Bushcraft and Survival Skills

Preppers are going to die...

Preppers are going to die...

In this video, I pull no punches because I care enough about you to tell you just how it is. I realize I may lose some subscribers but that's not what it's about to me, it's about doing the right thing, about living my values and about trying to help. I can't help unless I speak up about something that is really out of line here in the community.

If I'm wrong, tell me where. If I'm right, you have a choice to make. I hope this 4th of July is a turning point for so many of you.

Tags: WROL BUGOUT SHTF Preparedness Prepper Preppers survival survivalism TEOTWAKWI

Note: This article was written in 1989 for the American Survival Guide. Much has changed since then. Some of the information maybe be useful in thinking and planning for different SHTF scenarios, remember this is the authors particular perspective, not my own

BACKPACK SURVIVAL

There's a lot of confusion about what survival means. To some, it's getting through the aftermath of an airplane wreck in a desolate area. It can mean knowing when to avoid walking in radioactive wastes. Or, it can mean knowing how to barter with troops in the aftermath of riots, war, and looting. To others, survival has to do with avoiding danger and knowing how to deal with it when it breaks into your home in the dead of night.

Survival ideas abound and there are as many definitions and strategies as there are survivalists. Some have good ideas for survival and some have unsound tactics. Bad ideas can mean extra work or trouble in everyday life; bad ideas during a survival situation get you killed. On the job training doesn't work when you're dealing with poison and gunfights. Or survival.

One of the most dangerous ideas as far as I'm concerned is that of "backpack survival."

A "backpack survivalist" is a survivalist that plans on leaving his home ahead of a disaster and taking to the woods with only what he can carry out with him. He plans to survive through a strategy that is a sort of cross between the Boy Scout in the woods and Robinson Crusoe. The backpack survivalist plans on outrunning danger with a four wheel drive or a motorcycle and hopes to travel light with a survival kit of everything he might need to cope with the unexpected. He hasn't cached anything in the area he's headed for because, chances are, he doesn't know where he's headed. Somehow, he hopes to overcome all odds with a minimum of supplies and a maximum of smarts. Certainly it is a noble cause; but it seems like one destined to failure. And that's not survival.

(Let's back up a minute. Backpack fever or bugoutosis does makes sense when you're facing a localized disaster like a derailed train with overturned poisonous gas cars. A a potential nuclear meltdown, an impending hurricane, or similar disasters where there is a safe place to run to. During such a time, it makes perfect sense to retreat and come back when things settle down. Likewise, some people have to work in dangerous areas. For them, donning a backpack and heading for a retreat that they've prepared before hand is a viable survival strategy. These people aren't backpack survivalists.)

Let me make a confession. Yes, I once was a closet backpack survivalist. I had an ALICE pack and had it packed with all I could carry. As I learned more about how to survive, I realized I needed to carry more. Soon I discovered that, just for my family to survive for a very few days, I'd need a pack mule and/or a hernia operation... Something was very wrong.

Probably most survivalists start out the same way. Things are bad so let's bug out. Backpack survivalism is an effort to deal with the possibility of a major disaster. As backpack survivalists, we make elaborate plans centered around the idea of "bugging out" of the area we live in. We hope to travel to an area that is safer than the one we're in and plan on living off the land or on some survival supplies we've hidden in the area. On the home front, we carefully prepare a stock of supplies that we can quickly cart off in a car or van when things start to look bad.

As more and more plans are made and as ever more survival gear is purchased, the survivalist realizes just how much he needs to cope with in order to survive. If he is any sort of realist, he soon amasses enough gear to warrant a truck or more likely a moving van just for carrying the survival equipment. (And don't laugh, there are survivalists who have large trucks for just such use.)

Some brave souls continue to make more elaborate plans and some of these survivalists may be able to pull off their plans. Those who have really thought things out and have spared no expenses may manage to survive with a bugout strategy. But I think there are more logical and less expensive ways to survive a large crisis.

Forget all your preconceived notions for a minute.

Imagine that there is a national emergency and you are an outside observer? What happens if a nuclear attack is eminent, an economic collapse has occurred, or a dictator has taken over and is ready to round up all malcontents (with survivalists at the top of the list)?

Situations change with time. The survivalist movement and backpack fever first started up when gas guzzler cars were about all that anyone drove. That meant that a survivalist with some spare gasoline could outdistance his unprepared peers and get to a retreat that was far from the maddening crowd, as it were. (Read some of Mel Tappan's early writing on survival retreats. His ideas are good but many have been undone with the new, fuel efficient cars.)

With cars getting 30 or even 40 miles per gallon, it isn't rare for a car to be able to travel half way across a state on less than a tank of gasoline. The exodus from cities or trouble spots will be more limited by traffic snarls than lack of gasoline even if the gas stations are completely devoid of their liquid fuel.

Too, there are a lot of people thinking about what to do if the time for fleeing comes. A lot of people will be headed for the same spots. (Don't laugh that off, either. In my area, every eighth person has confided his secret retreat spot to me. And about half of them are all headed for the same spot: an old missile silo devoid of water and food. I suspect that the battle at the gates of the old missile base will rival the Little Big Horn.)

No matter how out of the way their destination, most survivalists are kidding themselves if they think others won't be headed for their hideaway spot along with them. There are few places in the US which aren't accessible to anyone with a little driving skill and a good map.

Too, there are few places which aren't in grave danger during a nuclear war or national social unrest.

Though most nuclear war survival books can give you a nice little map showing likely targets, they don't tell you some essential information. Like what the purpose of the attack will be. The enemy may not be aiming for military targets that day; a blackmail threat might begin by hitting the heart of the farmland or a number of cities before demanding the surrender of the country being attacked. The target areas on the maps might be quite safe.

And the maps show where the missiles land IF they all enjoy 100 percent accuracy and reliability. Anyone know of such conditions in war? With Soviet machinery!? Targets may be relatively safe places to be in.

Added to this is the fact that some areas can be heavily contaminated or completely free of contamination depending on the wind directions in the upper atmosphere. Crystal ball in your survival gear?

But let's ignore all the facts thus far for a few moments and assume that a backpack survivalist has found an ideal retreat and is planning to go there in the event of a national disaster... What next?

His first concern should be that he'll have a hard time taking the supplies he needs with him. A nuclear war might mean that it will be impossible to grow food for at least a year and foraging is out as well since animals and plants may be contaminated extensively.

An economic collapse wouldn't be much better. It might discourage the raising of crops; no money, no sales except for the barter to keep a small farm family going. With large corporations doing much of our farming these days, it is not unreasonable to expect a major famine coming on the heals of an economic collapse. Raising food would be a good way to attract starving looters from miles around.

Ever try to pack a year's supply of food for a family into a small van or car? There isn't much room left over. But the backpack survivalist needs more than just food.

If he lives in a cold climate (or thinks there might be something to the nuclear winter theory) then he'll need some heavy clothing.

Rifles, medicine, ammunition, tools, and other supplies will also increase what he'll need to be taking or which he'll have to hide away at his retreat site.

Shelter? Building a place to live (in any style other than early American caveman) takes time. If he builds a cabin beforehand, he may find it vandalized or occupied when he gets to his retreat; if he doesn't build it before hand, he may have to live in his vehicle or a primitive shelter of some sort.

Thus, a major problem is to get a large enough vehicle to carry everything he needs as well as to live in.

History has shown that cities empty themselves without official evacuation orders when things look bad. It happened in WW II and has even happened in the US during approaching hurricanes, large urban fires, and nuclear reactor problems.

So there's a major problem of timing which the backpack survivalist must contend with. He has to be packed and ready to go with all members of his family at the precise moment he learns of the disaster! The warning he gets that warrants evacuating an area will have to be acted on quickly if he's to get out ahead of the major traffic snarls that will quickly develop. A spouse at work or shopping or kids across town at school means he'll either have to leave them behind or be trapped in the area he's in. A choice not worth having to make.

Unless he's got a hot line from the White House, the backpack survivalist will not hear the bad news much ahead of everyone else. If he doesn't act immediately, he'll be trapped out on the road and get a first hand idea of what grid lock is like if he's in an urban area. Even out on the open road, far away from a city, an interstate can become hectic following a ballgame... Imagine what it would be like if everyone were driving for their lives, some cars were running out of fuel (and the occupants trying to stop someone for a ride), and the traffic laws were being totally ignored while the highway patrol tried to escape along with everyone else. Just trying to get off or on major highways might become impossible. If things bog down, how long can the backpack survivalist keep those around from helping to unload his truck load of supplies that they'll be in bad need of?

Telling them they should have prepared ahead of time won't get many sympathetic words.

Even on lightly traveled roadways, how safe would it be to drive around in a vehicle loaded with supplies? Our backpack survivalist will need to defend himself.

But let's suppose that he's thought all this out. He has a large van, had the supplies loaded in it, managed to round every member of his family up beforehand, somehow got out of his area ahead of the mob, is armed to the teeth, and doesn't need to take an interstate route.

When he reaches his destination, his troubles are far from over.

The gridlock and traffic snarls won't stop everyone. People will slowly be coming out of heavily populated areas and most of them will have few supplies. They will have weapons (guns are one of the first things people grab in a crisis according to civil defense studies) and the evacuees will be desperate. How many pitched battles will the survivalist's family be able to endure? How much work or even sleep can he get when he's constantly on the lookout to repel those who may be trying to get a share of his supplies?

This assumes that he gets to where he's going ahead of everyone else. He might not though. If he has to travel for long, he may discover squatters on his land or find that some local person has staked out his retreat area for their own. There won't be any law to help out; what happens next? Since (according to military strategists) our backpack survivalist needs about three times as many people to take an area as to defend it, he will need to have some numbers with him and expect to suffer some casualties. Does that sound like a good way to survive?

