Come out of Babylon

On the forums recently, a Viking asked what would be the sign for the chaos that is coming so that he could tell his friends, they could be alert for that sign, and – when the time was right, they could flee the city for safer regions. For our purposes, “city” need not be NYC - it is any place there are a whole lot of people crowded together. It includes "suburbia".

There are a few problems with this line of thinking:

1. There is more than one potential scenario
Our world could change significantly due to a number of situations: Real Pandemic Flu; Nuclear strike “Out of the Blue”; Comet Strike or Yellowstone Caldera, or Krakatoa; Foreign Invasion – be it Chinese, or Venezuelans, or Aliens. Hey, the list goes on – pick YOUR poison.

Each scenario, while being life changing, is also unique. Each contains its own problem sets and each presents with different indications and warnings. One could develop a watch matrix for each potential threat (what I consider potential threat will differ from what you do) and monitor all of them. But the sheeple won’t…which leads us to…

2. By the time a sheeple gets his sign – all the other sheeple will get it also and it won’t do them any good – it will be too late
The Life Changing Event will make our so called “shock and awe” at the start of the current iteration of the Iraqi war look like a kumbaya sing-along. To paraphrase one of the Wayans brothers – it’s gonna rock our world, Baby!

By the time those living in the cities get a clue (even those looking for signs) it will be way too late. Google OODA Loop and do some reading. People living in cities are, in vast percentages, “sheeple”. They are all going to realize nearly simultaneously that something is up and panic will ensue. Those who thought they had a plan will find it is severely impacted by the chaos around them.

Here’s another little tidbit: There are people in higher places (.gov, industry and private organizations) that are paid to watch for signs. They will see these indicators before the masses do. That is their intent. That is what they are paid to do. When their little indicator board lights up they will inform their superiors who will take action before the masses even know something is happening. In short, the masses will be acted upon.

3. They want it all and they want it now!
This is the problem of the people asking the original question, “What will be the sign for which I must watch so that I can flee this city ahead of all of those who do not get it?” The sad fact is THEY don’t get it.

They think they are wise – they live where they can have Ethiopian, or Thai or whatever kind of ethnic food they want delivered to the house in 20 minutes; they make “better money here than I can out in the sticks”; they have to live near their family who lives in the city – and yet they think they can flee in time to stay ahead of the Four Horsemen.

Most people have an idea of some idealized retreat or bug out location – a little cabin in the woods; a working ranch/farm on which live a few families; a small town nestled out there in the boonies…what it is, is not germane to this post – the point is they KNOW that where they are will not work in their envisioned scenario and yet they don’t want to move “out there” for a variety of reasons. So their plan is to flee there at the last safe moment.

4. Bad boy, bad boy – whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?
“I’m gonna bug out!”
“To where?”
“…uh….umm,….hmmm…”

See – that cabin, that ranch and that small town – they don’t really exist. Not for the majority of the sheeple who are just awake enough to ask, “What will be the sign…?”
They don’t exist because they would divert funds from other pursuits, they would divert time from other activities and quite simply – most don’t have enough of either.

The Real Answer
The real answer flows from this precept: Real preparedness does not happen overnight and there is no easy, instantaneous solution. It is costly in terms of money, time, and most importantly for some – ego.

No, Mr Capitalist…
No, Ms Consumer – you cannot buy your way out of this.
You CANNOT have it all, Baby.
You cannot live in the city surrounded by pretty shiny things.
You cannot drive your SAAB Turbo to work, drink lattes by the gallon, and dine out at a different restaurant every evening.
You cannot maintain your current lifestyle.
Not if you want to survive what is coming down the pike.

See, real preparedness is a lifestyle. It encompasses everything we do. It guides our daily actions. If one is truly concerned with surviving the turmoil ahead, one will change one’s lifestyle to reflect that.
If one was truly aware, one would move, get a different job, value different things.

Real preparedness is a lifestyle
If you want to survive the calamities that are just over the horizon – if you truly want it – you will change your behavior. You will change your lifestyle.
Now.
While you have time.
If you want to survive that – let your actions mirror your words. Don’t just talk about getting out – get out.

If you want to survive eternity, if you truly want it – you will change your mindset. If you want to survive what is coming after the Horsemen ride though – you will allow your heart to be changed – and your actions will follow.

Either way, you need to come out of Babylon.

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. – 1 John 2:15 - 17


Life is about choices
Choices have consequences
Choose wisely
Choose Jesus


And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. – Revelation 18:4 - 5

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If you have any comments I’d love to hear them.
If they really interest me, I may even post them.
You can reach me at Joe

You can also join us to discuss this and other issues at Viking Preparedness Forums

Prepared Americans for a Strong America

Viking Pocket Fire

I don’t smoke. I do, however, carry a lighter everywhere I go.
You just never know when you are going to need to start a fire.
Oh, I can and do make fire a bunch of different ways – I teach people to do so. But I carry a lighter in my pocket for when I need fire. A good friend of mine is fond of saying, “If Davy Crockett had had a Bic – he would have carried it.”
Amen.

I also teach wilderness survival and in the wilderness survival arena there really is not much that is “new”. Instructors just rehash old knowledge with their personal spin on it.
I do believe I have “invented” something in this area though, and I will share it with you now.

Now I did not come up with this idea completely out of the blue. A long time ago, in a land far away, I was working with some foreign commandos in a dark and dank jungle. As real darkness descended (and it does so quickly in the jungle) the commandos wanted to get a fire going. Hey, it was their jungle, their bad guys – if they wanted a fire who was I to tell them differently? I wondered how they were going to do so with all the wet wood laying about.

When I was in the Pacific Northwest (another dark, dank, wet place) we would get fires going with Trioxene heat tablets – they were like magic. These guys had hexamine fuel for their little ration heaters but they didn’t have a lot and they were not going to waste it starting their fires. What they used instead was pieces of truck inner tube they all carried. They just laid the rubber on a log, whacked it with their heavy bladed jungle knife and sliced off a piece about an inch and half wide by about 3 inches long.

