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
.................................................................................

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

No More Evil Black Rifles

Sometimes an all black rifle just won’t do. My buddy had one and asked if I could show him how I paint my long guns; he is my friend and I had time so I said, “sure”. We took some snaps and now y’all can learn as well. Before we started I told him to go buy a few cans of Krylon “Camouflage” paint – it’s basically flat paint in earth toned colors.

You will want to paint your rifle in colors that blend into your area. When in doubt, use lighter colors rather than dark - they blend better. I like a lot of tan and some dark green in my paint schemes – my buddy picked Tan, Green, Brown and some Gray.



Begin by degreasing the rifle – we just used paper towels and alcohol. Basically you want all the oil gone so that paint can adhere. Go ahead and tape up anything you don’t want paint on or in. We taped the trigger well and scope lenses after first putting some paper towel in there (to keep the tape residue of the glass). We also plugged the muzzle with paper towel – a foam earplug works also.

Start out painting broad bands of your chosen colors. Alternate light and dark – you want to break up the long dark outline. Now, truth be told, once you do this you are done as far as effectively camouflaging the rifle goes. It won’t earn you a lot of cool points with the guys, but it will break up the silhouette and make it blend in – assuming you chose colors that match your environment. But as we used to say “back in the day” – It’s not what you do, or how you do it – but how you look while you are doing it that counts. So we had some more work to do.



Lay some foliage on your rifle – whatever color you lay it on is the color that shape is going to end up. So if you want tan grass and green leaves – lay the grass on the tan band and the leaves on the green. Once they are on there lightly spray a contrasting color on top of the vegetation. Easy does it and you may have to hold it in place with a stick to keep it from being blown away by the aerosol.

Now, leaving the first layer of foliage in place, add more right on top and spray a different color of paint on that – different from the color you see peeking out underneath the leaves and grass.



Then add even more vegetation – the rifle should be almost totally covered. During this stage I typically hit it with gray auto primer. Some people use flat black – whatever you add at this time will only show up in very small, odd bits.



After painting, wait as long as you can – for me it’s about 1 minute – and then, using a stick, flip all the vegetation off neatly so it doesn’t make the paint smear. Let it dry some more and then flip the rifle over and repeat on the other side.

When you are all done, let it stand somewhere warm and dry for a day or so until the paint hardens up.

“How long does it last?”
“Won’t it scratch?”
“How does it hold up to cleaning chemicals?”

I love it (not really) when I hear these questions on the Internet. I would say first off that if you are worried about scratching your Safe Queen then you probably don’t want to use this technique. If you are worried about scratching your weapon then you are not planning on using it like I do. This is the paint and the technique I have been using for years. This is the same paint my Brothers who are still out there Doing The Deed are using. As far as patterns go, some get fancy, some just spray wide stripes on their weapon. When it needs a touch up – we touch it up. Because for us, a weapon is a tool. Not a work of art. Not a museum piece. Not something that we try to keep in “mint condition” so that we can resell it later.

But if you insist on knowing - It lasts a long time and holds up to rough and tumble and cleaning just fine. Sure, it will wear off in places eventually – I consider those marks “earned”. It’s not a beautiful show room job – it won’t grace the covers of any gun nut magazines – but it works. And the cool thing is –if you don’t like it or if you need to change the colors – you can just start over. This job took us less than an hour and we were yacking and taking photos.

Now if you want, I’ll do yours for $70 but really, you can just to it yourself.

I’ll see ya out there….or will I?

It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter. – Proverbs 25:2

.................................................................................

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

Get a Grip!

Right off the bat I want to say that I did not "invent" this idea. I learned this from a Christian Warrior and excellent intructor - Gabe Suarez. If you have a chance to attend some of his courses I recommend you take advantage of the opportunity. His site is linked over there on the right.

Gunfighting is not range shooting. Gunfighting is not gun gaming. Gunfighting happens usually when you least expect it and oft times when under much less than "ideal conditions".

Darkness, rain, mud, blood (and Johnny Cash is singing in my head...) can characterize your environment. Stress, fear, injury and pain could make an appearance. As I've said before when discussing bad things: Murphy will show up and he usually brings friends.

Working your slide is easy in the living room or on the range. Doing it under a variety of stressors can add to your challenges. Your weak hand (yeah, I call it that) can slip while conducting any of a number of immediate action drills. Let's face it - smooth steel is slippery in it's own right. Add mositure and it gets worse. Add shaking hands and you may have a problem. Enter Grip Tape.

After learning of this idea from Gabe I thought about it but I really didn't want to "mess up" my brand new Glock. Then one day my daughters (who were then going through a Skater Chick phase) showed me how they had added skate board tape to their boards and I asked if they had any left.

"No, we threw it away."

"Where?"

"In our waste basket"

"Well bring it down here."

My girls periodically clean their hair brushes out and toss the strands into the waste basket. The girls had tossed the tape scraps (sans backing) into said basket and the scraps were covered with hair.

I am a frugal man...

I pulled the hair off the pieces, cut them to general shape and stuck them on my Glock. While I was at it, I added some to the grip portion also. Really, I just wanted to see how it felt. I figured if I liked it, I would just buy some more tape, "cut it out correctly" and make it look nice.

