5 Must Do’s Before the National Nipple Runs Dry

by Todd Walker

I hate labels. I’ve spent the better part of my adult life dodging bumper sticker nomenclature.

Prepping, survivalism, back to basics, resilience, self-reliance, sustainable, self-sufficient, homesteading, simple living, etc. all have a common philosophy: Taking responsibility for you own life. I wrote about chasing the simple life here. Sherpa Simple is…

Living in a way that is economical, sustainable, individualized, self-sufficient, comfortable, practical, resilient, and in harmony with nature and neighbors. It’s all about helping each other as we chase the simple life.

Weaning ourselves off the National Nipple requires time, energy, self-education, and force in some cases. And here’s the thing – the more we drink, the more we believe that the State udder will never stop flowing. We become addicted. Suckling becomes a basic right.

This is what the National Nipple will do for you

“Once the government becomes the supplier of people’s needs, there is no limit to the needs that will be claimed as a basic right.”

– Lawrence Auster

Even if you’re thumping your chest with pride for never wrapping your proverbial lips around the golden udder, we’re all affected by the overwhelming dependency bred into our culture. The State is the great equalizer dispensing fairness for the collective good. This arrangement is not voluntary. It’s sustained by force. “Legitimate” force.

If you knew the day our National Nipple would run dry, wouldn’t you live differently. It’s not a matter of if, but when. And ‘when’ happens, there will be more than a bit of bawling and screaming. Everyone will fill the pain – your elderly parents on medicare and fixed incomes, your neighbor working in the public sector, all the public school teachers (and there are a lot of us), owners of stocks and bonds, retired veterans, everyone. I’m not even counting those totally dependent government for food, houses, and cell phones. The reset will happen.

How could it not. The truth behind the recovery propaganda should cause some of us to begin self-weaning. The feral Federal Reserve will continue the train wreck by printing more fiat paper. The productive class will continue to shrink. It’s becoming more and more difficult for middle class families to provide basic necessities, much less save for that rainy day.

Retirement looks further away by the minute. The elites keep sending their handlers back to the kitchen to cook more numbers to keep the herd happy. Does this make me vigilant and awake or a conspiracy theorist?

You decide. Search economic collapse for yourself. Here’s a small sampling to get you started:

•             Personal Incomes & The Decline Of The American Saver

•             Comparing the past to predict the future

•             A chart proving that the MSM is lying about unemployment

The picture painted is scary. As people come up for air while nursing on the National Nipple, there may be some that begin to wean themselves. For those of you already standing back from the feeding frenzy, you need to get into high gear with your preparedness plan.

You may think I’m hardnosed or uncaring by my next statement. I prefer a sudden reset over a long, drawn out collapse. I never liked tip-toeing into our cold lake. I found jumping in head-first to best for me. My body adapted to the shock of cold water better with total immersing. Let me clarify. I’d prefer no collapse at all. But that ain’t happening.

You only have power over people so long as you don’t take everything away from them. But when you’ve robbed a man of everything, he’s no longer in your power – he’s free again.  — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

The list of nations spiraling towards collapse is growing. What steps should Joe and Jane Average take now to build a hedge against financial Armageddon? This is not a step-by-step plan. It requires thought, creativity, and determination – no matter what your financial status. To answer the previous question, do what we know is the right thing to do. Simplify. Less is more. ‘Less’ dependence on the fragile systems of mono-crop corporate farming, fractional reserve banking, and our ‘sick’ care medical establishment.

Building resilience in these areas one step at a time will only increase your chances of survival. And may actually help you thrive.

While this list is not exhaustive, it points us in the right direction.

Food

Grow your own or buy from local farmers. Doing this will accomplish several things:

• Strengthen your local food system. These producers live where you live. Small family owned and operated farms will contribute to your overall health and resilience in return.
• Reconnect with your food and community. Build relationship with food producers that don’t live 2,000 miles from your house. Better to meet them now than after the balloon goes up.
• Save resources. The amount of packaging material and fuel is drastically reduced by purchasing/bartering for groceries you can’t produce for yourself. Find farmers that practice sustainable growing practices.
• Education. Many local farmers/producers are happy to help you learn how to grow your own. Plus, you’ll begin to know where your food comes from.
• Food storage you’ll actually eat. When you preserve the harvest from you garden or local farmer’s market, you’re putting away food that you’ll actually enjoy eating and not some pre-packaged, processed items or MRE resembling food. Dehydrating, canning, and proper storage techniques will go a long way in supplying your family with stores of food for the long run.

Health Vigilante – physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

• 90% of what we eat is the cause of our chronic health conditions.
• Be your own health vigilante. Take your health into your own hands. This past year taught DRG and me that modern medicine is run by pharmaceutical companies. There’s a chemical soup in pill form for everything.
• Explore holistic health practices.
• Eat nutrient dense foods. Avoid processed junk foods. I recommend the Primal Lifestyle. Your mileage may vary.
• Regular exercise without being married to the gym. Develop a mindset of functional fitness. Lift heavy things, move slowly every day, and sprint (max capacity) once every 7 to 10 days.

Invest in assets and skills

• By assets, I mean tangible items that hold value. Look up Alpha Strategy. That case of ammo you bought last year was a good investment after all. 
• Focus on your strengths. You’ve got one or two skills that you’re very good at. Develop those even more. But don’t forget to add more resilience-adding skills to your toolbox.
• Barter is becoming more important these days. It may one day be a crucial skill for acquiring basic necessities.
• Learn permaculture. Hiding food in plain sight.

 Build Community

• Most of us don’t live in a rural homestead self-sufficiently. We live mostly in urban and suburban neighborhoods. Your neighbors will play a huge part in your families ability to survive and thrive in coming days. I’ve written some thoughts on the importance of neighboring here. 
• With proper planning and the existence of basic resources, your neighborhood is very defensible and livable in SHTF scenarios. More on this in a later post.

Housing – Living big in small places

• Learning to live big in small places (locally) means re-educating ourselves on what resilience really means.
• Simplifying your life gets rid of all the clutter. If you’re like me, that’s a hard thing to do. Letting go of things I’m going to do something with one day. It forces me to really evaluate what’s important. Prioritizing my stuff allows me more free time to focus on what’s really important.
• Consider downsizing your home. We’ve downsized twice since the housing bubble popped. Talk about freeing up time!

I’m aware there are many more must do’s before the National Nipple runs dry. This is intended to spark a discussion on adding to our list. Please feel free to comment on the list and add your valuable insight. Or email me your thoughts via the contact tab at the top of my blog.

Follow me on Twitter for the latest on our journey to self-reliance, preparedness, and resilient living: @SurvivalSherpa

Related articles

• Time To Plan For The Worst Rather Than Hope For The Best (personalliberty.com)

How Chronic Couch Preppers Can Look Good Naked Again

by Todd Walker

Do you hate mirrors!