They slid this slice of rubber into the end of a long green stick they had split a bit. They then lit one corner of the rubber with … you got it – a Bic. I was impressed. Until that night, I never knew that rubber burned like that. The now hotly burning torch was applied to their damp fire lay and in no time we had fire.

My twist on this technique is to slide a piece of bicycle inner tube over my lighters. I get it from my son who rides and hangs out with other bicyclists. They must be rich because most of the time, instead of repairing their flat tires, they just use a new inner tube. And my son gives me the old ones.



When I want to start a fire, I just slice a circle around the inner tube using the lighter as a cutting board. I then take my donut of rubber, hang it on a stick, light it with the lighter and voila! I have a big hot match. If the wood is wet – slice a thicker piece of rubber.

So there ya go – I boldly and unabashedly lay claim to the concept of Viking Pocket Fire. I reckon we could call it VPF and sell them by the boatload if we wanted to – but why don’t you just make your own? Heck, make several – they are cheap!

See ya out there.



And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. – Genesis 22:6


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If you have any comments I’d love to hear them.
If they really interest me, I may even post them.
You can reach me at Joe

You can also join us to discuss this and other issues at Viking Preparedness Forums

Prepared Americans for a Strong America

Snake - it's what's for supper

Several years ago, I was living on a couple acres but we had neighbors on both sides – the houses about 100 yards apart.
Behind the houses was a big wooded hill. We had our chicken coop up on the wood line.

One day my wife says, "I know where all my eggs are going - I found two big black snakes in there and they had eggs in them." You see, we had a hen sitting on a clutch of eggs and every other day or so, some eggs would be missing. Now we knew we were be raided by a pair of snakes.

"Did you kill them?" I asked.

"No, but I took them about 25 yards into the woods and let them go" she says.

"They'll be back" says I.


Sure enough on a Saturday my wife comes down from the coop with a 6 foot long live black snake in her hand. It had an egg in it.

"KILL this snake!" she says. (She's a lover, not a killer)
So I chop the snake's head off.

My then little (7 years old) daughter says, "Daddy, can I hold it?"

Now this snake was still wiggling as recently dead snakes are apt to do.

You know I let her hold it. When she grabbed it by the middle, both ends were touching the ground.

Next door, my neighbors were having a barbeque. He was a Major in the Army and had his whole office over. Now HE was cool - he shot everything that moved in his back yard and had killed deer, turkey and a bobcat back there. But the other families that were visiting him "out in the country" were decidedly urbane. My neighbor had a daughter about my girl's age....there were other kids over there at the barbeque as well...

My daughter says, "Daddy, can I go show Sarah the snake?"

heh, heh, heh - "SURE you can Sweetie!"

Off she runs to the neighbors.

I watched.
I listened.

Oh the screams
Oh the jerky movements of the moms AND the dads.
Oh the look my neighbor's wife shot me across 100 yards of pasture.

Priceless.

My daughter came back dejected - "They didn't like my snake, Daddy"

"Yeah Sweetie, some people are just weird like that".

"Can we eat it?"

…Yeah, she's Daddy's little girl...

We gut it, skinned it, cut it into six-inch pieces and soaked it in salt water over night. The next day I placed the pieces in a glass baking pan, brushed them with olive oil and sprinkled them with Italian seasonings and lemon juice.
Baked at 350 until it was “done”.

We served it on a rice pilaf with steamed asparagus.
It was good and when we were finished eating, we gave the bones to the chickens - kinda karma-esque.

I think a chilled Rose` is about the perfect wine with black snake.

Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. – Matthew 15:11

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If you have any comments I’d love to hear them.
If they really interest me, I may even post them.
You can reach me at Joe

You can also join us to discuss this and other issues at Viking Preparedness Forums

Prepared Americans for a Strong America

Just in Time for Christmas!

I acquire gear like some women stock up on shoes. And like some of those women, I may get something and then wait a long time before I actually use it. Such was the case with the Swack-Shack. I got this piece of WonderGear some time ago but I just didn’t have time, couldn’t find time, wouldn’t make time to go play with my new toy.

Well recently I took the time to do some Woods Walkin’ with my new puppy to the far reaches of the realm were we set up camp, hung out, and howled back a coyotes. Well, I did, Mahdi barked back.



So just what is this “Swack-Shack”? To call it a tarp would be to do it a grave injustice. To those in the know, it is more properly called a “basha” and it was designed by a friend of mine, George Jasper who wrote the most excellent book, 6 Ways In, 12 Ways Out and with whom I sometimes work. The basha is 8.5 feet long and over 7 feet wide – it is big. But it folds up small as you can see. It folds up much smaller and is much lighter than the two ponchos I used to carry. It is made of rip-stop nylon, is very light weight and comes with multiple, very well made loops and grommets to allow for a variety of tie out options. You can see more pictures, read more details, and yes, order a couple for Christmas here: Survival Solutions



The Swack-Shack stood up to a mild rain with absolutely no problems. I was in a hammock and I was completely covered and remained completely dry. I had seam sealed it when I first got it and I suggest you do the same – Sur-Sol who runs Survival Solutions also sells the stuff for very reasonable prices. His customer service is excellent and he is not just a merchant – he is a practitioner of the arts of preparedness and survival.



Due to the numerous grommets and loops, this piece of kit just begs to be played with. I typically set up my hooches as depicted in the other photos but as I was packing up I decided to see if I could make a tipi by suspending it from the center loop. I did and it would have made a nice hasty shelter to eat lunch under or take a nap or what not.

So there ya go – a great piece of kit, reasonably priced at $84, and it comes in a cammo pattern that will make your gear queer buddies drool. All this and just in time for Christmas!

