things he needed or wanted during the latter years of depression.
Barter economics is often based on the value of the individuals involved, to a starving man 3 chickens, a rooster & 5lbs sack of beans might have more value then a ounce of gold at the present exchange rate of $1,200 per oz. (as of 3/25/2015). Out here in West Virginia we call this horse trading, many times people with "extra items" will trade them to others to trade them for things they needs.
Example of the Barter Economy
Bill: Has Extra Chickens but needs a new CB radio
Bob: Has Shotgun Ammo but wants some chocolate to give his wife
John: Has Chocolate but needs someone chock his fire wood cause he's too sick to get out of bed
Dave: Has a CB radio but needs some shotgun ammo
What happens:
Dave trades his old radio to Bill for the Chickens he doesn't need. Dave can't trade the chickens to Bob for shotgun ammo but finds out Bob wants chocolate for his wife for her birthday. Dave knows John has chocolate bars stashed away. John doesn't want the chickens but needs someone to chop some wood cause he is very sick so, Dave agrees to chop some wood for 12 Hersey bars & take 8 hours out his day to split logs for John. Dave trades 5 Hersey bars to Bob for 20 shotgun shells. At the end of Dave's day he has 3 chickens, 7 Hersey Bars & 20 Shotgun Shells.
The Key to Barter Economics is trust (why it is often limited to a small group of people) and communication.
Poorman's Tip 4: Dry Beans & Potatoes
A cheaper alternative to stocking cans of beans is to store dry beans. Dry Beans are essentially seeds, that are cooked and eaten as a soup. One can buy large amounts of dry beans, that can be cooked and eaten but can also be used as part of your resupply plan by planting the beans. The resulting bean plants of course produce more beans, which can be dried and stored.
The Poorman can buy a few bags to store as prep items and plant others to grow their own, which they can dry and store with a few being replanted to resupply & build one's preps without having to buy preps or as a booster to buying more preps.
Potatoes has roots that sprout from the potato called "eyes." The Eyes can be planted to grow into new potatoes or potatoes with eyes sprouting from then can be cut into sections and planted to grow into fresh potatoes. Eyes can be dried and stored in a cool dark place and will last 3 to 5 months, which is hopefully until early spring when they can be planted.
