I spent the morning of December 21^st watching the new movie from faith based Angel Studios, “Homestead.” Based on the book “Black Autum” by Jeff Kirkman and Jason Ross, it details the characters response to a combined nuclear and cyber-attack on America. The movie tells the story of Ian Ross and his Mutual Assistance Group and their retreat property, “Homestead.” Be forewarned, there will be spoilers.

In this article I want to dig into some of the questions that the story raises for survivalists/preppers, but a few words about the movie are in order. As a movie fan, I appreciate good writing, good direction, and good acting. For the most part I find that studios of this nature do not have any of these. That is not the case here.

All of the aspects of this movie are on par with the best prestige television productions. It is not quite up to the standards of a good theater movie, but it is far better than some of the movies that I have spent money to sit in a theater and be bored by. I generally find that the message of most Christion faith films to be heavy handed, but that is not the case here.

Homestead tells the story of the collapse of American society following a combined terror attack on the US consisting of a nuclear event just offshore from Los Angeles and a cyber-attack that renders the East Coast without power. These events cause a collapse of the US government and a nationwide panic.

The Homestead is the survival retreat built by Ian Ross (Neal McDonough) and several families designed to keep them safe should an event like this happen. The other lead is Jeff Erickson (Bailey Chase), retired Navy Seal who has been hired to put together a security team for the property. The Ross family has built a place, and a system meant to support the people who will be living there with power, water, and food supplies as well as a small arsenal of firearms for protection. It is basically the dream set-up for survivalists.

The meat of the story is the practical and moral questions that are raised by the movie. These questions are important ones that need to be answered when making survival plans, before the world as we know it ends. First, at what point are we justified in using deadly force to defend ourselves. Second, should we lock down and keep friends and family who did not prepare or should we risk running low to save them.

The question of when to use force in self- or group-defense is a complicated one. Despite what one might think, a post-collapse situation makes the use of force even more complicated. In today’s environment the courts will sort out a defense situation. The defensive shooter should be cleared of any charges if they are justified in using force. In a post-collapse situation, where there are no courts to sort it out. In the movie there is a situation where people from outside accidentally wonder into Homestead property while hunting. A lack of a proper means of communications end with one of the hunters being killed by one of the Homestead members.

In the story, the person in question has to live with the results of his actions. It is correctly called an accident, but in the end, children are left without a father, and a wife is without a husband when they most need him. This is a situation that can be avoided through proper communication with the community around the property. It could also be avoided by placing those with more experience in perimeter security and crisis management.

The further consequences would likely come from the friends and family. They would most likely view it as an unjust killing and seek redress. I a world without courts, that redress might come in the form of an assault the property and more needless deaths.

The solution? Clear lines of communications before and after the event and well defined rules of engagement. Building a relationship with the surrounding community will allow group to define what the community can and cannot expect. It will give you a chance to encourage them to prepare for themselves and their family so that they can survive without outside help.

How incursions into the property are handled require very well defined rules of engagement and are an absolute necessity. How you communicate with intruders will define how the encounter ends. What you are aiming for is a peaceful resolution in the worst situation and not a violent encounter. If the group is very lucky, it may lead to new allies.

This takes us to a second major situation. What do you do with the friends and family at the gate. In the movie, when the country starts to collapse, friends of the Homestead family and people from the surrounding community start to line up at the gate looking for help. This is a real world question that all survivalists will face in a collapse.

Most people today, especially in America, are under the impression that the worst will never happen. As long as they have their video games, junk food, and televised sports, they continue to live their lives like it will never end. When it does, they will look to the prepared for help. How do we respond to this?

It comes down to two choices. Do you run them off or do you bring them in to add their skills to the community. Wandering into spoiler territory here, the movie suggests the latter. The Christian thing to do, it suggests, is to be charitable and bring them in. It is a boon in the end because some of these folks have skills that are lacking in the community, and they solve some important problems.

The movie is fiction, but it is close to what can be expected in a real collapse. Taking people in will reduce your supplies and can be detrimental to the survival of the members of community. On the other hand, if the people that you bring in have skills that will be important to the community, then they might improve the groups chances. This becomes a question of practicality versus morality and where a group falls between the two will have a profound effect on a community.

These are the most important issues in the situation the movie presents, but they do touch on others. One character suffers from a mental illness, I suspect Bi-Polar Disorder, but it is never clearly defined,  that requires regular medication. How would this be handled? In the short term a stash of meds provided in a legal manner will keep the person in good health. After they run out a plan will be needed to properly handle the symptoms.

Then there is local government. A plot point is the local bureaucrat attempts who exerts his power to confiscate the supplies and weapons of the Homestead for “the good of the community.” As the story of Homestead is continuing with a series on the Angel Studios streaming service, I think that this will become a bigger plot point.

The questions that come to my mind is at what point has the Government truly collapsed? When does a local bureaucrat become a warlord bent on control? What will happen if the community comes into armed conflict with local government, win, and society makes a comeback? This last question is one brought to my mind for the first time by the movie. It seems that survivalists, me included, make their plans around a permanent collapse. In reality, a society will be rebuilt from the collapsed one, but it is just a likely that our society will rebuild itself. If it does, there may be legal issues to deal with if these kind of situations happen.

Unlike most post-apocalyptic movies, this is not only based on real world possibilities, but also on a series of books by Jeff Kirkham, a Green Beret who founded Readyman survival tool company with 29 years of experience, and Jason Ross, a serial entrepreneur who has spent his life learning survival skills. They took this experience, built a real world scenario, and applied their knowledge to the solutions used in the movie.

Every once in a while, I come across a bit of fiction that has a little bit of truth in it, but it is very seldom that it causes me to think this deeply into the questions that it raises. Dean Ing’s “Pulling Through” comes to mind because the second half of the book provides instructions on building the tools used in the fiction. “Homestead” does not delve into skills or techniques, but it raises some important questions that should cause viewers to think more deeply. It is also my hope that unprepared people who go to see an action movie will give what they see some thought and start to be a more ready.

The movie is a good piece of fiction that I enjoyed. The Christian part of the message is not heavy handed and takes a moral position that I think most people will understand. If you are putting together a preparedness plan, watching this movie should give you food for thought while enjoying a pretty good movie.

This article was originally published on Ready Magazine and is published here with permission. All images are courtesy of Angel Studios.

Survival situations always involve serious ethical and moral decisions.  Wartime and combat zone survival create even greater challenges to established “right-or-wrong" paradigms. The ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine illustrate these difficulties. Even on American soil, we see demonstrations and seemingly unresolvable issues developing on our streets and in our communities. As wartime conditions grow closer to home, and the specter of a true World War Three looms on the horizon, what will be considered right, wrong, justified, or necessary requires considerable thought and examination by responsible citizens preparing for this “worst case” scenario. 

 The concept of ethics is distinguishable from morals, in that ethics are much more practical. Morals are ideas or opinions driven by a desire to do good; ethics are rules that establish allowable actions and correct behavior.  An ethical code may or may not be definably “moral,” as it is simply an established set of rules. Under normal circumstances, a citizen has pre-established moral principles and ethical standards provided by society and its laws. Under wartime chaos and warzone violence, citizens will be faced with moral dilemmas and ethical conundrums, without guidance. 

While the trained solder has orders to follow and a chain of command to sort out moral and ethical conflicts, the civilian caught in a life-and-death combat situation must make decisions and cope with conflicting emotional consequences alone.  Survival ethics is guided by the basic survival imperative, but the ethics of survival in wartime and in a warzone is more complicated. The difference between right and wrong can be clouded by ideological, ethnic, racial, religious, and national affiliations. One’s proximal, social, or family relationships render philosophical “neutrality” unfeasible.  While natural disasters or a singular foreign enemy may unite a population, more complex modern conflicts can create all manner of division, paranoia, and distrust.

Under wartime deprivations, normally honest and law-abiding citizens may resort to theft or black-market dealings.  Citizens with weak moral codes and selfish tendencies are inclined to commit a full range of criminal acts once the prohibitions of effective law enforcement are removed.  Soldiers and citizens exposed to the violence and trauma of actual warfare often become desensitized or even malevolent and violent as a result.  It is no accident that gangs of the Wild West, and the Gangsters of the Roaring Twenties followed the Civil War and World War One. War releases the most terrible inclinations of humanity.   Be aware that there are “nice people,” but there are also people who are just “being nice.”  Ultimately, the citizen must establish his or her own code of ethics. A few examples of ethical and moral challenges follow. 

War Zone Ethics 

By James C. Jones 

“What a cruel thing war is …to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbors.” 

General Robert E. Lee (1807 – 1870)  

Survival situations always involve serious ethical and moral decisions.  Wartime and combat zone survival create even greater challenges to established “right-or-wrong" paradigms. The ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine illustrate these difficulties. Even on American soil, we see demonstrations and seemingly unresolvable issues developing on our streets and in our communities. As wartime conditions grow closer to home, and the specter of a true World War Three looms on the horizon, what will be considered right, wrong, justified, or necessary requires considerable thought and examination by responsible citizens preparing for this “worst case” scenario. 

 The concept of ethics is distinguishable from morals, in that ethics are much more practical. 

Morals are ideas or opinions driven by a desire to do good; ethics are rules that establish allowable actions and correct behavior.  An ethical code may or may not be definably “moral,” as it is simply an established set of rules. Under normal circumstances, a citizen has pre-established moral principles and ethical standards provided by society and its laws. Under wartime chaos and warzone violence, citizens will be faced with moral dilemmas and ethical conundrums, without guidance. 

While the trained solder has orders to follow and a chain of command to sort out moral and ethical conflicts, the civilian caught in a life-and-death combat situation must make decisions and cope with conflicting emotional consequences alone.  Survival ethics is guided by the basic survival imperative, but the ethics of survival in wartime and in a warzone is more complicated. The difference between right and wrong can be clouded by ideological, ethnic, racial, religious, and national affiliations. One’s proximal, social, or family relationships render philosophical “neutrality” unfeasible.  While natural disasters or a singular foreign enemy may unite a population, more complex modern conflicts can create all manner of division, paranoia, and distrust.  

Under wartime deprivations, normally honest and law-abiding citizens may resort to theft or black-market dealings.  Citizens with weak moral codes and selfish tendencies are inclined to commit a full range of criminal acts once the prohibitions of effective law enforcement are removed.  Soldiers and citizens exposed to the violence and trauma of actual warfare often become desensitized or even malevolent and violent as a result.  It is no accident that gangs of the Wild West, and the Gangsters of the Roaring Twenties followed the Civil War and World War One. War releases the most terrible inclinations of humanity.   Be aware that there are “nice people,” but there are also people who are just “being nice.”  Ultimately, the citizen must establish his or her own code of ethics. A few examples of ethical and moral challenges follow. 

• Use of force: Police are often caught in a lose-lose scenario: using force can be seen as brutality, and not using force can mean failure in their duty to the law and the community. For the citizen, the question is this: “Is the use of force—or threat of force—justifiable and reasonable under the current circumstances?”  You may need to use force against family members or neighbors, to get them out of harm’s way, or to prevent their obstinance or obliviousness from endangering yourself and others. You are doing the seemingly wrong thing, but for a good reason.  
   
• Use of deadly force: Using any kind of deadly or potential deadly force is an extremely drastic action.  Unfortunately, modern media and video games have trivialized killing and desensitized the public.  No responsible citizen should look forward to taking a human life, but during the gravest extreme of wartime, such an act may be inescapable.  Terrorists imbued with hatred and extreme views will kill innocent civilian men, women, and children without the slightest hesitation.  Criminals simply have no moral code or empathy for victims. 
   
  Previously peaceful citizens enraged, shocked, or misled by wartime and warzone conditions may become predators.  If deadly force is the only way to save yourself and others, be mentally prepared to do it. Failure to act may result in the death of yourself and those you care about.  Regardless of the justification, using deadly force will probably result in a lifetime of guilt and regret.  
   
• Looting and foraging: During periods of civil unrest, looters are simply opportunistic criminals using excuses to justify theft and destruction, but in some cases such illegal and immoral behavior may be fully justified. Should cold and homeless refugees from a bombed city pass by an intact home along the road? Should groceries be left on the shelves of an abandoned store while children are hungry?  One example of laws vs ethics is a case where elderly were being evacuated from a flood. The local Fire Department was prohibited from “opening” the convenience store across the street to access supplies for the patients even though the flood waters would soon destroy the supplies. If it makes you feel better leave an IOU. 
   
• Taking sides: During World War Two, it was simple as allies versus Nazis and “Japs”. Your side was determined by your location. In today’s fractured, globalized, and multiethnic society, factionalism, regionalism, and media-generated division can cause hostile and potentially violent conflict between friends, neighbors and even family members.  At one time, Jews and Arabs lived peacefully in Palestine.  South Koreans have family in North Korea. Russia and Ukraine have much in common. Once violence has been initiated by one side and responded to by the other, they become implacable enemies. This is a horrible situation. If you don’t pick a side, everyone will regard you as an enemy and your situation will be untenable.  Of course, acts of hate, brutality, violence, and oppression by one side may help you make your choices.   
   
• To help, or not to help: Should you share your food, water, and medical supplies with friends, neighbors or strangers who have not prepared themselves?  Should you stop rendering aid to the injured if it puts you or your family at risk?  These are two classic survival ethics questions.  There is no absolute right-or-wrong answer, but the “do what you can, if you can, when you can” ethical principle applies. Note that police are trained to bypass injured civilians and move on to neutralize the threat. You cannot be your brother’s keeper unless you are able to be your own keeper.   

Establishing your Code of Ethics  

Survival ethics come down to life and death: yours, and that of others you encounter. Do you save life, risk life, or take life? A primary question that everyone must answer is: how do you define your life?  Are you what you are physically, or who you are, morally and spiritually?  Are you about how you look and what you have, or are you about what you believe in and stand for?  While your body is mortal, your values and ideas are immortal.  So, does your survival action justify your continued physical survival, or does your survival alone justify your action?  Is what’s best and safest for you also best and safest for what you stand for? 

In survival, laws are not an issue. You are left with your own moral code and ethical concepts to make life and death decisions. You must ask yourself: 

• What is the right thing to do, based on my values? 
• What is the best thing to do for me? 
• What is the best thing to do for others? 
• What represents my values and ideas? 
• What is my duty?  
• Would I want others to do this to me or for me? 
• How will others I care about judge my actions? 

 Yes, the answers to each question may be conflicting!  What can you do? What should you do? What do you want to do?   In the heat of a survival situation there will be no time to engage in a philosophical discussion. Most true survival situations are about risking your life or risking or taking the life of others.  You must have an idea of where you draw the lines.   In a situation where you may need to choose to risk or even sacrifice your own life, when would you do it? 

• Never—even if it would protect those I care for or values I stand for? 
• Only if absolutely necessary to protect the lives of others that I care about? 
• To defend the life of others being attacked or abused? 
• Only if necessary to defend my values and ideas? 
• Only if necessary to remain free? 
• To defend my property? 
• To maintain my pride and honor? 
• Rather than live an unpleasant life? 

If you know when you would be willing to put your own life on the line, have you established when you would take a life or put the life of others at risk? 

• Never—not even to defend my life and that of those I care for? 
• Only in the immediate defense of my life and those I care for? 
• To defend the life of others being attacked or abused? 
• To defend my personal freedoms and rights? 
• To defend my values and ideas? 
• In order to remove potential threats to my life and freedom? 
• To defend my property and lifestyle? 

 For the purposes of the above questions, taking or risking life is not just about shooting or being shot at.  Risking your life could be the act of sharing your food, entering a danger zone to rescue someone, or stopping to help instead of moving along. Taking life could be as simple as failing to aid others who are in need of the food or water they need to survive.  

    We may look at our moral code as a compass that directs us towards the right action, but ethics is the map that guides our route.  Ethical choices must be free of fear, anger, hate, pride, and other negative emotions. Flexibility and adaptability are key concepts in survival psychology.  Rigid moral codes, while valuable assets during “normal” times, may conflict with survival imperatives under emergency conditions. The lines between right and wrong can become blurry in the heat of survival and conflict. What can you live with, and what would you die for? 

The true survivor must know him or herself and have a firm ethical foundation upon which to base life-and-death decisions.  How and why we survive is as important as that we survive.  These kinds of situations have only lose-lose solutions, but they are easier for those who have considered them in advance balancing the risks and values.  Many such decisions will be difficult to live with—regardless of the outcomes.  

While the concept of “everyday carry” goes back to my “Coat Pocket Survival” article from the 1980’s, the available options and the potential emergencies have changed significantly. What passes for “normal” life has become more dangerous, and the potential for more violent situations and even nuclear war are inescapable.  

It is usually impractical to carry a full survival kit or pack as we go to our jobs, shopping, or social activities, but the truly prepared citizen must have some essential survival response items on hand at all times. Most disasters strike without warning and may happen when we are far from our home, our survival gear, and our supplies. The concept of everyday carry is to have a few items on-hand that will give you a chance and an advantage. 