What about the local people that don't try to take over his retreat before he gets there? Will they be glad to see another stranger move into the area to tax their limited supplies? Or will they be setting up roadblocks to turn people like the backpack survivalist away?

But let's just imagine that somehow he's discovered a place that doesn't have a local population and where those fleeing cities aren't able to get to. What happens when he gets to his retreat? How good does he need to be at hunting and fishing? One reason mankind went into farming was that hunting and fishing don't supply enough food for a very large population nor do they work during times of drought or climatic disruption. What does he do when he runs out of ammunition or game? What happens if the streams become so contaminated that he can't safely eat what he catches? Can he stake out a large enough area to guarantee that he won't deplete it of game so that the next year is not barren of animals?

Farming? Unless he finds some unclaimed farm machinery and a handy storage tank of gasoline at his retreat, he'll hardly get off first base. Even primitive crop production requires a plow and work animals (or a lot of manpower) to pull the blade. No plow, no food for him or domestic animals.

And domestic animals don't grow on trees. Again, unless he just happens to find some cows waiting for him at his retreat, he'll be out of luck. (No one has packaged freeze dried cows or chickens at least, not in a form you can reconstitute into living things).

Intensive gardening? Maybe. But even that takes a lot of special tools, seeds, know how, and good weather. Can he carry what he needs and have all the skills that can be developed only through experience?

Even if he did, he might not have any food to eat. Pestilence goes hand in hand with disasters. Our modern age has forgotten this. But during a time when chemical factories aren't churning out the insecticides and pest poisons we've come to rely on, our backpack survivalist should be prepared for waves of insects flooding into any garden he may create. How good is he at making insecticides? Even if he carries out a large quantity of chemicals to his retreat, how many growing seasons will they last?

Did he truck out a lot of gasoline and an electrical generator with him? No? Do you REALLY think he can create an alcohol still from scratch in the middle of nowhere without tools or grain? Then he'd better write off communications, lighting, and all the niceties of the 20th Century after his year's supply of batteries wear out and his vehicle's supply of gasoline conks out.

I'm afraid we've only scratched the surface though. Thus far things have been going pretty well. What happens when things get really bad? How good is he at removing his spouse's appendix without electric lights, pain killers, or antiseptic conditions? Campfire dental work, anyone?

How good is he at making ammunition? Clothing? Shoes?

I think you'll have to agree that this hardly seems like survival in style. Even if our backpack survivalist is able to live in the most spartan of conditions and has the know how to create plenty out of the few scraps around him, he'll never have much of a life ahead of him.

Camping out is fun for a few days. Living in rags like a hunted animal doesn't sound like an existence to be aimed for.

The bottom line with backpack fever is that, with any major disaster that isn't extremely localized, running is a panic reaction not a survival strategy. Running scared is seldom a good survival technique and backpack fever during any but a localized disaster (like a flood or chemical spill) looks like it would be a terminal disease with few, rare exceptions.

So what's the alternative?

A number of writers, from Kurt Saxon to Howard Ruff, have already suggested it but I think that it bears a retelling.

What they've said is this: get yourself situated in a small community that could get by without outside help if things came unglued nationally or internationally. Find a spot that allows you to live in the life style you've grown accustomed to (and a community that allows you to carry on your livelihood) but which has the ability to grow its own food and protect its people from the unprepared (or looters) that might drift in from surrounding cities during a crisis. This spot has the ability to carry on trade within its borders and has a number of people who can supply specialized products or professional skills.

An area with two thousand to five thousand people in it along with a surrounding farm community would be ideal but sizes can vary a lot according to the climate and city. Ideally such a town would have its own power plant with a few small industries along with the usual smattering of doctors, dentists, and other professionals.

This type of community isn't rare in the US. It's quite common in almost every state. You could probably even take a little risk and commute into a city if you must keep your current job. (In such a case a reverse backpack survival strategy just might work, you'd be bugging out to your home.)

Western civilization stepped out of the dark ages when small communities started allowing people to specialize in various jobs. Rather than each many being his own artisan, farmer, doctor, carpenter, etc., men started learning to master one job they enjoyed doing. Each man become more efficient at doing a job and through the magic of capitalism western culture finally started upward again.

A small modern community like the one suggested above, when faced with a national economic collapse or the aftermath of a nuclear war, would eventually lift itself up the same way. It would give those who lived in it the same chance for specialization of work and the ability to carry on mutual trade, support, and protection. Such small communities will be the few light spots in a Neo Dark Age.

Which place would you rather be: in a cave, wondering where the food for tomorrow would come from, or with a group of people living in their homes, working together to overcome their problems? Even the most individualistic of survivalists shouldn't find the choice too hard to make.

This article is taken from American Survival Guide July, 1993 volume 15 number 7 pages 56 thru 59 Name: One Effort, Multiple Results: Survival Homestead By: Richard R Doucet

The author is a retired U.S. Army sergeant with a background in infantry, logistics and administrative and security training. He currently heads his own security firm and is an adjunct faculty member with the University of New Hampshire teaching seminars on home food production.-The editors.

WHAT is a BOL (Bug Out Location) / survivalist homestead? It is a home in which you can live in a real-world/present-time economy and social order, yet at the same time practice on a regular basis the survival skills you may need later.

All of this is accomplished while still living a normal life-style with access to work, schools, emergency services and stores, etc. But most importantly, you will not be in conflict with criminal, firearm or building codes, zoning ordinances, EPA regulations or planning board requirements.

The BOL / survivalist homestead offers one more very important option. That of helping you now to live a better quality life at a cheaper price and allowing you to shift to more severe survival plans only to the extent needed to meet emergencies.

In planning a BOL / survivalist homestead there are three concepts which must be incorporated into your thinking from the start and which must be adhered to if the goals are to be met. They are:

- Plan A and Plan B-Plan A is that part of all planning of your homestead which has to do with dealing in the present/real world time frame. Plan B is the planning for whatever emergencies you feel could threaten you. Both plans must be such that they can co-exist in the same place at the same time.

- One Effort with Multiple Results- This concept is simply "working smarter, not harder," fine tuned to an almost absolute. Every effort must result in more than just the one primary result. It allows you to accomplish more goals with less expenditure of time and money, to facilitate the first concept.

- Reduce, Re-use, Recycle- This concept is taken wholly from the environmental movement. Re-using material and recycling waste allows you to reduce expenses thus build with less cash outlay. This is also a skill you will need in any type of breakdown of social order, where normal access to stores and services will not be available.

Applying these concepts in homestead planning is not the first step. The first step is deciding what you are planning for-what emergencies or crises you might have to face.

This is subjective and no two people will feel that any one set of possible emergencies will be what they have to be ready for.

The process of thinking this through is called threat analysis. Done correctly it can give you an accurate picture of what it is you should be getting ready for. At the end of my threat analysis I decided that the following were what I wanted to be ready for:

1. Short term cash flow problems.
2. Severe weather conditions.
3. Economic upheaval on a large scale.
4. Catastrophic world events.

The first task in establishing a homestead is to find the land. You can eliminate many present-time and cirsis-time security problems with proper site location. At the same time the property should be located so that you have reasonable access to work, entertainment, schools and emergency services.

Other important considerations are taxes, community growth plans, amount of land for your needs, zoning ordinances and building codes in the area where you plan to buy.

I chose my property because it was large enough (15 acres), had the right topography, available firewood, garden space, animal space, hunting and potential for water. Also the town has as part of its charter that the community will remain rural with little growth, no heavy industry or commerce and with farming as its main industry.

Crime, in normal times is a by product of growth and population density in urban and suburban life, and increased crime and civil disorder are the first results of cultural breakdown. My location has been chosen to avoid these to a great extent while still having reasonable contact with the real world.

Finally my location allows me to use firearms, garden, raise animals and build pretty much what I want for now and the future because of the absence of myriad zoning regulations and building codes that are found in so many other communities today.

Security was at the top of my list of priorities in planning my homestead on the land I acquired. A poorly laid out homestead will result in one that is more difficult and costly to secure in both normal and crisis times.

Just locating the house-compound on a hill went a long way in avoiding problems with criminals now -Plan A-and in possible lawless times-Plan B. The compound is hard to see from the nearest road, especially in summer. It is impossible to tell just what is on the hill unless you walk or drive at least half way up the driveway. By this time a would-be intruder or gang finds that the entire front of the compound area is blocked by a marshland to the east, extending a few hundred yards beyond my property line, and a deep dug pond connected to a series of beaver ponds that run nearly a half mile to the west beyond my property line.

This fine example of an engineer water barrier is the result of hard working beavers that moved onto the adjoining property the same year I bought my parcel. Within a few years they had backed up enough water to flood all the aforementioned area except my driveway. The total cost to me for this barrier was $600 to have the deep pond dug. This system serves as a second source of water for emergencies, irrigation , swimming, and draws a wide variety of waterfowl, mammals, reptilles and fish which can be a food supply- One Effort with Multiple Results.

The water barrier freezes in winter. To deny access to the main compound all year round I knew I would have to install some type of fence, which could be expensive. Instead, I stacked brush and tree limbs from land-clearng operations around the top edge of the hill on which my home-compound was located-Reduce, Re-use, Recycle. This created an instant barricade called an abatis. In most places it was around three feet high and as much as eight feet wide.

The next year native New Hampshire blackberries, that grow in abundance in the area, made their appearance and soon formed a living flesh-tearing barbed wire barrier where the brush had been stacked. Unlike a fence that deteriorates and has to be maintained every year, my barrier just gets thicker and stronger without me lifting a finger except to cut it back here and there it also provides a good amount of fresh fruit and attracts animals which, on occasion, end up on the dining room table-One Effort with Multiple Results.

In building my home I wanted a strong dwelling which was also aesthetically pleasing, practical for day-to-day living and would meet all the zoning and building codes and yet would meet the emergencies I plan for.

Solar Heating-I used a lot of rough-cut lumber, stucco and stone inside the house I used one-inch lumber instead of sheet rock for the walls and ceilings because of its structural strength.

