Criminal Mindset: What Without Rule of Law (WROL) can mean for You...

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.

Preppers: OpSec and Security for Bugging In

Years ago I made a YouTube video about my "Bug-In Kit." Unlike those who talk about guns I talked solar power, security cameras & a survival lap top. Why?

 

Knowledge is power? At the time of this video I have a security apartment in a small city with a security door. I could access the roof, place those little cameras at key points:  (1) one covering the front door to the building, (2) the fire escape which was inside the building and directly outside my apartment, (3) my apartments front door & (4) the alleyway that the fire escape accesses. Access to he roof means those binos with the built in camera can let me keep an eye on the surrounding environment & anything worth reporting can be pictured in an image, especially helpful for getting an idea of events & correct information.

 

So lets say, a building is on fire or people are rioting. I can capture an image, upload it to that "survival lap top" and show it to those others living in the apartment building. Why? To rely on them to help secure the building? If people 6 streets over are standing on their roofs with rifles & here gun shots, I might want to ask why? I might decide to bug out which means eyes on the alley & down my fire escape. So if rioters, looters, criminals or whatever, are a threat to me I don't have to blindy run into that alley &risk my life.

 

My CB radio also gives me access to news, rumors and information, outside my visual range. All of this can be powered by my solar gear. Because I needed space in a space limited environment (a single bedroom apartment) my emergency rations where 3600 calorie bars. Of course they aren't the best tasting but, I have real food in the kitchen the Mainstay is to get by when I have nothing else. Three little squares get you by when all your real food is gone. That box in the video is 30 days worth of Mainstay, its compact even if I' bugging out.

 

The Military relies in intelligence, and a prepper needs to rely on information. Mad Max fantasies and Gray Man delusions aside, you need to have information in a crisis. Guns and ammo are great when the threat is obvious but what about threats that aren't as obvious? Experienced criminals will rely on ambush tactics and con games, using force is an amateur move (criminally speaking). Information is key. If Drones were as common then as they are now, I'd have worked on acquiring one. 

 

Look at the LA Riots & Katrina, 1) a CB radio could alert people to threats, to hide their weapons from the authorities 2) Solar means no engine noise and no reliance on fuel. Sure my neighbors will want me to help them keep warm, or cook their food. I will be glad to help them, because helping them means I will people who won't standing watch on a roof top for a few hours, listening to a CB radio for information or watching a TV screen with cameras for a an hour or so while I sleep. If they have a gun they won't mind using them for mutual defense. What keeps them from taking over? Well that's were my gun come into play but its basic social-defense. You trust those you depend on and you depend on those who are a value to you. If I am of value to my neighbors, they will depend on me & if they depend on me they will trust me. If they trust me, they will help me.

 

In essence, it doen't matter if you're a militant prepper or a gray man you need information. Camouflage is a tactic, in some cases it will save you. Looking like a hard target is a tactic referred to as a Threat Display or Force Projection. I'm for both Tactics being used in the correct context, using those tactics properly requires you to know your environment, to know your situation and to re-act or act accordingly.

 

Look the aftermath of Katrina, home invasions, burglary,looting and violence. Who were the primary targets & Why? That's not even addressing my favorite issue which is Paramilitary cops, like those who went house to house taking weapons after Katrina. Rather then be killed or, being on the run for getting into a fire fight with such LEOs I can cache my weapons and when they ask if I can defend myself, give them a bow & a baseball bat.



Many times we as preppers think about OpSec more then intelligence. There are only so many things you can prepare for travel disruptions, utility disruptions, economic disruption & social disruptions. In every, disrupting one can lead to others. A breakdown in travel can keep food and fuel from getting where it needs to go, making the travel disruption worse and resulting in social disruptions such as looting and rising crime as people become desperate. It doesn't matter if an EMP keeps you from getting water, power or the supermarket from opening or a tornado knocks out the power grid and you have the same problems.

 

Preparation should be something you discuss with your neighbors. You don't have to reveal details about your preps, in fact FEMA as helped by suggesting you prep for 2 weeks and it is something you should think as a basis for opening the subject of prepping. There is no one step or one size fits solution. Bug-in, Bug-Out, Project Projection or Camouflage are all tactics you want to be able to use in maximize the potential for your survival, "tools in your tool box" to get the job done. Using your neighbors is just simple human resource management, knowing how to organize your community, building a relationship members of your community and perhaps even building a lasting friendships will help in ad out of a crisis. This is why the modern mandate on warfare includes the prospect of winning hearts and minds. Winning hearts and minds means you need to have knowledge of the people you are dealing with.