In the not so distant past, mirrors were my arch-enemy. I’d talk myself into believing that the shirt hid my love handles. The Dirt Road Girl must have used a shrinking agent in the laundry. Wait a minute! That doesn’t explain my leather belt shrinking. Hum. What’s up with that?!

I had become a chronic couch prepper. I was carrying 50 more pounds than my once athletic frame was intended to haul. In my delusional mind, I figured on summoning super-hero strength if the time came for me to hump my 40 pound bug-out-bag plus an extra 50 pounds of self-indulgent body fat. Pulling myself up by the bootstraps in a SHTF scenario or emergency situation has it’s time and place. What do I do when merely reaching for my boot straps is exhausting?

If you’ve followed my journey any length of time, you’ve heard me talk about my primal/paleo lifestyle. It’s not some fad diet. It’s a lifestyle of making choices and taking your health and fitness into your own hands. I can’t imagine that preparedness minded people would not embrace this lifestyle. Going into any emergency, natural or man-made, optimal health and fitness might give you the edge in survival. The people who depend on you can’t if you’re a chronic couch prepper.

If you stumbled upon this site and aren’t into preparedness, self-reliance, and resilience, but are looking for a solution to the dieting dungeon and want to experience real long-term health and fitness, you’re in the right place.

The benefits of going primal

Since going primal in February 2010, I’ve lost the aching joints, irritated bowel, sugar cravings, and 50 pounds. I’ve gained confidence in my physical abilities, muscle mass, increased energy levels, new appreciation for play, and a lifestyle of healthy living. An added bonus is I look good naked again – according to Dirt Road Girl Vanity? Not really. It just goes with the territory of a primal lifestyle.

Do you have to follow the primal lifestyle to be physically fit? No. It’s the path I’ve followed and highly recommend for those who have tried ‘everything’.

Prisoner of the Pyramid

The real Zombie Food Pyramid is the USDA Food Pyramid

Nutrition is key to a healthy lifestyle. Following conventional wisdom on nutrition was a big fail for me and millions of Americans. I have two degrees in Health and Physical Education. In those six years, I was schooled to follow the conventional wisdom of eating mostly carbs mixed with a little fat and protein. Great plan if you value chronic health problems, fatigue, and dying. Following the misinformation put out by our benevolent government (corporate-driven USDA food pyramid) will only help you remain a chronic couch prepper. Why would they do that? Follow the money. I’ve chosen to abandon willful ignorance and take control of my own life. Self-reliance and preparedness starts within you.

RESET!

Flip the pyramid upside down and start over. Eat no grains, or grain based meals for one month. Hold on there pilgrim! All preppers know that storing grain in 5 gallon buckets is the way to survive TEOTWAWKI. Again, think like a hunter/gatherer. Destroy the old conventional paradigm. I know this will offend and even anger traditional/conventional preparedness folks. I’m no expert on nutrition, I just know what worked for me. All I’m asking is that you take the challenge for one month. Break free from the conventional wisdom and give it a chance.

The Caveman’s Gym

What would Grok do? Short and intense is better than long and grueling. I’ve had friends join me on my work outs. They are very simple and minimalist. No gym membership, long hours, expensive equipment, or boring stuff. Here’s some of the ‘gym’ equipment I use.

• My body weight for pull ups, push ups, lunges, and squats.
• Rocks for throwing and lifting.
• Fallen trees, broken into manageable pieces, are used for weighted squats and balance.
• Sledge hammer swung at old tires. I also do Shovelglove. Never heard of it. Click here to check it out. Splitting wood with a sledgehammer, wedge, and axe are great full body movement creating functional fitness.
• Don’t discount children and grandchildren. I hoist my grandson on my shoulders (40 pounds) every time he comes over and we do our walk. Well, he rides and giggles. I walk.
• 7 gallon water containers. Grab two that are full to perform killer lunge sets. I don’t do many with that weight. Work up to heavier weight with two gallon jugs of water or other object with a handle.
• Sprint as fast as you can every 7 to 10 days. This is all out effort whether you bike, run, or swim. My sprint sessions only last about 10 minutes. Long slow distance only leads to stress related injuries (chronic cardio)…especially in shoes.
• Tree climbing. I’m not talking about with a deer climbing stand either. Get over your domesticated workout and go wild!
• Here’s another wild workout I posted that you may find helpful.

Functional fitness for SHTF

Specialization is for insects. “Time to go to the gym,” my buddy moaned. He can bench press 400 pounds but can barely squeak out a pull up. In any survival situation, versatility will be the key to not becoming room temperature. If he and I were hiking and had to climb a tree to escape a charging wild boar, he might be out of luck. Ever watch a dog ‘exercising’ outside? He doesn’t run in a boring circles. He mixes it up with jumping, sprinting, sparing, playing, with an occasional stop to pee on bushes. Animals move without monotony. Movement is survival.

Wild animals depend on their ability to move to survive. The odds of us having to sprint to the nearest tree to outrun a wild beast is small. WTSHTF it’s the two-legged predators I’m worried about. Knowing we could escape a dangerous encounter is rewarding. More practically, could I carry my wife or children to safety if called upon? Our fitness level should be well-rounded. We’ve got to be strong to be useful.

Here are a few resources I recommend to get you into the wild and moving naturally.

1) The 13 MovNat Movement Skills© (Check out this site for natural movement)

If you’re wondering what moving naturally means for human beings, think of human species-specific movement aptitudes. Visualize how the human animal would move in nature for his survival – that is natural human movement.

‘Aren’t there more natural ways to move naturally than just running?’

Human beings possess locomotive skills such as 1) walking, 2) running, 3) jumping, 4) balancing, 5) crawling, 6) climbing, or 7) swimming.

In addition to locomotive skills, human beings also utilize manipulative skills such as 8) lifting, 9) carrying, 10) throwing, and 11) catching, and 12) throwing and combative skills, such as 13) striking or grappling.

2) Mark’s Daily Apple. Reprogram your genes for effortless weight-loss, vibrant health and boundless energy.

3) The Paleo Solution. Revolutionary solutions to modern life.

4) Free The Animal. Richard Nikoley’s quest to live a primal/paleo lifestyle.

If you’re sick and tired of being sick and tired when it comes to your workout, give these suggestions a try.

You’re turn. What’s been your exercise regiment? – I hate that word. It’s so hard to keep up with a regiment. Share your wild functional workout with us.

NOTE: A recent email conversation with Daisy Luther got us both thinking about the importance of fitness and health for survival. Over the next few weeks I’ll be putting together a more detailed series on functional fitness, healthy living, and unconventional advice for those following a preparedness and self-sustainable lifestyle.