The kitchen, living room, dining room and master bedroom are on the south side of the house. This side has large areas of glass windows to allow solar heating during the colder months. The colder the season gets the lower the sun is on the horizon. By Dec. 21, the sun floods almost straight through the south windows, keeping the inside temperature around 65 degrees F. By June21, the sun is now high in the sky, adding little heat to the house during warmer months.

Because solar gain heating can overheat a house in the day time, there is a need for something to absorb the excess heat during the day and radiate it back into the house later on. This is called thermal mass. It is achieved by having no basement and building instead on a concrete slab, sometimes called a floating slab or a monolith slab.

For additional mass-and protection from gunfire if the need should arise-I built a solid concrete block wall of four-inch thick blocks almost the whole length of the house.

This wall collects heat from the wood/coal stove to prevent overheating of the north side rooms and then radiates it back late at night. This stove except for the Ben Franklin stove in the master bedroom which is used only occasionally, is the only source of man-made heat we have had for the past three winters

Plans for this year call for the addition of a propane gas heating system. The gas system will be one that does not rely on electricity to function. Once again if the heating system is connected to house current the loss of electricity means no heat. The wood/coal stove will be kept for back-up, cooking and heating, and just for the pleasure of a wood fire in the winter.

The north wall of the house is just the opposite, as far as windows go, of the south wall. The smallest windows allowed by code are placed here. These are the bathrooms, toilet and bedrooms. These rooms remain empty most of the day and do not need as much light. The smaller windows reduce heat loss and restrict entry from the outside.

To further reduce heat loss the north wall is triple insulated. Standard fiberglass was installed, then one-inch rigid insulation over the studs, and 7/16-inch flake board over the insulation there are no breaks in this barrier except the windows, to allow heat to escape or cold wind to infiltrate the house if desired.

Lastly, all closet space was built into the north wall to create as much "dead space" as possible to further isolate the heat in the house from radiational cooling.

Still Room, Root cellar, Work Shed-Once the main house was up the still room, root cellar, and work shop/shed were added.

A still room was the part of a colonial home where fermentation of home made brews, "kraut" making and pickling were conducted. It was also used to store smoked foods, beverages and other preserved items. I use ours for most of the same reasons and it is also where the water pressure system, well, washer and drier are located.

The dryer is vented through the root cellar by way of a four-inch PVC pipe Part of the system is underground in the root cellar which has a sand floor. This section of pipe has holes in it so condensed moisture can drain into the sand and humidify the root cellar when the drier is used. The end of the pipe has a fixture that allows me to vent the air outside when it is too warm in the cellar or vent into the cellar when it is too cold.

Root cellars are generally constructed underground or in hillsides. Mine is above ground because, with modern insulating materials, it was just cost effective and time saving to do so. In the cellar I can store appropriate food stuffs to last until late spring when the following year's crops start to come in. This is also a good place to store jugs of water in the event we lose electricity.

The wood storage area at the entrance of the still room holds about a half cord of firewood. With this entrance facing south the sun hits the wood pile every day in the winter, melting snow left on it after it is brought in from outside storage. This means we can bring wood into the house night or day and any weather without making a mess all over the place with melting snow.

The summer kitchen is where all the initial cleaning of garden and animal products takes place. All waste can go directly to the compost heap. Waste water from the sink goes directly to garden irrigation after passing through a grease trap. The contents of the grease trap also go to the compost heap.

The Well-Most wells are outside the home and at some distance. Mine is unusual as it is in the still room of the main house.

Few people have the well in a building, other than a small pumphouse, because when the pump and pipe have to be brought up for service, equipment and often a truck have to be used to get the 150 or 200 feet of pipe-full of water- and the pump up.

My well is 700 feet deep and a truck with the proper equipment will be needed to haul everything up. For this reason, the door leading to the outside lines up with the well so the truck needs only to back up and start working.

Having the well in the still room also means there is no chance of freeze ups or busting pipes that are at least four feet underground. The well is also constantly under lock and key where it cannot be tampered with. All of this comes under Plan A should a disaster strike that is so far reaching as to reduce our culture's technology to pre-electrical days, I can remove the pump and pipe and still reach my water in comfort and safety any time of the year-Plan B. I would simply use a container just an inch or so smaller in diameter than the 8 inch pipe well shaft. The container has a flap valve on the bottom and is suspended by a rope. As it is dropped through the water, the valve is pushed open and the container fills. When pulled up the force of the water pushes the valve back down and seats it so the container stays full. Though the well is 700 feet deep, the water level is only 35 feet from the top when it is full. This gives me at 1 1/2 gallons per foot, about 800 gallons in reserve.

In New Hampshire, as in most states, you cannot get a building permit with out a state approved septic system plan. I applied Plan A by putting in a normal flush toilet as the main one in the home and a composting toilet in the master bedroom for back up-Plan B.

The composting toilet needs no special hook up except for a vent through the roof. When you lose electricity that means there is no well pump either, and thus no flush toilet. But the composting one will still be functional for at least three days.

Food-The only real answer to a reliable food supply during bad times is to produce your own, or most of it, all the time.

Producing your own food on a constant basis means you not only have a constant source of reliable food, but you also have the prepared land and facilities, tools and skills to keep going. You can do it all, from planting a garden bed to sowing, raising, cleaning, butchering and preserving your produce, meats and fish.

The most common argument against the whole process of home food production is the time involved, followed by cost. While this is a subject which merits an entire article in itself and there isn't enough space in this article to go into it in depth,suffice it to say that if you have the resources and time to establish your own home food production, you will find it well worth your while.

I have to admit that the initial efforts to set up garden space and small animal facilities is time consuming though not necessarily expensive. But, the set up time is a one-shot effort.

I have used many techniques-too numerous to include here- for saving time, energy, and money in producing food.

In growing tomatoes in the garden area for example, newsprint and grass clippings have been put down in the tomato bed to prevent weeds from growing and reduce the need to water.

For a few hours work a week in home food production from late April through October, you can raise prepare and put up (store) most of your food for a year. And doing so reduces your cost of purchasing the same amounts and types of food by half or more.

The lessons learned by early homesteaders still apply today.

1. Analyze possible threats to you
2. Choose terrain that lends itself to defense.
3. Plan security around the principles of "Avoidance." "Deception" and "Denial."
4. Reduce costs and effort as well as help the environment, by following the concepts of "Plan A and Plan B, "One Effort with Multiple Results" and "Reduce, Re-use, Recycle."
5. Assure yourself good shelter, reliable water and constant food.

Think about this as you reflect on your own plans to survive... now and later.

Survival Spring Pole Snare

The spring pole snare requires a small sapling and cordage to construct. The trigger for the spring pole is the toggle. It is designed to lift the animal off the ground; not allowing predatory animals to take your game. Remember, the trigger can not be so tight that the intended game can not set it off.

SURVIVAL SPRING POLE SNARE

The water filter is a three tier system. The first layer, or grass layer, removes the larger impurities. The second layer, or sand layer, removes the smaller impurities. The final layer, or charcoal layer (not the ash but charcoal from a fire), bonds and holds the toxins. All layers are placed on some type of straining device and the charcoal layer should be at least 5-6 inches thick. Layers should be changed frequently and straining material should be boiled. Remember, this is not a disinfecting method, cysts can possibly move through this system.

Survival Water Filtration Devices

If the water you find is also muddy, stagnant, and foul smelling, you can clear the water--

• By placing it in a container and letting it stand for 12 hours.
• By pouring it through a filtering system.

Note: These procedures only clear the water and make it more palatable. You will have to purify it. ( ie. boiling, iodine, chlorine etc. )

To make a filtering system, place several centimeters or layers of filtering material such as sand, crushed rock, charcoal, or cloth in bamboo, a hollow log, or an article of clothing

GROUP SURVIVAL

A group's survival depends largely on the ability to organize activity. An emergency situation or SHTF scenario does not bring people together for a common goal initially, but rather the more difficult and confusing the situation, the greater are the group’s problems can be

Groups Morale

High morale must come from internal cohesiveness and not merely through external pressure. The moods and attitudes can become wildly contagious. Conscious, well-planned organization and leadership on the basis of delegated or shared responsibility often can prevent panic. High group morale has many advantages.

1. An individual feels strengthened and protected since he realizes that his survival may depend on others whom he trusts.
2. The group can meet failure with greater persistency.
3. The group can formulate goals to help each other face the future.

Factors that Influence Group Survival. There are numerous factors that will influence whether a group can successfully survive.

• Organization of Manpower Organized action is important to keep all members of the group informed; this way the members of the group will know what to do and when to do it, both under ordinary circumstances and in emergencies.

• Selective Use of People In well-organized groups, the person often does the job that most closely fits his personal abilities and skill level

• Acceptance of Suggestion and Criticisms The senior man must accept responsibility for the final decision, but must be able to take suggestion and criticisms from others.

• Consideration of Time On-the-spot decisions that must be acted upon immediately usually determine survival success.

• Check Survival Gear Failure to check you survival gear and equipment can result in failure to survive.

• Survival Knowledge and Survival Skills Confidence in one's ability is increased by acquiring survival knowledge and Survival skills.

Survival ASPECTS OF LEADERSHIP. When dealing with leadership challenges in a survival situation, the foremost weapon a leader must employ is his vigilance: a leader’s attention should be focused on ensuring all people of the group are contributing to the overall success of the situation.

Cohesion. As a leader, you must ensure that all members of the team are working towards the survivability of the group. You can not allow individuals or small groups to formulate their own goals or plan of action.

Self-Worth. A person without self-worth is a person who does not value living. Leadership is a critical; factor in building self-worth. Tasks must be found for each person in which best suits their situation while attempting to receive positive results. (i.e., A man with a broken leg can monitor the fire, A man with a broken arm can still procure water for the group). This will make each and every person feel useful and not a burden to the other members, regardless of their individual situation.