And the children of Israel shall pitch their tents, every man by his own camp, and every man by his own standard, throughout their hosts. - Numbers 1:52
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If you have any comments I’d love to hear them.
If they really interest me, I may even post them.
You can reach me at Joe

You can also join us to discuss this and other issues at Viking Preparedness Forums

Prepared Americans for a Strong America

Cold Duck

I have hunted ducks successfully but I am not what you would call a duck hunter. When I used to get haircuts I’d pick up the odd Field and Stream in the barbershop and I would read pretty much every article in there while I was waiting. Some of them were about ducks. A lot of them were about ducks. I have a pretty good memory.

We raise ducks here on High Prairie Acres. I say “we” like I have a lot to do with it. My wife raises ducks. She also raises Guinea fowl and chickens (and goats and a horse and dogs… but that is beside the point). She knows a good deal about birds – especially our birds. But, I do pay attention and I do know a thing or two myself.

We have a pond here. It used to be a 24’ above ground pool. But for the past two years we have not “shocked” it, added any chemicals or in fact – swum (is that even a word?) in it. The pump no longer works. But a few weeks ago, I added a little bridge from the deck to the water surface and we herded the ducks down into it.

Now, these ducks had never been in a big body of water. The most water they had ever been in was one of those big metal wash tubs – which they thoroughly enjoyed. So it took some convincing and they were very loud in their protestations. But once they entered the water they took to it like….well – a duck to water.

They were fun to watch paddling around, swimming a bit under the water, preening their feathers. See, ducks have an oil gland that they dip into and use to keep their feathers nice and water resistant or whatever.

So the other day I’m outside doing chores, it’s pretty chilly – about 40 or so, and the ducks are swimming around in their “pond”. One duck though was in distress. Instead of floating above the water – just like a duck decoy – it was submerged between it’s upper back and the top of its neck. At first I thought it was just sliding down in the tub like I do but no - it was having difficulties. To make matters worse – another duck would come by periodically and push the obviously messed up duck’s head under water. Nice duck…

So I go get our really big net. It’s about 30 inches in diameter and on the end of a long aluminum pole. I think it is for netting deep sea fish – no idea where I got it. Anyway – I scoop the duck out of the water. I was expecting it to fuss and make noise. Nope. When I moved it to the deck, it just lay there – shivering.

Who ever heard of a duck shivering? The one day I hunted ducks (there, the truth is out) it was SNOWING and the ducks seemed fine. I called my wife and said I think we have a sick or injured duck. She looked it over and pronounced it, “not sick”.

So I said, “Good let’s eat it”. We have too many ducks anyway but I know better than to get into my wife’s business…. So when she gave me The Look – I just shrugged.




Anyway – long blog short – she took it in to the wood stove, wrapped it in a towel, put it in a box on top of bricks that we keep atop the wood stove as a means of trapping more heat and then she BLOW DRIED it. I took pictures and tried real hard not to make any smart alec comments.

But would you believe that duck recovered and is now waddling around out on the pasture? I don’t think it’s going back in the water though.

Imagine that – a duck that doesn’t do well in cool water…

And the servants and officers stood there, who had made a fire of coals; for it was cold: and they warmed themselves: and Peter stood with them, and warmed himself. – John 18:18
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If you have any comments I’d love to hear them.
If they really interest me, I may even post them.
You can reach me at Joe

You can also join us to discuss this and other issues at Viking Preparedness Forums

Prepared Americans for a Strong America

Sodden Viking

I love watching those shows about people who were thrust into survival situations and who prevailed despite all the odds. I like watching Les Stroud doing his stuff in Survivorman. And no, I don’t watch the other guy’s comedy show purporting to be survival.

I have done a few “Survival Campouts” on my own but to do a really hardcore one you really should have some form of backup in case things get hairy. I have done a few with friends but it is hard to convince folks to join you in the woods for a couple days “with just a knife”.

And then I got my own website…

Twelve Brave Souls signed up for Iron Viking.
I had promised them a minimalist survival experience (the packing list is in an earlier blog entry) and gave them very little additional information except that I would try to make sure they didn’t die.

I told everyone to meet at a given location at 11 a.m. so that we would all enjoy a big meal together prior to beginning the exercise promptly at noon. By 12:30 nine Vikings had shown up – we moved out to the training area.

It was raining.
It was forecasted and threatened to pour.
Thunder rumbled.
Because I’m such a softie, I issued each participant a large trash bag to keep their blanket and long underwear in.

As we were going over initial instructions and preparing for our layout inspection one more intrepid Viking pulled up to the exercise location.
He was sick.
Very sick. I think he had H5N1 or something…
He was brave if a bit misguided showing up.

I had promised each participant a “goody bag”.
I refused to tell them what was going to be in it.
I won’t tell you what was in it except to say it was obviously in a feed sack.

We moved to the initial campsite in the rain.
The route was about a mile long, cross country over rocks and downed trees, across gullies and up and down large hills. Did I mention it was raining?

Spirits were high.
Along the way each Viking was "injured" and had to deal with his/her injury. They were then graded on their performance by a doc who came along. He was graded by an EMT who came along.

We continued on.

When we arrived at the initial campsite I was a softie again and gave each participant a HUGE piece of plastic to use in making their shelter. It was something like 3' x 6'.

People set about making shelters in the remaining daylight and most looked pretty good.
They then started building fires. This was very easy as it had only been raining there for two days and each Viking was given TEN paper matches.

It actually stopped raining for a bit and I built a big ol' fire to dry my clothes. Oh yes, I was playing also.
Once that was done I started another small fire inside my shelter - the soaked rocks we were using as fire reflectors kept exploding with glee and I wanted my shelter rocks to settle down before I climbed in there.

About that time, one of our FIVE medical personal came up to me and said the sick Viking was bad off - did we have any caffeine to give him to help his breathing? Yes, of course we did - it's just that no one knew it yet. I dispatched a "nurse" to make a cup of tea for the ailing Viking but was soon informed that said Viking had (wisely albeit a bit late) decided to bag it - and go sleep in his car and then depart in the morning.