The survival principle of “It’s not what you have, but what you have with you that counts” applies here. Because of the added complexity of today’s survival threats, and the impending war, I have created three levels of everyday carry. 

Everyday Carry Level One 

  This level is adequate for what we now call “normal” times. The items included are intended to address a variety of natural emergencies such as storms, earthquakes, fires, accidents, and assaults. These items can generally be kept in pockets or a purse without attracting attention or being uncomfortably bulky.                                                                                                   

• Pocketknife: Depending on the clothing you wear, this can be a small two-inch blade or a larger three-inch blade. Good “survival folders” come with a seatbelt cutter and a glass breaker for escape and rescue work. Some even include a flashlight and a magnesium fire starter. A knife imparts a major survival advantage in many situations.  
• Cell Phone: These still have utility if services are functional. If you live in an urban area, you may want to carry a second, fully charged “throw away phone.”  Most carjackers and robbers will want your phone, so give them the throw away and use the other to call 911 after they depart. Even if they get the good, connected phone you can still call 911 on any charged cellphone.  
• Mini Flashlight: Do not depend on your cellphone for light. Miniature flashlights could be critical in a blackout or smoke-filled building. They can even be attached to your key ring.  
• Whistle: A loud whistle can attract the attention of rescuers far better than your voice. 
• N95 folding Respirator:  Safe air is the first need of survival. When buildings are falling, things are burning, biohazards are in the air, or radioactive fallout begins, these basic respirators will offer some protection. While they do not protect against poison gases or chemicals, they are better than nothing when immediately at hand. Charcoal-impregnated N95 masks provide limited protection against chemical contaminants. 
• Fire Starter: While small magnesium fire starter sticks can spark a fire with dry tinder, a flame beats a spark in most cases. A simple butane lighter can get a fire started or provide a bit of light as needed. The torch-like lighters are very effective and safe. 
• Bandana: Cloth bandanas can be used as bandage, tourniquet, improvised respirators, and other survival devices.  
• Defense Device: Your choice here depends on your environment and lifestyle. Any kind of loaded firearm around children is an invitation to disaster. Safety first, but if this is not an issue a sub-compact firearm is certainly an everyday carry need in many locations. Taser and pepper spray devices are better than nothing but are seldom effective when you’re surprised by one or more assailants.  

Everyday Carry Level Two 

  This level brings a significantly higher level of daily preparedness to confront violent and prolonged threats that might develop during wartime. These items can help you cope with civil disorder; organized assaults; chemical, biological, and nuclear hazards; and the necessity to flee through high threat environments.  

Items can be distributed in pockets, pouches, or a vest without attracting much attention or being too bulky for everyday activities. In addition to the N95 mask, whistle, cell phone and bandana, the following items are added. 

• Multi-tool: You can replace the knife or have this in addition to your knife. These tools enable the owner to improvise, repair, and escape. They come in a wide variety of sizes and tool combinations. The bigger the better.  
• Rain Poncho: A small plastic rain poncho can provide protection against wind, rain, and airborne contaminants. Just staying dry can prevent hypothermia. Keeping chemicals and fallout off the skin can be critical. Not as good as a full body covering, but a big advantage over nothing.  
• Tourniquet Device: At this threat level, there is a serious chance of major injury. All police and military personnel now carry tourniquets. These come with a handy belt or ancle pouch.  

• Hand sanitizer: A small bottle of alcohol-based hand sanitizer can be used to help start a fire, clean off contaminants, and sanitize wounds. 
• Water purifier: Hydration is critical, but you may need to use questionable sources. Having a few water purification tablets can provide some protection. They also make water safer for flushing and cleaning wounds.  
• Larger flashlight: A larger, five- to ten-LED flashlight is advisable. Some come with adjustable beams and colors. 
• Firearm: At this level, always carrying a firearm is just common sense. There are plenty of compact handguns with six- to ten-round magazine capacities. Carrying at least one extra magazine is advisable.  

Everyday Carry Level Three 

  At this level, the items are intended to help survive when actual warzone conditions develop. Such conditions could include shootings, explosions, fires, interruption of water and food, rampant civil disorder, ad-hoc medical services, and even radioactive fallout. These items are intended to provide immediate and basic needs to facilitate survival, escape, or evacuation in a worst-case scenario. 

Short of carrying a full survival pack and dressing like a combatant, a butt pack or a shoulder pack will probably not attract undue attention under these conditions. In addition to the aforementioned whistle, N95 mask, bandana, and cell phone, the following additions and upgrades create the level three everyday carry list.  

• Heavy duty poncho: A larger vinyl poncho that is more durable and effective will be necessary if you need prolonged protection from the elements and contaminants.  
• Rescue Blanket: These aluminized blankets will provide additional protection for you or another person and can offer shelter and warmth for cold weather. They are a must for shock or hypothermia victims.  
• Eye protection: Flying debris, dust, and contaminants can endanger your eyesight and introduce infections. Normal glasses are insufficiently protective. A pair of folding goggles will be helpful.  
• Energy Bars: A high-stress survival scenario may require prolonged exertion; exhaustion can render you vulnerable. A few energy bars can provide nourishment and comfort.  
• Water Bottle: Carrying at least a pint or two of water is worth the burden under these conditions. There are bottles that include a filtration system, or you can carry purification tablets to refill your bottle as needed.  
• Multi-band Radio: Small, multi-band radios are available can be tuned to emergency channels, citizens Band, and even pre-established family or group communications networks. This may be your primary information and communication source when cellular systems, commercial radio, and TV networks go down.  
• Monocular or Binocular: A small monocular will give you a chance to see trouble before you encounter it. Are those friends, or potential assailants? Is that a safe route? What’s leaking from that rail car? Is he carrying a gun?  
• Tactical Flashlight: You will want a heavy-duty, military grade flashlight with at least 2000 lumens of brightness and an adjustable beam. There are plenty of options available.  
• Mini-First Aid Kit: In addition to the torniquet, you can add a variety of hemostatic blood stopper dressings, self-adhesive bandages, antibiotic ointments, and pain relivers.  
• Firearm(s): At this point, the sight of an armed civilian should not be unusual. A full-sized handgun with at least four extra magazines may be necessary to get you south of a serious situation. Learn how to change magazines under fire. If things get bad enough, carrying a pistol in a holster and/or carrying a rifle or sub-rifle may be considered normal and justified for every day.  

Conclusion 

  You can add or combine items as needed to create an everyday carry system that meets your needs and environment. The key to survival is having what you need, where you need it, when you need it. Everyday carry means every day and all the time, starting now. If you only carry some items, sometimes, Murphys law will get you.  

Last issue, I discussed staying warm—at home, or at your bug-out-location. This month, I want to talk about what to do if you are on the move. There are some crucial differences between staying warm in a fixed location versus on the move that should be considered. 

While equipment and knowledge of fuels is the most Important consideration in a fixed location, you will be much more reliant on skills while moving. Your choice of fuels will be much more limited, due to issues such as weight, availability, and volatility. With these kinds of limitations, your skill set becomes more valuable. 

The deeper your skill set, the less you will have to carry with you—however, this isn’t to suggest the right choice of equipment is unimportant. Let’s talk about heat sources, briefly, before we move on to skills. The three most common fuels that you will use are wood, propane, and isobutane. Small heaters are available that burn both propane and isobutane, and if you use either for cooking, then one of these is a good consideration. 

In most of the US, you can rely on salvaged wood or similar materials found in nature. This is why my preference is for wood burning stoves—such as the Biolite stove—and the skills to build, start and manage a fire. There are also portable, wood burning, hot-tent stoves which have become popular in recent years. 

Stoke the Fire Inside 

We have all heard the survival rules of three, and the assertion that we can live for three weeks without food. In a perfect world, this is true; survival situations, however, are not part of a perfect world. If it is cold, your body will burn calories to stay warm; the colder it is, the more you will burn. Your first step to staying warm on the move is to eat enough food to maintain calories. Your second step is to use those calories wisely. 

For most of us, most of the time, a high-fat, high-calorie diet is a bad suggestion; when surviving a bug-out, especially in the cold, it becomes vital. When you get cold, you shiver. This is your body trying to produce heat to protect your core. This burns calories at a higher rate than normal, which you must replace quickly to increase your chances of survival. 

Packing three days of high-quality, high-calorie, nutrient rich meals and snacks is an important part of your plans. Freeze-dried and retort (MRE style) foods are formulated to provide these kinds of meals for backpackers, outdoorsmen and women, and the military, whose hobbies or profession demand fuel to keep them going. These attributes, combined with the generally long shelf life of these foods, make them an excellent choice.  

Doing what is needed to reduce calorie use is just as important as carrying food. Clothing, shelter, and external heat reduce your body’s need to burn calories. Skills may be more important on the move, but the ability to think critically in planning and in a survival, situation is one of the most important skills. 

Start The Fire 

Starting a fire should be the top priority when building a camp. That is true at any time, but is even more true when you are risking hypothermia. Developing strong fire skills (and an even stronger sense of safety) is one of the most important things a survivor can do to improve their chances. 

Every YouTube channel discusses fire kits, but the ones to watch are those that show you how to use them. When you put together a fire kit, you should be able to use (and, in fact, should have already used) every item you include. For example: most matches have little value in a survival situation. They do not, for the most part, hold up to storage or humidity. They do not burn long enough, and if you are using the “strike anywhere” type, you run a minute risk of self-ignition. Some, like the lifeboat style matches from UCO and other sources, are designed to stand up to this kind of abuse and will burn when wet, even submerged, once lit. How are you to know what to expect if you have not tried them? 

Other forms of ignition require even more advanced knowledge and practice to use effectively. The critical point is that you practice with your tools beforehand. When the time comes, your practice will be rewarded with a warm fire. You should also develop some skill with primitive techniques for starting a fire. None of these are easy to do, but working through the bugs now will give you a head start for when the chips are down. 

Contain the Heat 

Once you have warmed up, it is necessary to find a way to contain the heat you generate. We have discovered many ways to do this since our ancestors walked into the first cave and wrapped the first animal skin around themselves. At some point, humans discovered fire, and shortly after that, we discovered that fire consumes fuel, and then, that containing the heat reduced the amount of fuel needed to keep warm and to cook our food. 

There are some basic ways we contain the heat that we produce. On the most personal level, it is clothing that preserves the heat we produce by burning calories. Clothing keeps this heat trapped near our bodies in the insulating dead air space between the body and the clothing we wear. In the infancy of human civilization, it was the hair left on the animal skins that trapped air pockets near the skin where heat could be stored. 

Over the ages we have discovered more and better ways to insulate ourselves from the cold. Choosing the right clothing for the environment is one of those critical decisions that make up proper planning. The selections available today are many and run the gamut from cheap and useless to expensive and toasty warm. In-between, you can find your sweet spot of affordability and usefulness. 

You should consider an approach to clothing based on layering. Start with an inner base layer—typically some type of “long underwear.”  Then, choose a shirt and pants in moderate weather conditions, followed by a good jacket or coat as the weather gets cold. In conditions of extreme cold and/or wet you will want a waterproof shell layer, top and bottom, to keep the wind, water, and cold out. 

The materials the clothing is made of are just as important. Natural fibers, such as wool and silk, make good choices—especially Morino Wool. There are synthetics that are just as good, but there is something comforting about natural fiber that I enjoy. Wool will insulate even when wet, and while it smolders, it does not burn, making it safer than synthetics. 

Wool, especially Morino wool, is not cheap. The further away the layer is from the skin, the more synthetics make sense because they can be found at better prices. Materials such as polyester, nylon, and Polartec insulate very well and can be found inexpensively on the surplus market. Commercial versions, such as those found at REI, are more expensive but just as useful. A polar fleece layer over the base layer, then pants and shirt, will keep you warm in much of the US during the most common weather conditions. Snow, cold rain, and high elevations such as you will find in northern mountainous regions and Alaska call for a water- and wind-resistant outer shell to protect from harsh weather.  

Wearing your clothing in layers gives you choices as the weather changes. If you are going to be outdoors in cool temperatures—say, between 60 and 40 degrees—a base layer and a regular clothing layer should be enough. As temperatures drop, add a fleece layer to increase the insulating value. When it starts to get really cold or wet, an outer shell keeps the wind and rain out. When the temps start to climb again, you can remove layers until you are comfortable again. Too much insulation for the temperature will cause you to sweat—which will, in turn, cause you to lose vital heat to evaporation. 

Build Your Environment 

The next step is to build and control your environment. This is where all the training and skill building really pays off. There are three basic stages to building shelter that will keep you warm: One, sleep on something. Two, sleep under something. Third, sleep in something. Let’s take a look at what this means. 

The first step is to put some insulation between the ground and your body. There are numerous sleeping bags and pads that provide protection from heat loss through conduction, the tendency of heat to flow from a warm object (you) to a cool object (the ground).  

On the other hand, in most environments, you can use natural debris piled and layered to create the same level of protection without the need to carry excess equipment. By creating a deep bed of these natural debris, you make a warm and comfortable place to lay your head. All this dead air space will slow the transfer of heat to the ground.  

I will add one of my wool blankets over a debris bed for a little extra insulation. The same can be done with a sleeping bag, That is your choice, but you should use a layering approach here, too: A bed of insulation, and then a system to sleep on. Building with natural materials will let you drop the sleeping pad, but either way, you need that layer of bedding to sleep on. 

The second step is to put some insulation over you. This is your sleep system, and there are a lot of choices available. Just like the insulation below you to keep conduction from sapping your heat, you need a layer above you to keep radiation and convection from doing the same. A sleeping bag or some blankets will trap your body heat or the warmth that you have created near your body as you sleep. 

What if your situation is unplanned? The same idea behind the insulated bed will apply to reducing heat loss from above. A layer of natural debris above can take the place of a sleep system in an emergency. This might not be ideal, but it could help save your life in a survival situation. 

Step three is to have something to sleep in. If you planned ahead, you will have packed some form of shelter. With a tent or tarp in your kit, you will have a head start on shelter. The most important reason to carry shelter with you is the conservation of calories. All work burns calories that must be replaced, and setting up a tent uses less work than building from scratch. On the other hand, tents or tarps do not contain heat as well as a constructed shelter stacked with insulation. 

If you have the skills to construct a shelter from natural materials, this will provide you with a shelter that contains heat generated by your body or an outside source. In warmer weather, a lean-to will shelter you and catch a lot of heat.  

You can even bring some of the heat inside the shelter if you do so carefully. There are portable heaters fueled by propane or isobutane that will warm up the space if you choose one that is designed to be used safely inside. 

There is also the choice of lightweight wood-burning stoves, designed for backpacking, that will not only heat your shelter, but they will also provide a cooking surface for food prep. They require either a tent designed for them, or specially constructed shelter. A tent with a stove jack for the chimney stack, or an opening in your shelter are required to use them safely. They can also be expensive, and even though they fold down, they still take up a good amount of space in a pack.  

If you are relying on your survival skills to heat a shelter, there are some techniques that will help. Once you have built a fire, you should keep as much of the heat created from escaping into the air as possible. Place your fire as close to the entrance as possible, so that heat will enter the shelter. Heat can also escape from the other directions as well, so a reflector can be built to contain and redirect the heat into your shelter. 

You can also bring heat directly into your shelter. Gather as many fist-sized rocks as you can find from any place but a water source. Pile 10 or 12 of them in your campfire to heat all day as you go about other tasks. This technique will be most useful with an enclosed shelter such as a debris hut, so while you are building it, dig a pit near the entrance. Make sure that you have dug it deep enough to remove any combustible materials that might smoke and ignite during the night. 

This pit is your overnight heater. Before you turn in for the night, fill it with the rocks from your fire. These rocks will slowly release the stored heat and keep you warm throughout the night. This can also work for you with tents that do not have a floor, in at least a section of it. Make sure you are careful to allow enough space around the pit to keep the heat from damaging the materials of the tent. 

In Conclusion 

As you can see, with proper planning, critical thinking, and skill building, it can be relatively easy to stay warm on the move. If you spend the time to learn these techniques and develop a plan, you will travel to your bug-out location in as much comfort and safety as possible. 

I will finish by suggesting a couple of book series that will help you learn these skills. Tom Brown’s Field Guide series focuses on primitive skills using few if any equipment to survive. Dave Canterbury’s Bushcraft books teach skills for use with minimal woods crafting tools. 

When considering a firearm as a prepping tool, we have some requirements that need to be fulfilled beyond how much you like the firearm you are selecting. As a prepper, this is just another tool in your toolbox, and for the weight and space it takes up in your gear load out it must provide usefulness in your mission to stay alive.

A lot of people will assume that your firearm is one of the most important tools in your kit, but this is far from true. A good knife is probably the most important tool you can carry, and then fire, water, and shelter will be much more important in this kit if you want to survive in a hostile SHTF environment.

This firearm must provide certain enhancements to your journey and be quickly put into action when needed, without being cumbersome to the rest of your kit. Again, each piece of your kit has a job and are only allowed to add weight and take up space in your kit because of what it provides.

I agree with another contributor to this newsletter, Mr. Travis Warlock, that the 22LR caliber does a particularly good job. The ammo is light, plentiful, low cost, and comes in many different designs or intended versions.

