3999 OMG Reasons to Read This

A big hat tip to Survivalist Daily for this OMG find! If you want some information-overload (in a good sense), check out…

3999 Free Survival & Prepping Guides All In One Place

Here’s the original over at Pole Shift Survival Information.

If you haven’t already started to organize hard copies of value adding information, I highly recommend the investment. What will you do if your tablet or computer can’t be powered up to access all the info we take for granted today?

I dug out two 3-ring binders a few weeks ago at our cabin to bring home. I found articles 5 and 6 years old that I had squirreled away. We all forget stuff. That’s why creating an organized preparedness binder is so important.

Here’s a great tutorial by Jamie over at Prepared Housewives.

Keep doing the stuff,

Todd

P.S.

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The Vince Lombardi Guide to Becoming an All-Pro Prepper

by Todd Walker

“Gentlemen, this is a football.”

Vince Lombardi’s famous opening line to his new team each season seems like the most obvious “duh” statement of the century. Even the youngest rookie gets that it’s a football. I can’t speak for Coach Lombardi, but he was probably aiming his words more to his most seasoned, All-Pro players.

What’s this got to do with preparedness?

Imagine Lombardi standing in front of the prepper community at our first team meet up. He’d begin something like this:

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is water.”

Self-evident eyes begin to roll.

“Why is he wasting our time stating what 2 year-olds already know?”

“What a waste!”

The wise All-Pro preppers on our team quickly see his point. They’ve heard the speech many times. It bears repeating. It’s not lost on them as he leads us out of the air conditioned field house and onto our practice field. He points out the sidelines, goalposts, and the most important chalkline on the field – the goal line.

Thirty minutes in the July heat that’s hotter than fish grease, the message is driven home as he puts his canteen to his dry lips and says…

“We will practice fundamentals… DAILY!”

Practicing fundamentals is boring… but necessary

As an old football coach myself, we practiced the fundamentals and minutia of every stance, step, and play. My boys began dreading the daily drills in our “fundamental period.” I had to constantly coach players to pay attention to little details.

After the first game, win or lose, it clicks!

The defining “aha moment” happens when – the drills, the pain, the ideas, the boredom, the grueling practice -  changes the outcome of the game. The players make the connection between being skilled in the fundamentals and victory over determined opponents. At that moment, they view FUNdamentals differently.

I’m not saying they get giggly. But they see the value added to the team when they improve their individual fundamentals.

Coach Lombardi snaps his head and looks through his black-rimmed glasses and says,

“When you ply your trade of prepping, you’ve got to play from the ground up – from your feet to your head. There’s no second place in survival.”

Wise words. Here are four fundamental drills you should be practicing.

Drill #1: The Water Boy

Since water is heavy and hard to store in large quantities, plan on having several methods to make water potable. 

• Water filters like the Big Berkey are great for home and permanent locations.
• On the go, you’ll want a mobile filtration system. I happen to own MSR gear. Whatever you carry, make sure it’s the best quality you can afford.

 

 

 

L to R: MSR water filter, G.I. issue canteen with nesting cup, MSR bladder

•  Collect containers. Repurposing containers is a great way to stock your emergency water supply. Look for soda bottles, gallon jugs, and especially larger containers that are stackable. Learn more here.

Repurposing 4 one gallon jugs in a box for stacking and keeping light out.

Yard sale find: Cleaned with hot soapy water then refilled with tap water

Drill #2: Pre-game Meals 

 The fundamentals of food storage include:

• Store what you eat, eat what you store.
• Take it one step at a time. Buying extra items on grocery shopping trips can add up over time.
• Grow your own. Nows the time to grow your gardening skills. Don’t assume it’s easy if all you’ve ever grown is a Chia Pet. Even a small container garden on the patio adds resilience to your family.
• Buying from local producers strengthens your community and connects you with value-adding people.
• My food storage plan can be seen here.