We were way back in the deep dark woods about a mile from the cars.
He didn't know the way.
It was getting dark.
Sigh....okay - I'll lead him out.
Walking through the very wet woods soon had my recently dry pants soaked once more (whine).
After dropping the Viking off, just as it got fully dark, a mile away from my compadres – LO, the skies did burst forth!
There was lightning, there was thunder and there was PRODIGIOUS rain.

I swam the mile back.
I got a bit discombobulated in the dark/BRIGHT woods with fogged over spectacles.
I finally found home.
I was wet - totally.
My large fire was very sad.
It was THUNDER storming.

I crawled into my hootch.
I was okay. I had made a bed of spruce boughs.
I changed into long underwear, fleece top, hat and Gore-Tex parka and settled down to sleep.

And one point a Viking woke me and asked if I was wet.
“No.”
I resumed dreaming.

Another Viking woke me.
She was supposed to be way over there - why was she here?
And then I realized who it was but I couldn't understand her.
She was totally wet and hypothermic.
We sorted her out about the same time God decided to create a stream through my bed.
I know all about "properly selecting ground". This was not just a bit of rain trying to find a place to go - no, the fountains of the deep had obviously burst open again. In fact, over the next 12 hours it rained 5.5 inches.

Thus began a long wet, cold night.
Mildy hypothermic Vikings.
No sleep.
Most ended up sitting against trees with meager plastic wrapped around their heads...

Prior to dawn (GOD, what a long night) with every Viking awake and suffering - everyone soaked from at least the waist down and most soaked from the crown of head down...
We broke camp and headed back to the cars - in the dark. Everyone did have an emergency flashlight which they used but still..

We got to the cars, turned on the heat, put on dry clothes, and napped for an hour or so.

And then after hearing that the forecast called for more of the same to include a temperature drop I made a difficult decision - I cancelled the exercise.

It was a safety thing more than anything else. When I was dealing with the first hypothermic Viking in the wee hours of the night I found myself worrying that some other Viking was out there experiencing hypothermia without telling anyone.
Responsibility.

I felt really bad about/for one Viking who road a bus, hiked 17 miles, hitched, slept in a very interesting place, and arrived from a state far, far away. He's probably mad at me.

On the way home I heard the temps were forecasted to drop into the high thirties that night.
Everything and everyone was SODDEN.
I'll stand by the decision.

That five and half inches of rain had fallen on ground already soaked by two days of almost continuous rain and sprinkle. Every creek and river we passed for a few hundred miles was well over its banks. In fact, our way out was blocked by a washed out road and we had to take a detour. I saw a golf course with a lake in the middle of it - where the greens were supposed to be. I saw a 55 MPH sign with water to within 6" of the bottom of the sign. Yeah - it rained. And it was still raining for the first two hours of the drive home.

So the first Iron Viking was a bust. I think my t-shirt designer was prescient when he put water droplets on the shield.

In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. - Genesis 7:11

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If you have any comments I’d love to hear them.
If they really interest me, I may even post them.
You can reach me at Joe

You can also join us to discuss this and other issues at Viking Preparedness Forums

Prepared Americans for a Strong America

Life

I know, I know…it’s been way too long.
Sorry.
Life has happened and I have just been too busy to sit down and blog.
I resolve to do better.



Woods Walkin'
Went out with a couple friends Woods Walkin’. We built traps and snares, constructed a lean to shelter, discussed fire reflectors and did a wild plant identification walk amongst other things. It’s good just to get out there and smell the smells, see the sights, and feel God’s creation all around you.


Kill, Clean and Butcher
I have given two classes and taught five students to kill, clean and butcher rabbits. Not a “fun” thing but necessary for the cycle of life. I remember LOVING the movie “Jeremiah Johnson” when I was a kid. Man, that’s what I wanted to BE. I made a buckskin shirt, built a Green River knife from a kit and even got a Thompson Center .50 caliber Hawken kit. Then I wrote the American Mountain Man association (no email back then) and was just crushed when they told me I had to be 18 years old to join. But back to the movie: years later when I watched it as an adult I realized there was a lot wrong with that tale. For one thing (and our point of the moment) Jeremiah comes back from some woods walkin’ and just dumps a rabbit carcass – with the hide still on it, into a cook pot. Yeah, riiiiiiight. The students I taught over the past few weeks at least know how to properly deal with a rabbit.


Canning
Pears and apples are all in and we have been giving classes on canning and “putting up” reserves of food. This is becoming a several times a week deal and we do it at our house, at the church and at other folks’ houses. This is also a time of fellowship and just slowing down to be with each other. Plus we end up with yummy, nutritious food!



Church
Our church has been growing by leaps and bounds and not just in numbers (although we have seen a 30% increase over the past two months) but also in the Spirit, in Discipline, in Works and in Faith. This keeps me very happily very busy.

We had a little bonfire the other day to which we invited all our friends and family – whether the attend our church or not. The weather was perfect, we had a cloudy start to the day but it ended with clear, cool skies lit by a full moon – and our two fires. We sang and played instruments, and ate, and talked and just fellowshipped and it was wonderful.


The Immediate Future
Iron Viking is coming up soon and we’ve been doing a lot to get ready for it as well. I’m quite sure it will provide fodder for future entries as well as some gear I’m going to test out this week before the adventure begins.

Don’t give up on me – I haven’t given up on you!

In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. - 1 John 4:9

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If you have any comments I’d love to hear them.
If they really interest me, I may even post them.
You can reach me at Joe

You can also join us to discuss this and other issues at Viking Preparedness Forums

Prepared Americans for a Strong America

College BoB

My daughter heads off to college very soon and we took the opportunity to totally revamp her BoB. She is going to be several hours away and with the world being how it is, and Dad being how he is…..well, we just wanted to make sure she was okay. She has grown up in “the community” and has attended a great many training events, BoB campouts and just plain ol’ camping since she was in diapers. She was very active in Girl Scouts and can camp with the best of them. She lettered in Cross Country the past two years and is fit.