It is easy to carry and can be made Hollywood silent with the right selections of accessories. If you need to use this tool, the next consideration is whether it brings attention to you or where you are. Normally, this would be detrimental to your survival as a single person or in a small family unit unable to go wage war on those attempting to maraud you or your supplies.

Looking at the tool and its design helps us select certain firearms over others. This is a very individualized process. There may be considerations based on an individual’s body type, ailments, or other limitations. As you read other survival authors’ suggestions on this subject, the Henry survival rifle and the Ruger 10/22 typically make the top of their lists of recommendations. Both are great tools with many different upgrades available to them. The Ruger 10/22 platform has an en- tire industry built around it, with all kinds of upgraded parts available. The Henry survival rifle even floats when in storage mode. I would suggest you look past these models to a more compact tool that is easier to clean and carry with you everything else you need to survive during your journey. I feel a pistol is an easier tool—both to carry, and to access on the trail. You can overcome the limitations in its design by practicing and learning about its capabilities. The pistol can be carried in a holster or pouch on one’s belt, or somewhere in the front of their load-carrying gear. It could even be carried out in such a way that no one would know what it was, and it would still be available immediately if needed.

The pistol I would suggest is the Ruger 22/45 MKIV pistol, with some accessories to complete its mission in your kit. This model of firearm is very popular, with aftermarket parts and upgrades available: everything from trigger packs to magazine enhancements and assorted parts. The Ruger MKIV is noticeably light, handy, and can be carried with an extra 10-inch barreled receiver if you want to get the most out of the cartridge in your kit. I would select the much shorter 5-inch tactical barreled receiver, but there are plenty of different configurations on the market to choose. The short- er barrel lengths will provide a quieter firearm and employing the 10-inch barrel gives you the most velocity possible from the little 22LR cartridge, enhancing accuracy when needed. The 22LR cartridge builds velocity up to about 11 inches of barrel length; after that length, the little cartridge will actually slow down, because the powder has all been burnt up. The shorter tactical barrel is threaded for a suppressor and also has rails on top and bottom for both a red dot and a flashlight. Both items will enhance the usefulness of this tool in your toolbox.

In addition to the aforementioned accessories, I would also put a lanyard loop of some sort on it to keep the tool in your kit when climbing over tree trunks or through tunnels. You can enhance the internal parts with the addition of trigger packs, or an extractor from Tandemkross or Volquartsen. Getting a 22 LR suppressor for this tool makes it much more useful if needed. You can also disable the magazine cut-off with aftermarket parts, and putting magazine bumpers on your mags can make them survive the added abuse of a SHTF situation. This pistol can be broken down with the push of a button and would only require a basic cleaning kit to maintain it in the field. All-around, this pistol provides a great selection to your INCH or BOB or get home kit and is worth the space and weight it takes up.

A firearm is not a necessary part of your kit but can be a welcome addition to your toolbox. Using something that is dependable, plentiful, and customized makes it an enhancement and not a liability in the end.

In conclusion, each tool in your kit— including the firearm—is part of your last-ditch effort to survive whatever calamity you have been put through, and you should scrutinize the worthiness of each tool’s place in your kit.

Every month I come across a bunch of resources and new products that might be of interest to preppers. Starting this month, I am going to gather up a list and publish it here. Do not take anything listed here to be an item I endorse unless I specifically say so.

If you have a product or a service that you think should be on one of these lists, drop me a line at editor@readymagazine.com and I will take a look at it.

The Warrior Poet Society Network

Let’s start with a service that I do endorse. The Warrior Poet Society is the brainchild of John Lovell, a retired army ranger and firearms instructor. One of the services that he provides is the Warrior Poet Society Network (WPSN), a streaming service with high quality instruction for those of us interested in firearms.

The service is like Make Ready from Panteao Productions in that it provides quality instructions from qualified instructors, but where I think it excels is in the other subjects it covers. Make Ready has a series of survival and preparations that are worthwhile, including a series of videos by Dave Canterbury that are great. WPSN does it a bit better.

They have been introducing many preparedness related series from the instructors from the Survival Summit, including EJ Snyder from Naked and Afraid. They have series on bugging in, bugging out, land navigation and several other important subjects in addition to shooting, martial arts, and videos from several popular YouTube channels that provide review and 2^nd Amendment advocacy.

Membership in WPSN is $9.99 a month and can be found at https://www.watchwpsn.com/.

TopoView

Maps are an important preparedness tool. Of all the diverse types, topographical maps must be at the top of most must have preparedness tool lists. TopoView, an online service of the United States Geological Survey, is the best source on the net for topographical maps.

TopoView is a searchable database of all maps, going back to the 1880’s in some cases, for all the US. They are available in four formats. The most useful of these is the GEOPDF. These downloads are all free. They are all in the appropriate document size, to scale and in full color.

You should keep in mind that you will have to print the maps yourself and that can get expensive. Most OfficeMax/Office Depot will have the large format printers required and use decent quality paper. You should also investigate waterproofing for your maps.

James Townsend & Son YouTube Channel

We are blessed today with incredible technology. We can communicate around the world in seconds, carry hundreds of books on a tablet the size of a notebook and we can carry more computing power in our pockets then the ones on the first missions to the moon. But what if it all went away?

We have several tools today to keep our tech running. The light of the sun, the movement of the wind, and even the heat of a fire can be harnessed to charge phones, tablets, and other devices. It is a remarkable thing, but there is real value in learning how things were done in earlier years. This is what James Townsend & Son does just this.

The owners of this channel also have a business that specializes in clothing, equipment, and supplies for 17^th & 18^th century reenactors, and they use the YouTube channel to promote their business. They do this by teaching viewers cooking and building methods from this period. I have learned a lot from the videos and have incorporated some of these skills into my preparedness planning. The videos are also just a plain enjoyable watch. They can be found at https://www.youtube.com/user/jastownsendandson

I hope that this first installment of Survival Resources is helpful to my readers. Look for the next list soon.

The post Survival Resources for October 2022 first appeared on Ready Magazine.

When Live Free USA was founded in 1968, the specter of nuclear war was the primary driver for the survivalist movement. We still had programs on basic preparedness, outdoor survival, and self-defense, but nuclear war and the chaos and violence that would follow was the scenario that motivated interest in survival education and preparation. When we thought that the Cold War had ended in the 1990s, the survivalist movement almost collapsed. All of the survival publications went out of business, and every survival organization except Live Free USA dissolved. We continued to fight the growing complacency and world events such as global-terrorism, rampant crime, violent weather, and economic instability revitalized support for individual safety and self-reliance. Still, support for survivalism never returned to Cold War levels. The advent of a worldwide pandemic that generated massive civil unrest and economic instability certainly highlighted the instability, and vulnerability of our highly dependent and centralized society. Amid all of these threats to life and freedom, the potential for nuclear war has reemerged in even more dangerous forms.

While the theory of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) worked to avert a nuclear holocaust through the late Twentieth Century, and treaties and inspection temporarily provided some level of prevention in the past two decades, none of these preventive agents apply today.

Cold War era ballistic missiles took time to launch and followed a long arching trajectory to the target. Once a launch was detected, the target nation would have time to launch its own missiles. So the missiles would pass each other on the way to their targets. If one launches, they both are annihilated. No one wins. Mutually assured destruction. But now we have hypersonic cruise missiles that are hard to detect and travel at over 4,000 mph (miles per hour). These weapons will reach their targets in minutes, before the victims have time to launch a counter strike. Like an old fashioned Western gun fight, the winner is whoever draws and shoots first. While the United States civil defense programs just designated various basements as fallout shelters, the old Soviet Union had constructed hundreds of hardened underground installations complete with workshops, hospitals, and housing for thousands. These installations were virtual underground cities connected by miles of tunnels and railroads. Many of these facilities were located in the Ukraine and the Crimea. It should be very concerning that Russia has reactivated and updated many of these formerly abandoned sites, and has been building more, while our military was spending billions chasing cave-dwellers in Afghanistan.

During the Cold War, the world was relatively stable with just two super powers being very careful. In fact, the Soviets were so worried about unauthorized launches that their prelaunch protocols were more stringent than ours. Today we have unstable and rogue leaders and multiple nations with nuclear weapons and multiple scenarios for their use.

In the early days of the Cold War (1950-1980), large single warhead bombs, and then ballistic missiles, were the primary threat. Civil defense maps indicated areas of destruction radiating from the center of a target city or base. More recently, missiles are fitted with multiple smaller warheads and decoys, so it is more likely that a number of nukes would bracket a city and do far more damage much farther away from the city center. Instead of one 25 megaton blast in downtown Chicago, we could see five to ten, one to five megaton warheads detonating from northern Waukegan to northwest Indiana extending the un-survivable range out to 50 or more miles, and the damage out to 100 miles. With a combination of incoming multiple-warhead (MIRV or multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle) ballistic missiles, and hypersonic cruise missiles, the residents would have zero chance of escape or survival. Unless they had already put themselves some distance from the area, or had evacuated days in advance.

Typical missile payload with nine nuclear warheads. A typical “boomer” submarine may carry as many as 24 of these missiles with this many warheads; that is 24 x 9 = 216.

How Could a Nuclear War Start?

During the Cold War, the scenario was that the USSR or the US might launch due to miscalculation or mistake of some kind. This almost happened in October 1962, an event known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. But, the specter of MAD and careful communications between Moscow and Washington averted a true disaster. Today, we have multiple scenarios that could lead to an exchange of nuclear warheads. The following events could occur in a domino-like sequence or individually.

1. A protracted regional war that spreads into a larger conventional war, resulting in threatened use of nuclear weapons.
2. The use of a few tactical nuclear weapons by one or both combatants in an attempt to achieve a tactical victory or break a stalemate.
3. A full exchange of tactical nuclear weapons limited to the battle field and support regions.
4. A limited nuclear attack aimed at military, government installations, and infrastructure within the combatant nations only.
5. A full-scale nuclear exchange between nations intended to kill civilians and totally destroy all industry and infrastructure.

At this writing, we are already at stage one of the above possibilities.

Back in the Cold War days, there were three attitudes about survival preparations for a nuclear war.

• The first was what we called the “Titanic Syndrome”: I can’t survive so why prepare? Our argument for this was: “Yea, but what if you do survive the initial blasts and aren’t prepared enough to survive the aftermath?”
• The second attitude was “It will be so horrible that I don’t want to survive it.” And our response: “Sure, you will be the most desperate and dangerous person out there killing folks for food, because you didn’t prepare.”

Both of the above attitudes were just cop-outs and denial by irresponsible citizens.

• Of course our attitude was that preparedness provides hope and is the responsibility of every good citizen regardless of the threat scenario.

Surviving a Nuclear War

While the threat of a nuclear war (limited or total) has reemerged and is more possible than ever, all of the civil defense preparations and public education that existed during the Cold War is long-gone and forgotten. Live Free USA will be updating and republishing our nuclear war survival articles in the coming months. There are plenty of ways that you can survive or at least increase your chances to survive nuclear war scenarios.

• The war may be limited to combat zones or only some domestic targets, in which case collateral damage and radioactive fallout will be survivable by those who know what to do and are properly prepared.
• If you live in a small town or rural area there will be little blast damage or primary radiation, but being able to mitigate fallout exposure, sustain isolation, and defend against desperate marauders will be essential.
• You may be away from the target area due to luck or good anticipatory planning. Having complete survival packs, weapons and if possible a safe retreat area will give you a chance to survive.
• You may have followed my first rule of survival (“Anticipate”) and have decided to take an out-of-town vacation or visit rural friends during an international crisis. Of course, you will have your survival packs and extra gear with you and maybe more stored at your friends’ place, as well.
• If you live outside the zone of total destruction, you may be injured and/or exposed to initial radiation and then fallout. You would find yourself among hordes of desperate and unprepared refugees. Your self-rescue capabilities, first-aid skills, survival packs, respirators, weapons and ammunition will greatly increase the survival chances for you and your family.

Conclusion

The increasing potential for a nuclear war should concern and motivate every responsible citizen. Modern technology has increased the potential lethality of such an event, while presenting significant challenges to survival. The effects of a general nuclear war are horrific, but many would survive the initial blasts and fires. Many of those who survive the first days of such a cataclysm would succumb to radiation sickness, starvation, disease, and violence unless they have acquired knowledge and made preparations to survive. The eleventh rule of survival is “Never Give Up!”

• Nuclear War Survival Skills by Cresson H. Kearny and forwarded by Edward Teller* of the Manhattan Project. A nuclear war survival manual commissioned by the US Government.
• Better Read than Dead by T.F. Nieman. This occasionally republished book was popular in the 1980s and includes a lot of fallout protection information. The title was a reference to the survivalist slogan “Better Dead than Red” back then.
• My old Radiological Monitoring manual from a course a Live Free USA member took for a county civil defense agency.
• A small fallout shelter sign from the 60s. Shelters were stocked with food, water, medicine, and radiation monitoring instruments. No such shelters exist today.

*I met Edward Teller when we were both speaking at the American Society for Civil Defense convention in Los Vegas in the 1980’s

The Alien Sedition Act of 1789 forbade publication of malicious and scandalous writings against the United States Government.  In response to this unconstitutional violation of  rights, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison initiated what was called the Virginia and Kentucky Resolution they calling for the "Nullification" of Federal laws, by the States when such laws were deemed to be unjust.  Some interpreted them as a threat of insurrection and civil war.  Fortunately they were never tested and the Alien and Sedition Laws were allowed to expire.  One wonders if the concept of state "nullification" may rise again if Federal overreach occurs.  The article below was published in the Jan/Feb issue of American Survivor.  Live Free members get a new issue semimonthly.  We have constantly for told of the current challenges to life and freedom and how to cope with them.  JOIN NOW!

There should be no confusion about N95 respirators providing protection against Covid-19 infection. If worn properly and consistently, they prevent inspiration and expiration of the SARS-CoV2 virus that causes Covid-19, end of story, full stop. This is not my opinion, it is my “expert” opinion.  Unlike most of the internet gurus and purveyors of conspiracy theories, I actually have qualifications and training related to respiratory protection. I have certificated training from both OSHA and the American Society of Safety Engineers. I specified, fit tested and trained people for respiratory protection from N95 respirators, through full-face filter respirators and Self Contained Breathing Apparatus as a Safety Manager for a major chemical company. I also trained in appropriate biological respiratory protection as an EMT.

The N95 Respirator

These are true respirators not just masks. When worn according to the instruction on the box they provide very effective protection against airborne pathogens, toxic dust particles, soot, and toxic mist droplets. They also provide effective protection against inhalation of radioactive dust particles. They do not provide protection against poison gasses such as chlorine, ammonia or carbon monoxide.  Unless you anticipate a poison gas attack or a chemical spill scenario, an N95 is all you need. They are cheap and easy to have with you.  While they are classified as “disposable” they can be decontaminated with exposure too UV light including sunlight.  They should be stored in plastic bags when not on use.

The reason that the CDC and other agencies did not emphasize N95 respirators at the start of the pandemic is because (1) they wanted to hoard enough for medical professional and (2) there was already a shortage because China had bought up huge quantities before letting the world know about Covid-19.  You saw everyone in China wearing N95 masks back in March. China’s draconian mandating of wearing mask brought the pandemic under control much faster than in other countries.  While I would not advocate such a mandate in a free country, that should have been a strong recommendation for Americans from the start*. I had about twenty-five N95’s at home in January and managed to buy one more box of twenty in late March. N95 respirators are the gold standard for use by medical professionals who are exposed to airborne pathogen all day that should tell you all you need to know.

Some people claim that they can’t breathe while wearing these respirators. Unless you have a very serious respiratory illness, this is mainly psychological. I trained employees who wore these masks continuously for hours of hard work in hot conditions. At 79-years of age I wear N95’s throughout full workouts at the fitness center.

Face Masks

Since the professionals and smart survivors had already grabbed up the available N95’s a number of alternative masks came into use. Common blue surgical mask are designed to prevent pathogens from the mouth and nose of surgeons and other ER and OR personnel from infecting patients who are in an otherwise sterile environment.  They are not intended as “respiratory protection’ but provide limited protection against inspiration of pathogens.  Some versions have a double-layer that provides better protection. Soft cloth mask in various designs seem to be the most popular choice.  If worn tightly against the face, these should be good enough for protection against coughs, and breaths carrying at virus. Those with a double layer of cloth are best

Bandannas and Neck Gators

In my books I recommend carrying a bandanna as an “everyday carry” items for use as a bandage, tourniquet, and last resort respirator, but it is no substitute for an N95 or even a good cloth face mask. Neck gators are also inadequate.  The best I can say for them is that they are BTN (better than nothing) in an emergency. They may meet the letter of the “face mask required” regulation, but you are fooling yourself if you think they are as effective as cloth masks or true respiratory.

Gas Masks and Half-Face Filter Respirators

While these devices are effective, they are bulky, uncomfortable and difficult to fit properly, while offering no more effective protection than the light weight N95 respirators.  Gas masks are for gas!  Unless you live down wind of a hazardous chemical facility they are a waste of money.