Drill #3: Game Day Gear and Tools

A great defense is your best offense. Defense slows or stops the opponent and gives the offense great field position and scoring opportunities. 

• Handguns, rifles, shotguns, and ammo in common caliber to your location immediately come to mind. These are physical tools needed for defense, critter control, and harvesting meat. Don’t forget archery equipment for silent game harvesting. Also, consider tools for reloading ammunition.
• Practice the fundamentals of marksmanship on a regular basis. Know your tools and how to safely handle them.
• Acquire tools for your unique situation. I don’t own a snow shovel here in the deep south. The right tool can make or break a job.
• Be a DiYer. Here’s a strategy I use. When Dirt Road Girl wants a new project done, I have an opportunity to get  new tools As a matter of fact, I often give her hints about DiY  projects that might require me to grow my tool collection.
• Take care of you gear and tools.
• When you buy quality tools, you only have to buy them once.

Drill #4: The Field House (shelter)

Houses come in all shapes and sizes. Whether you live in an urban environment or rural homestead, your home is where life happens. Ideally, every home should build redundantly resilient resources in these areas:

• Energy. Have more than one method to produce heat. Wood burning stove, solar, propane, natural gas, etc. Is your plan sustainable?
• Enough storage and living space. Get creative here.
• Defensible. There are pros and cons to every location. Think about setting up a mutual defense plan for your neighborhood. That means you’ll have to actually meet your neighbors.
• Sustainable water supply.
• Plan B for shelter. When you see the glow of the wildfire on the next ridge, leaving your home may be your only option. Where will you go?

The Lombardi Trophy bears his name for a reason. Coach Lombardi drilled the importance of practicing the fundamentals of football in his players, coaches, and organization.

To be an All-Pro prepper, never neglect your bedrock fundamentals. You life, liberty, and happiness may depend on these essential skills soon.

Remember, there’s no second place in survival.

Keep doing the fundamentals,

Todd

Six Dangerous Miseducation Lessons You Should Unlearn Immediately

by Todd Walker

Schools teach many things. These dangerous lessons may not be explicitly taught, but they are definitely ’caught’ by every student – even parents. Good or bad depends which side of the desk you’re on.

As an insider, I’m giving you my top six most dangerous lessons that need to be destroyed before the coming chaos. Before sending me angry comments that this is just another teacher bash session, honestly explore the list with your school aged children or grandchildren at the dinner table. You may be convinced, if they’re allowed to talk freely. As I’ve said before many times, I work with some of the most dedicated, selfless, and knowledgable teachers who aren’t allowed to do the job they are passionate about – to teach.

Ready to be un-schooled? Warning: Unlearning these lessons carry a heavy price tag. But the freedom you discover is priceless.

A.) The Powers That Be knows what’s best for you. Questioning authority – or even worse – resisting TPTB will land you in the re-education compliance camp. Once labeled and drugged, your status and future path is set. Your child knows some of the system’s victims. Just ask.

B.) Learning only takes place in the classroom. Just ask TPTB. Students are taught inside the box. Some teachers encourage outside-the-box thinking. The problem with thinking outside the box is that students don’t have time to even explore the edges. Every minute of their day is planned and spoken for. Even after the last blaring dismissal bell screams, schooling follows them to their bedroom. Homework eats the remains of the day. Forget playing outside (some kids still do that, right?), stomping through mud to the creek to observe crawdads and tadpoles, or reading a book of her choosing for pleasure.

Discovery is replaced with memorizing facts from revisionist historians. We teachers correct ‘wrong thinking’. Constant correcting teaches the student to be dependent on us – the “experts”. Critical thinking dies.

C.) Going to college is your only hope of elevating your worth. TPTB plaster school walls with posters comparing different levels of ‘education’ with earning potential. Why all the one-size-fits-all college propaganda? Our rulers need more debt slaves.