That was over a year ago.
It's still there and still going strong. I don't see any need to replace it.

I showed the idea to a friend of mine and today he came over and showed me his Ruger. He did the same thing - sort of. Because he is neater than I, he masked off parts of the slide with tape and then he sprayed a truck underliner rubbery compound on his gat. Guess what? It works.

Now, he just did this last week so we don't know how it will hold up but after inspecting it, I suspect it will last a good long time.

So, if you think this idea sounds cool - give it a try. To paraphrase Bruce Lee - "take what is useful, discard the rest."

See ya out there.

Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:21

.................................................................................

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

Iron Viking Gear

In a few short months I hope to have several brave men, women, and perhaps even some children join me for Iron Viking ’09. I have been asked on the board, via PM, through e-mail and in person just what folks are going to be allowed to bring.

Well, a picture is worth a thousand words so there ya go! It sure looks like a lot of stuff to me. In addition to all that stuff I will also issue each brave participant a goody bag. “And what might be in that bag?” you would ask…

Shyeaaa! Like I’m gonna tell anyone. You will have to come to find out (or wait until we are done and then maybe I or someone else will share the tales of woe).

So let’s talk about the gear list a bit: First off, there are no substitutions or additions. There will be a shake down inspection prior to launch and I will sadly send any cheaters home – without a refund. But I don’t think that will be a problem.

Participants must focus on the Letter and the Spirit of this list. This is not a list to try and “figure a way around it”. The exercise does not include showing us how clever you are in selecting your items. The list is the list. It is fairly minimal but more than adequate – especially when you see your goody bag….which you won’t unless you participate. When I say “bring” that means you can wear it or carry it.

Okay – you can zoom in on the photo if you need to but here’s what we are looking at:

Must Bring
If you don’t bring these you cannot play.

Trowel – notice I did not say “shovel” or “e-tool”
3x5 Card with emergency contact information – who we contact if you bonk. You can place this in a sealed envelope if you wish.
Small Flashlight – small and only to be used in an emergency. Stubbing your toe is not an emergency. Losing a piece of equipment is not an emergency. Walking through the deep dark woods is not an emergency. Potential loss of life, sight, or limb constitutes and emergency.
Whistle on lanyard – to be used only in an emergency. Lanyard is only used to secure whistle to your person.
Two liter soda bottle full of water. Not a canteen, not a camelback and full of nothing but water.

May Bring
All are “one each” or “pair” unless otherwise noted

Clothing
Underwear – boxers, briefs or panties – I don’t care. Women can also bring a bra – sports, regular, whatever.
Socks
Footwear – I recommend boots. Laces may only be used to keep footwear on feet.
Long pants
Belt – only to hold up pants or secure gear to waist.
T-shirt – short sleeved.
Long sleeve Shirt
Hat
Bandana
Sweater/sweatshirt/fleece top
Coat – if it has a liner then you don’t get a sweater/sweatshirt/fleece
Long underwear – only if the forecast is for below freezing – I’ll make that call when we begin.

Medical
Any needed medicines – must be cleared by me in advance
Tampons/pads – women only and only for intended use – Ziploc bag also and only for these.
Prescription Glasses – two pair, one case. Not sunglasses, only if needed.
Toothbrush – no paste
Dental Floss
Toilet Paper – only for toilet paper. Ziploc bag – only for TP

Tools
Blanket – a blanket – not a sleeping bag, not a comforter, not some king sized monstrosity. If I don’t like what you bring I will give you some threadbare cotton rag to use instead
Pistol, holster, two reloads, reload carrier – because some folks don’t like walking around “naked”.
Knife with sheath/carrier – you can bring a machete or you can bring a Leatherman or you can bring a bayonet – any knife will do – you get ONE – plus sheath. No “accoutrements” allowed.
Camera - with Ziploc just to protect the camera.

That’s it.
I hope to see some of you out there.

Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat. And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence. – Matthew 10:9 - 11

.................................................................................

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

Iron Viking 2009

This will be a cool t-shirt.
No, you cannot "buy one".
You have to earn one.

You have to survive - Iron Viking 2009

Scant details are available here: details

They Call Me Mellow Yellow

We are back to yellow. People are not dying in any kind of large numbers. This is presenting like "normal flu."

Sure, it could morph. But it hasn't yet. Life goes on.

And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. - Joshua 24:15

What Rhymes With "Orange"?

My family and my Crew use color codes. Due to the swine/avian/human flu break out, we are currently at Code Orange.

Color codes are a good way to lend structure to our thinking, planning, and actions. Like everything it seems I blog about, to be useful, these must be thought out, rehearsed, and agreed upon - in advance.


Emergency Medical System Codes

I am a volunteer firefighter and we actually respond to more medical calls than fires – we are typically closer to the scene than EMS, we have sufficient basic skills and gear, and when EMS gets there, we can help them carry gear and people. We also set up helicopter landing zones when required.