Conclusion

Respiratory protection is a very effective way to avoid contracting Coved-19, and any other airborne pathogen.  N95 respirators are the best choice for respiratory protection, but cloth masks and surgical masks are certainly better than no protection when N95’s are unavailable.  As the pandemic subsides, I will be restocking my survival supplies with N95 respirators. So should you.

*If the government had prohibited the wearing of masks or respirators, I would have defied that order, because it’s just smart survival practice to wear them.

We recently updated our well known Preparedness Overview flyer that we distribute at our meetings and presentations.  anyone is welcome to reprint this as a public service.

The Special Edition of American Survivor is distributed free at preparedness expos and events as a sample of our membership newsletter.  American Survivor is the oldest and most respected survival/preparedness publication in the USA, and has been especially accurate in predicting the  pandemic, civil unrest, severe weather and economic decline in recent times.  More importantly it has provided information on how to prepare for and survive these and other challenges now and in the future. Online members have access to over seventy back issues of American Survivor as well as each new issue as it is published. Members can also opt for hard-copy mailing.

Recent articles in American Survivor included: Revolution and Civil War (July 2020), Is America Headed for Another Revolution? (Jan/Feb. 219), and Decent Into Chaos (Jan/Feb 2015). Unfortunately these articles were far more accurate than we would have guessed. As a result, it may be timely to publish a modified version of the chapter in my recent book devoted to "Military Skills for the Survivalist". Note: the book is 150 Survival Secrets, by James C. Jones from Skyhorse  publishing of NY and covers many controversial and challenging survival subjects.

• Preparedness Overview Flyer, 12-10
• American Survivor Special,3-15
• Military Skills for Survival,12-18

A world-wide pandemic has been one of the survival challenges addressed in numerous articles in this publication over the past several decades. I will not review all of the information and disinformation related to this specific pandemic event, but must assure readers that it will not be the last. Overpopulation, urbanization and massive international travel virtually guarantee new pandemics within the next decade or two.  I will remind all that scientists calculate the earth capacity to support civilized human population at around four-billion, while we have over seven-billion.  At some point nature and human nature will begin to put the brakes on population growth and probably reduce it significantly.  In fact some studies predicted that the population at the end of the twenty-first century may be close to what it was at the start of the twentieth-century. Pandemics, famines, shortages, and conflicts are inevitable. Our interlocked centralized systems create a domino effect that has been clearly demonstrated during the Coronavirus pandemic event.  Even while the actual number of infections and deaths was far below that of the common flu, panic has generated a stock market crisis, and even some violence and looting. At this writing it is difficult to anticipate the full impact of this current pandemic, but I will enumerate the potential for this or for the next pandemic.

• Hospitals and medical facilities will be overwhelmed leaving those who need care for other medical emergencies to suffer or even die.
• Hospitals, nursing homes, schools, and clinics will be hot-beds for transmission of the pathogen, and will be abandoned or quarantined.
• Those requiring life sustaining care or medications may be unable to obtain it.
• Medications, respirators, and cleaning supplies will be unavailable.
• The shortages of respirators and protective clothing for workers in the chemical, medical and construction trades will result in layoffs and unemployment and the unavailability of products.
• Vital services will be affected as medical personnel, firefighters, and police become ill or stay home to protect their families.
• Delivery of groceries may be slow as drivers are affected by the illness.
• Business will close and the stock market will fall into recession.

If the pandemic is sustained and the mortality rate is high

• The stock market will crash
• Stores and warehouses will be looted
• Civil disorder may break out in urban areas.
• Garbage pickup, water pump maintenance and electrical grid maintenance may be affected by employee absences and civil disorder.
• Political unrest and oppression may develop.

Not all of the above effects may develop this time, but must be anticipated and prepared for.  Of course the chances of another pandemic occurring in a few years after this one are exactly the same as they were before this one, so preparedness is just as important going forward.

Epidemics and pandemics can also be the secondary result of civil unrest, the breakdown of sanitation services, shortages and economic chaos. Even a cyber-attack, electromagnetic pulse, or grid failure could lead to a pandemic and of course there is the potential for a deliberate distribution of pathogens by terrorists or hostile nations.   With that in mind let’s review viral diseases in general and some of the methods for prevention and treatment of viral diseases.

Viruses are much smaller than bacteria and are made up of a material with an exterior protein. Viruses cannot make their own protein like most other cells, and therefore are dependent on a host for survival. Each virus targets a specific body organ such as the lungs, liver or even the blood.  Viruses are not affected by antibiotics.  The best protection against viruses is a strong immune system and good personal hygiene.  While some viruses such as measles, rubella, mumps, and smallpox and polio are preventable through vaccination other are not.  Vaccinations for various forms of flu and pneumonia are only partially effective. The following is only a partial list of the most common viruses.

• Influenza
• Chickenpox
• HIV
• Ebola
• Polio
• Mumps
• Hepatitis
• Shingles
• Lyme disease
• Smallpox
• Measles
• Herpes
• Some types of colds

Viruses can be transmitted from contact with infected animals such as birds, pigs, bats, rodents, dogs, horses. Other viruses can be transmitted from animal bites, and insect bites such as tics, flies, mosquitos and lice.  Human transmission can result from skin contact, oral contact, and sexual contact and close respiratory contact, such as coughing.  Viruses can survive in air for as long as three hours and on surfaces for two-to-three days to infect others who touch them.

Vitamins for Prevention and Treatment

It has been found that low levels of Vitamin D3 resulted in increased vulnerability to cold and flu. A strong correlation has been found between those with TB, and hepatitis C., and Vitamin D3 deficiencies. Vitamin D3 helps the body make an antibiotic protein called cathelicidin that is known to kill viruses, fungi, parasites and bacteria.  During flu season (during an epidemic) it is recommended to take 50,000 IU daily for the first 5-days and then 5,000 to 10.000 daily the thereafter

More than thirty clinical studies have confirmed the antiviral effects of Vitamin C against a wide range of flu viruses.  Vitamin C inactivates the virus while strengthening the immune systems ability to resist the virus.  The general recommendation is 10.000 mg orally, daily, but some stronger viruses’ (like Corona) may require intravenous doses as high as 100,000 to 150,000 mg.  If IV vitamin C is not available a gradual increase of oral Vitamin C up to 50,000 mg may be possible before bowel tolerance is reached.

Herbal Remedies

A variety of studies have shown that some herbal remedies are effective against some viruses.  Elderberry can be effective against influenza A and B.  Astragulus root is effective against the Coxsackie B virus. Licorice root has been use to treat hepatitis C and HIV.  Olive leaf has been proven effective in the treatment of flu, colds, hepatitis C, malaria, Gonorrhea, and tuberculosis.

Other foods that may be effective in prevention and treatment of viral infections include:

• Wild blueberries
• Sprouts
• Cilantro
• Coconut oil
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Sweet potatoes
• Turmeric
• Kale
• Parsley
• Red clover

Non-Viral Infections

It is important to keep in mind that while most epidemic pathogens are viral, and not affected by antibiotics, but other non-viral pathogens such as Streptococcus, Salmonella, E Coli, Tuberculosis, Cholera , and Bubonic plague may beset the infected victim who may have a weakened immune system, be undernourished, or  exposed to poor sanitation.  For this reason antibiotics should still be kept available.  Antibiotics are available from pet supply stores, fish supply stores, and survival supply outlets.  These are exactly the same products as are prescribed for humans, but at a much lower price, without any prescription required. It is advisable to maintain a supply of these, but they are not to be used for viral infections.

Self-prescribed and obtained antibiotics should be used only when no other alternative is available and serious infections and diseases are evident or imminent.  Antibiotics are most effective against various types of plague pathogens that could be the primary source of an epidemic and against many secondary infections common in disasters    Dosages information can be obtained from the internet, the Merck Manual and are based on the type of disease and patient. Yes, in some cases the survivor may be forced to guess and err on the side of more.  Adult dosages of most antibiotics range from 250 mg to 500 mg every 6 to 10 hours.  Dosage decreases with child ages.

Penicillin is the first antibiotic that was developed in 1928.  It is also the longest over-used and some bacteria have become resistant to it.  Penicillin is generally effective against common Staphylococcus and streptococcus infections as well as Clostridium and Listeria genera.  These common bacterial infections would be anticipated in open wounds and contaminated water and food during a long-running disaster.  About 10% of the population may be allergic to penicillin.

Amoxicillin is effective in treating ear infections, strep throat, pneumonia, skin infections, urinary tract infections and other types of bacterial infections.  It also is used for some kinds of stomach infections. It has been used effectively for people exposed to anthrax.  Its effectiveness against pneumonia and skin infections make it an essential survival medication, since these infections are most common in disasters and nuclear events. Amoxicillin should not be given to those who are allergic to penicillin.

Cephalexin is effective against infections of the middle ear, bones, joints, skin and urinary tract. It can also be used against certain kinds of pneumonia and strep throat. Cephalexin is not effective against methicillin-resistant staphylococcus known as MRSA.

The bottles of antibiotics above were purchased from BUDK  at www.BUDK.COM or call 800-543-5061.  Each bottle contains 30 x 250 mg tablets. Penicillin costs $16.99, Amoxicillin costs $12.99 and the Cephalexin cost $14.99.

Conclusions

While the full effects of the current Coronavirus have yet to be determined, we can anticipate that epidemics and pandemics will be part of the threat-matrix that modern, responsible citizens must prepare for.  Government agencies and the health system will never be fully able to anticipate and react to new pathogens, before they spread and affect the general population.  High population densities, combined with global travel, and immigration guarantee even more lethal outbreaks in the future. Ultimately the individual citizen, family and group must take strong independent preparatory and preventive action to survive the direct effects (illness) of an epidemic, but also the greater secondary effects on the economy and society.  A few key preparedness and preventive actions are listed below

• The ability to isolate yourself from human contact to from 30 to 60 days is the most important and effective way to prevent exposure. This requires that you have sufficient water, food, fuel, medications and other critical supplies in advance.  This is sufficient for the any immediate and passing emergency, but an extended and more lethal event could result in the need for far more well developed and equipped survival and evacuation capacities.
• Maintain general health, weight and exercise greatly improves your chances of surviving any illness. Poor eating habits, lack of exercises, smoking, and neglected health maintenance is an invitation to infections.
• Always have plenty of N95 respirators, hand sanitizer, bleach, and disinfectants on hand.
• Good hygiene including frequent hand washing, and avoidance of touching your face is important.
• Frequently clean all frequently touched surfaces such as doorknobs, railings, table tops with a household disinfectant.
• When away from home, clean hands before and after touching shopping carts, door handles, fire arms, money, and other frequently touched surfaces.
• Have a clean handkerchief to cover your mouth when you cough. Carrying a N95 folding respirator is advisable, as you could be caught in a closed space or in proximity to coughers.
• Avoid anyone who has flu-like symptoms or any location (e.g. schools, nursing homes, hospitals) where virus may be more prevalent.
• Avoid large gatherings and close proximity to groups period.
• At the first sign of flu-like symptoms seek medical help. Get tested and take aggressive treatment.  The sooner treatment begins the greater your survival chances will be.
• Support your immune system with supplemental doses of Vitamin C and Vitamin D3 as mentioned above.

As we enter the year 2020 we can anticipate further political chaos and agitation on the streets of America. It is difficult to predict how violent or widespread civil disorder will be, but it is something most should be prepared for.  Even those living in rural areas can be affected by the economic and social impact of any breakdown in law and order in their region.   The article below was published in Live Free's newsletter last year.  For more detailed survival information on a wide range of topics, we hope you will join. 

We live in an unstable and increasingly unsafe society.  While a sense of normalcy and safety still prevails the indications of societal disintegration and impending social chaos abound.  The sheer multiplicity of negative trends and events constantly weakens our capacity to maintain order and safety.

Increasingly frequent natural and manmade disasters drain our economy and overstretch our emergency response resources. The following list of challenges and trends should convince any responsible citizen that a dark-age of civil chaos and general lawlessness lies ahead.

• The ongoing condemnation and persecution of police and emergency responders will continue to limit their ability to protect the public. Law enforcement officers must be more cautious and hesitant to pursue, detain and subdue suspects. In turn, criminals are more likely to flee, resist or employ weapons against the police.
• Disparagement of the police and disrespect for the law has emboldened criminals of all types. Carjacking’s, street robberies, bank robberies, theft from parked vehicles, burglaries, shoplifting, and other crimes are becoming more rampant each year. The courts often release such criminals on the suspects own recognizant or home monitoring while awaiting trial and then hands down probation or reduced sentences.
• Even so-called “gun crimes” by repeat felons are often given a proverbial “slap on the wrist” punishments or early releases from short prison sentences.
• Smash and grab crimes where multiple criminals use sledgehammers or stolen vehicles to smash through windows or even walls to access valuables and escape before police arrive are more and more frequent in every urban and suburban region.
• Violent crimes against the elderly and even the disabled are popular activities for the criminal class today.
• Drive-by shootings and vehicle-to-vehicle shootouts on our expressways is an increasing trend.
• The ongoing opioid epidemic added to the long-existing drug crisis in America and the world drives more people into the criminal world of gangs, violence and desperation.
• Extremists and mentally deranged are increasingly turning to various forms of violence acts.
• The internet and social-media facilitates flash-mob crimes where dozens of people suddenly overwhelm a store, grab merchandise and then flee before anyone can react. The internet has also made fencing stolen goods much easier and more profitable than before.
• Virtually every social and political issue now generates a demonstration that ties up police resources, disrupts business, blocks traffic and often results in violence or even outright riots and looting. There are whole organizations devoted to supporting any kind of civil disorder and several secretive, national groups that are focused on initiating violence at any type of demonstration.
• The budgets for law enforcement, fire departments, court systems and detention centers are inadequate in most urban areas and will continue to decline in the coming decades. Raising taxes causes law abiding tax payer to flee as does increased crime rates. This leaves only the poorer residents and welfare recipients who pay little or no taxes at all.  Most urban areas are caught in a death spiral of rising taxes, crime, and declining revenues.  This can only lead to instability and potential massive violence.
• The recent 2016 election cycle provided a glimpse of the social/political instability and division. The internet and the mass-media continues to amplify division and support extreme viewpoints as we approach the 2018 and the 2020 elections.  The various sides are already gearing up for a contentious and possibly violent confrontations on many issues. No-matter what the results of these elections may be, we can anticipate violent demonstrations, active resistance and even revolutionary activities that exceed those of the turbulent 1960s and 1970s.

While some of these trends have marked previous times in American history and one or two of them alone could not be expected to generate a general collapse of law-and-order in our society, if continued, the combined effects of these trends may well lead to an unprecedented level of chaos and violence within the next few years. The period of violence and civil disorder generated by the combination of issues and agitation in the late 1960s and early 1970s offers some valuable lessons and examples.  I living in Chicago during these times, I witnessed the causations and effects of the violent events of those times.  The civil-rights movement, the anti-Viet Nam War movement and several other social/political movement were coopted by communists, and special interest groups with dark agendas.  Certainly the Soviet Union financed the more violent groups in order to weaken the United States.  Big financial interests benefited from massive real-estate displacements and public housing developments.  Government agencies grew stronger and more intrusive. So-called revolutionary groups abounded with shooting, looting and bombing culminating in the great riots that destroyed whole communities and initiated a trend towards disrespect, division and crime that continues to this day. At that time America still had a solid middle class and a foundation of shared conservative values that was sufficient to check the slide toward outright revolution and disaster.  The “greatest generation” of citizens who had built America and defeated tyrants and aggressors in World War Two were the dominant population then. Regrettably, today’s population lacks these unifying values and shared sense of responsibility.

The riots and demonstrations of the 1960s and 1970s were contained within the inner-cities and to downtown and government facilities.  While I lived in Chicago during these times and I certainly knew enough to avoid going downtown or through certain areas, life went on as normal for the great majority. Crime and looting did not spill-over into adjoining communities or suburbs.  Although there was real concern that these disruptions could generate a true revolution America was far too strong and unified and these movements eventually (literally and figuratively) burned themselves out.  They did however implant ideas, trends and cultures that have continued to weaken, destabilize and divide American society as we face a new age of internal conflict.

Previously, the dominant social force in America has been conservative, self-reliant, America values that were resistant to any “isum” or extremist views.  This central, law-abiding mass tended to dampen any tendency towards violence.  Unfortunately the dominant tendencies today are dependency oriented, self-centered and disrespectful of society and other individuals. The media and the internet can easily foment nation-wide discontent leading to violence that would affect every community.

Today’s more homogenous communities make it far more probable that any general uprisings will spill into adjoining communities than was true in the 60s and 70s.  Shopping centers in more affluent and “safe” communities will not likely be spared.  Gangs and bands of criminals will not be hesitant to roam widely as police are over-occupied or driven away. This is already evident in the kinds of crime-waves being experienced in most suburban areas now.

Today criminals use google earth to locate affluent homes and shopping centers now and will be able to use this tool along with social-media to organize raids and looting.  No area will be immune to attack during any future outbreak.