Here’s my advice. If you’re in college now, drop out. If you’re 18, you probably have no idea what you want to do with your life. Don’t buy the lie that you’ll get left behind if you don’t go to college. College will not teach you real world skills. You learn that doing what interests you in the real world. College is pure theoretical. I’ve worked in different fields over my life and have found nothing beats the school of hard knocks. What I learned in college was that I had to perform to get a permission slip to teach kids. It’s a hoop I jumped through. Letters behind our names does NOT qualify us to teach your children.

Alternatives to college until you figure out what you want to do…

• Start a business. Become a producer.
• Travel. Save all your money – you’ve got a job, right – while living in your mom’s basement. Explore places you’ve always wanted to see. Pay attention to the local culture. Ask lots of questions. Take notes in your travel journal. Maybe even self-publish it.
• Volunteer. Not because someone says it’s the ‘right’ thing to do. Go help feed hungry people, build shelters, or work the local farmers market – for free. You’ve got low overhead living in your mom’s basement remember. This may not be your career path, but giving without expecting anything in return will expand your horizons, make you thankful, and even make connections for later life. It’s an antidote for self-absorbed navel-gazing.
• Self-educate. Take your education into your own hands. Figure it out. Teach yourself to play an instrument, write computer code, or draw.
• Work in a trade, find a skilled tradesman and become his/her apprentice. Contrary to what you’ve been told by your high school guidance counselor, you don’t start at the top – at least not in the real world.

D.) High Stakes Testing measures your future contributions to the collective. The dirty little secret about state standardized tests is that if your child ‘met the standard’ (passes a subject with a score of 800), little Susie only got 50% of the test questions right. And the parents breathe a sigh of relief and throw a pizza party for kids that score a 50. What kids learn is that vomiting facts and test taking skills are all answer-centered. Problem solving is not taught. It’s hard to when schooling institution’s accreditation (Federal and State money) is on the line. Right answers pay off for good students – the State gets especially giddy. Welcome to Answerland.

Kids in school seem to use a fairly consistent strategy…it is answer-centred rather than problem-centred…

– John Holt – from ‘How Children Fail‘

The ridiculous amount of energy, time, and money spent on High Stakes Testing has kids walking blindfolded into a train tunnel – with their parents cheering them on. These tests do not measure true value.

E.) We own you. Nothing about forced schooling teaches self-ownership. On the contrary, we (the State Collective) dictate what students need to learn, how to dress,  what to eat, when to talk, how to obey, how to think, and that you don’t own yourself. You have no right to privacy. We can search you and your possessions without cause anytime. You are under constant surveillance. Even that picture your first grader drew, or the app your high schooler created is fair game in one school district in Maryland. I’m sure this will be a catchy trend. The lesson: You belong to the State.

F.) Learning is separate from living. Some things in life should be dropped. Schooling is one of them. Compulsory schooling is a type of child abuse. Yes, I just went there. Every child that enters school at age 5 will have his or her creativity, curiosity, confidence, individualism, playfulness, independence, intuition, and self-reliance crushed under the school steamroller. It’s painful, but these poor lumps of clay have to be molded into what the State thinks they should be.

What passes for ‘education’ today promotes fear of making mistakes, fear of failing, constant pursuit of everybody-is-a-winner awards (Student of the Month bumper stickers and gold stars, for instance), and conforming to the collective. We group students according to age. They spend their most formative years never exposed to adults or other children outside their age bracket. They are now dependent on the one ‘expert’ standing in front of them to gain all the knowledge they need. Sure, we’ll invite an occasional guest into talk about their job in the real world. But that’s far enough. These commoners don’t possess the credentials to ‘teach’ kids – anything.

If you’re curious, here’s a list of people who quit being schooled and ended up doing something with their lives.