Natural Reactions to Stress. A leader must quickly identify natural reactions to signs of stress his group may be displaying (i.e., Fear, Anxiety, Guilt, Depression). Failure to recognize these signs early will result in injuries, illness, or death which will reduce the groups survival rate. Corrective action must be taken immediately.

Will to Survive. The will to survive is a “mind-set” that must be instilled and reinforced within all members of the group. Without the “will to survive”, no one will succeed.

CONCLUSION. Paramount to survival is preparation and training that will foster trust and confidence in a groups capability to improvise, adapt and overcome in a survival situation. Poorly trained people or groups will not possess the “Will to Survive” as they lack the fundamental skills to overcome the survival situation. Individual confidence is built through challenging and realistic training that teaches a person how to survive and how to effectively use their survival gear and survival skills.

The subject of survival in a long term disaster goes beyond having stockpiles of beans, bullets and band-aids. Those that do survive during a long term emergency will no doubt be tried and tested with a great many things. One of those trying scenarios is dealing with death.

Zombie attacks seem to be a prevalent theme for preppers to prepare for. In fact, the CDC has even posted a preparedness article on how to ward off zombie attacks. While I believe these zombies will likely take the form of substance abusers, mental patients, chronically ill or diseased, and desperate individuals whose basic needs have not been met, they will die out in the first few months of an onset of a major disaster, and there presence will rarely be an issue in a long term situation.

In reality, a majority of those that will die during a long-term disaster will be from illnesses brought on by acute respiratory infections due to cramped living conditions, poor water conditions (or lack of), or bacterial infections from wounds. If we survive a major disaster, America would become a third world country and the aftermath of such a scenario will be similar to those living in Africa, Ethiopia and India.

Illness Due to Poor Water Conditions

Typically, any diseases that are brought on by lack of sanitation and hygiene are controllable and preventable. In a disaster where water sources are compromised, people within a 50 mile radius could be adversely impacted by illness and disease if just one person incorrectly handles water or incorrectly disposes of waste. Contaminated water, poor sanitation and/or lack of hygiene leads to diseases such as Hepatitis A, viral gastroenteritis, cholera, Shigellosis, typhoid, Diphtheria and polio. If these diseases affect enough people, an epidemic will ensue.

Dehydration and diarrhea are also water-related matters to contend with. Those without adequate water conditions and/or are suffering from disease brought on by poor water conditions could quickly dehydrate. These types of illnesses typically affect at-risk populations such as children, the sick and the elderly. Young children in particular are at high risk for diarrhea and other food- and waterborne illnesses because of limited pre-existing immunity and behavioral factors such as frequent hand-to-mouth contact. The greatest risk to an infant with diarrhea and vomiting is dehydration. In addition, fever or increased ambient temperature increases fluid losses and speeds dehydration. Having knowledge beforehand on how to properly clean drinking water and food, and the symptomatology and treatment of these types of diseases can prevent further outbreaks from occurring.

Recommended preparedness items:Survival water filtration systems like Purificup, water purification tablets, chlorine granules, bleach, electrolyte or re-hydration powders, anti-diarrea medicines.

Malnutrition

Malnutrition from either improper water conditions or from lack of nutrients is also a large killer amongst those in impoverished communities. Medical experts say there is a symbiotic relationship between malnutrition and diarreah. Malnutrition increases the severity of diarrhea while diarrhea can cause malnutrition. Either way, prevention for both of these health issues is key.

Those that are malnourished are more suseptible to illness and disease. Individuals who are malnourished will also be vitamin deficient and their health is likely to regress further. Those who survive from malnutrition are permanently affected by this disease and may suffer from recurring sickness, faltering growth, poor brain development, increased tooth decay, reduced strength and work capacity, and increased chance of chronic diseases in adulthood. Adult women with this condition will give birth to underweight babies.

Recommended preparedness items: dietary supplements, vitamin powders, seeds for sprouting or seeds for fresh vegetables and fruits, survival bars, knowledge of alternative means to attain vitamins

Acute Respiratory Infections

Upper respiratory infections (URI) will also be a leading cause of death in a long term disaster. Upper respiratory infections include: colds, flu, sore throat, coughs and bronchitis can usually be cured with additional liquids, rest and nourishment. Allowing the illness to exacerbate will lead to secondary infections such as bacterial pneumonia. The germs from pneumonia are easily spread from an infected person to others by coughing or sneezing or through close contact. A major concern about respiratory infections is that there are many drug resistant strands of viruses, bacterias and diseases (including tuberculosis), that regular medicine will not cure. In a long term disaster situation, many could perish.

To properly prepare for this type of medical situation, learn about the more prevalent viruses and bacterias in your country and how to prevent them in order to provide a healthy living environment in a long term situation.

Not only are URI’s a concern but other air-borne diseases such as tuberculosis will likely fester during a long term scenario. In regular non SHTF times, treatment for tuberculosis requires 6-12 months of medication. In a long term emergency, chances of surviving tuberculosis are slim. The best way to prevent tuberculosis is adequate nutrition, vitamin D and living in a properly ventilated shelter.

Survival groups that have multiple people living under one roof will only increase the likelihood of passing air-borne infections and diseases to one another. In addition, those in an at-risk group (elderly, immuno deficient, infants) are more likely to catch illnesses. If a survival group is sharing a home, an infirmary or sick room should be prepared for those who have fallen ill. Isolating the person who is ill will limit exposure to the other members of the group. Adequate nutrition, water, rest, good sanitary practices and ventilation of the home is essential in curbing this.

Recommended preparedness items: decongestants, expectorants, upper respiratory medicines, antibiotics (for secondary and bacterial infections), knowledge on medicinal herbs, prepare a sick room at your survival homestead

Infections From Wounds

Open injuries have the potential for serious bacterial wound infections, including gas gangrene and tetanus, and these in turn may lead to long term disabilities, chronic wound or bone infection, and death. Anitibiotics will be few and far between and will be more precious than gold. Without proper medicines, antiseptic and knowledge on proper medical procedures, many will die of bacterial infections. Learning medical skills, gaining knowledge on natural medicines and alternative medical antiseptic (i.e., Dakin’s Solution) before a disaster occurs could help people survive from wound infections. Also, ensuring the area that you treat medical emergencies is clean and as sterile as possible may also prevent bacterial infections.

Recommended preparedness items: stock up on maxi pads for wound absorption, gauze, celox, antibiotics, suture needles and other basic first aid supplies.

Additionally, consider developing the following skills: basic first aid class, sign up for EMT classes in your community, an off-grid medical care class such as those offered by onPoint Tactical. Also, consider investing in books such as When There is No Doctor and When There is No Dentist.

Also look into making your own antiseptics utilizing alcohol distillation, such as the custom made units from LNL Protekt.

These illnesses (provided above) have impacted countries all over the world. These illness and conditions, coupled with unsanitary living conditions such as substandard sanitation, inadequate food and water supplies and poor hygiene, make disaster-affected people especially vulnerable to disease. These illnesses will affect us no matter what part of the world we live in, what socio-economic status we currently hold, and no matter how prepared we think we are.

Understanding what can happen and being prepared when it does is absolutely essential. The last thing we want to do when a serious condition arises is to panic. Preparing your supplies, developing your skills and educating the rest of your family and preparedness group on how to prevent, identify and counteract these serious conditions will provide a significant boost to your ability to survive if the worst happens.

Urban Survival Guide

Source

Survival Skills Starting a Fire in Wet Conditions

Making and maintaining a fire in wet conditions can be challenging unless you have the right skills The first thing you need to do is gather the required materials, that is tinder, kindling and fuel. However if it is wet or raining or even with snow on the ground, it can be a bit more difficult, but not impossible, if you know where to look.

Some things to look for and consider:

• Standing dead fall
• Hanging dead fall
• Tree bark
• Inside of mature milkweed pods
• Pine pitch or pine resin
• Underneath rock shelves
• Underneath downed trees or logs or even inside of them
• Inside of thick shrubs or sedges
• Underneath heavy snow pack if the temps are below freezing
• Heavy patches of dead weeds or tall grasses
• Inside or arround old animal burrows, just be cautious with this one make sure the owner is not at home!
• One stick fire method

Another consideration maybe on your person, a piece of your clothing, or even something from your wallet. And yes that does include the paper cash you might have as well, if your in a survival situation then you had better really consider it. It is far better to loose a few pieces of paper money then to loose your life don't you think?

If you are not completely drenched you might be able to find lint in the very bottom corners of your pockets. Dry lint will ignite very easily as long as you have acquired enough to use as tinder.

In wet conditions it is best to build your fire on top of something and if possible underneath some type of refuge. Before creating your fire clear an area, look for a foundation to start it on, a flat piece of wood, metal, debris or a rock. Make use of what ever is in the area to keep the rain or snow off your fire until it gets hot enough to sustain itself.

In wet conditions you will have a very difficult time finding dry natural tinder, this is the very reason why Survivalists and Bushcrafters carry many different types of tinder in their survival and bushcraft kits and practice many different methods of Firecraft.

Here is a very good 2 part playlist demonstrating many of the topics discussed here.

How to find dry materials in wet conditions and successfully build a fire in a wilderness survival situation.

Imagine suddenly finding yourself stranded in the wilderness. Perhaps your plane has crashed or you have become lost. Darkness is falling and you are on your own. Self extraction at this time is out of the question.

Your next course of action could mean the difference between a miserable life threatening experience and reasonably comfortable survival.

You are lost and you know you will not be leaving the wilderness today.First order of business – do nothing but relax and think through your situation.

Then, take the decisive actions necessary to keep you alive.

In this Survival Topic we assume you are not grievously injured; that you can still function well enough to take care of yourself but need a survival guide outlining the essential steps you must take to survive in the wilderness. Do the Most Important Survival Tasks First

Flailing around in the wilderness without a well thought out plan isn’t going to increase your chances for survival – but it could reduce them. Proper actions taken in proper sequence will enhance your ability to survive.