Having made my case that law-and-order is already breaking down and could easily degenerate into wide-spread and long-term chaos, let’s consider what steps the responsible citizen can take to survive, avoid or escape from violence ravaged areas.

The survival challenges will differ depending on your location, but there will be no “safe zones”.  Violence and war tends to flow in various ways, so that one part of a town may be ravaged to ruination while another is relatively untouched.  Even in places like Berlin during World War Two or modern day Bagdad there were/are areas relatively untouched and nearly normal, but no-one can assume that their home or community will be spared.  We can predict that some kinds of areas will be more dangerous than others and have different challenges that will require differing preparations and responses. Let’s call them “red zones”, “orange zones” and “yellow zones”.

Red Zones would be inner city, high population density and high value commercial centers where crime rates are already high, gangs have established a solid footing and any disruption to police protection, utilities or support can quickly flash into uncontrollable violence, looting, fires and crime.  The police barley maintain control of such regions today and would be virtually helpless against a general collapse.

• Avoidance and prevention: obviously moving to a safer area will improve survivability, but many citizens have economic, family and social responsibilities that effect our choice of locations. If moving is not an option, then getting involved and working to build a stronger, safer and more stable community is the only way to avoid being caught-up in a societal disaster?  Take action now if you can.
• Preparation and planning: Preparation and planning: Being able to stay off the streets is critical. Having enough food, water, medications and other necessities to ride-out a crisis is your first step to survival in most situations. Red zone residents must give more attention to active defense and the possibility that escape and evacuation will be an unavoidable necessity in their preparation and planning.  Bug-out bags and weapons are a necessity.  Consider discussing mutual defense and aid plans with your neighbors and relatives in advance.
• Active and passive defense: Once civil disorder erupts in your area, you will be forced to take up an armed defensive posture. Blocking doors and windows, establishing a 24/7 watch schedule and having loaded firearms and extra ammunition is justified in such situations.  You should also move all flammables and combustibles away from windows and have plenty of large fire extinguisher on hand as arson and Molotov -cocktails are a favorite tool of insurgents. Do not fire on anyone unless they have initiated action against your home.  Don’t do anything to attract attention.
• Evacuation and escape: In many cases escape from a riot-torn area may be your best and only option. While it may be difficult to abandon your home before you are forced to do so, waiting until you are surrounded and under assault may be too late. Early evacuation may permit you to take more with you and use your vehicle, whereas fleeing at the last-minute may mean doing so on-foot while leaving most of your valuables behind.  You may also want to consider how to hide, secure or even burry items that you cannot take with you to minimized losses if your home is looted or burned.

Orange Zones would usually be communities adjoining the Red Zones, suburbs of major cities, and medium sized towns.  Such areas will have gang presents and local criminals that will seize on opportunities. They have active contacts with the larger Red Zone political extremists and criminal gangs and could facilitate their entry into these communities.  The police forces in such areas are often undermanned, but are dedicated to defending their home towns.

• Avoidance and prevention: You need to analyze the level of risk you face in such areas. Are your neighbor’s responsible citizens or potential threats?  Are you in or near a major commercial center or roadway that will attract looters and criminals? Are there signs of gang presents, drug use and high crime already appearing in your community?   Even a relatively peaceful community may turn into a Red Zone if civil disorder last for more than a few days. Plan accordingly.  Many smaller town and suburban communities have volunteer police auxiliaries and emergency organizations.  It would be beneficial to join and support these groups to strengthen the community and enhance your level of training and awareness.
• Active and passive defense: Assaults and looting is more likely to be hit-and-miss and off-and-on in these areas. Roaming gangs and opportunistic criminals rather than massive mobs will be the main threat.  A well prepared and well-armed citizen may be able to avoid, discourage or drive-off these aggressors. Fences and hedges can help delay or channel assaults away from your home.  Keeping your garage clear enough to actually contain your vehicle out of site is a major advantage.  You must still have a 24/7 watch plan and a well thought out plan for stopping an assault and home invasion by multiple criminals. How close are the adjoining buildings?  Could there occupation by hostile people or their catching fire threaten your safety?  Be prepared to deal with these possibilities.
• Evacuation and escape: While sheltering-in-place is more desirable than evacuation into or through hostile regions, it may still be a forced necessity.  The same principles and tactics for Red Zone evacuations apply, but more routs and options may be available. Think “what if”.

Yellow Zones can be defined as remote small towns and semi-rural areas, away from main highways and commercial centers. While it is unlikely that such locations would initially be the sites of riots or looting they might not be immune to locally generated crimes and acts of violence by individuals and small groups. Drug gangs and extremist groups of all kinds have infiltrated even seemingly peaceful communities. Radicals and criminals are far more mobile than they were decades ago, and isolated and complacent communities could be tempting targets. Such areas often have just a few law enforcement officers who are ill-equipped to handle such threats.

• Avoidance and prevention: Any extended period of civil disorder could result increased, opportunistic criminal activities and roaming gangs endangering residents of outlying communities. Organized community and town defense is a realistic option for such locations. Consider the most likely routs and directions from which threats could appear and de prepared to discourage and reroute potentially dangerous individuals and groups. Organized 24/7 community patrols and response plans will go a long-way in preventing problems.
• Preparation and planning: Generally, being self-reliant and prepared to get by without outside supplies and services for weeks or months will be the main requirement. Community supplies and neighbors helping neighbors is important
• Active and passive defense: Even in the most peaceful communities there are some individuals who will make trouble or commit crimes of opportunity when they think they can get away with it. Identify them in advance if possible. Be vigilant and prepared to deal with attempted robberies, home invasions and other crimes.  A 24/7 watch is advisable when possible.
• Evacuation and escape: If the chaos has reached the point where even small towns and rural areas are unable to maintain public safety things are truly disastrous.  It’s good to have a preplanned place to go and safe route to get there, just in case. At that level of emergency the survival camp and militia-like resistance may be necessary to recover order.

Conclusions

While there are far too many factors in-play to predict when a period of general civil; disorder will develop or how severe and long-lasting such an event will be it seems more likely than not that significant upheavals lie within the next five to ten years or less.  It is also apparent that such developments will impact most communities and that existing law enforcement and emergency response agencies may be inadequate to maintain order, protect the public and prevent looting and property damage. The responsible citizen should be prepared to cope with the challenges of home defense, self-defense, property protection, and if necessary evacuation through hostile surroundings.  Since such situations could also interrupt food supplies, water and electrical services, and access to medical care, the citizen must stock up and build basic survival capabilities as well.  The possibility of massive and enduring periods of civil disorder must be added to the already long list of potential survival challenges that the responsible American citizen of this century must prepare to face unaided if necessary.

While the term “sanctuary cities” has been used to describe municipalities that have chosen not to cooperate with the Immigration and Control and Enforcement agency (ICE) in the enforcement of America’s laws, the term sanctuary and the now established concept of defiance of federal laws by local governments may be essential to defending legal citizens against unconstitutional violations of their civil and constitutional rights. Most of the candidates running for the presidency in 2020 are strong advocates of gun confiscation and socialist (anti self-reliance) legislation. Draconian gun-laws and other oppressive actions must be anticipated at the state and national levels within the next one or two years. While effective individual and small-group resistance to such unconstitutional and un-American activities has little chance of success, there is a real potential for effective and successful resistance on the local, county and state levels, through American sanctuary resolutions and legislation.

In states where so-called “Red Flag” laws have been enacted most of the rural and many of the suburban police departments are simply refusing to enforce them. Some towns and counties have official declared themselves to be “Second Amendment Sanctuaries” in defiance of these laws. Many police officers in urban areas are “pro-gun rights” and the great majority of suburban, small-town and rural police officers are second amendment supporters. They are not going to be knocking down doors and serving warrants on their neighbors and law abiding citizens. They are not going to be welcoming or cooperating with invading federal agents who come to confiscate property and criminalize their friends and relatives. How the federal government would react to massive defiance is difficult to estimate, but the more wide-spread and organized the Constitutional Sanctuary movement is, the more likely they will back-down, without actual violent confrontations. B

efore the federal government enacts unconstitutional legislation, constitutional sanctuary towns, counties and states need to be declared and well established as a deterrent or the basses for national resistance. The establishment of scores of sanctuary states, thousands fs sanctuary counties, and hundreds of thousands of sanctuary towns will not only serve to protect the second amendment, but would be a revolutionary power shift away from centralized authority and back to local and state level autonomy. The first American Revolution started when the British acted to confiscate local armaments. The people understood that once they had lost control of their personal, and locally owned weapons, the British could enact and enforce any laws and taxes that they chose with impunity. Today’s elitist, and socialist look down on local governments and despise individualism and self-reliance, but by going after the guns they may be (as the British did in 1776) enabling a unified and dare I say, revolutionary response in the form of a massive establishment of sanctuary territories supported by law-abiding and responsible citizens who want nothing more than to have their constitutional and human rights respected.

An American Constitutional Sanctuary movement could and should be established. This could be an official organization or a cooperative effort by multiple pro-freedom organizations. A few of the activities that such a movement could and should initiate would include:

• Establishing networks between sanctuary and pro sanctuary towns, counties and organization.
• Initiating petition drives to encourage states, counties and municipalities to establish pro-sanctuary declarations or legislation.
• Sponsoring email campaigns to encourage candidates at all levels to sponsor and support sanctuary legislation and declarations.
• Creating publicity campaigns to support the constitutional sanctuary concept and candidates
• As anti-freedom legislation becomes more imminent, demonstrations and even civil-disobedience could be necessary.

While to specter of gun confiscation, higher taxation, regulation and centralization should be disheartening to those of us who value our rights to self-reliance, the impending struggle offers the opportunity to unite, energize and win. While a sanctuary is generally defined as a place of refuge it can also serve a basis for resistance and victory. .

The author would propose that Live Free USA official declare its support for all constitutional sanctuaries and enact a formal declaration at the next Annual Meeting.

It has been 242-years since the original American Revolution.  The Civil War was a geopolitical split rather than a systemic revolution.  There was certainly a lot of “revolutionary” activity during the late 1960s and early 1970s, but these movements were limited to a small segment of the population.  During these decades the vast majority of the population still shared a set of common values in a stable economy. The “Greatest Generation” that had recently made America great and defeated brutal and dictatorial aggressors was the dominant and stable force in American society at that time.  The radical communist and anarchist forces that seemed to define those decades literally and figuratively, burned themselves out.  However, many of these extremists and their divisive ideologies infiltrated our institutions and society.  A recent issue of Smithsonian magazine headlined 1968 “The Year That Shattered America” and contained a series of articles about the events and movements of those times.  While those times may not have actually “shattered” America, they left a collection of cracks that have grown and expanded to this day.

The United States Government is the oldest and most stable government in the world today.  All of the governments of Europe, Asia, South America and the Middle-East have fallen and risen several times while the USA has stood and prospered.  While many American attribute this to our values and the genius of our Constitution there are other factors that have historically contributed to our stability.

• America has maintained a relatively homogeneous population. While absorbing significant numbers of legal immigrants from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds, America was still expanding in available land, jobs and resources.  There were certainly conflicts, paranoia and prejudices, but it did not truly divide the nation.
• America was generally isolated from foreign influences, religious extremists and political influences and threats. Ethnic and religious hatreds did not migrate into American society as dramatically as they do now.
• America maintained strong values of community, responsibility, self-reliance and patriotism regardless of race, religion or ethnicity. We were Americans first.
• While there were natural inequities in wealth distribution they were not nearly as extreme as they are today. A large, contented and socially responsible middle class still existed.
• America and Americans were not subject to the constant divisive and toxic effects of the internet and social media.

None of these stabilizing factors are true today. Multi-ethnic societies are inherently unstable.  There is no longer an unlimited amount of real-estate, resources or jobs to absorbed even internal population growth.  We are involved with and influenced by divisive and confusing foreign involvements and intrigues. Today’s American is more self-centered, dependency-oriented and less involved in community than any previous generation.  The decades of centralized, big government have replaced responsibility with demanding, demonstrating and blame finding.  The gap between the poor and the ultra-wealthy is disgraceful and growing. The internet now facilitates division rather than unity, conflict rather than discussion and even violence in place of the political process.  Respect for the law and for American values has all but disappeared in many regions.  These are harbingers of future revolutionary developments.

There is a growing number of religious, racial and political elements that are quietly preparing for such a catastrophe.  There is a line in an old movie* about South American revolutions.  The General storms into the presidential palace proclaiming “El Presidente, the rebels are in the suburbs!” to which the dictator says “the rebels are always in the suburbs”. We are becoming more like one of these “Banana Republics”

Effects of Revolutions

With the notable exception of the American Revolution, very few revolutions have ever turned out the way the revolutionaries expected or hoped for.  Ask the Cuban’s or the Russians, or anyone from South America or the Middle East.  While they may start out with high ideals, they usually are co-opted by the most ambitious and brutal participants to create a more corrupt and oppressive state than the one it replaced.  There is an old joke that says that the first thing a successful revolutionary leader must do is kill all of the revolutionaries. If a revolution fails it justifies greater oppression and brutality by the state.

• Revolutions can also degenerate into civil wars that divide the state into warring regions. When this happens, the chances for restoring peace and unity are almost non-existent.
• Wide-spread demonstration can lead to the development of terrorism and even guerilla warfare that plagues the nation and destroys safety and security for generations. The Balkans and the Middle East are prime examples of permanently broken societies and civilizations
• Those who instigate a revolution usually anticipate a quick and clean overthrow. Usually the revolutions are long, divisive and brutal, ruining the nation’s economy and destroying homes, towns and cities.
• Foreign enemies and opportunists insert themselves into revolutions to provide weapons and even “volunteers” to various sides, increasing the level of death and destruction and prolonging the conflict. The longer and more devastating the fighting is, the more power and money they get.

In short: revolution is not a good idea if it can be avoided.

Precursors of Revolution

While conditions appear to be relatively stable as of this date, historically revolutions tend to erupt without much warning when a combination of long simmering disagreements and discontent are ignited.  A few precursors that could set the stage for revolution-like developments include:

• Continued unchecked expansion of violent and non-violent crime leading to a loss in public confidence and trust in the police and further trends towards vigilantes and private security networks.
• Any pervasive economic down-turn generating large-scale unemployment.
• Significant reductions in welfare, social-security, and other benefits.
• Political assassination and violence between political organizations.
• Raids and thefts from armories and gun stores.
• Any extreme shift in government policies either left or right resulting in deprivations, confiscations, or oppressive measures.
• Contested and contentious elections marked by threats, demonstrations and violence.

It is difficult to predict what kind of events will transpire between now and the 2020 elections, but chaos and conflict seem inevitable. It seems doubtful that ether side will accept the results of an election without active resistance.  It is highly possible that there will be more than two parties and that we could have a president and legislature elected without a majority mandate.  Instead of complacent inaction, survivalists should be taking this opportunity to focus on preparing for the hazards of 2019 and 2020.

Surviving a Revolution

Surviving during a revolution can be a tricky business.  You have to cope with the effects of the violence on your basic safety and security while trying to stay on the right side or neutral in the conflict. Sustained revolutionary activities may result in a breakdown in law-and-order, sabotage or cessation of services such as running water, food deliveries, fire protection and medical care.  The fundamental preparedness procedures that permit you to shelter in place or evacuate remain paramount, but defensive and even paramilitary equipment and preparations take on increased importance.  The choices of survival tactics will depend on your political, economic and geographic environment at the time of any uprising.  A few possibilities include:

• You may be able to adopt a neutral position of defensive non-involvement. You do not aggressively take sides but will defend your home and family against any attempted pillaging or violence.
• If your community is predominantly sympathetic to one side or is simply forced to resist threats from a particular element, then you may have no choice but to actively participate in revolutionary or resistance activities.
• If local, state or federal agencies are overthrown or find it expedient to suspend liberties, confiscate property or initiate mass arrests citizens may have no choice except to resist or escape.
• History tells us that revolutions can generate high levels of violence and neighbor-against-neighbor animosity that must be avoided and survived by each person and family pragmatically.

Keeping your mouth shut, your eyes open and your powder dry is always a good maxim for surviving such turbulent times.

Conclusion

While I still regard revolution or revolution-like development as unlikely and undesirable, I can no longer exclude them from the list of “potential” survival threats. My study of history and observation of recent past and current events suggests that our nation is much less stable than in past decades.  If the current trends of divisiveness, violence and discontentment continue the specter of revolutionary activities and even the fall of our way of life must be recognized.  Responsible citizens must resist the temptation to be guided and motivated by media and internet divisive rhetoric and exhortations.  We must do all we can to support responsible law enforcement, and community based volunteer organizations.   But we must also plan and prepare to survive the effects of any kind of civil disorder, sabotage, crime and even revolution that may lie ahead.

Ultimately, gun rights are about the right to life and freedom.  There is no point in talking about emergency preparedness, survival and self-reliance for an unarmed population.