Plan A is for her to wait for Mom and Dad to come get her.
Plan B is to get a ride with someone.
Plan C is to walk.

In every case, she will bring her BoB. It weighs in at 35 pounds – a bit steep but we have discussed what she will dump if she has too. Water makes up about 10 pounds of that weight and if she needs to, she will “dump weight” by drinking a lot of it. There is a wool sweater and a sleeping bag in there that she will dump right away unless the forecasted temps are for below freezing.

With that being said, let’s talk about what she is carrying.

The rucksack itself is a decent Kelty in a nice green color.
Datrex Coast Guard Rations – 3600 calories of cookies in a long lasting package. This should sustain her for a few days.
Pot – this is a surplus German one. I like the bail on top which allows it to be suspended over a fire. For heating up warming beverages, boiling water to purify it and cooking up squirrels …
2 Quarts of water in old soda bottles with duct tape wrapped around them. Duct tape rules the world. This is actually “100 mph tape” but is very similar.
Granola bars – eat on the go.
Hot cocoa and Oatmeal – something to start or end a cold day with.
Tea
T-shirt, Underwear, and socks – sleeping in wet underthings is a no-no
Wool knit hat and gloves – if your feet are cold, put on a hat!
Bandana – triangular bandage – 1,001 uses
Fire – Boy Scouts “Hot Spark” ferrocerium rod, striker, and a bottle of vaselined cotton balls. There is also a P38 can opener in there my buddy offered me $12 for (I guess it’s rare)
Lighters with inner tube – for starting fires, of course she doesn’t smoke!
Long Underwear – “silkies”
Flashlight - Mini MagLite and a "kubaton" (yes, she knows her strikes)
Head Lamp - these are da bomb when you need to move or use your hands
Map and compass - yes, she knows how to use them.
Knife - Mora and razor sharp. More inner tube for fire starting on the sheath
Pencil, pen, notebook
Bible and Constitution - the two most important "documents" we can own
Katadyn water filter - it's light but still has heft to it but the weight is worth what it provides - limitless clean water.
The ruck has 3 liters of water in a Camelback and a little led light attached.
Pepper Foam - for bears and other evil creatures
Cash - in small denominations - ain't nobody making change...
Wallet - this now contains the cash, the fire kit, a lighter and is attached temporarily to the knife and head lamp - these things become "line one gear" and will be on her body.
First Aid - kit with all kinds of goodies plus ACE wrap
Toilet Paper - she'll dig a scrape with a stick or her heel.
Feminine Hygeine products - because Murphy shows up at the worst times
Tooth Brush, Paste and floss - basic hygeine and the floss has many uses
Sleeping Bag - in a water proof bag
Goretex suit - top and bottom and in a nice camo - this is her primary shelter
Tarp - nylon, for home sweet home if she needs it
Sweater - 100% wool
Cordage
Trash bags - shelter, ground cloth, etc
Tea candles and Aluminum foil not shown but there.

Additionaly, she has a "naked bag" attached to the BoB. This is a bag that contains a complete set of clothes and shoes in case she starts out in her PJs or something. If she doesn't need it, it gets left behind.

Well, that's it.
She has the skills to use everything in it.
Hopefully she will never have to.

And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. - Revelation 12:14

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If you have any comments I’d love to hear them.
If they really interest me, I may even post them.
You can reach me at Joe

You can also join us to discuss this and other issues at Viking Preparedness Forums

Prepared Americans for a Strong America

Scary, isn't it?

Just because I can.

Remembering Combinations

As economic times get tougher and crime statistics worsen, more and more of us are buying safes and security containers, locks, and other security devices. Many of these security items allow one to change the combination to one of the owner’s choosing. The problem comes in remembering the combination.

See, we are not supposed to pick birthdays, or phone numbers, or anything easy that some bad guy could intuit. We certainly should not write it down anywhere. Additionally, one should not pick numbers that all end in 0 or 5 – people do this because it’s easy to see on the dial. One should also not pick numbers that get larger or smaller in series for example: 22-34-46 or: 93-78-45. Remembering random numbers is tough – what’s a guy or gal to do?

A trick I was taught when designing a combination is to think of a word with the same number of letters as there are digits in your combination.
Say you can set a combination for three two-digit numbers - pick a six letter word.

Like.....oh.... VIKING

Now look on a telephone key pad: V is an 8, I is a 4, K is a 5 and so on so VIKING =845464 so the combination would be 84-54-64

Now, I don't recommend you choose a combo all ending in the same number but you get the idea

You can also think up a longer word but just use the first six letters like oh,..... LONGBOAT L=5, O=6, N=6, G=4, B=2, O=6 so your combination would be 56-64-26

It's easier for many folks to remember a word than a series of numbers.

You can also try and make a word from a given combo (I'll just make up a combo and see if it works)...
32-56-74
hmmmm… DAKOSI that's Japanese for ...... I have no idea but it sounds like a word to me

I bet if I played with this a bit I could find a real word but you get the idea (I hope).

Hey – I’ll see ya out there.

But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. – Matthew 24:43
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If you have any comments I’d love to hear them.
If they really interest me, I may even post them.
You can reach me at Joe

You can also join us to discuss this and other issues at Viking Preparedness Forums

Prepared Americans for a Strong America

Kansas Kitty

And they keep saying there are no mountain lions in Kansas...

My buddy was coming home from hospital mid day.
This mountain lion ran across the front of his driveway and into his backyard. The tail was about as long as the body.

My friend went into his house, picked up his camera and went to the back door - there it was peeking at him around the corner of his shed. He took the pic and only then realized it was standing when he took it.