In our corner of the EMS world this is what we use:

Code Green – the patient (pt) is fine, really
Code Yellow – the pt is fine but should probably see a doctor in the next 4 hours.
Code Red – yeah, we need to get this pt to the hospital right now.
Code Blue – they are not breathing on their own
Code Black – they are dead
Code Pink – (used more in the hospital than with EMS) – young pediatric pt

We refer to patients/victims by color code so responding/awaiting folks know what to expect. Example: if I am the first one to a car crash I may report over the radio that, “We have one Code Green, two Code Yellows and one Code Red – Start a helicopter and dispatch a second ambulance.”


Awareness Codes

The Grandfather of “Modern Pistol Shooting”, Jeff Cooper, came up with color codes for awareness. These were intended as aids to help one not get overtaken by the OODA loop. This is my interpretation of his work:

White – totally unaware. Asleep. Where most sheeple spend most of their day.
Yellow – relaxed awareness. Where one should spend most of one’s day.
Orange – alert, focused awareness – You have identified a potential threat and are beginning to take some action and mentally/emotionally prepare for immediate escalation.
Red – Combat is imminent or occurring.


Personal Preparedness Codes

As I wrote at the outset, my family and Crew use color codes to indicate, order,and organize our level or state of preparedness. As with the codes above, these are just a means, easily understood by all concerned, to focus us as a group. We can move forwards and backwards along the scale without too much drama and very little discussion. We have already had the discussions. For the most part, we have already done the rehearsals. The codes are to allow us to act – swiftly and methodically. Here is what we use:

Code Yellow – normal state of maintaining, improving our preparations and position. Relaxed. No sense of urgency. We continue to rotate through supplies, test new stuff, add to the homestead and so on. Normal day to day life with our family and Crew.

Code Orange – - we have identified a specific potential problem. First we alert each other that we are in Code Orange and why. All vehicles get filled with gas and remain no lower than ¾ full for the duration. Stock is taken of food and water stores and short items are immediately topped off. This means we run to the grocery store and get gas on the way home. We may need to top off on critter feed; we may need to fill water troughs. If we were thinking of getting something (say, oh, a case of #2 shells) we do that also. We also continuously monitor various information sources – tv, radio, internet, scanners and contacts. After we top off and while monitoring we have the initial Code Orange meeting where we discuss what we know, knock the dust off of our Action Plan if we have one for this contingency and start setting out “trip wires”. These are planned actions we will take when certain events/actions occur. Example: Quarantine measures are enacted in Los Angeles. We then begin our own isolation as a group within 90 minutes. We tweak (based on specific unique factors) what will precipitate Code Red. We had our family meeting and the Crew telephonic alert last night, and the Crew meeting this morning.

Code Red - Most of this is OPSEC. For all intents and purposes, TS has HTF. Pre-planned actions are taken. These involve security, communications, medical and resources. Basically we fall back as a family, as the Crew, and start operating in close coordination with each other. We are not relying on anyone else for anything. We are thankful for stuff like electricity, water and so on but we are not relying on it. These are written out and rehearsed plans/actions. Honestly, we have never taken the time to do a full blown rehearsal but we have practiced the different aspects of our plan. We really need to do a 72 hour test…

Code Black - All of this is OPSEC. Black is a dark color and this is a dark place. This is for TEOTWAWKI. The rules have changed. Things will never be the same. We have discussed it. We have written trip wires, plans, and actions. We revisit thesea lot. We cannot directly practice a lot of Code Black stuff. But we can and do work on aspects of it. Code Black is not good.

So – we are at Code Orange.
We are comfortable here.
Where are You?

Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. – 1 Corinthians 11:1
.................................................................................

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

The Plan

A member of the FORUMS wrote the following in a long and pithy thread on BoBs:

Though folks usually insist that a person "have a plan", there's never an explanation as to what "the plan" is. O.P.S.E.C.? For some, yes, but the most part, it's almost like a "buzzword" that let's others know we're all in the same club.

I suspect that most don’t have a plan. Not a viable one anyway. Certainly not one they have tested. The few that do have a plan are likely loathe to share it due to OPSEC. I have had bug out plans originating from several different places (I moved around a lot in my earlier days) and terminating in various locales. I know and have known several people that have workable bug out plans so I will draw on these to try and flesh this post out a bit. Of course I will change names, locations and some details to preserve privacy but they are real.

The Plan involves:
Start Point
Trigger
Destination
Route
Travel Mode
Supplies

If you have read this blog for long enough you will immediately realize that we will employ PACE (Primary, Alternate, Contingency, Emergency – multiple options) when we develop The Plan.

Start Point
Your primary start point is your home – that’s where you spend most of your time and that is where most of your stuff is. Your alternate start point would probably be work or school. Other start points could be wherever you happen to find yourself. If you are planning a three week vacation you may wish to modify your basic plan to suit.

Trigger
You need to decide now what will trigger your evacuation. Do your own threat analysis. Maybe it’s a big earthquake, or the Yellowstone Caldera, or nuclear war, or imminent hurricane landfall in your area, or….it’s personal. But sit down now and decide what your triggers will be. What if them to death. And then, if your trigger trips – GO! Don’t think about it - you should have already done all the wargaming you required. When the event is happening is not the time to THINK, it’s not the time to DISCUSS, it is not the time to try to GAIN CONSENSUS – it is the time to ACT. Get moving.