Got anything in particular that you’d like to hear discussed?

Related articles

• Doing Push-ups for Preparedness (survivalsherpa.wordpress.com)
• The Paleo Solution For Preppers (survivalsherpa.wordpress.com)
• Survival Fitness: Walk the Walk (dprogram.net)

 

Doing Push-ups for Preparedness

I do a lot of push-ups every day. Why? I don’t need fancy equipment, gym shorts, or a gym membership. Al Kavadlo does an excellent job with his guest post over at Mark’s Daily Apple explaining this perfect primal (and prepper) exercise. Can’t do a regular push-up? No worries. Take it step by step and gradually build up to massive amounts of this functional fitness exercise.

Push-ups: The Perfect Primal Exercise

This is a guest post from Al Kavadlo of AlKavadlo.com.

Push-ups are one of the oldest and most widely known strength exercises on Earth. They’ve been a staple in military fitness, martial arts and just about every other type of exercise program that’s ever existed. Anyone who has even the slightest interest in working out has probably tried to do a push-up at least once in their life.

Funny thing is, amongst many modern fitness enthusiasts, the push-up is often overlooked due to its simplicity. A lot of people are under the misconception that something so basic couldn’t possibly be the best overall upper-body exercise out there. Even members of the primal community who know better than to buy into mainstream hype are often skeptical of my claim that the humble push-up is nature’s perfect exercise.

I hope you’re at least willing to hear me out.

 

Perfect Push-up

Push-ups are as close to a perfect exercise as you can get. They work your entire upper-body (including your abs), and can be modified in an infinite number of ways to suit any fitness level. Push-ups emphasize the chest, shoulders and triceps but every muscle in the body has to do its part for a proper push-up to take place. Your lats, traps and abs must stabilize your pushing muscles, while your lower back, legs and glutes need to stay engaged to keep your hips from sagging or piking up too high. Like many calisthenics exercises, push-ups teach your muscles to work in harmony with one another.

But my favorite thing about push-ups is that they don’t require anything more than a floor, so you can do them anywhere. And as I always say, If you don’t have a floor, you’ve got much bigger problems!

Wall Push-up

Everyone knows strength training is great for your muscles, but a lot of people don’t realize that working out also does a lot for your bones, tendons and other connective tissue. It’s true though; strength training makes the entire body strong. It’s obvious when you really think about it – your connective tissue needs to be strong to support those muscles! Sometimes people are so concerned with aesthetic goals that they overlook the changes that can’t visibly be seen.

If you have bad shoulders, wrists or elbows, in time your joints can be restored with lower intensity variants like the wall push-up. The body can only be as strong as its weakest link, and connective tissue tends to be slower to adapt than muscle. A novice or an injured person should start with the wall push-up, working to 20 and eventually 50 consecutive reps in each set before moving on. To perform this variant, simply lean against a wall with your toes a few feet away and do the push-up movement from this semi-upright position.

Read the rest here

 

Freedom Outlaw and Hoarder of Light Bulbs

I first discovered Karen De Coster in February 2010. She’s a frequent contributor at LewRockwell.com and is solely responsible for ‘ruining’ my life by turning me on to the Primal lifestyle. Here’s a piece, shared with her permission, in the category of the-government-knows-what’s-best-for-you. Also a great picture of her shooting a BAR!

Keep doing the stuff,

Todd

______________________________________

Gawker Media Piece On Me

by Karen De Coster

Sunday, September 23, 2012

This article from Gawker media, which is centered on my opinions and writings about the incandescent light bulb banishment, appeared on Gizmodo on Thursday, September 20, 2012, complete with compare-and-contrast photos. Gizmodo is one of many weblogs of the parent company, Gawker media. I took no issue with doing the interview with this particular website on why the government’s ban on incandescent light bulbs is totalitarian, even though I had a gut feeling – very early on – that the author and/or editor would attempt to slam dunk me. And the author indeed attempted to do this, and only lightly so, but the straw man argument was not very successful.

In fact, the author and story editor had googled me and they came across what they thought to be an interesting pro-gun photo of me that was in contrast to the photo – me with some light bulbs – that I had supplied to them. I had no problem with them running the other photo, knowing that the slam dunk and photo reveal on their part would actually backfire very much in my favor.

First of all – to correct a few items from the article: the shorts I am wearing are not “daisy dukes,” as several observant folks pointed out on my Facebook page. They are 1970s-style, cut-off Levi shorts. Big difference. Additionally, the rifle I am holding is a BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle), not an “assault rifle.” My friend who owns the rifle notes that the BAR would not be considered an assault rifle because it fires a full-size .30-06 cartridge. The “assault rifle” designation, which is always used as a pejorative remark, is merely an old ploy to paint one as a lunatic who is doing something that is in opposition to the uninformed opinions of the compliant masses (gasp!) that prefer following the sheep over the cliff in order to be good little citizens of the state. Since my blog clearly sates, “eccentric in demeanor and opinion,” one can expect that I may have a hobby or two, along with a thought or two, which are not approved by the masses who worship the purveyors of conventional wisdom from their dutiful fiefdoms.

Also, I am not an “unofficial leader” of any movement to hoard incandescent light bulbs. I am a lone writer, with almost no “official” associations, who has stood as an independent writer/blogger/researcher for fourteen years. I write what I see, and that includes both research and facts, and my ensuing opinions and/or conclusions are presented in various formats – serious, critical, humorous, and/or satire.

Read the rest here

Karen De Coster, CPA is an accounting professional in Detroit, MI. She is a writer of libertarian stuff, Primal/Paleo lifestyle, food freedom, Austrian economics, destroyer of conventional wisdom, and is resisting tyranny one word at a time. She has archives at LewRockwell.com and Mises.org. Check her blog out here. You can also follow her on Twitter @karendecoster.

 

The Wheat-Free Prepping Paradigm: Life After Bread

“Few things are more irritating than when someone who is wrong is also very effective in making his point.”

- Mark Twain

Can you survive TEOTWAWKI without a basement full of 5 gallon food-grade buckets of wheat? Conventional prepper wisdom frowns upon me bashing the grains. So, let the gnashing of teeth begin.

I fully understand the appeal of storing grains in the preparedness community. Grains offer a long storage life, cheap calories, and are widely used on America’s dinner table regardless of the negative nutritional effects. In a SHTF world, eating wheat is better than slowly starving to death. I get it.

I also get how we’ve been lied to.

We are all familiar with the USDA Food Pyramid. It’s been plastered in Health books and institutional green walls for decades. You may not be able to quote it, but the grain based diet it promotes for healthy living is not fit for human consumption. Some animals are meant to eat the pyramid’s foundational food. We (homo sapiens) are not one of them. You don’t have to look far to see the disastrous effects of eating the American way.