• William Faulkner – dropped out of high school
• Walt Disney – high school drop out
• Wilber and Orville Wright – never graduated. They tinkered with things.
• Richard Branson – Branson’s dyslexia caused him a great deal of trouble as a student, so when he was 16 he left school to go into business for himself.
• Thomas Edison – Dropped out of school to be taught at home – over 1,000 patents followed.
• Albert Einstein – Dropped out at age 15. He later went back to get a diploma so he could enter the university. He failed the entrance exam twice.
• Colonel Harland Sanders founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken dropped out of elementary school.

If you’ve attended, or you have children in public schools, the chances are very high you need to unlearn these dangerous lessons. Un-schooling your mind is your first step in becoming prepared.

I have hope and confidence in the human spirit. Once freed, there’s no limit to what we can accomplish.

Feel free to share your miseducated lessons in the comments.

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

 

 

I’m Digging on Rules of Three for Hiding a Gun

For any “when it’s time to bury my guns, its past time to use them” patriots, I would recommend reading Claire’s practical guide on why, how, what, and where to hide guns. Plus some cool bonus material at the end. If you’re digging on this article, check out more of her work over at Backwoods Home Living Freedom blog. 

by Claire Wolfe

Source: Backwoods Home Magazine 

My friend Jack pulled the car into a grassy clearing. We donned rubber boots, fetched a metal detector and digging tools from the trunk, and headed off along a game trail. Our mission: To dig up and test fire a pistol Jack had buried years ago.

The trail disappeared into a wetland, which Jack crossed with confidence. The muddy water was only about six inches deep where he walked, but I couldn’t see the bottom so I waded gingerly after him. It was at this point I discovered that my borrowed waterproof boots — weren’t. I squished along after Jack. By the time I emerged onto dry land, he was standing well ahead of me, next to the stump of an old cedar that had been logged a hundred years ago.

“It’s buried right here,” Jack told me confidently. “Between this stump and that sapling.”

I was dubious. The “sapling” wasn’t exactly a sapling anymore. It had grown into a mid-sized alder tree. Besides, Jack had history with not being able to relocate a buried firearm. Back in 2004, I had mocked him in one of my Backwoods Home Hardyville columns for that very thing, an SKS he couldn’t relocate.

Nevertheless, he set to breaking up roots. I followed with a shovel.

“I didn’t bury it very deep,” he said. “We shouldn’t have too much trouble.”

They’re at it again. The politicians in Washington, DC, and their media mouthpieces everywhere are in full cry, threatening more restrictions on our right to own guns.

In response, Americans are rushing to buy firearms, particularly those that might be targets of the next ban. Without a doubt, many guns are going underground or into other hiding places. When Draconian restrictions take effect, millions more firearms will get tucked into walls, haylofts, hollow trees, and waterproof containers buried in the woods.

There are people who say, “When it’s time to bury the guns, it’s actually time to dig them up and use them.” They have a point. But in fact, there are plenty of good reasons to hide guns, now or at any other time. And we’re not talking about simply concealing a gun to have it handy in home, office, or hotel room. We’re talking about hardcore, long-term hiding — stashing guns against some urgent future need.

My friend Jack, carrying a metal detector and digging implements, heads toward a game trail that leads to the site where he buried a pistol many years ago. The game trail is right in front of him but strangers would be unlikely to spot it because of the quick-growing blackberry bramble that’s obscured it.

Three reasons to hide a gun

You might want to hide a firearm just to have a spare if your others get stolen or damaged in a disaster.

You might want to hide a firearm if you are a peaceable person who is nevertheless forbidden to own a gun because of some misdeed in your past or some arbitrary state law.

And of course, you might want to hide a firearm if you fear nationwide bans and confiscations but realize that you can’t stand alone against the gun banners.

Read the rest here

 

Sustainable System: Rocket Stoves

When I asked for a few guest posts while DRG and I take a mini vacation, Caroline Cooper showed her generous spirit and sent me this piece on rocket stoves. Thank you Caroline!