Destination
This is the key part of the whole plan. If you don’t have a destination you don’t have a plan. Your destination must be viable – it must support/sustain you and yours. Selecting the center of the national forest as your destination will not work. No, it won’t. Not if the only thing there is rocks and trees. You are not Robinson Crusoe. You are not a mountain man and even they had support networks.

Your primary destination should be an area that is outside of the threat danger zone. It should be clear of the problems that made you flee in the first place. One of my destinations is based on the Yellowstone Caldera blowing. If it does we will be moving within an hour to a location outside of the projected ash fall. This location is a friend’s home. He knows we plan on coming. Our home is one of his destinations in the event of problems in his locale. Quid pro quo. The key point here is that both parties need to discuss this aspect of The Plan and know what they are getting in for.

Your alternate destination needs to be in a different geographical area. If something happens to make your primary destination not so nice, you need to be able to go somewhere else. You need to do all the coordination for this location just like for the primary one. And so on for contingency and emergency destinations.

I said you cannot plan on bugging out to the center of the national forest. Let me caveat that – you cannot plan on it if you have not made any prior preparations. I know of a group that has a bug out location in a mountain town. They own a house there that is stocked with needed supplies and they use it as a vacation cabin. They have also ridden horses into the back country behind their house and cached a robust “spike camp”. This is basically tarps and water and food and so on to build a small shanty village in the out back. This is their emergency fallback position.

The best bug out destinations are centered around people. Humans. That you need to talk to. Before hand. You need to develop relationships. This takes effort. This takes time. The vast majority of you are not welcome at Casa Joe during Interesting Times. Nothing personal – we just don’t have that kind of relationship. If you plan of fleeing to Aunt Matilda’s house – make sure Auntie knows what to expect and agrees. If not – you don’t have a plan – you have a wish.

Route
Your route is based on your start point, the conditions surrounding your Trigger, where your Start Point is, and your Destination. Lots of variables, I know. Your primary route should probably be based on the assumption that you are going to get a head start on the masses of fleeing sheep. You will get a head start because you have The Plan and you have your nose to the wind. You will likely (initially) use interstate highways. This is fine for a while.

Your alternate route will probably avoid these sheeple magnets and use lesser travelled roads. It will avoid large concentrations of humans. It may avoid military bases – it depends on your envisioned Trigger. I like military bases for most things – but I can gain access.

You will have several routes (PACE). You should have decision points along each route where you decided to continue as you are, or switch to an alternative route. Say the New Madrid lets go and you plan to travel along Route A. There is a bridge. You will need to decide (now) what you will do if, while driving down Route A you notice the bridge is out. See the Convoy post below to read a bit about scouting out decision points enroute.

You need to spend some time on route selection. When you think you know your routes – drive them. Make notes. If the route is viable then designate it Primary or Alternate or….. Then get good map coverage of the area and mark your routes on the map(s). Use different colored highlighters for different routes – this way, if you are injured, someone else can still carry you along your route. Mark any potential hazards or decision points – then decide how you will address them if needed.

Travel Mode
Primary will be your “Bug out Vehicle” (BOV). For most of us this is not the purpose-built Uber Vehicle but our daily driver. It does need to be viable in light of the aforementioned aspects of your plan. Deciding to use your Harley to get from Arizona to Maine in February is probably not a good idea. But hey – the point is to think it out – for YOURSELF. If you plan on getting to Aunt Matilda’s house you better have a way to get there. That rust bucket that can’t make it across town will probably not do.

Alternate means may be another vehicle, or your neighbor’s truck or a train (you are smart and left EARLY) or anything other than your primary vehicle. Other modes could be horse, motorcycle (yeah, I know) or what have you. Your Emergency means will likely be your feet. Your travel mode may affect your routes and location – it all ties together. I was travelling internationally once a long time ago and my personal bug out (get home) plan involved several modes of transportation for each contingency. Perhaps I would drive to the airport and fly home (primary). Perhaps I would take the train to another country, taxi to the airport and fly home (alternate). Or maybe I would book passage on an ocean going vessel with the ample cash I used to carry (it wasn’t mine – it was yours. And I gave it back.) Or maybe I would have to take the long walk to the other side of the continent and hook up with some “friends”. The point here is that each plan (PACE) must stand alone and not depend on any other plan.

Supplies
Based on what is happening, where you are going and how you are getting there, you need to decide what you will take with you. If you are going to Aunt Matilda’s you may want to ask her what to bring. One of my Destination dudes told me not to worry about guns or ammo or clothes or medical gear – “just bring food”. Another one told me to bring my goats and chickens! I can carry a lot in my primary bug out vehicle. I cannot carry very much on my back. But I have decided what I will carry with each. You need to plan what you will do if you have to say, abandon your BoV and hoof it. This is where BoBs come in – can you access yours quickly?

Which brings us to load plans. After you practice and decide how you are packing and where stuff goes - draw a chart - this will greatly speed up the process of gettign out of Dodge. Make sure you don't bury the jack underneath fifty gallons of water cans...

But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains: And let him that is on the housetop not go down into the house, neither enter therein, to take any thing out of his house: And let him that is in the field not turn back again for to take up his garment. - Mark 13:14 - 16

Ammo Under Glass

You may have read my blog post on 10,000 rounds - this isn't about that -really.