Mrs. Obama, in her infinite health wisdom, destroyed the 1992 food pyramid and replaced it with the Food Plate guide. Lipstick on a pig won’t change the farm animal’s behavior. The new plate leaves essential fats off. Follow the USDA recommendations and you’ll find the fat in pockets of cellulite all over your body. Turn the government’s eating advice on it’s head to find food freedom.

Life after bread

The faithful few that have read my rantings about going primal understand my 180 mind-set. Over two years ago, my life was transformed in just under three months. No more IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), aching joints, bloated stomach, or excess body weight. My blood pressure normalized. Midlife for me is so non-typical-American-midlife. Stress is low. I learned to play again. I’m not addicted to chronic-cardio. I exercise smarter. I don’t train in the gym 6 days a week (conventional wisdom says eat less, exercise more). I feel functionally fit. When I’m hungry, I eat. Giving up grains was my first step towards taking my health into my own hands.

I’m I advising you do the same? No. I’m speaking from my personal experience on what worked for me. Research based information confirms what I and many others have discovered since life after bread. It’s a huge prepping paradigm shift. If you’ve made it this far, please don’t stop reading.

Take a look at the science

In an CBS interview, ”Modern wheat a ‘perfect, chronic poison,’ doctor say“, Dr. William Davis lays the smack down on wheat.

Some health resources, such as the Mayo Clinic, advocate a more balanced diet that does include wheat. But Davis said on “CTM” they’re just offering a poor alternative.

“All that literature says is to replace something bad, white enriched products with something less bad, whole grains, and there’s an apparent health benefit – ‘Let’s eat a whole bunch of less bad things.’ So I take…unfiltered cigarettes and replace with Salem filtered cigarettes, you should smoke the Salems. That’s the logic of nutrition, it’s a deeply flawed logic. What if I take it to the next level, and we say, ‘Let’s eliminate all grains,’ what happens then?

“That’s when you see, not improvements in health, that’s when you see transformations in health.”

Mark Sisson, the godfather of primal living, offers ongoing researched based articles (somehow he makes research fun to read) on the dangers of grains. His site, Mark’s Daily Apple, would be a great place to start for anyone searching for answers, ideas, and support on reaching optimal health. Below are a few links to get you started:

• Why Grains Are Unhealthy
• Top 8 Most Common Reactions to Your Grain-Free Diet
• From The Definitive Guide to Grains  “The point of the Primal Blueprint is this: When you understand the metabolic effects of eating grains, you’re empowered to make informed decisions about the role grains will have in your diet. You’re free to enjoy good health and self-selected compromises with a clear conscience and full epicurean gusto!”

Amber waves of pain

If you give up grains, what in the world will you do for long-term storage options? Glad you asked. That’s the topic of an upcoming post. Ideas and suggestions are always welcome.

Doing the stuff,

SS

 

SHTF Functional Fitness: 4 Unconventional Prepper Workouts

I’ve read lots about the little that is written about functional fitness when the SHTF. The image of svelte bodies in wet t-shirt contests on spring break clouds the mind. Snap out of it. TEOTWAWKI is here! The only wet t-shirts you’ll see after a collapse scenario will be sweat-soaked. I personally am not looking forward to the site or smells emanating from Uncle Joe’s overalls while splitting firewood. The bonus of overalls is it saves us the disgusting site of his plumber’s crack.

I’ve written before about my fitness philosophy. Looking good naked may be a fine goal now, but will it help you survive? Life after TSHTF will be, shall we say, challenging. I know a man down the street in his early 80′s that can work circles around me in the garden. Yes, there’s a bit of shame in that for me. This got me to thinking about my functional fitness plan. First question: Is it functional? Duh! Will my weekly pull-ups, push ups, squats, and sprints really make me useful to my family when it really counts?

For instance, I’ve dabbled in blacksmithing. I’m not good at it. The first time my farrier friend taught me to make a simple wall hook, the simple motion of swinging the hammer made my forearm swell to painful Popeye proportions. I swing a carpenters hammer on side jobs all the time. The hammer-on-anvil swing is different, but transferable. So, will your present level of fitness be transferable in post-SHTF? If you’ve got a nagging in your gut that you’ll be toast, you may want to try these functional workouts.

Legal disclaimer stuff: If you’re starting any exercise program, consult your physician first. There’s the legal advise. This is not intended to be professional advice. It’s simply exercises that I do. Your mileage may vary. If you do stupid stuff, bad things will happen.

Build your own SHTF gym!

A.) Taken to the Woodshed

Obviously, the best way to build strength and functional fitness is doing SHTF stuff. Here’s your first workout. Grab an axe, splitting wedge, and sledgehammer and destroy that pile of round wood stacked behind your house. Don’t have any wood? Someone in your neighborhood probably does and would love to have it split and stacked. You’ll be rendering random acts of kindness while earning a reputation at the rotary club as that crazed-wood-splitter.

Photo credit: http://www.pickardfarm.com/firewood-ma.html

Don’t want that label in the community? Simulate it in the privacy of your own backyard with one tool, a sledgehammer. Check it out here. I use a ten pound hammer. DRG uses a six-pounder. After a month of swinging the hammer, you’ll be in lumberjack shape.

B.) Haul Water

Water: It’s not just for drinking

Nerd Alert: What is the density of water in pounds per gallon? 8.328676 lb/gal. Being the frugal prepper (cheap is more like it) that I am, I bought these two 7 gallon water jugs at a yard sale for two bucks. Reeking with redundancy, I do walking lunges with these puppies in my back yard. That’s 58.31 pounds in each hand if I measured correctly. Don’t try this at home kids!

Here’s how to haul water like your great grand parents… with proper form of course. If you’ve never done lunges, start out with your body weight only and work up to weighted lunges. Too heavy and your asking for injury.

Starting position: Arms hanging by your sides, feet shoulder width apart, back straight, chest out, core (abs) tight.

Next: Step forward a few feet. As your foot lands, bend your extended leg so that your front heel is below your knee. DO NOT allow your knee to pass beyond your toes during lunges. Your back knee should be about an inch or so off the ground with the heel of the back foot pointed to the sky if performed correctly. From this bottom position, lift your body up to standing position and repeat with the other leg. Your entire lower body will beg for mercy after a set of these.

While you won’t be doing lunges to tote water from the creek or pond, this functional movement will certainly make daily life after a crisis much easier. Whatever your goal, lunges will help build a balanced and stable foundation.

Recommended lunge link:

Walking lunges

C.) Sandbagging

There are so many prepping uses for the sandbag. From flood control to hardening areas of your retreat for ballistic protection. Even if you’re not worried about either of these potential emergencies, repeatedly lifting dead weight bags (livestock feed, rice, beans, etc.) takes functional strength. Could you fireman carry a loved one out of a burning house? For the hunter/gatherer types, can you sling your field dressed carcass over your shoulders and hump it back to camp? Remember, your mechanical advantage disappears WTSHTF. Your four-wheeler is yard art by now.