The first question you should ask yourself in this situation is “what are the most important survival tasks to be accomplished”?

Many survival guides provide some information about wilderness survival skills but dwell on excessive material devoted to finding food in survival situations. Often there is little consideration given to the important component of timing.

This one-dimensional approach to wilderness survival instruction gives many survival students the mistaken impression that finding food is the most important wilderness survival task. In reality, food acquisition is at the bottom of the list for things that need doing in most wilderness survival emergencies.

The proper order of tasks will take into account that which is most important to your immediate survival. You need a list of things to do; as each task is completed to satisfaction move on to the next in line of importance. In this way you will secure your survival in the environment you find yourself.

The remainder of this Survival Topic will provide step by step a list of the main survival skills you should apply in order to increase your chances of surviving in the wilderness.

First Survival Things First

Should you find yourself in a wilderness survival situation you have your work cut out for you. The first twenty-four hours are the most critical. Within this time frame you must satisfy your basic survival needs; only then is your survival usually assured.

Upon the often startling realization your survival is at stake, and assuming your current state of health is not life threatening, the first thing you need to do is do nothing.

That’s right, do “nothing”

In spite of the often overwhelming urge to take immediate action in the early stages of a survival situation, usually the best thing you can do is take it easy. Have a seat and relax for a few moments. Lay down if that makes you more comfortable. If there is food and water available, have something to eat and drink. Make especially sure you are fully hydrated.

Take it easy. Quell any fears that may be welling up from within to pollute your mind. Remain calm and collected because you will only have yourself and your survival skills to rely upon until rescue arrives.

Take stock of your situation. Hopefully you’ve been reading many survival topics so you’ve got a good survival kit, you know what to do, and you and how to do it. Everything will be fine and soon enough you will be home telling all your friends about this great wilderness adventure.

Inventory Survival Supplies

Once you have complete charge of your thoughts, quickly inventory your situation. Consider the environment you find yourself in and the materials such as clothing, water, survival kit, and other survival gear you have available.

Every situation is different, but try to look about you with the eye of a MacGyver. Take stock of other items you can re-purpose for survival. Depending upon the situation you may have parts available from your vehicle or aircraft such as mirrors (signaling), foam insulation from seat covers, wires (cordage), gasoline (fire), batteries (starting a fire) and other man-made materials.

Observe the natural resources you can utilize to help you survive. Sources of fuel for fire, water, and survival shelter are especially important. Try to locate yourself in an area where these survival resources are close at hand so that you expend a minimum amount of time and energy in gathering them.

Build a Survival Fire

Now that you have your head on straight, I suggest you build a fire. Fire has many uses beyond warmth, light, and signaling. Just the act of making a good campfire has a calming, morale boosting effect that will psychologically save you from yourself. This is very important; in any wilderness survival situation your mind is both your best asset and your worst stumbling block.

Once you make and maintain a good survival fire, you are assured of ample warmth, light, and an increased ability to signal for help. The boost to your morale that a camp fire causes will immediately be felt. With a good fire going, you can safely tackle the next important survival tasks.

However in many survival situations successfully making a fire can be problematic even if you have proper fire starting materials. Fuel is often wet or of poor quality. It may be raining or snowing and there may be high winds. Only through the experience of making many fires in a variety of situations will you master this most essential survival skill.

When you need it most, as in this situation, you will be glad you have honed your fire making skills by repeated practice. Your survival kit should contain at least three methods of lighting a fire. For example waterproof matches, fire steel and butane lighters, so that if one method fails you still have two backups. Fire is so important to wilderness survival this redundancy in fire making gear could very well save your life.

I also recommend your survival kit contains a fire starting aid. Petroleum jelly fire starters or wax fire sticks will be of great help in making a survival fire if the wood is green or damp.

A survival fire is relatively small; gathering fuel is time consuming and energy intensive. You do not want to unnecessarily burn though material faster than you can gather it. Keep your small fire going while you move on to the next tasks.

Make a Survival Shelter

The next wilderness survival priority is shelter from the elements. Without a proper survival shelter you may be exposed to a variety of threats including heat, cold, wind, rain, snow, and pesky insects.

Do not make the mistake of relying upon current conditions to persist throughout your entire survival situation. It may be warm, sunny, and comfortable now, but in the middle of the night you do not want to be awakened by a raging storm totally unprepared.

If possible you have advantageously selected an area for your fire where shelter is already fully or partially integrated, and where there are plenty of building materials nearby. For example a rock overhang may make an excellent shelter and by making a fire a few yards away you may have a very comfortable setup.

If you have your survival kit, you can use your tarp to construct a protected area or even as the basis for a debris hut or snow trench shelter. The type of shelter you construct will depend upon climate, available materials, and your abilities. Once again, the wilderness survival skills you practiced before an actual survival emergency will serve you well.

Obtain Water

Many people do not fully understand the importance of adequate water intake. You can survive for weeks or even months with little or no food, but go without water for even just one day and your ability to carry out the tasks necessary for wilderness survival is greatly compromised.

When you become dehydrated your efficiency is reduced in many ways. You will tire more easily. You will become susceptible to injury and the effects of cold or heat. Morale will drop and a host of other problems ensue. Observe the Rule of 3's

The Rule of 3's are:

• You can survive without oxygen or with major bleeding for 3 minutes
• You can survive exposure to extreme cold or heat for 3 hours
• You can survive without water for 3 days
• You can survive without food for 3 weeks

Try to locate your shelter and fire near a good source of water. This will save you having to travel far to replenish your water supply. Areas near streams, lakes, and ponds are also likely places search and rescue is likely to look for you. In thick forests these areas are often more open than the surrounding countryside, which improves your ability to signal and to be seen.

Always consider water as suspect in quality. Do not boil your water for ten minutes or longer as many misinformed sources erroneously expound. The myth of boiling water for inordinate lengths of time is stubbornly cherished and recirculated for years.

Boiling your water for any length of time merely wastes fuel and evaporates water. Simply bring your water to a boil; this is more than enough to destroy any pathogens that might do you harm.

Signaling

With your immediate physical needs taken care of you can turn your attention to signaling for rescue.

There are many ways to signal for help. Your survival kit should contain several items that will come in handy for this purpose.

A signal mirror can be used to flash aircraft and ground personnel from surprisingly great distances. Often a survival signal mirror can be fashioned from a piece of shiny metal or plastic. Some compasses have a mirror as part of the compass casing.

Every survival kit should contain a shrill survival whistle. The blast of a whistle can be heard further than the shout of a human voice. And importantly, you can blow a whistle at regular intervals all day but you cannot do the same with shouting; in very little time your voice will become strained and you will be unable to maintain the effort.

A smoky fire makes an excellent survival signaling device that can be seen and often smelled for miles in all directions. Keep a ready pile of green vegetation next to your campfire and throw it on should you hear the drone of an aircraft.

Extended Wilderness Survival

Now that you have fire, shelter, and plenty of drinkable water you know you can survive in the wilderness for many days if necessary. You have your signaling methods in place and you are safely awaiting rescue.

You can survive for many weeks just as you are but keep in mind that 95% of all wilderness survival emergencies are resolved within just 72-hours. The fact is you’ve got it made. You are now actually on a sort of adventure vacation.

Continue to keep your spirits up by taking action. While awaiting rescue keep yourself busy by improving your campsite. It will help your morale and increase your level of comfort. Improve your shelter and bedding, gather water and firewood, and keep vigilant for the opportunity to signal would-be rescuers.

Survival Food

You will become hungry going without food for more than several hours, but as long as you are properly sheltered, warm, and have enough to drink you will come out of this fine.

There are number of ways to obtain wild survival foods in nearly any wilderness situation. The Survival Topic Survival Foraging on the Move is an excellent example of the abundance of natural foods you can harvest in many wilderness areas. If you can drop your preconceived food prejudices you are often well on your way to having plenty to eat.

As with all the basic survival skills, the ability to find wild foods during a survival situation depends upon previous study and practice. Learn how to identify, harvest, and use the most important edible plants in the area you are traveling in. Think about the various methods you can use to harvest local wildlife. Be sure to cook anything that may contain parasites or disease causing organisms.

Your survival kit should contain the means to fish, trap and snare, cook, and create various tools and hunting gear. A good survival knife, 550 paracord, fishhooks and line will go far in helping you procure wild edible foods.

The skills and experience you have accumulated through practice will serve you well when it comes to finding survival food. Even without a survival kit you can usually figure out ways to utilize the materials you have available to aid in this effort.

It is important to note that plants and insects are often the easiest and most abundant foods to acquire. Fish are also often relatively easy to catch. But depending upon animals for food may be unreliable; hunting and trapping is not always an assured way of obtaining food on a day to day basis even by those with experience. The pursuit of animals can also be time and energy consuming and may even cause you to become separated from your campsite.

Recap of Wilderness Survival Priorities

95% of wilderness survival situations are resolved within 72-hours either by outside rescue or self-extraction. What you do during the first 24-hours will largely determine your chances of survival. After the first day work on improving your situation:

First 24-hours

• Take stock
• Build a fire
• Make a quick and basic shelter
• Obtain water
• Set up signaling

Thereafter

• Continue to improve your situation
• Find food

Wilderness survival above all is using your best asset to full advantage: your mind. Stay calm and take positive action step by step one survival priority at a time and you will survive to see another day. source

Many of us realize that the city is perhaps the worst place to live, to prepare for a SHTF scenario. Should you choose to stay in the city, the following information may be helpful. This information has been gathered from various sources and compiled.

Cities are formed for the benefit of interacting with large groups of people for mutual benefit. However, they need resources from outside of themselves; most notably, food, water and electricity. Although electricity and water can sometimes be created or found within city limits, cities are dependent on the importation of food. For a long time they have been entirely dependent on the American farmer for their support, something almost all Americans take for granted.