Posted on June 26, 2012 by publisher

A rocket stove is very easy for anyone to use. Erika is making pastured paleo burgers for dinner with homemade mustard, ketchup, cheese sauce and lettuce for the wrap.

For years I have used an assortment of stoves for camping and numerous different types of fuels. I have also cooked meals over an open fire on camping trips. That’s definitely a smoky experience. Recently, I have found a new kind of stove that has converted me over to wood based fuels.

A rocket stove uses a very small amount of wood and produces a very hot, smokeless fire. These stoves are great for cooking meals in the backyard, camping or emergency preparedness. Just about anything can be used as fuel. I have used: small branches, twigs, yard waste, scrap wood, bark, cardboard, office paper and junk mail. Burning this waste helps reduce my household waste stream and pressure on local landfills. I bought a Grover Rocket Stove but for comparison, here is a USH2 Rocket Stove.

The surprising thing about a rocket stove is how the fire burns so hot and clean. After the fire gets going there is very little smoke. The space under the fuel compartment allows air to feed the fire, producing a very powerful draft, which focuses a very hot flame on the cooking surface.

I like using a cast iron frying pan for cooking meals. A cast iron pan avoids the toxicity of Teflon and spreads the heat well and avoids burning. The rocket stove could be used with a stainless steel pot for boiling water.

Any fuel can be used in a rocket stove. I have used scrap wood, small branches, bark, office paper and junk mail. What is surprising is how little fuel is needed for cooking a meal.

Here is the firebox. After the fire is started very little smoke is produced. If you have ever cooked over an open fire you will know why smokeless cooking is a wonder of the modern world.

The rocket stove can have the ash easily emptied anywhere in my garden that potash or lime is needed to increase soil alkalinity. It’s great to have a stove that doesn’t need any petroleum products. I am always searching for more appropriate technology. Rocket stoves can also be simply made out of fire bricks. Here is a video on this simple technology for building a rocket stove out of fire bricks and cooking food outside. The second video is about the dangers of cooking with an open fire in houses. They have developed a modified rocket stove for inside use.

Rocket stoves can be made anywhere and with natural materials. This rocket stove was made with granite beach rocks in the Broken Group Islands after our MSR gas stove stopped functioning.

Updated January 31, 2013: What would happen if a clean burning rocket stove could be brought into your house? Friends, it looks like the technology for mass rocket stoves have been worked out. Mass rocket stoves don’t have a chimney, use 1/8 to 1/4 the amount of wood, and exhaust CO2 and water vapor. No wood smoke smog! Sounds crazy, but a friend of mine has just build one, and it works as advertised. For more information about mass rocket stoves for heating your home please see this article on permies.com.

Dirt Road Girl Update, Second Opinions, and Guest Posts

One week after visiting with our new doctor and I’m still in shock from what he told us.

We weren’t happy with our previous doctor’s care. We finally got a second opinion from a doctor who specializes in lung cancer.

I hate waiting for the doctor to show up to make his entrance. After an hour of waiting, he walks in, introduces himself, and gets down to the business at hand. After studying all the scans we brought him for an hour, he looked at DRG and said…

“There is no cancer in your lung to treat.”

I’m stunned. How could that be. Our other doctor read the scans and said she couldn’t really tell due to the swelling caused by all the radiation and chemo in her lung.

You’d think I’d be doing happy dances everyday. I’m guessing the news will eventually sink in. We’re not out of the woods yet. She still has cancer cells floating around in her body that will land at some point new doc told us. Until then, DRG will go for scans every three months.

Another interesting thing about getting a second opinion, which I highly recommend. He’s an expert in the rare strain of cancer DRG has. He told us that all the radiation and chemo was really not necessary for this strain of cancer. Our other doctor didn’t test to determine the strain until five months after she was diagnosed and lots of chemo and radiation. A pill that blocks the protein that this stain feeds on is all that she needed to be taking. Wow! Get second opinions. They’re practicing medicine.