Live Free USA began as a shooting club in the late 1960s.  By the 1970s guns and gun ownership was under such assault that being a “gun club” in Chicago was impossible. It is probably impossible for any of our readers now to comprehend the level of harassment, persecutions, prosecution and prohibitions imposed on us in those times. It seemed inevitable that we would be forced to use muzzle loaders and cross-bows in defense of our lives and our freedoms. The NRA at that time was not a political force and liberals ran rough-shod over the constitution and anyone who sought to exercise the second amendment rights.  Live Free broadened our activities to include survival education and civil-defense while keeping our gun related activity’s underground.  The acceptability of shooting sports, concealed-carry and military-style rifles today has been achieved through decades of struggle.  Since there are many great gun-rights advocacy groups today, Live Free focuses on our core survival and self-reliance mission, but remembering that the capacity for armed defense and resistance is an essential part of survival and self-reliance, I will enumerate some of our positions related to the issue of so-called military-style rifles that have been so maligned in recent weeks.

The ownership of so-called, military-style rifles with high-capacity magazines has nothing to do with hunting or sports shooting. It’s about citizens maintaining the potential to resist foreign or domestic subjugation and oppression.  This does not imply that owners of such weapons are revolutionary, extremists or members of formal militias. They consciously or subconsciously accept the reality that the freedom and security of their families and future generations depends on maintaining the balance of force between the state and the people.  Owners of these weapons have the upmost respect for the laws and the government, but they do so by choice and responsibility, not by fear and submission.

The major difference between the way American citizens think and the way subjects of other countries think originates from the fact that most other peoples were granted their liberties by the state and still believe that power flows from the state, while Americans fought for their freedoms and know that they are the ultimate source of freedoms and authority.  This difference in origins creates an instinctual propensity to be armed or have access to arms that is not shared by citizens of other nations. It is no coincident that America has the oldest government on the planet and the most individual freedoms.

Ultimately: the right to keep and bear arms” is an extension of the human right to self-protection that exists regardless of written laws.  It follows that one must have the means to exercise that right.  One cannot be expected to defend oneself against an armed assailant or an oppressive despot with anything less than what that assailant or oppressor may have. We could not exercise the right to free speech if we were limited to old printing presses while the government controlled the mass media and the internet.  We could not exercise freedom of religion if it was limited to only ancient texts and methods.  So we cannot effectively exercise the right to keep and bear arms if we are limited to anything less than the best and most modern equipment.

The constitution does not say “hunting being a necessity”, it does not say “the ability to resist crime being important” it says “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed”.  There is no ambiguity in this sentence. The second amendment is about military-style arms.  We are guaranteed the right to own, keep and bear military-style arms by the constitution.  The term “regulated” in the eighteens century was defined as well managed or well-maintained, but not regulated by law as the word is used today. The final four words “shall not be infringed” specifically prohibits any form of taxation or governmental action that interferes with this essential right.  The founders did use the generic term ”arms” even though the contemporary “arms” were muzzle-loading muskets and swords.  In fact they were referring to the “military-style” weapons of that time, but these were intelligent, forward thinking man who anticipated advancements and certainly wanted future citizens to “keep and bear” arms that would be equal to those of criminals, invaders and would-be tyrants of the future.

The missus of a right by a few does not justify the prohibition of that right to others.  Trading freedom and responsibility for safety is the poorest bargain a people can make.  Ask the Russians, or the Chines, or the North Koreans or the Mexicans or anyone from a hundred oppressed, depressed and crime-ridden nations that we do not want to live in. The loss of lives caused by a few evil and mentally-ill individuals is truly tragic, but cannot justify turning our back on the freedoms that were bought with the lives and sacrifices of generations of veterans.  Yes, they died for the second amendment as well as our other freedoms and surrendering any of those freedoms is a betrayal of their sacrifices.

In a world spiraling towards increasing political strife, civil disorder, street crime, economic instability, potential epidemics, increasingly severe disasters and terrorist activities, only the most irresponsible and pacified citizen can fail to see their duty to be prepared to meet violent situations in the future.  While the anti-gun movement may be lead (or mislead) by the youth, it is those between the ages of 15 and 25 that may most regret no having access to military-style weapon and ammunition just a few decades in the furfure.  In fact one may want to consider purchasing additional such arms and ammunition to be stored and distributed in the future to the next generations that may desperately need them.

  In Short:  Any action that limits the access to modern, effective military-style firearms to law abiding citizens of the United States is specifically unconstitutional, philosophically un-American, and functional dangerous to the future of life and freedom for us all.   

This Article and the associated checklist is intended to prevent your becoming a victim of a home accident.  A more probable cause of injury than and disaster scenario.

• Home Safety
• Home Safety Checklist

Source: Executive Order 13603 and What it Means for Preppers...…

I’ve been going over “Executive Order 13603” today and thought that you might be interested in taking a look at the following provisions that I pulled directly from the document and pasted below.

What this all boils down to is that the President, can declare a national emergency and then take all resources, even privately owned resources, resources, like your preps and any other private property that they want…

Over the years I’ve read many articles and books which suggest that the biggest threat to your survival post collapse are refugees fleeing the cities or your neighbors coming to take your preps, and while they are a legitimate concern, as you can see by reading the excepts taken directly from executive order 13603, they probably won’t be the biggest threat to your survival.

After the president declares a disaster and enacts executive order 13603, the federal government will first concentrate on taking large commercial farms, fuel produces, fertilizer plants etc, in maybe your local state and county governments who are the first ones coming after the local resources of individuals and families within their state, county and city jurisdictions.

This is why it’s a good idea to have your preps well hidden and backup preps stored away from your home and retreat…

Multiplying Your Survival Choices with Binoculars in Your Pack

One item that is often left out of the survival pack is optical enhancement (binoculars or monocular). Fortunately, today there is a full range of reasonably priced, durable and functional optics. Many years ago the only good binoculars were large, bulks and delicate. On my very limited budget, I had a cheap pair of toy binoculars in my pack. Sure they were junk, but still much better than my one-power eyeballs. I am not an expert on binoculars, but unless you have unlimited fund, buying a pair of Zeiss Terra EDs at $500.00 seems excessive when you can get the same level of magnification and field for less than $100.00 and use the other $400.00 for other survival needs.
I do have a large pair of binoculars at home that I bought in the 1960s. These 20x50 optics are good for home situations (not to mention astronomy), but too bulky for the pack. In compliance with my own “not what you have, but what you have with you” rule I have a small pair of 10x25 binoculars that I carry in my truck (along with my Emergency Response Guidebook) for road situations. I carry a slightly larger pair of 16x32 Bushnell’s that I keep with my pack in their belt pouch. When traveling light I have a small 8x21 monocular. This cheap, lightweight monocular actually is faster to use and spot with than the larger binoculars. I took the Bushnell’s on a recent trip to Alaska. It’s a good idea to see a grizzly bear 16-times sooner than he sees you!
My point is that enhanced optics provides you with an advantage that fully justifies the allocation of funds, weight and space. Knowing what’s around you at a distance gives you choices that you may not have when you get closer. “I didn’t see that coming” can be your last words! For example:

• On the road you can see roadblocks, violence, hazardous materials, washouts and other hazards well before you encounter them. You can chose how to avoid or deal with these issues

• In camp or at home you can identify friend or foe, approaching looters, etc. before you are seen. Then you can prepare to defended or retreat as necessary.

• You can spot safe routs, safe camp sites, useful supplies, game, water sources and other needs many times further out than with the unaided eye.
These are significant advantages! Unless you like to miss opportunities and you like surprises, you need to include enhanced optics as part of your survival equipment.

I think as Americans, we are blessed in being able to afford to buy items in bulk. But, at the same time I think we should learn about budgeting what we consume, along with some alternatives.

Are you willing or prepared to develop a ‘bartering surplus’ within the use of your everyday shopping habits?

I recently read an article on APN News about Sari-Sari stores. It occurred to me that we have the ability to develop similar ‘markets’ through our own everyday purchases. Sari-Sari’s are small community convenience stores (in a word) often found in the villages throughout the Philippines.

Preppers here in the U.S. often talk about purchasing food and supplies in bulk from warehouse stores like Costco, Sam’s Club, etc..  That's actually not a bad idea, but ONLY if you are disciplined enough to plan your meals and usage of your supplies, and not consuming any more than you actually need.

This stresses the importance of establishing thoughtful, regular food planning and meal preparations based on what we are accustomed to eating or would normally consume. Thus, allowing us that extra supply for emergency storage.

Well, what if we set aside a portion of what we purchase, and package it into smaller individual sizes? This could afford us the opportunity to maintain our own personal emergency storage, and begin to build a bartering system.

For example, a 25lb bag of rice is easy to come by today. But, in the future, who knows? Keeping 5lb for our regular use seems adequate. Most people don’t eat rice at every day, and since its volume doubles when cooked we really don’t tend to need very much dried rice for a single meal. By storing 10# for our coffer, we still have 10# left available to seal/store/package, into much smaller units. A 1/2 lb package (One Cup), doubles when cooked, into 2 Cups. Each of those smaller units now becomes a valuable bartering tool. We now have 20 smaller units available to work with.

Think beyond food items, as well. There are many, many items we use daily that can be separated and stored individually.

• Laundry detergent (Tide has individual 1”x1” packets, in sets of 3 for about $1, or so)
• Lighters
• Flashlights
• Batteries
• Bouillon cubes
• Diapers
• Toilet paper
• Flour
• Bars of soap
• First aid items, many come in individual use packs (peroxide, alcohol, Neosporin etc.),
• Spices (salt and pepper packages, like from fast food places)
• I have seen on Amazon.com, multitudes of food items available in restaurant packaging intended for individual use (also good for less waste, when opened). Many are very inexpensive and worth the thought when considering reducing the load of our Go Bags.
• Cigarettes, split up the pack and seal them.
• (Some say small bottles of alcohol… Sprits – I don’t care for this idea but, to each, his own).

This list can go on-and-on. I believe this mode of thinking may take us one step beyond where we currently are. There may be something that someone needs, and vice-verse.

I personally draw the line at Ammo… You are not getting, what you can use against me!!

During the recent Tornadoes that effected the Coal City region, this is exactly what we did. In providing smaller package items for the families that needed supplies, they were not burdened with how to store them (for example 25# of rice).

Would I recommend “Hanging A Shingle”, NO! However, there are families of preppers developing that will be relying on one another for their survival. This can become a life saving or longevity tool for all of us, within the prepping communities.

This also leads into groups collectively making purchases at Bulk stores and splitting purchases amongst one another, both, the items and their costs. This would be another good way to develop our emergency supplies.

I hope this gives rise to a newer way of thinking for some, as, we do not know what the future holds for us. Each person’s idea of  SHTF means something different, and perhaps this will give rise to ‘thinking outside the box”.

-Lisa Pappas  -  April 2, 2014

The very definition of ‘survival” is someone starting a fire without matches. What survival class goes without a fire starting class? So to suggest that a fire is not always an essential survival need is near heresy.  But all the other mammals do survive without the benefit of fire. Even in the arctic many species thrive without knowing how to start a fire.  Eskimos have no access to firewood in most places and get by with no fire or with very little heat from oil stoves.  The animals and primitive man survives by conserving body heat alone. 

I am not suggesting that fire is not important. But I am stating that in many cases its value is only psychological and in some cases it may be more of a liability than an asset to survival.  In all cases, shelter, keeping dry and the conservation of body heat should take priority over fire building.  Putting aside the psychological benefits * of a campfire, lets look at the physical benefits of a fire under different conditions.

• Warm Dry Nights:  On a warm dry night a large fire is just not necessary for survival.  A small twig-fire may be needed for cooking, water purification or some smoke to ward off insects.  A camp fire will have you breathing smoke, ruin your night vision, attract unwanted attention and could cause forest fire.  Insect repellent and a compact stove would be much better.  If you must have a fire, make it a small one before dark.  A dark camp is practically invisible and generally safer.

• Rainy Weather:  It takes skill, time and luck to start a fire in wet weather. Damp fires are hard to keep going and put out little heat. Getting wet and using energy while trying to gather wood and start a fire may not be worth the trouble.  Staying dry and finding shelter far outweigh fire making in your survival priorities. A good rain poncho and a mini stove heating up a hot drink will do much better.  The exception is if one is already soaked and hypothermia is a danger.  In that case a big fire may be a necessity if it can be achieved.

• Cold Windy Weather: In a cold wind, without shelter most of a fires heat blows away and the fuel burns fast.  Cold air is drawn into the fire past the people around it, taking away more heat than they get.  Snow melts around the fire resulting in damp feet and boots.  What heat you do get from a fire under these conditions is from radiation, but you loss more from convection of cold air going into the fire.  If you have a good shelter at your back (e.g. lean-to, rocks, etc.) and a reflector on the other side of the fire you can get some benefits.  You are better off in a tent and blankets or sleeping bag than in the open around a fire in these conditions.

• Cold Calm Weather:  In low winds and low temperatures a campfire has real value.  A modest fire can provide heat, cooking, water purification, and snow melting for water.  Combined with a shelter and a reflector, it can provide real comfort.  We still have the energy and the time spent on building and maintain the fire, but it may be well worth the effort in this case. 

Fire often gives the allusion of warmth and safety while actually putting you at risk.  Fire is a luxury, not a necessity.  You can survive without it. Shelter, clothing, food and energy conservation are more important. People have survived long periods in even arctic conditions by holding up in shelter.  Eating hot food and drinks to get heat into the body does more than a fire outside the body.  A small stove or twig fire can be used for this.  Always carry a wool cap and extra socks. 50% 0f your body heat escapes through the top of your head.  The cap will probably do more to keep you warm than a fire. The extra socks can replace wet ones or be used as mittens to protect the hands. Carry a 24’ x 24” sheet of folded HD aluminum foil in all your survival kits.  It can be used as a reflector for a small fire or fashioned into a pot to melt snow and heat water to drink.

Always carry three ways to start a fire. I recommend: waterproof matches, a lighter and a magnesium metal-match.  When in a survival situation stay dry, get out of the wind, conserve heat and energy and then consider the risks and benefits of building a fire. Stay warm and safe.

Distributed as a public service by Live Free, USA

An Overview of Why Personal Preparedness Is Important Today and the Various Levels of Preparedness Needed to Survive Common Emergencies and Future

Introduction

If you are reading this, you have already become concerned about future events and have begun to take responsibility for your own survival and that of your family.  You may be alarmed at the increasing number, variety and severity of “disaster” thought the world and particularly in the United States. This is not your imagination.  Things are getting more dangerous and the infrastructure and the emergency services are starting to breakdown. One disaster often contributes to another.  Who can doubt that the immense costs of the 9/11 attack and hurricane Katrina contributed to the economic collapse.  The shrinking economy reduces funds for infrastructure improvements, safety, emergency services and police; this then sets us up for further attacks and disaster.  The eventual result of these combined and multiplying manmade and natural disasters must be a general world collapse some time in the next twenty to one-hundred-years.                          

The immediate mission for the responsible citizen is to prepare to survive increasingly severe and lengthy emergencies with less and less outside help.  Since these events will strike closer and closer to every family and economic conditions will become more and more challenging, it is imperative that people begin an energetic and systematic program to increase their emergency preparedness and long-term self-reliance while they still can do so.  Furthermore, the children and grandchildren of today must be reoriented from passive dependence to active self-reliance through preparedness training and the acquisition of basic survival skills.  Here are just a few of the scientifically calculated situation that are already in progress as you read this article:

• As the population outpaces resources, basic necessities such as water, food, and fuel will become scarce. At first the famines, droughts, epidemics, wars and massacres will ravage the third-world countries, then it will spread around the world.
• Increased population densities combined with economic decline will mean that floods, earthquakes and storms will cause astronomical death and destruction that will not be recoverable.
• The combination of economic decline and growing populations will result in the collapse of infrastructure and public services in many (if not all) urban a suburban areas.  The failure of water supplies, electrical service, sewer systems, fire and police protection will make crime, riots, and epidemics more and more common.
• The combination of less and less farm-land and shifting climates will ultimately lead to conflicts over food and water sources that could lead to wars.
• International travel, population densities and possible biological experimentation probably will lead to one or more world-wide epidemics that will kill hundred of millions some time in the next few decades. Many scientist calculate that while the population may double or triple by the middle of this century, it will end at pre-1950 levels after starvation, war, epidemics and other events have reestablish a balanced system.
• All of these factors will empower international crime cartels whose “street gang” solders are already in our streets. Desperate people will be easy recruits for extremists and terrorists.  In reaction, there will be great temptations to establish marshal-law, suspend basic liberties and even establish dictatorial governments.
• Exactly how these events will unfold, when they will occur and how they will effect you is impossible to predict, some of these events will strike you and your families in the forcible future.   While there is not much you can do to prevent these complex combinations of man-made and natural disasters, there is much you can do to increase your chances of surviving them and retaining your personal freedoms and values through these challenging times.  Never has the future depended more on what you do today.

The first step to survival is to assess your current situation and level of preparation against what you truly need to survive anticipated emergencies.  Having done that, you can then start improving your situation in an organized and scheduled manner.  To  aid in this process we will establish six levels of preparedness starting with “zero”.