Photo credit: airsoftforum.com

Here’s how the humble sandbag can help.

Start: If you don’t have sandbags, I’ve seen them at home improvement centers cheap. If your cheap like me, use any bag that is durable enough to hold sand. Use sand or small pea gravel to fill the bags. Get creative.

Once you have several filled, you’ll need a larger bag to hold the smaller sand bags. I’ve seen army duffel bags and sports bags modified for the workout. Again, start out with a weight that you can comfortably handle with good form. You can always add more bags as your strength progresses. Do a search on the internet for ideas on sandbag workouts. I’ve posted a link of a short 3 minute video below.

Homemade Sandbag Training

D.) Homesteader Workout: Clearing the land

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sdonnell73/2492344000/

Don’t want to go through the trouble of sandbagging? Clear some land. You live in the city? So! You’ve got parks right? I’ve got a section of fallen tree in the local park that I shoulder for doing squats. I’m guessing it weighs about 100 pounds. If you’ve done squats with barbells and squat racks in the gym, the form is the same. However, balancing a piece of wood on your shoulders enlists muscles for balance that you don’t use in a controlled gym setting. I like to alternate the log to each shoulder between sets of squats. Then drag the log up a hill and carry it back down. You’ll be the land clearing queen/king at your retreat.

Don’t forget the rocks. I also throw basketball sized rocks in the same park. The great thing about rocks is that they stay where you leave them. I’ve had to replace my log several times. With rocks, I just keep a stack at the base of a pole with a bird feeder on top. It looks like they belong there.

Start: Grab a rock and lift it with your legs, not your back. Hold the rock chest high with both hands and press away from your body like a basketball pass. It’s not going very far. Run get it and repeat. After a few tosses at chest level, raise it over head, slightly bend your knees and press it up and out away from your body. Do I need to warn you about physics here? What goes up must come down. So, be sure to press the rock up and away from your body, not directly overhead. Throw it over the railing and into an imaginary horse-drawn wagon. Your clearing land post-SHTF. Try throwing for accuracy. Imagine crushing the head of predator ten feet away – caveman style. You’ll be ahead of the curve when all your guns are confiscated. Geez, I just had to get off topic.

Recommended link:

MovNat in a city park

MovNat in the woods

Post-SHTF will require functional fitness. Get started now. You’ll be ahead of the herd!

Doing the stuff,

SS

 

 

Chronic Couch Preppers Can Look Good Naked…Again

I use to hate mirrors!

They were my arch-enemy. I’d talk myself into believing that the shirt hid my love handles. The Dirt Road Girl must have used a shrinking agent in the laundry. Wait a minute! That doesn’t explain my leather belt shrinking. Hum. What’s up with that?!

I had become a chronic couch prepper. I was carrying 40 more pounds than my once athletic frame was intended to haul. In my delusional mind, I figured on summoning super-hero strength to carrying my 40 pound bug-out-bag plus an extra 40 pounds of self-indulgent fat. Pulling myself up by the bootstraps in a SHTF scenario or emergency situation has it’s time and place. What do I do when merely reaching for my boot straps is exhausting? Answer: Get primal.

If you’ve followed me any length of time, you’ve become familiar with the primal/paleo lifestyle. Stop. It’s not some fad diet. It’s a lifestyle of making choices and taking your health and fitness into your own hands. I can’t imagine that preparedness minded people would not embrace this lifestyle. Going into any emergency, natural or man-made, optimal health and fitness might give you the edge in survival. The people who depend on you can’t if you’re a chronic couch prepper.

The benefits of going primal

Since going primal in February 2010, I’ve lost the aching joints, irritated bowel, sugar cravings, and 50 pounds. I’ve gained confidence in my physical abilities, muscle mass, increased energy levels, new appreciation for play, and a lifestyle of healthy living. An added bonus is I look good naked again. Vanity? Not really. It just goes with the territory of a primal lifestyle.

Prisoner of the Pyramid

Don’t eat like a zombie

Nutrition is key to a healthy lifestyle. Following conventional wisdom on nutrition was a big fail for me and millions of Americans. I have two degrees in Health and Physical Education. In those six years, I was schooled to follow the conventional wisdom of eating mostly carbs mixed with a little fat and protein. Great plan if you value chronic health problems, fatigue, and dying. Following the misinformation put out by our benevolent government (USDA food pyramid) will only help you remain a chronic couch prepper. Why would they do that? Follow the money. I’ve chosen to abandon willful ignorance and take control of my own life. Self-reliance and preparedness starts within you.

RESET!

Flip the pyramid upside down and start over. Eat no grains, or grain based meals for one month. Whoa there pilgrim! All preppers know that storing grain in 5 gallon buckets is the way to survive TEOTWAWKI. Again, think like a hunter/gatherer. Destroy the old conventional paradigm. I know this will offend and even anger lots of traditional/conventional preparedness folks. I’m no expert on nutrition, I just know what worked for me. All I’m asking is that you take the challenge for one month. Break free from the conventional wisdom and give it a chance.

The Caveman’s Gym

What would Grok do? Short and intense is better than long and grueling. I’ve had friends join me on my work outs. They are very simple and minimalist. No gym membership, long hours, expensive equipment, or repetitive stuff. Here’s some of the ‘gym’ equipment I use.

• My body weight for pull ups, push ups, lunges, and squats.
• Rocks for throwing and lifting.
• Fallen trees, broken into manageable pieces, are used for weighted squats and balance.
• Sledge hammer swung at old tires. I also do Shovelglove. Never heard of it. Click here to check it out. Splitting wood with a sledgehammer, wedge, and axe are great full body movement creating functional fitness.
• Don’t discount children and grandchildren. I hoist my grandson on my shoulders (40 pounds) every time he comes over and we do our walk. Well, he rides and giggles. I walk.
• 7 gallon water containers. Grab two that are full to perform killer walk and lunge sets.
• Sprint as fast as you can every 7 to 10 days. This is all out effort whether you bike, run, or swim. Long slow distance only leads to stress related injuries (chronic cardio)…especially in shoes.
• Tree climbing. I’m not talking about with a deer climbing stand either. Get over your domesticated workout and go wild!

Functional fitness for SHTF

Specialization is for insects. “Time to go to the gym,” my buddy moaned. He can bench press 400 pounds but can barely squeak out a pull up. In any survival situation, versatility will be the key to not becoming room temperature. If he and I were hiking and had to climb a tree to escape a charging wild boar, he might be out of luck. Ever watch a dog ‘exercising’ outside? He doesn’t run in a boring circles. He mixes it up with jumping, sprinting, sparing, playing, with an occasional stop to piss on bushes. He’s able to do many movements well.