 

While many people might argue that an EMP could knock out all electronics, consider that an over estimation. Most Modern Cars can be turned off after being "shut off" from an EMP. Batteries will still hold a charge and gas will still burn meaning generators will still work. Wind will still blow meaning my wind generator will still work and water will still flow, so hydro electric dams will still work. Also Chemical reactions will still occur, so I can turn a bicycle and car alternator into a peddle powered generator with some JB Weld and basic mechanical skills. Circuits will be fried but most of those parts can be replaced and it just requires some learning, solder and hot metal poker, butane soldering iron or electrical soldering iron to repair a AC/DC inverter. In theory, an old microwave purchased at a Thrift Store should shield such devices from an EMP as a microwave is a form of EMP & Microwave ovens have built in Faraday Cage to contain the Microwaves they should also keep out microwaves. Ultimately, simple grade school science fair project science will produce a simple circuit able to charge batteries, burn lights and run older electric heaters.

 

Even without, and especially without an electrical system to support such information gathering tools you need to rely on people around you; family, friends, neighbors and so on. Information is your greatest tool. If you're bugging in, you need  security plan to hold down.

 

METT-TC:

Was used to teach basic tactical planning to execute a mission. It can be applied your survival plan as well...

• Mission: Survive in Place
• Equipment: (Enter your gear: Food & Water, Weapons, Ammo, Medical Supplies & Fuel + any specialized gear)
• Enemy: Apply only if you have a known threat... Potentially anyone?
• Terrain & Weather: Area specific use OCOKA
• Troops Available: Who are you counting on?
• Time Table: How long can you hold out?
• Civilian Considerations or Collateral Damage Considerations: Non-Combatants on your Side

 

OCOKA: Terrain Considerations

• Observation/Fields of Fire: Where sentries will observe and were they be shooting.
• Cover & Concealment: Cover stops incoming rounds and sight, concealment blocks only sight. These are places the potential enemy can hide.
• Obstacles: Natural or Man Made, these are places that stop or delay your movement or the movement of the enemy.
• Key Terrain: Important real-estate that stands out. 
• Avenues of Approach: Routes you must travel or your enemy must travel into and outside of your position.

 

Of course this is military doctrine but, its military doctrine that establishes a frame work for developing your own survival plan. Depending on the event, society's reaction to the event & your situation you may need to Bug-In or Bug-Out, you might want to blend in to the crowd or stand out as well armed and able to defend yourself. If you can work with those around you to develop a tentative plan to observe, organize and operate for mutual benefit you increase your odds of survival by ten fold. Doing so doesn't have to reveal your best kept secrets or every tool in your tool box. OpSec is basically using need to know information. You don't need to tell everyone everything just reveal small portions of information by degrees about your preparations or that you prep as other need to know about it. Play the Newbie who isn't a prepper just Prep-Curious...

 



21 Foot Rule, Tactical/Speed Reloads & other Internet Expert dumb shit...

The internet is a great source of information but with it comes a great amount of disinformation or misunderstanding information, there by making it a source of disinformation as well. In this we find experts all giving the same tired and often misunderstood advice. Things like the 21 foot which in context are sound are taken out of context as a one stop solution for all Self-Defense scenarios involving a knife. I'll use the 21 foot rule as a example.

The 21 foot run was average range at which an "average person" could run from a dead stop before a police officer could draw his weapon and fire, approximately 1.5 seconds. It is often used as a reference involving concealed carry which is out of context and misleading to those who lack training and experience. Police officers open carry their weapons on their belts and so they actually spend less time drawing their weapons then someone carrying concealed. To shorten that time police officers reach for their weapons reducing their draw time to 1.0 to 0.8 seconds (estimated). So the 21 foot rule is not wrong only often cited in the wrong way... a concealed carry may take longer to draw and as one has to clear clothing, a shirt or coat away from the weapon. So does this mean that if someone is within 22 feet the officer or open carry civilian is some how safe?