“Level Zero”

Planning to be a victim

The individual or family prefers not to think about “bad things” and has no plans or means for surviving even a “normal” emergency.  These folks are totally depended on the political, economic system for every day-to-day necessity of life. Any disruption will panic them. They are highly likely to be a burden on public services (if they exist) and/or turn violent under sever emergencies. They are a danger to their neighbors and the community and will probably not survive long into a true catastrophic event.  Unfortunately this classification describes a significant portion of the urban population.

“Level One”

Essential

  Even a casual concern for your own safety should put you here! You have a good flashlight, candles, a first aid kit, a few days of food on the shelves, a few gallons of water stashed away and you have given some thought to what you would do in emergencies such as: extended power outages, water supply interruptions, home invasion, fires, etc.. It’s not much, but it’s a start.  If you are lucky you will get through a few short-term situations, but if you don’t improve, you are going to be in real trouble at some point in the next few years.

“Level Two”

Basic

At this level, you are making a conscious effort to prepare for common, short-term emergencies.  You have put up at least 5-gallons of water per person and have a 5-10 day supply of food on hand.  You have invested in several LED flashlights and lanterns and have a crank powered emergency radio. You also have at least one good fire extinguisher and probably a firearm.  You may have a first aid manual and/or “how to survive” book. This is the minimum level for any responsible citizen.

“Level Three”

Responsible & Ready

This is where everyone needs to be ASAP!  At this level you should get through most “normal” emergencies and have a good chance to survive many serious and longer-term disasters.  You will not be a burden to your community and may be able to help others. In addition to your “level two” supplies you will have a 30-day food and water supply. You have a small 72-houre survival pack capable of supplying essential food, water, shelter and first-aid for a few days on the road.  You may have a generator and fuel to run basics (e.g. sump pump, freezer etc.) for 3-6 days and a safe portable indoor heater. You have the ability to purify water, cook food, put out fires and treat minor injuries, and dispose of bodily waste without help.

“Level Four”

Advanced

This level will make it possible to ride-out (at home) or escape from (evacuate) many serious disasters.  In addition to your “level two and three” supplies, you have a fully equipped evacuation pack or “bug-out-bag” capable of sustaining and sheltering you for an extended time. You now have a variety of weapons for home defense, self-defense and hunting.  You have a number of survival books and have at least basic first aid and other survival related training.  You may also have acquired training and equipment to cope with nuclear, biological and chemical hazards. You will have made detailed plans for your own evacuation and may have established safe locations and caches of emergency supplies along that rout. At this level you should be involved with community emergency response organizations and/or preparedness clubs in your area.

“Level Five”

Self-Reliant

This goes beyond preparedness and moves towards a more self-reliant lifestyle.  While the previous levels involved putting away resources from the existing sources for a future need, this level implies being able to generate and use essential supplies from the environment over a long period.  At the extreme it can involve moving to a remote location and establishing a “retreat” with its’ own power supply, gardens, water source, etc.  This may be impractical for most people, but everyone can achieve at least partial self-reliance.  Adding rain barrels, wood stoves, vegetable gardens, solar panels or windmills can vastly improve your long-term survival chances. Developing skill that can be used to supply essentials such as hunting, fishing, sewing, metal working and carpentry. Put away tools and supplies that can be used as trade goods. This will put you in position to survive and even thrive during hard times.

Conclusion

While no-one likes to think about a future of dangers and challenges, an open minded look at current events and recent history leads to the inescapable conclusion that humanity is entering a perfect storm of combined economic, natural and man-made disasters. No amount of preparedness can guarantee ones survival under every conceivable situation, but a systematic and continuous effort to increase ones material, mental and psychological capacity to survive will greatly reduce the chances of serious, injury, lose and death.  The future survival and freedom of good and responsible citizens and their children is dependent on their efforts to become better prepared and more self-reliant. 

There is probably no single item that defines, establishes and sustains an individual’s survival, self-reliance and freedom potential more than the knife.  The knife and its modification the spear was in use long, long before the arrow, sling or firearm.  Flint blades predate almost any other manmade device.  The name “Saxon” in “Anglo Saxon comes from the name of the long, heavy bladed knife called the “seax” carried by the Anglo Saxons.  Carrying the seax was the mark of a free man.  Slaves, of course were prohibited from carrying arms.  As we know, being prohibited from caring arms is still the mark of a slave.

Today, virtually everyone uses some kind of knife at least a few times each day.  The possession of a knife imparts a huge survival and self-defense advantage to anyone.  If you have nothing else with you, a knife gives you a chance to survive.  Not carrying a knife of some kind is surrendering your survival potential to luck and the whims of nature and man.  The prepared person will carry a pocketknife or a pouch knife throughout the day.  He or she may keep a larger “survival knife” or “hunting knife” in their vehicle or other accessible location.  Of course there will be well selected small and large blades for outdoor activities and stashed in the survival/evacuation pack.  One may carry a heavy bladed 6 to 8 inch blade length belt knife for heavy work.  A small thin bladed pocketknife for fine work and maybe a Swiss Army type knife or Multi-Tool with a variety of blades and gadgets as well.  Some Multi-Tools even have an LED flashlight included.  Some “survival knives” come with a match compartment in the handle and a compass in the butt.  These are good for backup caches or extra knives, but most are weakened by the hollow handle and may break in heavy survival use.  The exception will be covered later in this article. You may want to consider one of the military bayonet/knives that work with the sheath to cut wire.  Going cross-country in most areas will mean crossing a lot of wire.  The M9 and M10 and the AK47 bayonets have wire cutters. Small sharpening stones are often included in a pouch right on the sheath.  This is a highly recommended feature.  The knife is not where you want to go cheap!  A blade that goes dull or brakes when you need it most is no bargain but there are over-priced knives where you are paying for style or a name.  We are not talking about knife collecting or knife show knives here.  We are talking about reliable use and abuse blades. Ultimately you have to select your knife set based on as much quality\ as you can afford.  Survival and self/reliance knives can be classified as pocketknives, pouch knives, sheath knives and combat knives.  The following are some recommended selections from several knife experts.

Pocketknives are single or several bladed knives that fit into ones pockets comfortably and unobtrusively.  In the past almost everyone carried a pocketknife or “pen knife” to sharpen quill pens, clean pipes and perform other daily tasks.  For our purposes a pocketknife is a single or double-bladed knife of no more than 3-inch blade length.  You want this knife to be thin and light so you will carry it comfortably at all times, but also strong and sharp.  Some good choices are the Spyderco ™ Native folder at about $78.00, the Kershaw ™ Combo Edge folder and the Gerber ™ Mini Covert folder at $36.00.  The Smith and Wesson ™ S.W.A.T. frame lock folder and Black Ops folder priced in the $25.00 to $35.00 range are good values as well.  If you want more than one blade, the Swiss Army ™ Soldier knife (the first Swiss Army knife) with a blade, can opener, bottle opener, two screwdrivers and an awl point fits in the pocket for about $25.00. 

Pouch knives are those that are carried in a belt pouch or may be kept in other places, but are too large for comfortable pocket carrying. This includes large folders, Swiss Army Knives and Multi Tools.  If your normal apparel is work cloths or blue jeans you may be able to wear a belt pouch without attracting any negative attention.  This provides the opportunity to carry larger and more versatile knives.  Things get more complicated here because you have to choose between one big strong blade with limited uses or several smaller blades and tools with multi-use capabilities.  In the Multi-Tool category there is the Leatherman ™ New Wave tool with over a dozen functions at $75.00, the Gerber ™ Diesel multi-tool at $53.00 and scores of other models to meet your requirements.  Some even include LED flashlights, fire starters, whistles and magnifying glasses.  The drawback to the Multi Tool concept is that the primary tool is usually a pliers rather than a knife blade and getting to the knife blade is a bit slow and troublesome. Once deployed the knife blade of a multi-tool is rather clumsy to use compared to a folder. You may still want or need to carry a pocketknife along with the multi tool. The Swiss Army knife is a knife first and a tool second and the traditional Swiss Army ™ knife also offers a great variety of choices.  The ones with 6 to 8 blades and devices are more compact and easier to use than the puzzle-like multi-tools. The Swiss Army ™ Ranger with its 20 tools is a good choice for about $40.00 or you can go all out for the huge (and clumsy) Champ selling for close to $80.00. Some have 20-30 devices, but are bulky and awkward.  Avoid cheap imitations.  Stick with brand names and be sure of a good strong pouch that will not tear or come off your belt..  Large folders with blades of about 4-inches offer the blade of a sheath knife in a more compact form but they cannot be a strong for some applications.  Consider the KA-BAR ™ Mule folder at about $48.00 or one of the popular Buck ™ large folding knives.

Sheath knives are larger sheath carried blades ranging from the short bladed USAF Survival Knife (5”) and U.S. Marine KA-BAR (6”) to machete lengths of 12”.  The actual military surplus USAF Survival Knife and U.S. Marine KA-BAR are good values at about $40.00, but KA-BAR ™ brand makes a variety of KA-BAR variations selling in the $50-$60 range.  Smith & Wesson ™ offers the KAB-BAR like “Search and Rescue” sheath knife with an excellent sheath and sharpening stone for under $30.00.If you do elect to go with a hollow handles, Rambo style “survival knife” you will need to spend some real money to get strength and reliability.   Chris Reeve ™ makes hollow handles “survival Knives” from a single bar of A2 tool steel with a handle cavity sealed with an “O” ring to keep matches and other items dry.  These knives sell in the $200 to $400 range.  For value and quality there are several good choices among military bayonets.  The M-9 and M-10 are good choices.

Knives of over 14-inches over-all length become impractical for most folk to carry on a belt ankle of harness sheath.  If you anticipate some serious chopping and hacking you may want to consider carrying a heavy bladed knife in or across the back of your pack.  Consider the Ontario ™  RTAK-II Bush knife with its 10” blade and 17-inch over-all length for about $90.00 ™  or even a military surplus Machete on the market for as little as $20.00

Combat knives are those specially designed for fighting.  They are not usually ideal for other survival uses.  These range from small concealable 3” blades and throwing knives through boot knives and commando knives.  While knife fights are possible they are not probable so put survival knives ahead of combat knives in your priorities. In certain situations and urban environments a well-hidden combat knife could be just what you need. You may want to add something like the OSS Spike dagger that is carried on the wrist or the Special Ops ™ 5-inch blade boot knife selling for about $24.00.  There are variations of the famous Applegate-Fairbairn ™ World War Two style combat knives selling for from $50.00 to $100.00

This article would not be complete without a few tips on the care and sharpening of your knives.  Leaving knives out is an invitation to trouble. They can be lost, stolen, damaged, picked up by children or even used against you. Keep them in their sheath or pouch and in a safe location when not in use.  Clean and lightly oil multi blade knives so they open freely when you need them.  Knives are not intended for prying or hammering. Keep your knives sharp and clean.  Sharpening techniques would take more room than we have in this article, but  there are some devices that are recommended. Cabala’s offers a wide variety of electric and hand sharpeners ranging in price from $20.00 to $400.00.  You can get a good diamond stone for $30 to $60. and these come with instructions.  The Gatco ™ Edgmaster sharpening system will do a good job for $40.00.  The Edgemaker ™ device is handy for fast restoration of a blade.

Your choice of a knife system will depend on your anticipated every-day uses and your worst-case emergency needs.  No one knife will be the best for every situation. You should have at least one high quality pocketknife, pouch knife and sheath knife and carry all three if possible when in a potential survival threat  situation.  Carry more than one knife if possible.  Cheaper backup knives stashed in various locations (e.g. vehicle, office, pack, etc.) will be way better than nothing if you are unable to access your primary blade. In some cases what you want and what you can legally and practically carry will be a compromise, but always carry a knife.  We invite the reader’s input and comments on this subject.

There is no question that the next decades will be dangerous to our  lives and freedoms, but how we respond and adjust will determine the future of America.  What we do know to expand and support the movement will make the difference between a freer and more self-reliant society or a more centralized and oppressive one.

While self-reliance is often treated as simply a form of advanced survival preparedness it is different in both psychology and execution.  Preparing and surviving imply that one is anticipating a passing threat to life or life, as we know it that must be survived in order to recover and rebuild as life was before the event. In this respect Prepping may be compared to a life raft that saves life, but hads no sail or destination.  While survival is certainly a laudable and necessary objective and preparedness is essential to getting through the multiplying threats of the Twenty-First Century it will not take us to a new and better place.  In fact mere survival leaves us alive among the ruins and with little control of where we land.  True practical self-reliance goes beyond survival in these ways:

• It immediately changes how we live and provides economic and psychological advantages over the unprepared and dependent masses.

• It is proactive rather than reactive.  Instead of hoping to get through coming challenges, you are challenging current and future threats.

• It is positive and inspiring. While the public may be in denial about impending disasters and negative trends, they more readily embrace ideas that make them more independent, secure and prosperous.  

• The focus is not just on staying alive.  Self-reliance is about being better, smarter, safer and going towards the future with confidence.

• Fore those who want change, self-reliance offers a revolutionary opportunity to withdraw taxable income, avoids regulatory systems and counters centralized power in a positive and non-violent movement.

True self-reliance then can be compared to a ship that not only keeps one afloat, but also takes one to a better place.  To that end, self-reliance advocates should have a firm concept of where that ship is going.  We also need to face the fact that those who have benefitted by centralized authority, dependence in the grid and massive taxation will act strongly to intimidate, discourage and misrepresent self-reliance practices and advocates.  Such resistance may well become violent at some times.  As the existing economic, political and support systems fail the conflict may take on aggressive dimensions. 

All of this must take into account the underlying imperatives of surviving the assaults of nature (e.g. storms, floods, epidemics, climate change) and mankind (e.g. resource depletion, famine, war, etc) that will ravage the decades to come.  It is far better to put our ourselves and our posterity in the ship of self-reliance than just the life raft of preparedness.  Granting of course that the ship still needs to have those life rafts aboard.

We must not regard self-reliance as simply a technical process for sustaining life needs into the future.  Our children deserve better than maintenance. They deserve to come out of the challenges of survival and change as smarter, freer and more human.  Self-reliance is not about going back. Self-reliance is about building a better future as the failed and wrong values decline and fall.

United As Individuals

Humans are social by nature.  While survival skills and self-reliance capabilities may keep us alive alone for a while, but we are hardly human without family, friends and associations.   The struggles to survive, find water, build shelter, gather food and defender against others leaves no time for thinking, improving or advancing. So effective self-reliance is being independent while choosing to share and exchange with others.  Being basically self-reliant provides the foundation for voluntary participation in cooperative efforts and exchanges.  One may have special skills or excessive supplies in one area, but be short on others.  A small family or community may be vulnerable to looters or need help producing food.   The difference between collectivist and centralized society and self-reliance is that the power of choices starts at the bottom with the individual and family instead of with bureaucrats.  As we develop individual and family self-reliance capacity we should be creating regional and dispersed networks for both technological and political support.  If self-reliance is a ship and not just a life raft then we will need a fleet to get through the storms ahead. 

The philosopher George Hegel (1770-1831) developed the theory of the dialectic.  He postulated that there is a flow of events and changes from one time to the next that is driven by multiple events and conditions.  Karl Marx wrongly used the dialectic theory to show history leading only to a communist society.  As we examine history leading from the times of the American Revolution through the Twentieth Century it is hard to avoid the evidence of a continual dialectic flow from one decade to the next.  The following three phases of change will not actually happen as distinct periods.  They will overlap and   occur concurrently in some ways.  All three of them are in progress now, but the later phases are less evident and yet to have their full effect.

Phase One

• Economic instability
• Loss of public confidence and support
• Frequent local and regional disasters with less and less recovery
• Degradation of big, centralized business, government and infrastructure
• Rise of a minority preparedness and self-reliance culture
• Rise in small self-reliance technologies

Phase Two

• Disintegration of established economic systems and bureaucracies
• Shortages of life critical materials (food, fuel, medicine) and services
• Unrecoverable disasters (epidemics, storms, droughts, etc) that significantly reduce populations and render areas uninhabitable
• Unrest and conflicts with society and between nations caused by shortages and limited resources.
• Extremist leaders within government and outside of government will feed on public fear and desperation to accumulate power and wealth at the expense of the public
• Desperate actions by governments to retain control and wealth may include confiscations, suspension of liberties and general oppression. The prepared and self-reliant may be branded as selfish and dangerous*. 
• Hopefully, self-reliance business, organizations and concepts will begin to involve a significant portion of the public

* If self-reliance is still a small minority movement at this stage it will probably be extinguished.  Freedom and self-reliance will only survive if it has been advocated organized and taken root in the communities,

Phase Three

• Through evolution or revolution government will be reinvented as a more limited, decentralized and supportive entity 
• The primary economic and political power will come from the counties and states driven by a highly independent people
• Multifunction networks of families, communities and organizations will proved life critical materials and support to semi-self-reliant people. *

* Ultimately we will need to do many things cooperatively.  Full, long-term self-reliance requires almost 100% of an individuals and families time and energy. This leaves little for improvement learning and progress.  If a community floods they can all build multiple sandbag dikes around each house or they can work together to build one effective dike at the river.  If a gang attacks a community each family will by killed off one-by-one unless they all work together.