Wild animals depend on their ability to move to survive. The odds of us having to sprint to the nearest tree to outrun a wild beast is small. WTSHTF it’s the two-legged predators I’m worried about. Knowing we could escape a dangerous encounter is rewarding. More practically, could I carry my wife or children to safety if called upon? Our fitness level should be well-rounded. We’ve got to be strong to be useful.

Here are a few resources I recommend for your primal journey.

1) The 13 MovNat Movement Skills© (Check out this site for natural movement)

If you’re wondering what moving naturally means for human beings, think of human species-specific movement aptitudes. Visualize how the human animal would move in nature for his survival – that is natural human movement.

‘Aren’t there more natural ways to move naturally than just running?’

Human beings possess locomotive skills such as 1) walking, 2) running, 3) jumping, 4) balancing, 5) crawling, 6) climbing, or 7) swimming.

In addition to locomotive skills, human beings also utilize manipulative skills such as 8 lifting, 9) carrying, 10) throwing, and 11) catching, and 12) throwing and combative skills, such as 13) striking or grappling.

2) Mark’s Daily Apple. Reprogram your genes for effortless weight-loss, vibrant health and boundless energy.

This is Mark Sisson’s site with resources on all things primal. He is the author of The Primal Blueprint.

3) The Paleo Solution. Revolutionary solutions to modern life.

4) Free The Animal. Richard Nikoley’s quest to live a primal/paleo lifestyle.

If you accept the 30 day challenge, please update your progress here. I’d love to hear from you!

Doing the stuff,

SS

Chia Seeds: A Tiny Powerhouse for Sustainability

I first discovered Chia seeds by reading “Born To Run” by Christopher McDougall. In this page-turner, McDougall describes a power-boosting concoction made with Chia seeds used by the Tarahumara, arguably the greatest runners in the world. Even if you’re not into distance running, I think you’ll enjoy the read.

Like Tess, I’d only ever know the seed to grow out of a Chia pet. I eat them all the time now. They are well worth finding, eating, and storing.

Read the full story below.

Tess Pennington
Ready Nutrition
April 2012

It’s hard to think about the Chia seed without getting a mental image of a Chia pet.  I always imagine the crazy looking clay sheep with wild greenery sprouting out all over it that used to sit in my college dorm windowsill.

In all actuality, the Chia seed is much more than part of a novelty planter though – it is a tiny little powerhouse that can add a lot of benefits to your long-term food storage while only taking up a small amount of space. The word “Chia” is actually the Mayan word for strength. In ancient cultures, they are considered the food of the warrior because of their nutrient density and ability to sustain running messengers for long durations without other food. 

Adding a serving of the nearly tasteless seeds to a meal can more than double the nutrition you receive! Chia seeds contain boron and Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids. They are also nutritional dynamos that blow away many other sources of nutrients.  They contain:

• 2x the protein of other seeds
• 5x the calcium of milk
• 2x the potassium of bananas
• 3x the antioxidants of blueberries
• 3x the iron of spinach

In addition, Chia seeds absorb 9-12 times their weight in water, thus helping you stay hydrated longer.

The Chia plant is part of the salvia family, but the seeds are very bland and nearly tasteless. The versatility of these are also a plus when you add them to your recipes. You can use Chia seeds either wet or dry.

To use them wet:

Soak one part seeds in nine parts water for 15 minutes.  The result will be a tasteless gel that can be added to soups, sauces, salad dressings or stews for a savory meal, or to smoothies, puddings or yogurt for dessert. Another method, is to add either ½ – 1tbls of chia seeds to your water bottle and drink throughout the day.

To use them dry:

Dry Chia seeds can be sprinkled on top of granola, yogurt or a salad for a bit of crunch.  Some people grind the seeds into a powder and add this to baked goods for a punch of protein and vital nutrients.

Chia seeds have another perk that makes them an ultimate survivor food.  Because of the insoluble fiber and the gel-like consistency that occurs when the seeds get wet, they provide a long-lasting feeling of fullness.  In a disaster situation where food may be limited, these little seeds can go a long way towards extended your supplies.  Your family will be able to eat a little less without feeling deprived because they’ll have full tummies from the seeds that you’ve added to the meal they just enjoyed!

Chia seeds can also be sprouted to add some welcome fresh greens to winter meals. The sprouts will be ready to harvest in only three days, making this a very speedy, low effort way to get some fresh veggies when the produce section of the grocery store is inaccessible.  For complete instructions on sprouting Chia seeds, click here.

Like everything else in a survival pantry, it’s best to do some experimenting when each meal is not urgently needed.  You may find that these easy-to-use seeds are a welcome and nutritious addition to your everyday meals!

Sources:

The Chia Food Cheat Sheet

Top 10 Benefits of Chia Seeds

MySeeds Chia articles

You can order Chia seeds from…..

Amazon

My Chia Seeds

Superseeds (in Canada)

Author: Tess Pennington
Web Site: http://www.ReadyNutrition.com/
Date: April 19th, 2012

5 Ways To Avoid Being A Darwin Award Winner

I’ve been an honorable mention candidate for a “Darwin Award” numerous times. I’ve done stupid stuff. At one point I was 50 pounds overweight and a miserable specimen for survival. My feet hurt. Who could blame them. They had to slowly toot 220 pounds – 50 more than the manufacturer’s recommended weight load. I had fallen from fitness grace! While being that overweight is not healthy, it’ll be deadly in a survival situation. And this year’s Darwin Award goes to…. [Don't insert your name here!].

Years of stupid caught up with me. I was an average athlete in high school and college. Growing up active, I never thought I’d allow this to happen to me. I still remember talking to a seasoned counselor at the summer camp I worked at during college. This wiser, older counselor (mid 30′s – it’s all relative, right?) who had “built a shed over his tools” with 30 extras pounds spoke the ‘truth’ about growing older. He himself had been where I was, young, fit and full of life. “Wait ’til you get a mortgage and kids. You’ll look like me.” Why I remember this so many years later is that his perception and ‘truth’ had become mine. Only I had added 50 lbs. instead of 30.

When I discovered “The Primal Blueprint” by Mark Sission, my lifestyle did a 180. The purpose of this post is not to dissect his book or bash fat people. If your interested, you’ll check it out. It’s your life. I just know it worked for me. One of the Mark’s rules for primal living is to avoid doing stupid stuff. Here are five amazingly simple steps to keep your name off the Darwin Award Winner list.