The city presents serious risks during a crisis.
The four most serious are:

1. Rioting and the breakdown of order
2. Lack of water, or the delivery of water
3. Lack of food
4. The power grid going off-lineV

Some cities may experience only a few of these, although most certainly there will be cities that experience them all.

Social order is psychological. It could collapse under the right conditions. When people realize there is no longer law and order, they behave according to their own whims. Only the threat of immediate death stopped the looting and violence in the L.A. Riots, when the National Guard responded to the crisis. Eventually the National Guard assumed control. Remember, this was only an isolated event, with one city. In a more serious crisis, will the National Guard or local police be able to handle the load? Overnight this country could be turned into a war zone, requiring all-out martial law and military force. The reality is, however, the military would be stretched beyond limits to handle the load.

The greatest risk of remaining in the city is the breakdown of social order. Lack of food, water, and money will drive people to behave unethically towards other people. While certain areas will manage to keep things under control, people will be forming lines at the local (depleted) Red Cross shelter, while other cities will erupt in violence. The gang-infested regions of major metropolitan areas will not stand in line and wait. Racial tensions will simply serve as a catalyst for shooting people in order to get their food or other possessions.

Lack of money results in looting and mass theft, resulting in a collapse of social order. Lack of water has the same effect. The collapse of social order doesn’t require any collapse of the power grid, telecommunications, transportation or banking. Social order is psychological. Global panic can quickly remove the mental barrier that right now keeps people basically “lawful.”

Water treatment plants are electricity dependent. Some plants have already failed emergency testing in the event of a shutdown of the power grid. In one such test, the water treatment plant released a fatal dose of fluoride into the water system when tested. The computers thought they were 99 years behind in releasing minute doses of fluoride, so they made up the difference. If you happened to be downstream, drinking that water, you were dead. Fluoride, no matter what misinformed dentists tell you, is actually a fatal poison. A major crisis likely to demonstrate this fact in more than one city.

More importantly, however is, what do you do when the water stops flowing or is not drinkable? People can live without water only 2-3 days. During the first day of the water crisis, many people will only be inconvenienced. As the day wanes, they'll get worried. By the second day, more will realize the water isn't coming. Social order will begin to break down while they search for water. People will searches stores and eventually those supplies will vanish. If water stops flowing, there will be looting of all the grocery stores, outbreaks of violence with some shop owners defending their goods, a mass exodus from the city by residents in search of water, ransacking of any houses or farms within a gas-tank radius of the city (presumably by desperate people with guns), mass traffic jams as people abandon their vehicles when they run out of gas, and outbreaks of water-borne diseases as people use streams and rivers as drinking water and lavatories.

Supplies of food will dwindle quickly. Breakdowns in the transportation sector will result in major delays. Any shipment of food that arrives will be quickly grabbed and eaten or stored. Expect the atmosphere to be that of a “near panic”, the level varying from city to city, if food is delayed by as little as three days. A shortage of food results in the same behavior as a shortage of water.

The power grid goes off-line. Nothing is as suddenly obvious nor has such a psychological impact as a power outage. When electricity stops, almost everybody knows it at the same instant (unless it happens at night). People assume it’s temporary. What if it doesn’t back online? Without power, everything shuts down. Looting begins in the more crime-ridden cities. The longer the power stays off, the worse the social disorder. Vehicles may get around, but businesses won't be operating. Houses that use electricity for heat will reach Winter temperatures, freezing many occupants to death. Those that depend on electricity for AC will just as quickly reach Summer temperatures, some dying from heat stroke. Hospitals and police stations may have generators with a few days worth of fuel, but eventually that will be depleted. Water treatment plants will almost certainly be off-line causing all the events mentioned in the water section. If you have power, you can survive a food shortage, perhaps even a short water shortage. If you have a “bug-out” vehicle stocked and ready to go, this might be the time to bail.

Okay, so you're stuck in the city and made the decision to stay. What now? You really have only two options. You can (1.) Stay and defend your home, or (2.) Bug out. Of course this is not an either/or situation. You can begin by staying in your house and assessing the situation. You'll want to have a “bug-out” vehicle stocked and ready, but you may never actually choose to bug out. When you bug out, you face major risks and disadvantages. Among these: You're severely limited in how much you can carry; you have limited range due to fuel; you expose yourself to social chaos, roadblocks, random violence, etc.; your house will certainly be looted; you run the risk of mechanical breakdowns; you must have a place to go that you know is in better shape than where you currently are.

In general, unless you have a specific, known safe place as your final destination, it's not advisable to bug out. Staying and defending your house is sometimes the only reasonable course of action, even if it seems dangerous. For the most part, looters and people looking for food are going to have plenty of easy victims, so if you show a little willingness to use force to defend your property, you’ll likely send people on to the next house. That is, until the next house is already empty and you appear to be the last house on the block with any food and water left. Your neighbors may “gang up” on you. The best situation is to keep your neighbors informed and help them get prepared. Then you can act as a group, defending your neighborhood and sharing supplies with anyone willing to help defend you.

Storing food is important, but hiding it is far more. That’s because in the worst areas, marauders will be going house to house, demanding your food or your life. To count on having any amount of food left over after the marauders break in, you'll need to hide your food. One alternative is to plan on defending your home with force. If you have enough gun-wise people in the house, and enough firearms and ammo, you can probably pull this off. But most of us aren’t nearly as experience with firearms as the gang members. The best way to hide your food is to bury it inside airtight containers. Bury your food at night so nobody will notice, and make sure you don’t leave a map on the refrigerator door! Try to get the ground to look normal after you're finished. You’ll want to bury your food as early as possible give the grass time to grow over. If you’re in an area that snows, you’ll have great concealment. Most marauders won't go to the trouble to dig up food, especially if you insist you don't have any. Also, have smaller amount of food stashed around the house, letting them find something. Better to give them something and send them on their way. Be creative in hiding your food. Use the walls, the floors, and the structure of the house. If hiding your food is not possible, then don't advertise it. In reality it would be easier to simply build a false wall in your garage and seal up your food behind the false wall. Sure, you might loose 2-3 feet of usable space in your garage, but the trade off is knowing everything is safe.

Water can be stored in exactly the same way. Make sure you treat your storage water, rotate it or have filters on hand when you get ready to use it. If you don’t have a yard, or it's not practical to bury your water, you’ll have to store it inside your house. Water takes up lots of space and is difficult to conceal. It’s best to get containers made for long-term storage, but you can use almost any container: soda bottles, milk jugs (although it's very difficult to rinse the milk out), and even rinsed bleach bottles (in that case, you won’t need to add bleach). Many of these containers will deteriorate quickly, and they may break easily. Also, consider what happens if your water may be subjected to freezing. Will your containers survive? Be sure to leave enough air space to handle the expansion. Stock at least six months of water at a minimum two gallons a day per person. That’s nearly 400 gallons of water if you have two people. Even with the best preparations you may find yourself short of water. In this case, one of your best defenses is to have a really good water filter that can remove parasites and bacteria from the water. You can also treat your water in other ways (iodine, distillation, silver solution, bleach, etc.). The best solution for obtaining long-term water is to drill a well. Many cities simply don’t allow the drilling of wells, so you may not be able to get one drilled even if you want to. The deeper your well, the more expensive it becomes.

Now regarding defense. In rural areas most people are going to find ways to cooperate. However, some cities will suffer complete social breakdown and violence will rule. If you happen to be stuck in one of these cities, you’re going to need to use force to defend yourself. Also, do not use your lights at night. Avoid drawing attention to your house. Defending your house is a crucial element on your stay-in-the-city plan. Make your house your fortress, and hold drills to help other family members practice some of the more common activities such as hiding, defending, evacuating, etc. Some useful items for home defense include: a guard dog, pepper spray, firearms, smoke bombs, and trip wires. The guard dog probably eats a lot of food, but the investment is worth it. Dogs also tend to sleep light, so have them sleep near food storage areas, and make sure you sleep within earshot. If the dog barks, don't consider it an annoyance, consider it an INTRUSION. Pepper spray will incapacitate people and certainly give them a painful experience to remember. On the downside (potentially), it might just remind them that next time they come back for food, they better kill you first. Firearms are useful for obvious reasons. When looting is rampant, you may have to shoot someone to protect yourself or your family. If you’re squeamish about pulling the trigger under these circumstances, don't plan to stay in the city. Use the “bug out” plan instead. Smoke bombs can be useful for covering a planned escape from your house. You can purchase high-volume smoke bombs that will quickly fill up any house with an non-breathable cloud of military-grade white smoke. Trip wires are great perimeter defenses and will give early warning.

In addition to these devices, you can make significant fortification-style improvements to your home. While none of these are very affordable, they certainly help defend your home: replace glass windows with non-breakable Plexiglas; add steel bars to the windows; replace all outside door locks with heavy-duty deadbolts; replace all outside doors with steel doors (preferably without windows); remove bushes and other shrubs where people might hide; black out the windows entirely to avoid light escaping at night; build secret hiding places for food, coins, or even people; create escape hatches or passageways; and rig pepper-spray booby traps. Many people living in rough cities already have steel bars covering their windows, and removing extra bushes and shrubs is a well-known tactic for making your home a safer place.

To light your home when there’s no electricity, try the following: use LED flashlights and rechargeable solar-charged batteries; use propane-powered lanterns (be sure to purchase extra mantles and store lots of propane); purchase quality oil lamps and stock up on oil (you can also purchase cheap kerosene lamps then simply purchase and store extra kerosene); buy extra candles; purchase lots of olive oil. Not only can you cook with it but it also burns as a clean candle fuel. You can float a wick in a jar half-full of olive oil and light the wick for a home-made candle. Olive oil is a great item for your storage anyway because you’ll still need cooking oil. Well-stored olive oil can last for thousands of years.