Here's the deal: In the past (key word, that) we all had an amount of ammo per weapon that we felt comfortable with. Get below that amount, and we go buy more. If you are like me, you stocked ammo above that comfort point so that if you went out on Saturday and shot a couple boxes, you didn't have to run right out and buy a couple boxes more to "top off".

It is rapidly getting to the point where we cannot just run right out and buy some more. (I believe this is part of the plan - but what do I know? I also understand supply and demand - so where is the increased supply to meet the demand? Maybe the demand was so rapid, the ammo industry cannot keep up. And regardless - it is getting tougher to purchase ammo - not to mention crazy expensive. But I digress...)

I ran into a fellah yesterday who seriously asked me a question that, in retrospect, gave me pause: Where can I buy .45 ammo? This was not some newbie without a clue - this was a man who had gone to this place and that and could not find any. .45 ammo! It's not like it's a rare caliber. He was seriously asking if we knew any place local that had it on the shelves.

And so, I think it may be time to put some ammo behind glass - you know, the glass you break in time of emergency.
I think it's time to set aside some ammo for the time when we will absolutely not be able to get any more.

If you agree with me then it doesn't end there. No, no. We must now decide what we will need ammo for and how much we need to lay aside.

Let's take .45 ammo for my buddy. Let's also assume that firearms and ammo are not illegal - they are just unavailable. (Insert dark, evil, snickering Overlord here)

We all need to stay tuned up on our handguns - we need to practice. Yes, we can practice with .22 to an extent - but we must keep coming back to full power loads to handle the dynamics of shooting our chosen caliber. Some friends of mine shoot 1,000 rounds per week (they don't buy their own ammo). I suspect you will shoot less. Heck, you may not even shoot every week. Most especially when you can't replace what you are shooting. But you do have a number of rounds you would like to practice with yearly regardless. And you can envision how long the ammo crisis could go on. Multiply.

You also can determine how much ammo you may realistically need to shoot in anger over the span of your lifetime - it's not much and now you can refer to 10,000 Rounds. Add that number to your previous number.

I think you could also add in a 10% buffer.

Some of you more enlightened readers are no doubt now talking to your monitors and saying, "Yes, Joe - this is why we reload".

To which I reply, "Yes, but you still have to do the math - how much are you going to have to reload?" I understand buying primers is just as difficult of late as buying rounds.

I have not done the numbers for myself but I sure hope I don't end up with a number like........10,000 rounds.

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. - Matthew 6:19 - 21


.................................................................................

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

Spring Babies

Well, Spring has certainly sprung here at High Prairie Acres. We have been blessed with a whole bunch of babies – eight rabbits and six goatlings. They are all hopping, eating, drinking and making messes. They are all adorable.




I’ve been working slowly and unsteadily on an addition to the barn. It’s basically a lean-to shed I am building on the side of the barn and it also houses (or eventually will house) the goat milking room, a goat nursery, a goat equipment storage space, and a catch all space in addition to the “meat factory” which is what I have named the rabbitry. It’s 16’ by 32 ‘ and work goes slowly. As for the meat factory, I have one cage for each adult rabbit – Fritz, Helga, and Ingrid and an additional cage I bought so that Ingrid could have her babies inside the house since her first two litters basically froze to death. She is my one rabbit that sprays when she urinates and lets just say our spare room was not suitable for human occupation for a while. The bunnies are now out in the rabbitry and the guest room in the house has been deconned so all is well.




Ingrid’s bunnies (kits) are now a month old and Helga is due to deliver (kindle) in a week. I have already pre-sold two of the babies and will probably sell the rest of Ingrid’s at a local joint that sells bunnies for Easter. Actually, they sell cages and feed and assorted rabbit toys – but they need bunnies to close the deal. We will likely end up eating Helga’s litter. Rabbit curry Thai-style – yum, yum.




We have four adult goats in our herd since we gave away our stinky buck. Between the four of them we had six kids. The white ones are Boer/Alpine crosses and came from our best milker. The rest are either Alpine/Alpine or Boer/Alpine and range in color from brown to black. We are bottle feeding 3 of them because it makes them easier to handle and gives us more milk from the mammas. The does get milked twice a day (except for our one Boer cross who we don’t milk) and the kids get bottle fed 4 times a day. So we are busy. Well, to be honest – my wife is busy.

The kids have all been sold but we will keep them until they are eight weeks old and then wean them. We banded two of the males to make them whethers and we have sold the two white ones as Billies.

Okay that’s it – no big words of wisdom. I just wanted to share a bit.
.................................................................................

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

Emergency

I don’t know Neil Strauss but I respect a certain part of his make up very much. It is a personal trait that I encourage all my readers to develop: Do stuff. Don’t just dream about it; don’t just talk about it; don’t just read about it – actually get out there and DO.

A few years ago, Neil was what we unkindly, sadly, but ultimately truthfully, refer to as a sheeple. A reporter for the New York Times, he was financially successful, urbane, hip – and clueless when it came to survivalism. But then he woke up. In a big way. He quickly realized what he did not know (a tough step for many that involves suppressing the ego) and then set about correcting this hole in his knowledge base. Again, in a big way.