A) Avoid doing stupid stuff

Some of the advice I read in the PrepperSphere only reinforces my theory of species-wide extinction. Note: I don’t claim to be an expert on anything. Read my writing at your own risk. My goal is to prove what works for me, and maybe you’ll try it. Or not. Now, onto more stupid stuff.

A really stupid idea I see promoted is the Bug-Out-Bag strategy. Hey, wait a minute! Don’t you have a BOB. Yes I do. Doesn’t that make you a hypocrite? No. Here’s why. I can carry mine. It’s not loaded with the latest mall-ninja throwing death stars. For the I’m-gonna-grab-my-BOB-and-live-off-the-land types who’s longest ‘run’ was to the Frigidaire, extinction awaits. If you’re last push-up consisted of pushing a frozen treat on a stick out of a sleeve, you should rethink your lifestyle (re-read the third paragraph). Your bug-out plan may be doomed. You’d do better sheltering in place and take your chances against the hungry hoards.

Again, I’m not hating on the plump preppers among us. Just trying introducing some common sense. The place to pick up free hiking gear is about two miles in on the AT. That’s where you’ll find the offloading zone. Either hikers packed unnecessary items (added weight), or were in poor physical shape and lightened the load to survive the next hill.

If you’re not a Sherpa, don’t try this!

Our retreat is a two-hour drive under rule of law conditions. When the brown stuff hits the fan, two hours could turn into two days or weeks. To make it there with family intact, there’s the possibility we’d have to hump the 95 miles – with packs – under crazy circumstances. The most desirable plan would be to physically live at your retreat location. If “ifs” and “buts” were candy and nuts…

B) Become A Producer. If you know how to make stuff, then Less Is More. This is 180 thinking. All the food, water, ammo, and medical supplies will eventually disappear from your basement bunker. I advocate stocking up on all these items in the good times. Put all the hay in the barn while it’s still daylight. But what happens when you run out? and you will run out in a prolonged spell of TEOTWASKI.

Wouldn’t it be smart to learn as many sustainable skills as possible. Wouldn’t you be popular among your smelly survivor groupies at your hide y-hole if you had the know-how and ability to make soap from scratch. Saponification anyone? You can only store so much soap, toothpaste, toilet paper, beans, bullets, and band-aids. Eventually someone will have to produce some stuff to consume. Hygiene products in long-term grid-down situations will be huge. Produce soap or barter with those who do.

Two of the oldest chemical companies got their start making soap. William Colgate (1806) and William Proctor and James Gamble (1837) kicked off their careers being producers. They made stuff – soap and candles. We’re still using their products today. Be a producer.

C) Don’t Panic. Loose your head = loose of life. Common sense is usually the first thing to collapse. While I’m not an expert in all things survival and preparedness, I try not to hit the panic button too often.

Get your hand off that!

The other day the wife and I were canning dilly beans. Ingredients ready. Jars, lids, and bands – check. Then I freaked out. I didn’t remember how much water to put in the new All American Pressure Canner. For those expert canners snickering right now… Stop it! Seems like a small thing, but I panicked. I rumbled through drawers and finally found the guidebook. I was reading the first half and told my wife to scan the back part – all at the same time! In hindsight, it was comical to see us scrambling. I was afraid I’d blow up the cooker with wrong water level.

Lesson: Know all the steps before the heat is turned up…and don’t panic. We made it through the process and learned from failure. Which brings us to my next point.

D) Fail Forward. My panic above taught me valuable lessons. My life has taught me to embrace failure. Trial and error is how we learn, discover, and invent. It’s never too late to learn new skills. The hardest hurdle is the fear of failure. At age 80, Moses lead his people out of slavery. Thomas Edison didn’t invent a filament for his light bulb on the first try. It’s highly likely, no – insured, that we will fail. Our attitude about failure determines which way we fall. Attitude determines altitude (sorry, a throwback from my coaching days).

My wife’s doctors have given her a 15% chance of beating cancer. Stupid odds. What do you do with news like that? We’re failing forward. With every setback, we regroup, re-think, and move one step towards our goal. It’s crazy scary. She’s a lover of life. She inspires me daily. She fails forward.

Failure when things are “normal” is just a bump in the road. In a survival situation, it becomes a mountain. Learn while it’s “normal” and life is good.

E) Grease The Groove of Preparedness. Prepping is a lifestyle. I guess some view it as a hobby. That’s how I started. It’s was a hobby. Then it became a lifestyle. How can we turn prepping into an effortless lifestyle? Grease the groove.

I first heard “grease the groove” when I started living a primal lifestyle. The idea comes from the world of exercise. It’s a process of progressing, step by step, to reach a given goal. Example: Two years and 50 pounds ago I could not do a single pull up. I installed a pull up bar in my shop and vowed to attempt a pull up every time I entered – which was several times a day. Even at work, I’d find a ledge or object from which to hang. I finally progressed to one pull up. It became a fun challenge to see how many places I could grease the groove.

How does this apply to prepping? When I walk into stores (especially thrift stores and yard sales) now, I look at items differently. How can I use this item in my preps? Does it have multiple uses? How many ways can I use that bandana in a survival situation? Would that cigar sleeve serve me in my BOB? Can I operate my sidearm in the dark? I can if I grease the groove.

Mentally and physically rehearse and practice until muscle memory takes over. I can start a fire with several methods. But if my hands are freezing in the rain/sleet, I might panic if I haven’t greased the groove. Hypothermia kills. Reminds me of the scene in “Jeremiah Johnson” when he found the 50 cal. in the frozen hands of the old mountain man.

Grease the groove to avoid a Darwin Award my friends.

Start early, practice often

Thoughts?

 

 

Be Strong To Be Useful

I embrace the label “prepper”. The movement has gone mainstream over the past few years. What movement? The awakening of everyday people realizing that Uncle Sugar is not the answer in troubled times. Preppers take their preparedness into their own hands. Here’s the Survival Sherpa’s Guide to get started on your climb to preparedness.

Prepping is a journey, not a destination

My lovely wife, bless her heart (that’s right y’all – I’m southern), understands and supports this fact. Over the last two years I’ve added these skills to my toolbox (she just smiles and encourages me – and helps): soap making, blacksmithing, home brewing, water collection, medicinal plants and herbs, CPR training, barefoot running (strengthens the foot and ankles), backpacking/camping, and now, blogging (not a great skill after TEOTWAWKI ).  There never seems to be enough stuff, knowledge, or preps. I’ve never watched “Doomsday Preppers” by National Geographic highlighting the growing population of preparedness minded individuals in our country. It’s past my bedtime when it airs. The little I know from reading, the show seems to promote preppers as crazed, gun-totting fanatics. I love my guns, but I don’t watch sensationalized crap on TV. My advise to newbie preppers is to “keep it real” as my students say. Below you’ll find 7 tips to get your journey started. Starting is the hardest part.