Your best bet in regards to stocking fuel for your house is to stock up on UNCUT wood logs. The effort is worth it, because this will give you a ready-to-go source of heat and fuel that cannot be easily stolen. You'll need equipment to cut and chop the wood. Wood splits better when it’s frozen, so you might wait until Winter to start splitting. Only split a little at a time so as not to invite theft. Cut about to start drying out, then chop them as you need them.

Getting along with neighbors is important. The best situation to be in, is to have neighbors who are aware of the issue and who are getting ready, stocking their own supplies. If you do live in a bad neighborhood, do what you can to relocate. If you live in a good neighborhood, do the best you can to educate and inform your neighbors.

The gun-control politicians (and the people who supported them) have placed most Americans in a situation where the police cannot protect us in a timely manner, nor can we lawfully defend ourselves. Criminals unlawfully have firearms; citizens lawfully don't. The cities where rioting will likely be the worst is where firearms are most likely to be banned from lawful ownership (and where criminals may wield near-absolute power for a while.). Millions of people are going to have to resort to breaking the law in order to protect their families. And yes, you too will have to resort to breaking the law if you are to acquire a firearm in an area where guns are entirely banned from private citizens. After the disaster hits, if the situation deteriorates badly, local police will be begging law-abiding citizens for help. But if you carry a gun while you smash a window of the Wal-Mart and walk off with a stereo, be prepare to get shot. Police officers don't mind private ownership nearly as much as many believe. When the crisis hits, they'll be more than happy to have your cooperation. If you really feel you need a firearm to protect yourself and your family, your best bet may be to move to a city or state where people are a lot more accepting of firearms. Check the gun laws in any state you're considering moving to.

Suppose you’ve changed your mind about this city thing. You’ve decided to BUG OUT! Well, you will likely need a 4x4 truck in order to go off-road and around stalled vehicles. It should also be able to carry at least 1000 pounds of supplies. Yes, it requires more fuel, but you can carry the fuel as cargo. You will need an armed passenger in case you run into not-so-nice people. Here’s what you should take if you’re preparing to bug out with two people: your 96 hour kits for each person in the vehicle; 20 gallons of water; 40 gallons of extra fuel or more (and a full gas tank). As mentioned earlier, if you have a designated BOL, go for it. If not, you’re basically driving anywhere you can go, so try to head for an area that is forested and near a creek or river where you can get some water. The conclusion is this: choosing to remain in the city is a rational choice for many people in many situations. However, the further away you can get from population centers the better your chances of surviving. Most people have a difficult time accepting that a major disaster would be as bad as described. However, the very nature of a major disaster means that if only one or two major infrastructure components go down, the ripple effect will quickly create a much worse scenario. The most likely scenario at this point clearly points to massive disruptions, shortages in food and water, loss of power in some areas, and a breakdown of social order in areas where the population density is high. But you can survive anything with good planning, an open mind, and plenty of practice. Now is the best time to start.

Source

Water Procurement: Depressions in Living Hardwood Trees

Description:
Here's a quick tip on where to find water and how to gather it from natural depressions found at the base of some hardwood trees.

WE ARE SURVIVALISTS

He who fails to prepare for the night, fails to prepare for the dawn.

I am a survivalist and by nature a survivalist is an OPTIMIST. I do not have one pessimistic bone in my body. If what I just said sounds odd to you, then you are not yet a survivalist and you do not understand the modern survivalist at all.

It has been very difficult to communicate to the public and and the mass communications media, the concept of an optimistic, hopeful survivalist. A fireman is a fireman, not because he believes everything will burn, but because he believes much can be saved. Doctors don't believe in death, they believe in life, and a survivalist is not a survivalist because he believes everything must be destroyed and everyone must die, he believes that life and freedom can be saved, if people of good will are prepared. A fireman does not start fires, a doctor does not make disease and a survivalist does not make disaster. Crime, disease, war, revolution, fire, flood, periodic financial collapse and famine are the results of nature and the nature of man and unfortunately are not within the power of anyone on this earth to prevent.

We all know that the sun will set each day, leaving us in darkness and we all know that warm summers give way to cold winters and that we can do nothing to keep the sun from setting ot the cold winds from coming, does this make us pessimistic? I think not! So then why is the survivalist called a pessimist when he makes ready to face events that are just as much part of history and nature as the sunset and changing of the seasons.

Another misconception is that survivalists are predicting world disaster. On the contrary, we seem to be the OPTIMISTIC MINORITY that is predicting world survival. We are hard pressed to find any well recommended historians, economists, political scientists, sociologists or military strategists that can come up with a scenario that gives even a fifty-fifty chance of avoiding a large scale catastrophe, yet we survivalist dare to be OPTIMISTIC about the future.

We survivalists do not need to predict the probability of disaster anymore than we need to predict the sun setting. Those who criticize survivalists, are like men who refuse to look at a calendar, in the hope that through self-imposed ignorance they can keep from aging another year.

"You survivalists will be disappointed if we don't have a world cataclysm", here is another accusation that is pure B.S. and I could not think of a milder phrase to describe it. We survivalists have loved ones we don't want to see hurt or killed, we have homes we don't want to see destroyed, we are not fools to think that just because we are survivalists a world cataclysm would be fun for us or the we would not experience danger, loss, hunger, injury, cold or even despair and death.

We have spent time and money to improve our chances for survival and recovery from disaster, but we would have a great celebration if some day we could be assured that we had wasted our time. No, we will not be disappointed if there is no disaster to survive, anymore than the Red Cross is disappointed when there are no floods and storms or the man who buys an insurance policy is disappointed when his house fails to burn down. It may be said that the survivalist would much prefer the pleasant (but unlikely) surprise of being wrong to the (probable) deadly rude awakening that the non-survivalist will face if he is wrong.

So, you see the survivalist can not lose because his survival preparations will be of value regardless of what the future has in store. In time of crisis, those who have not prepared to turn to each other, will turn on each other.

It is most regrettable indeed, that many people consider survivalists as a threat and regard them with suspicion and even hostility. This attitude is logically indefensible and is rooted in the non-survivalists own sense of fear and guilt. Subconsciously, the non-survivalist may hate the survivalist for reminding him of how fragile his lifestyle is.

Now, let's get the facts turned around right. THE MOST DANGEROUS PEOPLE IN AMERICA TODAY ARE THE NON-SURVIVALIST. Every person who has not made provisions for surviving without food, water, fuel and other essential needs from the outside, is a mortal danger to his neighbors. What will a man do when he and his family are freezing, hungry, thirsty,sick and starving? He may ask or beg his neighbors for help, but when they have no extra fuel, food, water or medicine to give, will he just go back home to die with his wife and kids? What do you think?

We survivalists who stock up on food and other supplies, now do a favor to society because what we now buy is replaced on the shelves so there will be that much more available in an emergency. We survivalists won't be looting and killing for food. We won't be a burden on the medical facilities or a danger to the police. Since we will be able to turn to each other, we will not need to turn on anyone and we maybe able to help at least some.

Survival preparation should be regarded as a social obligation, one that every individual owes to his family and community and his nation. The non-survivalist is simply a poor and irresponsible citizen.

So the reality is, that survivalists are optimistic, self-reliant individuals, who cannot help but see the imperative of preparing for the worst possible events, while hoping sincerely, that they won't happen. Today's survivalist is an asset to his community and to the world and should be proud to be called a SURVIVALIST.

Bushcraft Bow And Arrow 2 Part Play List

Part 1
Title:
bushcraft skills: how to make a bow (just a very basic one... yet effective!)
Description:
making bows is a fine art, but one can make a crude bow in a very short time and with little effort. i used hazel, which is imo the perfect wood for this kind of bow: soft enough to be easy to carve, strong (especially if fire hardened) and elastic enough to make a decent bow. i intentionally didn't tiller the bow, just to show that even a not-so-perfect bow can be usable... also, i decided to skip the fire hardening, which would have resulted into a stronger bow. the whole thing took about half of hour an very little effort.

Part 2
Title:
bushcraft skills: how to make an arrow (just a very basic one... yet effective!)
Description:
many say that an arrow is much hard to make than a bow... and they might be right! arrow making requires time, patience, skill, resources and tools. that is, if you have all of the above and you want a really good arrow. but, if you need an arrow "right now", maybe you can settle for a less-than-perfect-arrow, that still works within certain limits. in this vid, i try to prove that a very basic arrow (that is easy to make in a short time with just a knife) can be accurate at a decent range and can deliver a lot of impact/penetration, more than enough to take small game (if you can get close enough). bow hunting is prohibited in Romania, so i never shot an arrow to a living target, but i got in numerous occasions close enough to small game to be able to use even such a crude arrow with a fair chance to a clean kill. even if i prefer a good arrow, it's nice to know that i can make and use a more basic one, too.

Desciption: I demo a simple fishing pole that is built in the wilderness from natural materials and a safety pin. I also show you how to use the pole without the safety pin. Also shown is where to find live bait and how to make a quick fish stringer from local materials.

Update: This video from "Ghostkamo" is well done and well thought out and makes an excellent addition to this post below.

Preparing For Survival

In light of recent events many individuals and families are taking a fresh look at the dreaded "S-word," survivalism.

As with any beginners, these people need some sort of plan for these uncharted waters. I hope that this article can give some useful guidance to those new to the field, and perhaps some new insights to others who have been left to their own devices in coming to grips with this virtually all-inclusive field.

This plan consists of nine major points:

1. DETERMINATION
2. BECOME/STAY HEALTHY
3. ALLOCATE PART OF YOUR BUDGET
4. DEVELOP PLANS OF ACTION
5. HAVE A BUG OUT BAG
6. PLAN FOR LONG TERM SURVIVAL
7. GET TRAINING
8. PRACTICE
9. BE DISCRETE

DETERMINATION
This is the first requirement to insuring your (and your family's) longevity. You must want to survive. Contact others upon whom you might rely (and whom may likewise rely upon you) in a crisis. This is not a game, although games can play a part in the training aspect. If we are to survive as individuals, as families, as a society, we cannot approach this as a one-person show. It will take cooperation of the highest order. The stakes are literally life and death.