That pile of pavers is 18" high.
This is a juvenile mountain lion.

This was a residential neighborhood.

Where's Momma?
Where's Daddy?
Where are the siblings?

Hey! Where is Fluffy?
Fluffy, Fluffy - come here, Fluffy!

And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights: And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground. - Isaiah 21:8 - 9

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If you have any comments I’d love to hear them.
If they really interest me, I may even post them.
You can reach me at Joe

You can also join us to discuss this and other issues at Viking Preparedness Forums

Prepared Americans for a Strong America

Elderberry Tincture

EDIT: I say later in this article that I am not a doctor. Truth. I have gotten some email since this article was published that says Elderberry Tincture may actually be harmful to those with H5N1 ("bird flu"). What about H1N1 ("pig flu")? Check this link out: HERBALS Is it true? I don't know. I just don't know. Take what you can use, discard the rest.

The powers that be are all saying with more or less stridency that a bad flu is coming down the pike this Fall. My brother thinks it is all just misdirection so we focus on that and lose sight of what is really going on in the world, in our country, in our lives.

I think chances are excellent that this flu will arrive with a vengeance, I think it is quite possible that it will sicken and kill a lot of people and I think it's quite possible that this is, and will be used to distract us from other issues. Yes, "we can have it all!"

I don't trust .gov to keep me or mine safe. I don't think they care about me. I don't think they are staffed by the most competent people. I think there are some bad actors scattered about that probably have evil intent. I definitely don't trust Big Pharma. They don't want to heal - they want to dose. No, they want to SELL and continue selling. Many of the so-called WonderDrugs do not work against H5N1 ("bird flu") Will they work against H1N1 ("swine flu"?) I don't know. One thing that has worked evidently is tincture of elderberry, Sambucol and so on.

Hey, I'm not a doctor. I am not a drug, or tincture, or herbal salesman. I'm just a guy with a family who sees things coming down the pike. I read a lot. And I believe that elderberry tincture just might work. I have made some and I'm going to make some more. I suggest you do the same.

A friend of mine wrote up a great article with lots of photos. It's a "Why" and a "How to" article and it is excellent. It is kind of a pain to post pictures in this blog so instead of doing that I'm just going to give you the link.
Elderberry Tincture

Please go read it.
Then get off your duff and go make some.

See ya out there!

And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. - Genesis 1:29-31
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If you have any comments I’d love to hear them.
If they really interest me, I may even post them.
You can reach me at Joe

You can also join us to discuss this and other issues at Viking Preparedness Forums

Prepared Americans for a Strong America

On Sherry, ALICE, and Personal Growth

This afternoon I was reminiscing about my family’s journey through the survivalist movement and I remembered Sherry. Thinking about her reminded me of how she helped my wife make some big personal strides. So, if you’re out there – Thanks, Sherry.

Back in the mid 1990’s my wife and I decided to “join the movement” in that we took the decision to get out there and start interacting with other survivalists who were, at that point, complete strangers to us. It was a big step for us. We had always been “into preparedness” but we kept our preparations to ourselves. This whole aspect is fodder for other blog entries but today I want to discuss weight and gear.

When we started hanging out with these folks and started joining teams and starting teams (we moved around a lot back then) there was a distinctly military flair to everything. Everyone, including the kids, wore woodland pattern BDUs; everyone wore boonie hats; everyone wore LCE/LBE (combat suspenders and gear – more later) and everyone carried ALICE packs. I’m telling you no matter where you were - from the Southeast to the Northwest - everyone was very similar. The only difference was the rifle – was the group carrying AKs or ARs?

Like many dutiful husbands, I strongly influenced my wife’s decision about what her BOB contained. It was a medium ALICE ruck and probably weighed about 50 or 60 pounds. We used to take hikes carrying our BOBs but we never wore our LBE or carried rifles unless it was a bona-fide training event. My wife was always got tired but gamely struggled to complete her hikes and she wasn’t real happy. Then she met Sherry.

We attended a gathering of over 100 people several states from our home and conducted classes, networked, ate, trained and made friends for life. There were folks there from all over the country and from outside the country. They were by and large the most normal people you’d ever want to meet…if you could overlook the BDUS and guns. One of the classes was on BOBs and what should go in them. Sherry was there and made some side comments that caught my wife’s attention. Sherry was something of a legend in the Survivalist community – she had been there and done that for years, she was around when several then famous groups got their start, and she “knew stuff”. Later that evening she and my wife had a long discussion around the campfire about BoBs for girls. (I’m sure they didn’t call it that but that’s what it was).

The weekend after we returned home as we were restocking our BoBs (very important) my wife made a big pile of stuff she was no longer going to carry. I told her all of that stuff she was discarding was vital for her survival and she replied no it was not. We went back and forth a bit and then she played her trump card – “this is what Sherry carries.” At that time Sherry knew more about this stuff than I did – and I realized that. So suddenly my wife was carrying a BoB that weighed about half of what it used to. ALICE went from overweight to downright svelt!

Most of the teams we were on conducted training every month or so. Every event we attended revolved around classes on a variety of topics. One thing we seemed to do a lot of back in the day was patrolling, moving and shooting, and general Infantry skills. Because, you know – we were going to have to fight off the Godless Communists some day. As I said above, folks wore LCE. This was way before combat vests got popular and everyone knew Alice but no one had ever heard of Mollie. Most folks wore a pistol belt with suspenders and on this rig suspended two canteens, two 3-magazine ammo pouches, a first aid kit (pouch with a dressing or two) a sheath knife, an FRS radio, and sometimes a buttpack, flashlight and so on. This was our “fighting load” our “line two gear” and so on. It was stuff we would need in a fight against an armed foe.