Specialization is for insects

Five years ago I stumbled upon SurvivalBlog.com and realized that I was a prepper. Thanks to Mom and Dad, I was a prepper before prepping was cool. They taught me how to be self-reliant, an independent thinker, and a serial multi-tasker.

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.” — Robert A. Heinlein

My parents went through tough times growing up and passed on their experiences and knowledge to me and my siblings. The ability to think and apply knowledge is the key to surviving our uncertain times ahead. Whether it’s a financial collapse or natural disaster your best human survival skill is the ability to think. The last thing you want is to be the recipient of a Darwin Award in an emergency/SHTF situation. Stupidity will thin the herd – as nature intended.

If you haven’t noticed our predicament, you are not paying attention or watching too much mainstream media. Here’s what I see. A financial collapse is coming. It’s inevitable. Don’t believe me. Read some history. There is no way to print our way out of this enormous hole of debt. Read some Rothbard and Mises to get enlightened.

Two years ago, our family sat around a Thanksgiving table at the in-laws. My mother-in-law brought up and expressed her I-lived-through-the-great-depression opinion on a story she read in the local paper about our economy. In a nutshell, she knew the present levels of debt and fiat money printing will ruin us. “Our money is no longer backed by gold,” she rightly stated. She was scolded by a young 20 something nephew who was getting his MBA in Keynesian economics at our state university. The once pleasant conversation turned heated as he demanded that we believe our money is backed by gold and that our national debt was good for “leveraging”. “Where’s the gold?” she asked. His arrogant ignorance and his presence ended when he called her “un-American” for her beliefs. Debating is okay. Insulting his grandma-in-law opened a can of reality on this “educated” Keynesian. My lovely wife immediately threw out (I’m being nice here) this ungrateful, ignorant, schooled fool. He’s never apologized to my mother-in-law. Haven’t seen him in two years. If I ever see this poor propagandized soul again, I’ll introduce him to Mr. Mises and Austrian economics.

“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. …We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society. In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons…who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind.” – Edward Bernays, Propaganda, 1928

Wake up and smell the truth – and prepare accordingly

Fortunately, the internet makes your prepper education much easier than in previous generations. My position in government “education” gives me a front row view of the dulling down of common sense and critical thinking of the masses. Our ruling elites depend on our insane system of forced schooling to mass produce dullards who believe anything and question nothing.

On the phone yesterday with my daughter who graduates from college in May, we discussed her plans. Originally, she wanted to attend grad school. Now she’s not so sure. She is aware of the fact that student loan debt for higher education exceeds $1 trillion dollars. She’s not sure the money spent/owed is worth it. I told her to follow her gut. She’s so bright and has so much going for her, why go further in debt?

Albert Einstein described insanity as, “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Recovery is not going to happen. Collapse is coming. Prepare accordingly.

Here are a few of my go-to preparedness sites:

SurvivalBlog.com

SHTFPlan.com

The Survival Podcast

The Economic Collapse Blog

Backwoods Home Magazine

The Survival Mom

Survival Jane

Willow Haven Outdoor

Project Appleseed

Knowledge and skills trump gadgets and tools

We perform what we practice. Gadgets and tools aren’t very useful unless you acquire skills to use them. Example: Can you start a fire from scratch without a Bic lighter? How about sharpening bladed tools (axe, saws, knives)? For families with young kids, this makes for great outdoor family time. Unplug the TV and computer game. Take kids camping, hunting, fishing and hiking. Encourage play. Play is essential in learning. Make games of preparedness. Plant a garden. Get your hands dirty, literally. No backyard? Grow vegetables in containers and get creative. I ran out of room in my garden once and planted tomatoes and peppers in plastic storage containers on my back deck. They grew like kudzu.

Make a written plan for emergencies.

What if the kids are at school, mom and dad are at work, and society goes berserk? Is there a plan in place to get the family home safely? Our children are grown and out of the house. We still have a plan of action (written down) in case the S Hits The Fan.

Avoid information overload

How do you climb a mountain? One step at a time. Seems logical but many newbie preppers experience information overload and shut down. As in any new undertaking, a solid foundation is necessary. Fundamental preps should include: Water, food, shelter, and a way to protect yourself and family (self-defense). Focused energy and resources should be spent on securing these items. These doesn’t have to be expensive or elaborate. Rethink, reuse and recycle. There’s so much stuff that can be made useful in your preps. Yard sales, Craig’s List, and thrift stores are great at stretching your prepper budget. I’ve added many 100% wool sweaters to my cache from local thrift shops. I call this “Common Man Sense.” Budget for what’s important. Is that latte at Starbucks really that tasty?

Be redundant

Once you jump into prepping, take care of the fundamentals and build redundancy. Can I purify water with more than one method? Always have a plan B and C. Figure it out before you have to.

Get fit for SHTF- Be strong to be useful

I chuckle every time I read some survivalist’s comments on how he/she plans to survive TEOTWAWKI. The chuckle comes when I see their picture posted and wonder how they plan on humping a 60 pound backpack to their fully stocked retreat location on top of a mountain. I’m not cracking on their plan, just don’t see it happening when they are winded by climbing the three steps leading into their house. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not talking about what modern fitness experts tell us we are supposed to look like physically – beach ready with sculpted abs and tan bodies. I’m talking about functional fitness.

So, a plan has to be doable – physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Let’s address functional fitness for SHTF.

In a SHTF/TEOTWAWKI event our bodies will be shocked by physical demands. In my ex-coaching days, I never had my football players swing baseball bats during practice. That skill wasn’t very useful for optimal performance on the gridiron. Working out at the gym may offer some transfer in a collapse situation. However, in my experience, carrying buckets of water and swinging a sledgehammer to split firewood can’t be practice in most modern fitness centers.

Ditch conventional wisdom and grease the groove. What’s “grease the groove?” Whatever you want to improve (cardio, upper body, lower body, etc.), do it in intervals throughout the day. For instance, if you want to increase your pull-up repetitions, do a pull up each time you pass a pull up bar (or other structural equivalent). Swing a sledgehammer on an old tire or firewood pile if you have one to increase you upper body strength. I hit 20 to 30 push ups on my breaks at school. I no longer do cardio (long distances over 3 miles). Over the last two years, I started sprinting once a week. This triggers my fast twitch muscle fibers, build muscle mass, and burns fat. And it only takes a few minutes, where the long runs use to take close to an hour. Boring! Note: Disregard the silly stares you get when sprinting through your neighborhood or park barefooted. Be strong to be useful.

Here are some non-conventional resources on jumping, climbing, lifting heavy objects, playing, and natural movement:

Mark’s Daily Apple

MovNat

Robb Wolf: The Paleo Solution

What did I miss? Let me know.

Semper Vigilans,

SS