Many people take the attitude that "If it happens, I wouldn't want to live anyway, " This is an attitude which almost guarantees defeat or death. A husband, father, or single mother with this attitude is virtually condemning his or her own family to a similar fate.

BECOME/STAY HEALTHY
Every-one in the family or group should get a complete medical, dental and vision checkup. Find your weaknesses and limitations so you may cope with them now. If eyeglasses or contacts are needed, get at least one spare pair, or save old ones. Stock up on cleaning solution if you wear contacts. Work to bring your teeth up to the healthiest level possible. A toothache can be a major problem even in normal times when a dentist is available. Imagine trying to make critical decisions while suffering with a toothache when there may be few, if any, dentists in operation.

Make sure your feet are in good condition. They may someday be your only mode of transportation. Begin and maintain an exercise program which balances strength with endurance and flexibility. Walking, running, swimming, bicycling and stair climbing are all excellent conditioners.

ALLOCATE PART OF YOUR BUDGET
Acquire supplies as your budget allows. Be practical and set priorities. For example, set aside $10 per month for weaponry (including ammunition and cleaning supplies, ($10 per month for clothing (if you don't have the proper clothing already on hand. (Three-piece suits or tennis outfits have very limited survival applications), another $10 a month for reserve food and medical supplies, and so on. If money is tight, you can alternate purchases from month to month.

The important thing is to make some sort of survival-based acquisition regularly, or at every opportunity. In making survival investments, you should consider the following points: a) Wil you actually need it (Does it serve a legitimate survival need, such as food clothing, or shelter?)

• Do you have the skill to use it properly, and would you be able to repair it when it inevitably breaks down?
• Will it need something else, such as electricity, gas, heat, or water to operate?
• How many/much will you need, and how long do you expect it to last?
(see Plan For Duration)
• Is it practical for the conditions you anticipate, such as proper clothing for the climate?

DEVELOP PLANS OF ACTION
You should discuss with your family or group the conditions under which you would run (Where?) or stay; whether to hide (For how long?) or fight (Whom? How?) . Every member of the group must be in agreement with the final plan. One dissident could destroy all your intentions; for instance by "setting-out" the group to an adversary.

You should also develop "backup" plans to cover various contingencies such as those mentioned. Plan for the worst-case scenario and work down from there.

HAVE A BUG OUT BAG
Keep a short-term (up to one week) Survival Kit / Bug Out Bag packed and ready to go in case you must leave NOW. Remember the priorities: shelter, water, food, medical supplies, weapons, communications. Ideally, you should have several kits; one for each member of the family and group, another one in each vehicle in case a crisis occurs at an unexpected moment (as they usually do). Also consider a large cache of supplies away from the home, in a place safe from discovery or disaster; in the event you must evacuate your home quickly, as in the case of fire, earthquake or war. Each of these survival kits or survival caches should be planned to supplement and extend the capabilities of the next smallest survival kit.

Avoid making your personal Bug Out Bag too heavy to run with; you may have to carry it long distances, quickly.

PLAN FOR LONG TERM SURVIVAL
Try to realistically anticipate how long you expect your scenario may last, and add a little more to the estimate as a buffer against shortsightedness.

Do you expect your disaster scenario to last days (such as waiting for disaster relief after a major storm, fire, or earth quake) , months (i.e., a major strike by unions; rebuilding after a disaster) , or years (such as being caught in the clutches of a dictatorship, foreign invasion, or economic collapse) ?

Try to be realistic in your preparations. Plan for the consumption of food (calories per person per day, plus other essential nutrients) , water (gallons per person per day, for drinking, cooking and sanitation) , ammunition (as much as can be obtained, with a suggested minimum of 500 rounds per weapon) , air quality (while in shelter, or masks for outside) , medical supplies (including prescription medicines) , and so on.

Some of your scenarios may look unlikely in the context of present conditions, but it only takes an open-eyed look at the world, the nation, or the neighborhood, to see the potential for frightening situations to rapidly develop which would not allow time for preparation after the fact. For instance, note that many people reacting to a disaster often converge on all the nearest stores for provisions such as food, candles, bottled water, batteries, and so on. Frequently, the crowd gets impatient, not wanting or waiting to be left without essentials for themselves or their families. Occasionally, rioting and looting begin, feeding upon itself as the unprepared start to panic.

Your aim must be to store adequate supplies for all intended members of your group for the longest time that you will likely be on your own, with self-sufficiency being your goal. The federal government recommends having at least three to five days supplies on hand, to sustain you until relief agencies can get into action. The more serious the crisis, the longer you may have to wait for outside help.

If you are able, lay in extra supplies for a few additional persons who will, most likely, show up either on their own, or with members of the group ("My mother was visiting at the time; I couldn't just leave her") . As pragmatic as you must be, you must also not surrender your humanity completely. Otherwise, you are no better than the predators you may be fleeing. Of course, there is a practical limit to how much you can be expected to cope with. Examine your own conscience on this issue.

A plan must also be drawn up to deal with waste management. Essential "luxuries" such as toilet paper, soap, and proper means of disposing of human waste and garbage with become major issues during a survival situation. Goods and services we have always taken for granted may no longer be available.

You must also plan to cope with your people's emotional survival. The abrupt change in lifestyle, the day to day fight to stay alive, will take its toll psychologically if not treated quickly and continuously. Find things to alleviate boredom, such as games or projects. Give every able person in the group a job they will be responsible for. Even children can be instructed to secure trash, act as lookouts, or help with food preparation or gathering supplies. Also attempt to continue with their education, albeit with a different emphasis. Find duties which re quire a person to study the situation and come up with a solution. Hold meetings to keep everyone current on what's happening, and conduct frequent and regular classes for everyone in survival arts. Keep your people, and yourself, busy. Despair may be your worst enemy.

GET TRAINING
Your group should learn how to use weapons effectively. Safety, maintenance, handling malfunctions, and marksmanship are all of equal importance in a survival context. Because this is an area where mistakes can be fatal, instruction should be sought from qualified professionals, such as the National Rifle Association. Also, everyone should study unarmed self-defense under a qualified instructor; one who teaches combative, not tournament techniques.

Tactics are another important area of study. Learn how best to utilize your weapons under various conditions and environments, such as snow, rain, or at night. There are several reputedly good schools for this type of study. There are also many books such as military manuals which can be of help, if accompanied by lots of practice.

Study first aid diligently, as this is one of the most essential areas of self help study. The American Red Cross has excel lent, inexpensive courses on CPR and basic and advanced first aid. Everyone should be encouraged to take and pass such a course. A study of improvised medicines and first-aid equipment would also be useful. Some community colleges offer non-credit courses in herbology, folk medicine, and edible wild plants. There are many very good reference books on the subject. Another variation on this theme would be the study of medicinal minerals. You might seriously consider taking an Emergency Medical Technician course (or a Paramedic course if already an EMT) and joining a volunteer ambulance corps. Not only would you be contributing to a vital community function, you would also be gaining practical, real-life, hands-on experience which no course can give by itself. Remember, in a crisis, your body does what is has been trained to do. The untrained reaction to crisis is usually panic Practical experience aids tremendously in overcoming the panic which accompanies disaster.

Study Survival Skills and Bushcraft. Learn the difference between, and uses of, cover and concealment. Learn how to survive in rural or urban wilderness, how to find or construct proper shelter, how to gather food and collect and purify water, the use of correct sanitation procedures, basic land navigation, and much more.

PRACTICE
Conduct realistic simulations with your equipment and your people to gain valuable experience and confidence working together. Get the bugs out while it's relatively easy. Learn what works and what doesn't.

Go to the firing range often, preferably when you or your group can use it without onlookers. Practice on human-shaped targets, using tactics. Train in firing techniques for real world situations (such as varying weather conditions, target distance and size. Learn different firing positions, practice in-house techniques, etc.) . Always rigidly enforce appropriate safety procedures while training with weapons.

As an EMT, you can work on an ambulance or in the emergency room to practice and to accustom yourself to the suffering of others. It's certainly not pleasant, but it is crucial in over coming the shock of seeing something happen suddenly, perhaps to someone you love. This allows you to get on with treating the patient rather than wasting valuable seconds in panic. With practice, reaction becomes almost automatic, and confidence is gained. Without practice, hard-earned skills are gradually lost.

You should try to incorporate your survival skills into every day life, making it a normal part of your existence.

Don't, however, carry it to extremes, such as walking around in public wearing camo with a 10-inch knife on your belt. Don't advertise. Shooting and hand-to-hand practice, ambulance duty, making your own clothes, and canning your own food; all these skills and more will not only add to your survival repertoire, they will enhance the quality of your life, as you become less dependent on "the system" and more confident in your own abilities

. Learn the strengths and weaknesses of your equipment, your people, and yourself. Without practice and effort you are just wasting time and money, and someone close to you could die needlessly.

BE DISCRETE
Keep your actions and intentions as low-pro file as possible. You could risk discovery and the loss of every thing you have been working for, or wind up with a lot of people on YOUR doorstep in a crisis; people whom you cannot support, and who may have no positive survival value. If you intend to support dependents, prepare for them with your supplies.

One last thought. Because predatory people are out there, firearms are an essential element of survival planning. Unfortunately, they have been abused frequently enough to give the whole survival movement a bad reputation in the eyes of the general media, who too often seem to be looking to discredit and ridicule the movement. Survivalists should respect firearms and view them as tools to protect what they have: their lives, families, homes, and provisions; not as weapons of conquest. The more you prepare, the more ready you must be to defend against those who don't.