No. Which is another misleading element to this being cited by "online experts" the 21 foot rule is a guide to remind officers to keep alert when close to suspects, 21 feet is just an arbitrary number based on the Tueller Drill which spawned the 21 foot rule. Which is simple common sense & highlights the human nature to complicated simple logic, at least in my opinion. Other elements to be considered is that a police officer is trained to use his weapon & the stress of dealing with an attack, which many civilians lack. Making the 21 foot rule irrelevant to many civilians in a self-defense context, as many knife attacks resemble a prison style attack which is a close range ambush style of attack meaning that even if the target where an officer the attack would come within 10 feet and without warning, that is an element of the Tueller Drill and 21 foot rule.

Other Articles that counter the 21 Foot Rule as invalid:
Cop in the Hood: 21 Foot Myth

A Police Officer Analysis of the 21 Foot Rule"
Police Magazine: The "21 Foot Rule Revisited"
PoliceOne.com: Edge Weapon Defense: Is or was the 21 foot Rule Valid? (Part 1)
PoliceOne.com: Edge Weapon Defense Is or was the 21 Foot Rule Valid? (Part 2)

I'll let you decide for yourself on the relevance of the Tueller Drill to your self-defense needs. My opinion is that its overly complicated "research" to tell an officer anyone within 21ft is a potential threat. Considering that most assaults escalate from social conflicts and criminal assaults are surprise attacks within 10 feet of the victim and aggressor, the 21ft rule is pointless and misleading. If I consider you a threat, I won't let you within 50 feet of me and if I do its because I want you there.

Tactical Reloads is another fun claim behind internet expertise. Many times (especially on youtube) I see someone referring to a speed reload as a Tactical Reload. I'm not a fan of speed reloads, except with the AK47, because using the fresh to hit the release tab only makes sense. I don't see this too much but there is a difference between Tactical & Tacti-Cool Mall Ninja Bull Shit. Tactical is a prepared, preplanned response to a threat condition. Tacti-Cool is something that looks cool and is referred to as a tactical but doesn't serve a purpose, tactical always serves a purpose.

What is a tactical reload? A tactical reload is simply replacing a used but not empty magazine or for weapons with internal magazines replacing spent rounds by loading the fresh rounds, during a lull in combat. For example, a fire team engages and defeats an enemy in an ambush turned react to contact. While pulling security for an EPW (enemy prisoner of war) search for survivors and intelligence the security element inserts fresh magazines into their weapons. What is the purpose, remember tactical always has a purpose? The purpose is to have a fresh magazine and in case you have to reengage a threat unexpectedly. If armed with a shotgun, and one shoots an intruder their home, one would load a new shell after pulling the pump to eject the spent shell and pushing to load the next shell before searching the rest of one's home.

If you didn't understand a lot of what I mentioned in my example here is a quick explanation. A fire team is a four to five man military force made up of a team leader, riflemen, grenadier & automatic rifleman with a optional addition of a designated marksmen. With 2 fire teams making up a squad and 4 squads making up a platoon. React to contact is a simple flanking drill where the fire team suppresses the enemy and the rifleman and squad leader flank behind enemy cover to assault the enemy before the automatic  rifleman and grenadier assault through. Though in most cases one fire team will suppress while the other fire team flanks.

The world is full of ideas and the internet is those same ideas, some good and some bad. When it comes to tactical & speed reloads something I learned in the Army comes into play. There is no such thing as a speed reload, just a fast reload. What is a fast reload? Reloading your weapon fast, as in very quickly. This is a matter of a) preparation (all magazines facing the same direction, remember I trained with an M4), b) preparation (being familiar with my weapon, knowing how it cycled and the feel for the controls without looking) & c) Preparation! (training with the weapon, to include stress shooting & correcting a malfunction without looking at the weapon, even tearing it down reassembling it without looking). Course that is a Soldiers level of training & given the choice, I'll take an AR15 style rifle over an AK47 only because I'm more familiar and better trained with that weapon's format. I also grip the magazine well so my support hand is with a finger movement of the magazine release and bolt lock.

Of course, most "tactical experts" sit around trying to find a new way to do the most basic actions, correcting problems that are solved by military men & women with a simple word Preparation. If you think I mean practice, consider that practice is an exercise in preparation. How many times do you practice marksmanship? A lot more then you practice simple reloading and correcting malfunctions, I'll bet. This doesn't even need to involve an AR15 or AK47 style rifle, all this comes down to is that you get out what you put in. Most preppers don't even consider the basic idea that they have to prepare their "tactical gear" beyond just having it. So much so, that many refer the being the "Gray Man" as a cop out for lack of preparation in training. Which brings us to another dumb shit, idea... "Being Gray/Grey."