I wanted to share that news with those who have given so many words of encouragement and prayers on DRG’s behalf.

We’re taking a mini vacation to celebrate next week. I’ll be updating the blog daily with scheduled posts. So, if you’d like to submit a guest post that would be appropriate for our readers, please do so via email.

Thanks so much for all the real people who have supported us through the past year in DRG’s journey! We love and appreciate y’all!

Keep doing the stuff,

Todd

 

 

 

Primal/Paleo Top Ten List Of Foods To Store

This article was originally published at Survival Punk and is reprinted with permission from the author. We appreciate it James!

Top Ten Paleo Food for Storage

by James Burnette

I’m sure many of you have seen the lists going around the net of the top ten Long term storage foods. I’ve seen a ton of them and most of them are the same list over and over. On top of that most of the list is things I don’t want to eat now nor in a disaster. I’m not storing wheat and not going to eat it. So I thought about it and did some serious research. I’ve came up with a list of ten foods that are paleo friendly and have storage lives from years to indefinite. My paleo foods list is as follows.

#10

 

Coming in at number ten is maple syrup. While I don’t think you should be guzzling down maple syrup, used very sparingly as a treat . Maple syrup is very calorically  dense. As an occasional morale boost would be awesome. It has no real expiration date. I would not only use it one rare occasions and in small amounts. It would also make a good barter Item. People are always willing to pay more for wants over needs and America has a lot of sweet teeth.

 

#9

Coming in at number nine is Sauerkraut. Kraut is an amazing paleo food and has a ton of health benefits. Contains vitamin C and lactobacili bacteria. Captian James Cook made sure he always took plenty of kraut on his voyages to prevent scurvy. Lactobacili may posses many theraputic benefits, including anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer activities. It Can last many months in it’s fermentation vessel. Unfortunately unless it’s canned it does not last more than a season. Once canned it’s live bacteria dies and you lose the benefits. It it weren’t for that it would easily be number one on the list.

 

#8

Number nine is the often vilified Lard. Lard used to be the go-to fat of choice. It has long been a substitute for butter. I feel lard has got a bad rap though, lard has less saturated fat, more unsaturated fat, and less cholesterol than an equal amount of butter by weight.^[2]. Lard unlike the modern franken-oil contains no trans fats. Lard is massively calorically dense, with 115 calories per Tbsp. Lard has a great shelf life. I’ve seen some conflicting numbers on the internet but came across a story where a 64 year old can of Lard was tested and was still safe to eat.

#7

Salami is the number seven item. There are many hard Italian Salamis that claim to have no expiration date. Salami is great combination of Fat/protein. Does not require any refrigeration. In my experience of taking salami’s camping they have a huge satiety effect. It only takes a small amount to feel full and have plenty of energy. Plus they are delicious.

#6

Salt Cured meats is number six. This is a rather all inclusive category. Salt cured and salt packed meats can last a very long time and was the main method before refrigeration. From my research it seems to work for all meat. The time it takes and the complexity of the curing process varies greatly. Some hams can six months just to fully cure. This is one preservation method that should be studied and mastered now while there are resources and hospitals in case of a mistake.

#5

Coming in at the half way point is Salt. Without it you can’t do number six. Salt is a rock from the ground and never goes bad. Salt has been used for various methods of food preservation for thousands of years. It would be a huge benefit in making bland food taste better. Salt historically was a valuable commodity and in a long term disaster I can see it being a big barter item. Salts cheap stock up now.

Read the top 5 here

Dirt Road Girl Update

DRG completed her radiation treatment last week! On her follow-up appointment this past Thursday, she asked her doctor what kind of time she could expect without taking that dreaded pill she was on this summer. Doc told her a year, maybe a year and half without the pill. The side effects of this drug are crazy.

“So how long if I take the drug?”, she asked.

“Several years,” she was told.