Declaring Independence Through Practical Self-Reliance

The table below is a very brief outline of a family plan for replacement or backup systems for supplies and services currently provided by the failing centralized structures.  Don’t let the image of “dooms day prepper” “off the grid” capabilities discourage you from working towards reasonable and responsible self-reliance in all of the categories. 

Life needs, survival to self-reliance

Water

NOW: Store at least 10-gallons per person, have bleach available.  Have a good quality filter system

FUTURE: Install rain barrels, cistern, advanced filters

ISSUES: Droughts, waterborne infections, legal issues

Food Production

NOW: Start gardening, stock up on heirloom seeds, take up fishing and hunting

FUTURE: Enlarge garden, Aquaponics?,

ISSUES: Climate change, available area, security

Food preservation

NOW: Store at least 30-90 days supply

FUTURE: Canning, drying, smoking,

ISSUES: Supplies, storage space

Shelter

NOW: Home preparedness and safety, Alternative shelter for evacuation

FUTURE: Develop home as base for meeting all life critical needs

ISSUES: Ownership, community compatibility,

Health

NOW:  Maintain and improve while you can! Stop bad habits, exercise.

FUTURE:  Ability to avoid exposure to public is critical.  Clean water and adequate food must be maintained

ISSUES: Poor sanitation, government interference

Sanitation

NOW: Chemical toilets bleach. Stock up on TP.

FUTURE: Outhouses, lime, ash, bleach, composting toilets

ISSUES: Legal issues

Medical Care

NOW:  Learn first aid, stock supplies and medications

FUTURE: Develop capacity for advanced and extended medical care.  Learn alternative medicines. Network with medically skilled

ISSUES:  Medication acquisition and storage. Legal issues

Personal Hygiene

NOW: Improve health habits, stock up on soap, Listerine, alcohol, bleach, toothpaste, etc.

FUTURE: learn to make soap, showers without water pressure

ISSUES: Water supply, drainage

Laundry

NOW: Changes of cloths available. Stock up on soap and detergent.

FUTURE: Laundry tubs, wringers, scrub-boards, lines

ISSUES: Water supply, drainage

Heating

NOW: LP gas heaters, sleeping bags, tent in house

FUTURE: wood stoves, closed rooms,

ISSUES: Safety, fire, Carbon monoxide, fuel supplies

Transportation

NOW: Alternatives to driving in an emergency, Evacuation packs, and bikes.

FUTURE: Bicycles, electric vehicles

ISSUES: range and weight limits, routs

Clothing

NOW: Plenty, but stock up on socks, underwear, sewing supplies

FUTURE: manual sewing machines, knitting, repair.

ISSUES: skills, supplies, tools

Waste Disposal

NOW: Temporary health hazard.  Bleach, insect spray, burning.

FUTURE: fewer waists. Burn for fuel. Use for compost

ISSUES:

Cooking

NOW: Have camp stoves

FUTURE: Solar ovens, rocket stoves, outdoor cooking

ISSUES: Safety, fire, Carbon monoxide, fuel supplies

Energy

NOW: Batteries, generators

FUTURE: Supplemental and alternative solar and wind.  Need reduction

ISSUES: space for systems, safety, legal

Personal Defense

NOW: Personal weapons and vigilance.  Stock up on ammunition, parts, etc

FUTURE: Increased need for more effective weapons.  Need for family or community 24/7 vigilance and defense

ISSUES: legal issues.

Fire Suppression

NOW: Fire extinguishers, smoke/CO detectors, and ability to evacuate and survive.

FUTURE:  Large volume water pumps.  Community cooperation, prevention

ISSUES: Increased risks, heat and embers from adjoining areas

Trade & Barter

NOW: Trade and barter when possible. Stock up on barter items.  Learn tradable skills.

FUTURE:  Value in hard items and skills replaces currency in many areas.

ISSUES: Legal and tax issues

Tools

NOW: In addition to packable survival tools, have tools to repaired home damages, rescue etc. 

FUTURE: Shop tools, garden tools, auto tools, nail, and screws fasteners all valuable. Replace power tools with hand tools, use solar power to recharge cordless drills etc.

ISSUES: Cost, storage space, skill in use

Miscellaneous Changes (Nuclear, Biological)

NOW: Carry N-95 masks, hand-cleaner, etc.  Avoid crowds

FUTURE: Get out of contaminated area ASAP.  Don protective wears and dust mask.  Remove contaminated clothing and decontaminate ASAP.   Treat symptoms, dehydration

ISSUES: Shelter, radiation sickness, epidemics,

Preparedness is about surviving the future. Self-reliance is, or should be about conquering the future.  Preparedness is about reacting to events.  Self-reliance is about being events.  Both preparedness and self-reliance are necessary, but survival alone cannot be enough.  A smarter, freer more responsible and self-reliant people must be determined to own the future regardless of the dangers and challenges that lie ahead.

I am aware that I may offend a few “survivalist/preppers” out there by the following comments, but they are expressed with the best of intentions for your survival and health.  While I believe that most of you are healthier than the “average” American.  I often encounter folks who are obsessed with preparing for various external catastrophes while doing nothing to avoid internal catastrophes.  For example: a smoker who is equipped to survive nuclear fallout, chemical agents and biological weapons is much more likely to die from nicotine poisoning and is more vulnerable to NBC agents as well.  An overweight out of shape guy or gal who plans to hit the road with a 30-50 pound survival pack has about zero chance of actually making it out.  Anyone who uses drugs is just plain delusional about being a survivor.  Putting off eye examinations and dental checkups is a more serious survival error than forgetting to bring water.  You will always need the best eyesight possible to survive.  Bad teeth generate all kinds of infections that can affect the brain, heart and other vital organs.  A severe toothache   in the midst of a survival situation could be a serious handicap.  Any undetected and untreated heath issue that develops during and after a collapse will probably be disabling or even fatal due to lack of medical care, shortages of medications, poor diet and stressful conditions.  All avoidable and correctable heath issues should be dealt with now while you still can.  I realize that changing bad habits, eating right and exercising is a lot harder than filling up a survival pack, but being physically prepared is the most important “prepping” you can do.   Eating right, getting exercise, maintaining teeth and ending any unhealthy habits now must be part of everyone’s survival program.

I just read a very informative article, (published March 13, 2013 on SHTFPlan.com) regarding the building of an ongoing long-term food storage plan.

The stability of our economy is questionable at best, and the alarming increase of destructive Natural Disasters makes this article quite pertinent, I believe.

As we continue to look forward to preparing for these very uncertain times, I know that it can be difficult to know where to start when it comes to our long-term Food Storage. Perhaps we can glean some new or additional information from this well thought out article.

"One-Year-Pantry"

When planning for emergencies, layering is an ever-constant theme. I often emphasize when one begins to prepare that you start simply by preparing for small-scale emergencies, and then slowly begin adding onto those existing preps to create a longer term preparedness supply. These emergency layers help you create a reliable foundation, and the same layering approach can be used when creating a food storage pantry.

There are some emergency food considerations to keep in mind:

• The amount of people in the household.
• Have a good amount of food varieties to reduce food fatigue.
• The serving size of the food.
• Vitamin content in the food.
• The expiration date or “best if used by” labels on the food.
• Special health conditions for family members.

Your Food Storage Layers

Layer 1 (0- 72-hours)

– In the onset of an emergency and the days following a disaster, the first food to go should be from the refrigerator. Keep in mind that refrigerated food will stay cold for four to six hours, assuming the door is left closed as much as possible. In a fully stocked freezer, foods remain safely frozen for approximately two days if the door stays closed. You want to use up your perishable foods first and then begin preparing your foods that are frozen. Plan meals to meet a 1500-2000 calorie diet that are high in nutrients. Once the perishable food has been consumed, it’s time to move onto your secondary layer of your emergency preps. A word of advice – have an ample supply of water on hand!

Layer 2 (4-30 days)

- These emergency foods should consist of “just add water” meals or meals that do not require substantial amounts of water, fuel or preparation time. Having some canned, pre-packaged dinners, or  meals that are “ready to eat” during emergency scenarios will help you begin acclimating yourself to cooking in a grid-down scenario as well as to help provide some comfort at the same time.

Keep your family’s preferences, any existing health conditions and food allergies in mind when preparing this food storage layer. Another thought to keep in mind, is that a large amount of water will be needed to rehydrate some of these meals. Have a large amount of water stored or a means to filter water during an emergency.

Layer 3  (31-99 days)

- I have often said that our preps are our life line. The items we choose should be able to carry us, not only through difficult times, but perhaps through impossible times as well. This layer of  pantry foods should consist of multipurpose, everyday pantry items. These foods are relatively inexpensive and easy to acquire. Keep food storage shelf lives in mind and regularly rotate these items in order to maintain a fresh food source. Further, having a fresh source of vitamins will help your body thrive during an emergency. Consider storing a supply of seeds for sprouting – they are cheap, easy to store and require minimal amounts of time for growth.

For those who are preparing for longer term or extended emergencies, at a minimum you should have a 3 month supply of food and build it up to a 6 month supply. This will be the beginning of your longer term food source, and re-packaging these food sources into more durable containers or packages will keep your food’s enemies away. Further it is a good idea to begin storing large quantities of foods that have extremely long shelf lives.

Another method of bulking up on foods with long shelf lives is to invest in freeze-dried foods. These preserved foods have a shelf life of 20+ years! All you need to do is add hot water and voila!

Some foods to consider for longer term storage are:

• Carbohydrates: white rice, pasta, wheat, oats, dehydrated fruits and vegetables, sugars, honey, fruits, roots and tubers (cook these well) and cereals.
• Proteins: legumes, eggs, nuts, peanut butter, canned meats and fish, oatmeal, grains, wheat, quinoa, seeds, MREs, popcorn
• Fats: whole milk, ensure, peanut butter, oil (preferably plant based oils), nuts and seeds
• Vitamins and Nutrients: Vitamin C, Vitamin D, vitamin powders, dehydrated fruits and vegetables, seeds to grow vegetables and for sprouting, survival bars

Layer 4 (100-365 days+)

– If you find yourself in an emergency for over 100 days, it’s time to get real about the situation you have found yourself in. You must assume this could be your new reality. That said it is time to take steps toward long term survival. Having an understanding of essential skills, homesteading and gardening/farming concepts and learning ways to sustain yourself for the long term is of the utmost importance.

Micro livestock is a group of hearty animals that will help you make the most of smaller pieces of land. For those in suburban dwellings, consider chickens, rabbits and fish stored in aquaponic for a long-term food source.

As a prepper preparing for long term emergencies, you want to continue storing up foods mentioned in the last layer and add freeze-dried or dehydrated foods to your stockpile. Given that you are preparing for an extended or long term emergency means that you will also need to begin looking at ways to prepare or preserve food sources off the grid. Learning how to can, dehydrate and ferment foods will help you maintain your food supply. Moreover, to prevent malnutrition, you will want to concentrate on accruing essential food sources such as carbohydrates, protein sources, fats and essential vitamins and nutrients (see above list of food considerations). Having a vitamin source such as sprouting seeds or stockpiling multi-vitamins during this period will also ensure that you are providing your body with regular doses of needed vitamins.

During an emergency, we are often left to fend for ourselves. Having an ample supply of  emergency foods can help your family thrive during the most difficult of times. Take the time now to learn how to make the most of your food supply, learn pertinent skills and the importance of balanced diets and the lasting effects nutritious food has on our body because when emergencies occur, we will need this knowledge the most.

This brief publication is intended for those responsible and concerned citizens who have recognized the hazards of our times and have determined to improve their own readiness for emergency situations

Introduction

It is amazing how many American’s will spend thousands of dollars on video games, designer clothing and CD players but still not buy a fire extinguisher, a crank powered radio or a good first aid kit. We may spend hundreds of hours each year playing games and watching TV but put off learning basic skills of first aid, self-protection or basic survival. Even simple things like storing extra water or making a home fire escape plan are often put off until too late. Even when we see horrific events like the 9/11 attacks, storms and earthquakes we quickly sink back into apathy. Unfortunately bad things do happen. And they can happen to anyone, anywhere at anytime. There just is no such thing as a safe place or a safe time, but you can be a safe person and have a safe family. While preparedness cannot guarantee your safety in all events, it can greatly improve your chances of survival and minimize the impact of any disaster. It is also the duty of responsible citizens in a free society to be prepared to help themselves, their neighbors and their communities in times of crisis. The following checklists are intended to establish the minimum level of civilian preparedness for most emergencies. Your location, lifestyle, profession, travel routs, and concerns may indicate additional needs. Ask yourself: What can happen to my family and me? What could I do? What do I need to do now to improve my situation?

Basic Emergency Planning Checklist

Use this list to establish an emergency plan for you and your family.

1. Do you have clear and simple plans for each of the most probable emergencies that could happen to your family such as:

☐ Are all family members fully aware of these plans?

☐ Do you have plans, routes and basic items for emergencies that could happen while you and family members are in your car, at work, at school, on the street, etc.?

☐ Have you established escape routs and assembly points for emergencies when family members may not be home or may have to evacuate the home (fire, intruder) via different exits?

☐ Do you have all the items and equipment (e.g. water, food, shelter, first aid, medications, sanitation, defense, etc.) to sustain your family for 30 days without support?

☐ Will these supplies be safe and available in all anticipated (floods, fire, etc.) emergencies?

☐ Would you be able to take supplies with you in your vehicle or on foot if you need to evacuate?

☐ Have you reviewed emergency plans with your family for home fire evacuations, home intruder situations, etc. in the past 6 months?

☐ Have you practiced your plans to be sure they work?

☐ Have you considered the safety and survival of your pets in your planning?

Things You Should Know

☐ Know the kinds of emergencies that are most likely to happen to you based on past and current weather events, crime patterns, nearby industrial and government facilities, recent trends, etc

☐ Know what your communities’ emergency signal and plans are.

☐ Know what the emergency plans, signals and routs at your place of employment, school, etc.

☐ Know a number of safe evacuation routes.

☐ Know basic first aid, CPR and self-protection techniques.

Emergency Preparedness Supplies Checklist

Here are the most basic items you need to have to survive emergency situations.

☐ Water stored in clean plastic bottles. About 5-gallons per person. Add a few drops of bleach per gallon to assure safety or replace every three months.

☐ A chemical (camp) toilet or plastic bags, 5-gallon pail and bleach.

☐ Oil lanterns and/or candles, plus good LED flashlights and batteries.

☐ A battery or crank powered FM/AM/Weather Radio.

☐ At least two large ABC fire extinguishers.

☐ Heavy plastic sheeting, duck tape and rope.

☐ A fully-stocked first-aid kit including bandages, compresses, tape, antibiotic ointments, burn cream, and a first aid manual.

☐ Extra stocks of your needed over-the-counter and prescription medications.

☐ Self-protection such as a handgun, shotgun or at least large size pepper spray.

☐ Extra blankets or sleeping bags for cold climate areas.

☐ Propane camp stove and heaters with extra fuel.

☐ Extra canned goods and/or dried foods (beans, rice, past, dried fruits) to feed the family for up to two weeks beyond what is normally in the home.

Options and Alternatives

☐ You may want to keep all your emergency supplies in one or two tote-bins. This keeps them safe and dry. If you have to evacuate you can just through them in your vehicle and go.

☐ Some people prefer to make up “Emergency Back-Packs” that are self-sufficient for each family member. These can be kept at home carried in the vehicle or carried if you have to walk to safety.

☐ Add things like life jackets, gasmasks, rescue tools, signal flairs, rope ladders, etc. based on the situations you anticipate.

☐ You may want to consider storing some or all of your supplies away from the home (shed, buried, etc.)  if your concerns are fire, flood, earth quack, etc. where they might be destroyed or unavailable when you need them.

☐ If you elect to have a firearm for self and family protection PLEASE take a safety course, keep them out of the reach of children and learn the legal aspects and the skills of self-defense shooting.

Preparing For Emergencies

When there are signs of an impending there are some actions you can take to reduce the hazards.

☐ Check your emergency supplies and have them ready to use or move to safety.

☐ Be sure your vehicle is fully  fueled and in good condition.

☐ Fill you bathtub and other containers with as much water as you can. Don’t forget there is clean water in your hot water heater and your toilet tank.

☐ Be ready to turn off gas and electrical supplies to avoid fires.

☐ Get the family together if possible before the emergency and be sure everyone knows what to do if you are separated. For example: “we will all meet at Uncle John’s farm within two days”.

☐ Gather any high value personal items that you want to take with you. 

☐ Listen to emergency information on the radio and obey instructions.

We hope this information will help you and your loved-ones survive any future emergency. Most of these preparations take only a little time and the costs are modest compared to the potential savings of life and property. Even if you never need to use your plans and equipment you will have the piece of mind that comes from knowing you did the responsible thing.  There is much, much more to know about emergency preparedness, survival and self-reliance.