In an essence the Gray Man is a very basic tactic called camouflage. Lets say we're all evacuating an area due to a hurricane. Its been bumper to bumper traffic for 8 hours and we've only cleared 20 miles. Now Image a family in a truck, stuff cover with a tarp on the back and two guys who were riding on the back of truck refilling their tanks with gas out of a gas can.

Now imagine, the same scenario, same family mom, dad, 2 kids and granddad in the cab but the two guys in the truck bed are armed with tactical vests and AK47s, wearing camouflage. One gets out and refills the tank while the other stands guard with an AK47 and a mean look.

Who do you think a mob of out of gas, panicked and angry people are going to demand gives up their gas? The two tactical-ninja-commando types can just as easily take off the Vests, and hide their weapons under some gear, dawning "Get-Er-Done" & "I hunt White Tail" T-shirts with John Deer Caps to look like any other Good O'l Boy in America to explain the BDU pants. Why because that's camouflage, camouflage isn't a color scheme it any action that lets you go unnoticed. Sometimes, you want to be noticed, sometimes you want to taken as a threat.

Look it is a very simple concept, people love to swim with dolphins but not so much with sharks. Why because sharks are a threat. Criminals prey on the weak, why because they can't/don't defend themselves. Camouflage is a matter of concealing you're presence so that you are seen but go unnoticed. In the woods tis might mean wearing BDUs or similar clothing, earth tones or using mud to break up the solid color of your clothing and hiding your skin tone. In a more urban environment or dealing with authorities it might mean concealing weapons & other gear or blending into a crowd. Terrain dictates tactics and that includes the tactic of camouflage. Camouflage is a tactic but not the only tactic, which makes the "gray man" questionable advice.

If you have no clue as to how misunderstood and misguided information on the internet is, you might be on web forums and scanning blogs for advice and insight. The thing is this, a lot of people just spout the "common themes" and don't consider impact, context or content. In the end its all Internet Expert bullshit, including this blog... why? Because I don't know you and I don't know your situation. I can spout some basic principle or one line themed advice. In fact, I will... learn METT-TC & OKOCA build a custom plan according to your own needs and get outside the box of the common theme, that's what everyone else will be doing.

Being tactical isn't carrying an "Assault Rifle" & wearing a "Tactical Vest." Being tactical is understanding your odds & options; Odds of Success and Failure and, the Options Available. Being tactical is planning, practicing and preparing. Being tactical is having a plan to overcome foreseen obstacles and reach strategic goals. Tactical is not about gear, guns or gimmicks, it is in how you think and how you deal with events. Tactical is a mindset... so be careful of the Internet Expert dumb shit.

Review: Ukraine Report for Preppers

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...

Poorman's Guide to Prepping

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?

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/blizzard-of-93-the-storm-of-th/62671
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00018780.htm

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.

Enter The Poorman's Guide to Prepping:

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 flowering vine 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.

Know your Stalker... More Antics from Phil Failmore

I will be out and about this summer, jumping off this waterfall & doing other things to put my life back in order. Getting knocked down isn't important, getting back up is... and all it takes is the will to do so.

"This Waterfall"

And while I've been blogging away at what a stalker Phil Elmore is he's been seeking to defend his actions. Lets look at his actions...
March 11th Phil Elmore writes 'Trolling' -the new 'hate speech' 
March 19th wrote Laws against cyberstalking - a good idea?

Now on January 19th I wrote The Lies of Phil Failmore address the lies that Phil Elmore has spread about me online. Lies and half truths, based on the lies of his cohorts & partners like Barron Shepard and Don Roley. When proven that Phil lied he started stalking me from group to group using his "gang" of keyboard commandos and wannabe badasses like David Pearson & Patrick Farrari.

February 27th I wrote The Lies, Stalking & Harassment by Phil Failmore showing his continued contact with me despite the fact I want nothing to do with him. Believe me as a heterosexual male, the last thing I want is some skeezy old fat guy with a hard-on for me (hopefully not literally) trying to contact me at every turn. He reminds me of those gay guys who "bully & pick" because they are too scared to come out the closet, so I do question his "motives." I mean has anyone seen a picture of his wife, kinda none existent like some "secret ninja master."