He built a BoB, he bought a pistol, and he attended Gunsite. He took survival classes and edible plant walks, and urban escape and evasion courses. He started training in martial arts. He cached things. He got a milk goat. Heck, he even designed a bug out plan that included obtaining citizenship and a home in another country – and then took flying lessons (so he has a little money).

Now, as cool as all of this is (and it is very cool) the coolest thing is that Neil Strauss wrote about it in great detail so you and I can follow and experience his journey. And he writes well. He should – he has written several other books that have done very well.

If you have been flitting around the edges of preparedness and survivalism and just enjoy reading blogs like this one or maybe visiting a forum or two –you need this book. If you are already well underway on your own preparedness journey – you could use this book for some advice from a man who is there and has done that. If you feel pretty secure in your preparations – I think you will enjoy this book as you compare Neil’s journey to your own and I bet you will benefit from another perspective and probably find some holes in your plans and processes that need to be addressed.

Neil Strauss writes in an edgy and adult oriented style – this is not a book for your teen aged daughter. I think it’s his personality coming through and although you wouldn’t want to read some passages aloud in church, there is nothing gratuitous here. Just deal with it.

One of my favorite sections concerned a personal training plan Neil put together. See, attending all these courses and gaining all this knowledge was not enough (it never it). Neil wanted to own the knowledge. So he scheduled his weeks for a while were he had things like Fire Sundays (he’d build fires different ways); Shelter Mondays; and one of my favorites: Survivalist Dinner Party Wednesdays where he’d invite friends over and prepare a meal differently each time – rock boiling, coal cooking, steam pits, etc. I tell ya, he’s on to something here.

So, bottom line – get yourself a copy of Emergency by Neil Strauss – it’s and enjoyable read and you’ll learn some stuff and get motivated to keep moving forward.

Emergency
By Neil Strauss
HarperCollins 2009
$16.99
.................................................................................

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

Money Is No Object

In the past and here again lately I have heard people explain in financial terms why they or their loved ones do not “yet” have a BoB. “I cannot afford one right now.” Or, “I’ll put one together after my tax return comes in.” I think these are poor excuses and in this entry I aim to show why.

The first thing we must realize is that BoB is nothing more than a bag of tools to help you get away from a terrible, dangerous, scary situation and assist you as you travel to a new and hopefully better locale. The next thing we must realize is that as Americans (and to our international readers – thanks, and bear with me, please) we are Consumers by nature. We also fall for the lame excessive spending excuse, “How much is your life worth?” We think that if we don’t buy the $300 Warthog Ruck, the $250 Combat Concubine knife, and the $700 Mt Niyiragongo expedition tent that we are just not taking this stuff seriously and might as well do nothing.

Expel those negative thoughts from your psyche and realize that any tool is better than no tool. Consider Tom Hanks’ character in Castaway: I’m sure he would have loved a full blown field dental set up complete with anesthesia – but at least he had an ice skate. It was better than nothing. And it was free. If you or your loved one must flee into the cold, dark night – anything is better than nothing. That anything must be packed and ready to go, however.

I was going to title this entry, The Five Dollar BoB but really, it probably does cost more than that if you add it up – but it’s still very inexpensive. If you are on the net and reading this, you easily have enough money to put one these together.

First the Bag
You need something to carry your gear in. It should be fairly comfortable to tote and tough enough for its intended purpose. I picked this up in a thrift store for a buck. It was some kid’s school bag and it got a bit worn so Mommy bought him a new one. It will do nicely.

Shelter
Large trash bags. These aren’t even the “high speed out of the budget because you don’t normally buy them” Contractor Bags. Nope, these are just regular ol’ trash bags. Wear it like a poncho, fill them full of leaves to make blankets and mattresses, string a couple up end to end to make a (very tight) “tube tent”, sit on one to keep your butt dry – use your imagination.

Shower curtain. An old one that you wanted to throw away because some of the ring holes ripped through. It’s tough. It will make a great ground cloth, you can rig it like a tarp using little stones or acorns in the corner to tie off to, or you can drape it across your shoulders as a rain cape.

String. Yeah, it’s not Kevlar spider wire or even 550 cord but you know what? It will do the job.

Hat. Fifty cents at Goodwill – wash well before packing. Keep your noggin’ warm and life starts to be okay. Yeah I know, this isn’t the latest miracle fabric– but you’ll still be toasty. And grateful.

Water and Food
Water bottle. A two liter soda bottle I got from a friend (I don’t drink that junk!). Yeah I know – it doesn’t have a wide mouth, it’s not even close in design to a DromedaryHump water bladder and it is not made out of some space age plastic polymer. But it holds two liters of life sustaining water all the same.

Pot. From a coffee can and piece of wire. No, it’s not titanium and it’s not what Delta Force uses (although you may be surprised…) It works great – you can boil water to purify it, you can heat water for coffee or tea, you can stew up some road kill in it.

Chow. Throw whatever in there. Pop top cans of soup, tuna, Ramen, Girl Scout cookies – just nose around in the cupboards and get some chow. You will need calories in a fairly easy to store and prepare state. Plastic spoon or make chopsticks.