We would give classes on how to properly adjust and wear this gear, we’d hop up and down to make sure it didn’t make noise, tape off things that did make noise and then we would go for long walks in the woods or low crawl in the dirt or use Infantry movement techniques (kinda like flag drills in football) to rush objectives and then live fire and so on. Yeah, it was like that…

Anyway, one day my wife and I arrive at the team training location and everyone starts donning gear. We carried it in kit bags. Instead of putting on her battle harness, my wife donned the gear in the picture. I said something like, “Hon, come on – everyone is getting suited up in the SOP gear – you need to put yours on”.

“Nope – that stuff is too heavy.”

“But Hon, that stuff is vitally important for your survival in combat”

Then she told me, she had water, she had first aid, she had extra ammo and she had a knife and a flash light. No, she wasn’t carrying six extra mags – she decided she just couldn’t handle the weight. In case you can’t see the picture clearly (but it you click on it, it should expand) she had a Camelbak to which she taped a trauma dressing and she carried an extra magazine in a buttstock pouch (which she purchased on her own). She carried a folding Buck knife and a mini Maglight in her pocket as well. Okay, the mini Maglight is not in the pic, but you get the idea…

That was the day I realized my wife had “arrived” in a tactical gear sense – she was thinking on her own. Heck, she “discovered” tactical Camelbacks a decade before our military did!

Soon after that, she quit wearing BDUs and started wearing earth-toned “civilian” clothes. “NAFS” (it’s not a fashion show) she would tell me. I no longer had to dress up Survivalist Barbie and take her to the woods to play – she understood all by herself.

Today I see all manner of Gear Hounds out there in the “movement”. They buy all the latest stuff and deck themselves out at events. Special high speed camouflage, vests, pouches, holsters, optics, yada-yada ad-nauseum. They are for the most part doing what they think is best. Many are imitating our brave soldiers fighting Over There.

You know, when we first sent regular troops into the Afghanistan mountains after the bad Muj, we sent our boys up there on foot with well over 100 pounds of high-speed light weight (and some not-so-light) gear. Extra ammo, water, SAPI plates, helmets, batteries, radios, optics, cold weather gear, goggles, first aid (“blow out) kits, and on and on and on and on until they were in many cases just crushed under the weight of the approach march. A march thousands of feet above sea level. News flash - there is no oxygen up there – especially when one is not acclimated.

They were fighting dudes who wore man dresses and sandals, carried an AK and 2 or 3 extra magazines and a blanket. Sometimes a small canteen, sometimes a knife – but often not. They had stuff stashed all over those hills. They LIVED there – they could breath. It was very hard catching those dudes. These were (these are) men who have been fighting in those hills for hundreds of years – and they still are.

Hey – I know high speed gear is cool. I know we love to take pictures of ourselves wearing it and post them to the net (at least take them in the back yard and not in your living or bedroom please…). But I offer you this: Consider just what it is you are carrying and why exactly you are carrying it. Consider what your real physical condition is. And then consider lightening the load some more.

It worked for Sherry.
It worked for my wife.
It works for the locals running around the hills in Afghanistan.
It will probably work for you too.

Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. Psalms 55:22
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If you have any comments I’d love to hear them.
If they really interest me, I may even post them.
You can reach me at Joe

You can also join us to discuss this and other issues at Viking Preparedness Forums

Prepared Americans for a Strong America

Body Mind

I rarely have other’s material on this blog but every now and then I find something that I just have to share. The piece below was written by my friend Bad Chadio – a brilliant, scary man who has been and done. Enjoy.
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Background
Western cultures have traditionally maintained a significant separation between mind and body. As a result, many service members train their bodies and then attend to mental fitness, if at all, as a separate activity. When you improve the connection between body and mind, you can more effectively develop your mental skills – skills that can give you an edge on the battlefield (especially since your mind and body have a significant physical connection). Ensuring that there is a good connection between mental and physical fitness can increase performance and reduce work related stress.

Last week on TV I saw a performance by the brilliant fingerstyle guitarist Pierre Bensusan. He told a story of being offered a contract to perform in Spain. The only condition in the contract was that he improvise the entire show. Being a master of improvisation he signed, but as the date of the show approached he became increasingly nervous. Finally, he sought the counsel of a friend. “Look at it this way,” said the friend, “you won’t forget anything.”


What a relief it is when the burdens our minds create...disappear. To be sure, much of mental skills work in the military – and in the performing arts – is about “using your mind on your mind,” and that certainly can be effective. But it’s not the only way to master the mental obstacles to optimal performance.

Why do we take on the challenges of a physically demanding nature, challenges that call on us to use – and learn – these mental skills? Why do we willingly take on the suffering, the disappointments, the adversity of tough challenges, long deployments, and brutal training? (For the hotties that flock to us after we return, I know, but besides that?)

One of the reasons, even if we’re not aware of it, is frequently this: The body is the Great Equalizer for the mind. When the mind is too dominant, we’re out of balance, and then we often pay the price – with anxiety, runaway thoughts, and so many other kinds of distress. But when we draw on the power and wisdom in our bodies, we can restore balance, bring mind and body closer, and relieve the burdens that our rampant minds so often create.

In Western cultures philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, and Descartes had a huge impact on the particular kind of dualistic view that separates mind and body. But in the last 50 years, Western civilization inches, and now crawls (or perhaps toddles) toward a more integral view of personhood. Fortunately, it’s been Toddling “under the influence” of Eastern philosophies, among other forces. So when I use the phrase “power and wisdom in our bodies,” I’m not talking about wattage and facts. I’m suggesting that your consciousness – your experience of yourself – is not located only in your heart rate monitor or GPS. Your emotions, sensations, past experiences, self-awareness, and even your thoughts all have a physical component. Discovering and living the physical in everything you experience – what is sometimes called being more in your body – can be the key to better mental fitness, and a better experience/performance under stress. But how?