February 28th I post Return of Phil Failmore were I once again state I want nothing to do with him but feel the need to defend myself against his online harassment, stalking and lies.

March 5th I post More Stalking & Harassment from Phil Failmore where I point to Phil's business relationship with Don Roley & Barron Shepard. Where I address Phil Elmore's habit of trolling through "troll accounts" (alternate accounts using another name as a tool of harassment).

On March 11th Phil Elmore defends Trolling on World Net Daily. Claiming it to be simple disagreement yet he neglects the key component of said trolling which is the continuation of following and harassing others. Sure he does, much like a drug addicts who endorse Obamacare for hopes free pills to use and sell or, violent criminals who support gun control because they don't want victims who can defend themselves. Phil defends his own actions.

March 13th I wrote More Trolling Phil Failmore were I addressed Phil Elmore calling my House, texting me over an image he gleamed from one of blogs to prove I was "lying." It was in a folder on a disc labeled Pictures of Korea, it could be the picture of Indian it is claimed to be. But my picture is dates March of 2002 when I Stationed in Camp Casey Korea with 1/503. Which was moved from Casey in 2006 here I the Brief History.

March 18th I wrote Never Back Don has Finally Arrived this is the "auto-biography" dealing with events in my life, evidence of police corruption and the same unethical lies and martial arts cults that I address in this blog. I even call out Mitch Stevens (another of Phil Elmore troll accounts) as being Phil Elmore.

March 19th writes his defense of cyber stalking... but what is cyber-stalking?

As defined by the NCSL: National Conference of State Legislatures Cyber Stalking & Cyber Harassment are defined as...
Cyberstalking.  Cyberstalking is the use of the Internet, email or other electronic communications to stalk, and generally refers to a pattern of threatening or malicious behaviors. Cyberstalking may be considered the most dangerous of the three types of Internet harassment, based on a posing credible threat of harm. Sanctions range from misdemeanors to felonies.

Cyberharassment. Cyberharassment differs from cyberstalking in that it may generally be defined as not involving a credible threat. Cyberharassment usually pertains to threatening or harassing email messages, instant messages, or to blog entries or websites dedicated solely to tormenting an individual. Some states approach cyberharrassment by including language addressing electronic communications in general harassment statutes, while others have created stand-alone cyberharassment statutes.

But all this goes to addressing something else here...
March 18th Phil Elmore tried to buy  copy (actually 2) of Never Back Down, which I refused to sell him and refunded his money.

Now my refusal to sell to him is simple, as I have stated many times I want nothing to do with Phil Elmore & he needs to stop harassing me, following me around the net and spreading lies. Of course Phil seeks to try to conceal his own wrong doing just as he writes WND articles to excuse his behavior. So he seeks to try to contradict evidence of his own behavior.

Oh but that doesn't end there having his lies exposed on one media forum Phil seeks other places to stalk online.

March 5th Phil Elmore made a troll account for Amazon as Martial Reader

I understand this isn't hard to do... All you need is a prepaid debit card and you just order something small. Since accounts are tied to the one's account one need only to buy a parachord bracelet or someone's birthday present and instant troll account. Phil has been using such accounts for years & even been called out on creating them t bolster his own books. Plus the name Martial Reader, much like his other fantasies involving martial arts only seek to make him sound like an authority. Oh and he's from New York same as Phil...

Now Martial Reader only sought to review my works on the same day on Amazon, all on March 5th. Today I was ordering from Amazon and a second review caught my eye, The Phantom. All reviews on March 23rd (today) and only my works. Odd huh? All one has to do is look at the statements and it is the same lies spread by Phil Elmore all over the web.

Does it seem Phil Elmore is afraid of rejection? That he can't stand being ignored? That he is angry... I can account for all the books sold over Amazon and Shadow Warrior. No one has bought a copy of Never Back Down & the only copy of Life without Rapture was sold through Shadow Warrior. So no one has seen anything to review it. There were 8 copies of Black Dragon Ninjitsu sold through Amazon (6 to someone in the UK), 3 copies of Shadow Hunter sold & 3 copies of Army of Shadows all in February. All in all, Phil just wants to hide his wrong doing and conceal his own faults.