Medical
Meds. If you take daily meds, put a “pull tab” on the outside of the ruck to remind you to run up to the bathroom and grab them before you bug out. When you put the meds in your ruck, then pull off the tab. Ideally, you want to get a bigger prescription and rotate your meds through your BoB but we are doing this on the cheap so we have to take some shortcuts.

First Aid. Put together a first aid kit from the stuff you have laying around in the medicine cabinet or closet. Aspirin, bandaids, tape, ointment – whatever you think of. Yeah, I know, it’s not a commando blow out kit. But it will do.

Miscellaneous
Knife. It cost a dollar at a “used stuff store”. Make a sheath out of cardboard and tape. Or, just pull one of your extra knives out of the drawer and use it.

Fire. If you don’t smoke you may need to buy a couple lighters or matches. Wow – so expensive. Real cotton balls into which you rub some Vaseline make outstanding tinder – store them in an old pill bottle or film canister.

Duct tape. It rules the universe. Tape a hot spot on your foot, repair your shelter, make something – whatever. Wrap it around your water bottle or fold it flat.

Map. This is an old one. It will do.

That’s it
Guys and gals – is this the perfect BoB? Of course not. Can you make it better? Of course you can. Can you add to it as you find more stuff or funds become available? Yes. For all its weaknesses this BoB has one great strength: It is.

You can assemble one very similar in about 30 minutes. Heck, maybe even less time. Remember though, these are minutes you just may not have in an emergency. And when you assemble this BoB you will have the means to sustain life and facilitate a bug out.

So if you have putting off assembling a BoB due to lack of funds – just remember that money is no object. And you have no excuse – put one together this weekend.

And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place: For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it. And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law. And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. – Genesis 19:12 - 15
.................................................................................

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

Be The First On Your Block

Isn’t that cool?

That’s the decal that has been on the back of my truck since late last year. We had some made up and have beta tested them for weather and sunlight resistance from the mountains to the sea and from sweltering humidity to freezing cold. They have been rained on, snowed, on and sunshined on – and they held up fine. I just took that photo about five minutes ago.

It’s vinyl at goes on the outside of the glass.

Here’s a shot with a dollar to show you the scale. It’s a perfect size.
And it looks cool.


Well now Viking Preparedness readers – you too can have one.

They are $6 a piece and that includes shipping and handling.
If you live anywhere other than the US the price may be more (I'd have to check with the post office) - email me if interested.

We have some of this batch left and we are getting a new batch in any day now. EDIT: The new batch is in and just like the prior batch.

Just PayPal the money to me at Joe@VikingPreparedness.com or you might wait until we get a button up on the forums. Either way, follow up with an email telling me the email address you paid from and the snail mail address to which you want the decal shipped.

We will also be selling them at Viking Fest 09 for a buck less.

And hey – I appreciate the support.

See ya out there.

.................................................................................

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

Low-Probability High-Consequence Events

This entry is for the more advanced reader.




The Basics
We all take basic precautions. We store some extra food, water and medicine. We have flashlights and radios and batteries. We employ prudent security measures. We have contact lists and plans to get home during emergencies. We learn to do things for ourselves. We carry “fire and steel” and other goodies that will help mitigate any problems that we could encounter as we go about our daily lives. Maybe we grow a vegetable garden. And by so doing, we are ahead of a large percentage of the population.

By taking these basic preparedness steps we are in a good position to handle any problems that are likely to come down the pike. If you are in this company - Congratulations, you will probably make it. You are prepared for what I call High to Medium Probability Events. Things like blizzards, floods, temporary breakdown of services caused by anything from a gas shortage to a Teamsters’ strike. Heck, you are even prepared for a terrorist attack that temporarily impacts on your life. You have stuff. It’s probably at home. And home is where you are going to stay come Hell or high water. If your home burns down due to a lighting strike – well, you’ve got insurance and family near by to stay with until you get a new house built. Again – Good Job – you will likely come through just fine anything thrown at you.


Likely
See, you will likely come through because you are prepared for likely events. You are miles ahead of your neighbors because they don’t even like to think about the things you are prepared for. You have accepted that those things are possible – even likely over the span of time and you have taken steps to mitigate any problems. Great. Do not allow yourself to become smug.


Murphy
Just when you think you have it whickered – Murphy shows up. And he usually brings friends. I am speaking of - you got it: Low-Probability High-Consequence Events. WHAT IF nukes went off 300 miles up wind of your homestead and lethal fallout was rapidly approaching?

“But Joe, there are no nuclear targets there!”

WHAT IF the bad guys were aiming for something else and missed?

WHAT IF the 4th Mongolian Horde (Airborne) parachuted in 20 miles east of you and started moving west?

“That’s ridiculous, Joe!”

Uh, huh – tell that to the Georgians.
Or the Bosnians.
Or the Christians in Sudan.

WHAT IF your house burned down for a totally “normal” reason and, as you were watching the firemen save your foundation, TEOTWAWKI happened (pick your own scenario this time).

We don’t like thinking about those things, do we?
It makes all of the steps we have taken, all of the work we have done, all of the plans (most of us) have made kinda moot – doesn’t it?