Mind-Body Techniques
Led by doctors such as Herbert Benson, mind-body medicine began to guide what he calls the “third modality” in health care – in addition to pharmaceuticals and surgery – for maintaining health and well-being: self-care. And so over the years, health care practitioners, researchers, and the people they’ve worked with identified a number of things you can do to better integrate mind and body for performance, including:

Improving Your Emotional Awareness
Emotions affect health, energy, and strength, and of course the reverse is true as well. If you have even occasional difficulty answering the question, “How do you feel about that?”, you may need to look to your body for the answer rather than your mind. For example, when you’re anxious or stressed or fearful, where do you feel it in your body? Does your chest tighten? Does your breathing get shallow? Do you get knots in your stomach? Biofeedback can build your awareness and skill here. As you strengthen all the pathways to and from your emotions, you give yourself a better chance to handle your emotions, experience them, and use them.

Grounding Yourself
No, I’m not talking about banishing yourself to your room) If you want to be more in your body, becoming more conscious of your physical connection with the Earth is a great way to drive your consciousness downward from your head. In other words, gravity works; so sometimes, when you’re sitting, standing, or walking, practice paying attention to the contact of your feet (or shoes) with the ground. And finally, there’s nothing more grounding than paying attention to your breath – the place, perhaps, where Body and Mind meet.


Being conscious about what you put in your body
Paying more attention to what you eat and drink – the choices you make, the impact those choices have, but also the actual moment-by-moment experience of eating and drinking – can be a great way to narrow the mind-body gap.

Continuing to discover your physical potential
There is amazing transformative power in physical, body-focused experience. You can use your physical training in overcoming adversity or work related stress. You can use your fitness regime to learn what’s possible for your mind and body to achieve. Yet as you stretch your physical limits, perceived or real threats to your body may raise visceral fear and anxiety, perhaps evoking the fundamental mortality that underlies every moment of life. But in facing that challenge by drawing on everything within yourself – from mind, body, and spirit – you go through a crucible and a stronger person emerges.

Bottom Line
Many of the most successful competitors, at any level, are set apart from others by mental strength. And your mind will be much stronger when it has a good connection, good communication, and good balance with your body.

The five core skills of mental fitness are: Goal-Setting, Self-Talk, Managing Emotions, Concentration, and Communication. Ensuring that there is a good connection between mental and physical fitness can increase performance and reduce work related stress.
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But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth. – Job 23:13

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If you have any comments I’d love to hear them.
If they really interest me, I may even post them.
You can reach me at Joe

You can also join us to discuss this and other issues at Viking Preparedness Forums

Prepared Americans for a Strong America

Why Should We Accept You?

We have a discussion going on over on the forums that is based on a scenario where you and your family are displaced during a TEOTWAWKI situation and are moving in the stream of humanity to points unknown.
You are a refugee.
"You got nothing."

Up ahead, an apparently competent and well off group is interviewing people - looking for potential members. The scenario called for you to have 30 seconds to describe why the group should take you in and 30 seconds to ask any questions you may have.

We received a lot of interesting responses.
We received a lot of responses that avoided the issue or claimed it was too unrealistic.

Those folks missed the point.
The point of the post was just to get folks to think about themselves as someone else might perceive them.

I posted this in response:

What DO you have to offer to a group?
Why SHOULD a group let you in?

I personally don't care - it is an exercise for you to do some self evaluation.

"What are my strong points?"
"What can I bring to the table?" (as a person - not your barn full of supplies although sometimes that is helpful)
"What are my weak points?"
"What can I do to quickly improve my skillsets/abilities?"

I get a fair bit of mail from folks looking to join groups and asking advice. I get less mail asking how to form a group.
It comes to this: If you had a group, would you let you in?

Life is a journey - we should constantly move forward.
It's hard to move forward if we don't know where we are.

Self assessment is hard.
Thinking the hard thoughts is unpleasant.
Imagining the possible - when it is terrible - is not something we are good at. We put up psychological defenses, we "yeah, but" or "that's not possible", or "it would be hopeless" as coping mechanisms.

We fight the question.
The question/scenario and how it was framed is not the key point.
YOU are.

Elite performers do consider the ugly possibilities - and then take steps to mitigate them.
I want everyone to be elite performers.
I realize we will not all be - but we can all do better - MUCH better.

A typical response was something like:
How could a person have a chance?

By way of example for this one point (but conceptually applicable to the whole) we have this: I have medical people in my crew but I don't have an Emergency Medicine or Family Practice Doctor. We have goodly supplies of medical gear - for our future doc to use.

We don't have a blacksmith or enough musicians - but we have tools and instruments.
We don't have a gunsmith - not a real one.

As far as "good people" who are needed to man guard posts, tend critters and gardens and what not - their value depends on the group's ability to feed them.

Someone asked with exasperation, “How can one ensure one's family's security when they have nothing and are with a group they don't know?"

Indeed.
First we have to decide if our family is better off with the group or alone. I submit that a family is MUCH better off with a good group than they are alone. It is fantasy to think we can do stuff alone. Societies have been built over millennia for a reason.

So then the problem becomes how do we determine if it is a “good group”. In the problem I posed – it was a good group (but people keep fighting the problem to avoid dealing with themselves). But it is a good point – how do we determine that?
You get 30 seconds.

If you decide you are better off with the group and then turn out to have made a bad choice how do you ensure your family’s security? Well, how do you?

These are not new problems; these are not novel situations – mankind has been experiencing similar predicaments forever. And it’s not just ancient history: look at the Balkans, look at Sudan, look at Georgia.

I encourage you to take some time (just a bit, no need to dwell here) thinking the hard thoughts.
Embrace the Monster.
And then get out there and take some steps to improve your (potential) situation.

And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. - Matthew 26:39
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If you have any comments I’d love to hear them.
If they really interest me, I may even post them.
You can reach me at Joe

You can also join us to discuss this and other issues at Viking Preparedness Forums

Prepared Americans for a Strong America