But hey believe what you will, you will anyway... Course someone who needs to defend harassing others and being a cyber-bully because he was bullied as kid is pretty pathetic. And well this is the internet.

Oh and don't forget to check out Never Back Down (unless you're one of the cyber stalking punks I want no association with) at http://shadowwarriorpress.com/products/never-back-down-the

Never Back Down has finally arrived!

http://shadowwarriorpress.com/products/never-back-down-the

http://shadowwarriorpress.com/products/never-back-down-the

Never Back Down has finally arrived and the trolls are waiting to try to ward others away from the truth. The fact is over the last few days, these same business competitors (I use the term loosely) have tried to discredit and proclaim me a liar, to confuse the truth of the matter. What you find is that in proclaiming me a liar they again resort to lying to do so. But, why is this?

Because, they are abject failures seeking to suppress the truth.
Compare the facts in More Trolling From Phil Failmore to the claim of a copied picture from India. My Image was last modified in March 29th 2002, I was stationed in Tong Du Chong (spelling?) ROK (South Korea). It was uploaded from a CD with other pictures from Korea onto this computer.

As everyone can see here, the claimed web pages are blogs and in fact the same text over multiple blogs from December 20th of 2014. Meaning this blog is less then 4 months old compared my image with date of March 29th 2002, making my claim less then 13 years old.

 

The reality is this image is only unique to this text for this blog posed over multiple servers. The image claims to be from Haflong, Assam in India. An image search for Haflong, Assam in India bring up these images that look nothing like the claimed image until much later going back to source author with a blog with the exact date December 20th 2014.

Why is this important because Phil Failmore and his internet tough guy friends don't want people to know the truth. He is afraid he will be named and exposed as a mud slinging telemarketer. He is afraid people will see through his lies and if he would like to take me into court, I welcome the chance to expose him for fraud & various federal crimes.

 

This blog was originally created to expose criminal misconduct by the Raleigh County Judicial System and various police officers. Never Back Down simply sets the record straight in greater detail allowing the reader to cross reference YouTube Videos that offer that same exposure. Phil Elmore who has tried to supply information against me in court but, only and predictably allowed himself to be played like a cheap violin. Here is your chance to read the truth & see the fact for yourself.

 

Or you can keep listening to the lies of Phil Elmore, Don Roley & Barron Shepard who are all trying to cover their own wrong doing and lies. Yes, I was arrested for possession of child pornography but it was dropped and no evidence was ever turned over. I was charged to cover up for police snitch and pedophile Thomas Calvin Keller who was protected by the West Virginia State Police and Raleigh County Prosecutor.

 

Here is Thomas Keller under oath...

 

Here is me talking to Lt. Deeds WVSP Office of Professional Standards and signing a statement against Thomas Keller. My Statement against Mr. Keller was used to charge me... no other evidence existed.

 

Ultimately, I will allow you to believe what you will (I mean you will anyway) but, let me ask you. Why is it Phil Failmore is claiming I lied but all material evidence points to him lying to you? Why is Lt. Deeds saying he didn't threaten me with child porn? Why can you hear the 

pause in Thomas Keller's response when if I accused him of downloading child porn? Why is it Thomas Keller admits to being buddies with Deputy Jason Redden? How does all this relate to organized crime in West Virginia?

 

Buy Never Back Down and find out for yourself...

 

Ronald Collins jr., is a "fake ninja" and a "fake martial artist" according to his many detractors. Yet Ron Collins was awarded for teaching his own hand-to-hand combat methods during "Sergeants Time" and being a fire team leader in 1/503d Air assault Infantry Battlion. Between April 2005 to 2014 Ron Collins lived as a wanted man using his "fake ninjitsu" skills to turn the police informant network against itself and recordings of police and prosecutors to prove a pattern of misconduct, abuse of power and entrapment, connecting police corruption to organized crime.

Ron Collins dodged multiple attempts to entrap & to kill him, mixed with modern ninjutsu espionage skills like mind reading, mind control, fake personas and strategy. You also get to read about those who influenced Ron Collins as well as, events in his childhood such as running from his mother's "retired hitman" ex-boy friend, learning martial arts from violent criminals, living with violent psychopaths and the training with the Omoto family. Plus an insider look and information on the politics of the business of marketting & selling martial arts.

With a forward on Ron Collins by Grandmaster Ashida Kim.