We’ll take it! As much as she hates pharmaceuticals, DRG starts popping the pill again next week. Her lung cancer mutation is very rare, found mostly in non-smokers. The good news is that this strain responds very well to this particular drug.

I really can’t thank all of you enough who have offered prayers and support! We are very humbled by your thoughts and concern. Please continue to pray for minimal side effects and healing. Blessings on you all!

Keep doing the stuff,

Todd

10 Reasons Why Building a Community is Key When Surviving Disaster

This is reprinted with permission from the author. It was originally posted over at The Home For Survival and at SHTFPlan.com. Thanks Survivor Mike! You can check out his blog regarding surviving disaster here.

Doing the stuff,

Todd

_______________________________

Sep 28, 2012 by Survivor Mike

Picture the below Surviving Disaster scenario…

You’re living in your suburban home, CNN has just said that the stock market has dropped for the ninth day in a row and people are now racing to their banks to empty their accounts. Couple these with an unstable euro, an unstable Middle East and a worldwide economic recession and you get the start of the sh*t hitting the fan.

How does your neighborhood react to this?

Who in your neighborhood do you trust?

Now take that a step further and imagine a state of civil unrest. Homes nearby are being looted and undesirables are now common in your neighborhood. You have a weapon, but the occupants of your home include you, your wife, and your two small children. You have a front door, a backdoor, and the garage door. How do you cover all three much less the first floor windows?

What I’ve described above is the situation you will be faced with when the SHTF. So, do you need to build a community of liked-minded folks when the sh*t hits the fan? I believe there are 10 reasons why building a community is key when it all goes down.

1) Strength in Numbers

Being in a suburban area, I tend to worry about what will happen if looters run amok. I imagine when the SHTF, criminals will likely run in gangs. Those gangs will target individual homes for looting and potentially seek to oust the folks living there. They would target homes with a small number of occupants to make their raids that much easier.

So, to avoid being in their crosshairs, it would be optimal to be viewed as a large group. These criminals will have quite a few homes to choose from when things get tough and there is no sense in being an easy target. Remember, giving the perception of a large force is enough to deter those with bad intentions.

2) More Hands, More Work Done

Continuing with the theme of a group, the more folks in that group, the more workers you have. Those additional sets of hands will be able to help garden, cook, pack supplies, gather water, and hunt for food. While you will have to feed and care for those extra bodies, the work you get from them should more than make up for it.

I would much rather have 5 people foraging for food and supplies versus 1 as time will be of the essence.

3) Pre-planning

Knowing you’ll have a community of preppers allows you to be proactive with planning now. You can request your neighbors start preparing by gathering supplies, preparing their homes and getting their financials in order. You can even go as far as planning the homes you will use for what purpose. By having those families focus on particular areas of prepping, you can be sure you will be best prepared when the trigger event happens.

At the very least, having your neighbors prepared will prevent them from being a liability when things go south. The last thing you need is a needy “friend” eating into your families’ supplies.

4) Multiple Locations

Having multiple homes in a community provides several advantages. Besides the tactical advantage of defending yourself, you acquire additional space for supplies, including areas to prep them.

Additionally, you provide the sense of normalcy for the folks in the community. Utilizing one house as a mess hall could be a possibility. Having a house serve as a medical facility is another. You would almost be able to build a town within the community. You cannot underestimate the importance of helping with the psychology of the group trying to survive.

5) Additional Resource Network

Your neighbors will have different supplies, different tools, and especially different skills. That alone is a huge asset when attempting to survive in uncertain times. However, the resources we don’t think about are the various contacts they may have.  They may have an uncle who owns 10 shotguns. A cousin that has an RV for sale. A friend with access to critical medical supplies.

Each neighbor will have their own network of contacts that may come in handy. Those contacts become even more valuable when things get very tough. You may even choose to join a larger group that your neighbors will have paved the way by providing that connection.  We can be sure that we will need to be creative during difficult times.

Read the rest here

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?