In scenarios like these, we become like the sheeple we scoff at. THEY don’t want to consider some type of emergency where .gov does not come rescue them. They think planning for that is ridiculous. They really don’t think it’s ridiculous – they are afraid to embrace the monster. In cases like these – so are we.


Embrace the Monster
I encourage you to think about what would “rock your world” (that would be High Consequence) and think through how you would deal with it. I encourage you to take steps now to help mitigate what you would face.

This is where PACE planning comes in. Primary, Alternate, Contingency and Emergency. If it’s easier for you to think of it as Plans A through D that’s okay with me. Whenever you have a Plan A – develop a Plan B. When you have that set up, ask yourself, WHAT IF that didn’t work and take more steps along the path.

Do not rest on your laurels.
Can you prepare for everything? Probably not.

Can you prepare for more than you are prepared for now?
You know the answer.

Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. – 1 Corinthians 10:12
.................................................................................

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

Lightening the Load

Before I attended the last BoB soirée I hefted my BoB and decided it was too heavy. I knew it was too heavy last year – I carried it okay but it just felt bad. Reminds me of a conversation from The 13th Warrior:

Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan: (Ahmed is given a Viking sword) I cannot lift this.
Herger the Joyous: Grow stronger.

Well, I figured I’d do what “Eban” did with his sword and just lighten it up a bit.
I don’t have a scale but I know I removed several pounds of gear. Here’s what went away:

Pistol, Ammo, Earplugs and Waist Pack
I carry another pistol and spare mags anyway so I really don’t need this. I don’t think I’m going hunting while bugging out and if I absolutely have to kill a squirrel or other small furry critter I’ll do it with a full power round. I wear a combat harness (LCE) with two canteens, ammo pouches, K-Bar and first aid pack and have earplugs in the little pocket on the canteen pouches so I didn’t need another set. I kept a lot of EDC stuff in the waist pack along with the pistol but I would transfer it to my pockets anyway so the waist pack was really to tote the .22.

Knife Sharpener, Pocket Knife, 550 Cord Lanyard
So redundant. All my knives are sharp; they won’t get overly dull within the bug out parameters for which I designed the BoB; I’m constantly removing and replacing the EZ Lap sharpener from my BoB during hunting season (I like it and I use it a lot) and it’s heavy. The pocket knife has a cool saw and bottle opener – so does my Leatherman Super Tool. I have lots of cordage in the BoB – this little bit won’t be missed.

Vaseline Cotton Balls, Candle, Lighter, Heat Tabs
Redundant – I have plenty of each still in the BoB.

Canteen Cup, 2-Quart Canteen and Pouch, 1-Quart Canteen Pouch
I used to have these strapped to the outside of my ALICE. I have a bladder in my new ruck so I figured I could ditch the 2-Quart. I had some survival supplies tucked into the pouch but those were redundant to what I carry on my person anyway. I still carried the 1-Quart canteen but inside the BoB so I didn’t need the pouch. I carry a German mess kit so the cup was redundant – but I am fond of it – it’s been there and earned some T-shirts.

Sling Rope and Snap Link
I’m not going to do any Ranger assaults while bugging out. I don’t have a 120’ rope anywyay… 550 cord that I do carry is plenty strong enough. In the end, I put the snap link back in the BoB and used it to hang it from a tree to keep it off the ground and at a height that made it easy to get into and out of while camping. I’ll probably take it back out – I don’t need it to hang the BoB.

Lens Cleaner, Camo Stick, Fire Starter
I’ll just wipe my glasses off if they get foggy like everyone else does. I probably don’t need to camo up and if I do – I’ll don the head net in my LCE or use a bandana, or use mud, or… The fire starter is big and redundant.

Waterproof Bag, NOD, Compass, Constitution, Toilet Paper, Head Net, Spoon
The bag is durable and heavy – I replaced it with a large trash bag. The pouch contains a night vision device I got from Rob at JRH Enterprises and while it could prove very useful for bugging out, the actual chances I’ll use it while doing so are slim. I have given it a new home in some other contingency gear that I use more than my BoB anyway. The compass is rugged and heavy and makes a great flail weapon – I replaced it with a Silva. I could make a comment about how our Constitution is starting to resemble toilet paper and redundancy but I’ll just leave it at - they were redundant. Okay, I can't leave it...Have you read the Bill of Rights lately? .Gov is violating most of them. If you haven’t read your Constitution please do so – it is short and easy to understand. I have a head net in my LCE and a better choice would be a net with no eye holes – so you could use it as a dip net for minnows and such. I have one I carry in my USRSOG gear but I use it a lot so it is not in my BoB. The spoon was redundant.

Al Mar SERE Knife and Trash Bags
The bags were redundant. The knife is an old friend from “back in the day” but it’s heavy and redundant. Besides, now I can carry it around and use it instead of keeping it tucked away in my BoB.

Mini Maglite Holster and Camo Net
I carry my flashlight in a shirt pocket or in an outside pocket of the BoB and my ruck is already camo.

So there ya go – that’s what I removed before this last trip. I didn’t regret leaving any of it behind. Am I done? Is the BoB now perfect? No way. Like me, it is a Work in Progress.

Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. - Psalm 55:22

.................................................................................

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