Tinder Hot Box Solar Fire Starter at Camping Survival

A pretty cool product from Camping Survival. Not a replacement for a lighter or knowing how to do it the primitive way but a really good option to have. Definitely on the "I want list". Get yours here.

Fun With Fives- Survival Gear

Q-If you could take only 5 items with you in a bag to survive in the wild what would they be?

A- Well I am starting with a bag as a freebie which is cool. I would take a good knive like a Buck 110, a fire starting impliment, a steel water bottle, a compass and some 550 cord. My bonus #6 would be water purification tablets. (#5 and the bonus might be better switched around).

What is your answer?

Question: .22 Conversion Kits for AR-15's

I had really been wanting one of those takedown Ruger 10/22's. Still do but I realize it isn't the right tool for the job I have in mind. Basically I want to be able to shoot .22 with accuracy sufficient to harvest small game in as compact of a package as possible. Primarily I am looking at it as part of the dreaded bug out type setup where I can take less stuff than would be ideal. What I realized is that instead of a takedown rifle a bolt for the rifle I would already be carrying (or have on hand) makes more sense. That would let me shift the .22 rifle from the have to have pile to the nice to have pile but still keep the capabilities. Also the price of a bit under $200 would be nice.

Did some research and it looks like the CMMG kit is the way to go. IIRC Commander Zero has positive things to say about them but I am too lazy to find and link.

Anyway to folks who have conversion kits I have a couple questions:

1) What type of kit do you have and how do you like it?
2) What sort of accuracy are you getting? I am not looking for anything crazy just to be able to put small game into the pot at about 40 meters.
3) How close to the point of impact of your normal sights does the rifle shoot with the .22 conversion kit? For what I am thinking rezeroing wouldn't really be practical.
4) Knowing what you know now would you buy a .22 conversion kit?

Thanks for any input. It is appreciated.

Skill Saturday- Skill Development

skill/skil/

Noun:

The ability to do something well; expertise. A particular ability

 I decided to start paying more attention to skills here. Starting by talking about what skills are and different ways you can develop them seemed like as good of a place as any. To me skills differ from education or knowledge in that they relate so some sort of a specific action or end product. A mechanic could show his skill by fixing a vehicle or a chef by making a tasty meal.

Broadly speaking skills tend to be more difficult to develop on you own than knowledge. A guy who reads the right shelf of books and has a decent memory could learn a lot about history for example. It would be much harder to learn to fix engines from a shelf of books.

Thankfully over the last couple decades between how to tapes and DVD's, the internet, reasonably priced recording equipment and youtube there are some readily accessible individual options other than trying to figure things out from a small black and white picture in a book. Being able to read about something and see another person do it goes a long way towards making it actually work. Assuming we are talking about a reasonably simple skill and you are a moderately intelligent person this is often enough to get started.

The upsides of this self guided at home type learning are that you can do it whenever and almost wherever you want. You can learn skills that are uncommon in your area or you don't want to advertise pursueing for whatever reason. The downsides are that it is seriously limited in what you can learn. Complex skills with multiple things going on at once (shooting, hand to hand combat, complicated auto repair, etc) do not typically work well with this style of learning.

 In many cases the easiest way to develop a skill is to find somebody who has that skill and get them to show you how to do it. This is a good place to start for most skills. Look at people in and around your family/ friends/ work circles. Somebody probably knows how to do basic auto maintenance, another guy might know how to do tile or plumbing or shoot a gun. Typically folks are willing to help you out. Just about everybody likes an excuse to practice their hobby so if the skill falls into that area you are probably good to go. If it is something a guy does for a living like auto repair or construction it is a bit harder. Offering to help them work on a project of theirs vs offering to let them do their job outside of work and fix your car/ toilet/ whatever for free is something I have seen work well.

The upsides of this style of learning are that it is convenient, comfortable and cheap. All of these are good things.

The downsides however are noteable. Sometimes free training is worth exactly what you paid. Jimbo the gun guy or Bob the shade tree mechanic might be completely uncapable or even dangerous. Unfortunately folks with no experience in an area are often not capable of assessing an individuals skill or ability at instruction.  Often instruction in this style is limited by time and effort by both parties. If your 65 year old retired neighbor shot high power for 4 decades and is lonely he might teach you almost everything he knows over a few years of Sundays at the range but if your 30 year old cousin who casually target shoots takes you to the range once the amount of skills you get will be pretty minimal.

Also different groups vary but it is my observation that often skills tend to cluster in groups based on region/ socioeconomic/ cultural leanings. The odds that a rural Wyoming community has folks who can teach you to shoot or hunt are a lot higher than in Manhattan. On the other hand Jim the rancher probably can't do the paperwork to set up a dummy corp incorporate your small business in 20 minutes during a Saturday BBQ. Sometimes skills you need do not exist inside of your social group.

As with anything in life, you get what you pay for.

The next option is looking to local groups or clubs. Join an outdoors or orienteering club or whatever. This may cost a little bit of money but if paying a $20 membership fee and doing some stupid meetings lets you get a skill that you need it is a good investment. The upside is that you can pursue specific skills in this way. The downside would be that it really only applies to certain hobby type skills.

The last option is getting professional training in the area(s) you are weak in. If you really want to learn how to do something getting quality training from an expert is a hard option to beat. For specific skills which have a high level of technical complication that you really want to get good at this is probably the best way to go. Unless your good buddy is an MMA fighter or a tactical marksmenship instructor who is willing to teach you for weeks or years for free this is really the only viable options. One thing to consider is how much time and money you would need to spend to reach a given skill level. Lots of schools can teach you to be a decent defensive handgun shooter in a weekend for a few hundred bucks. Spending 2 years going full time to a technical school to learn to fix engines is a lot harder to pull off. The only real downside of this plan is that it is expensive. The old addage about trading time and convenience for money probably applies here.

Anyway while not exclusive the ways we talk about developing skills are pretty representative of the available options.

Thoughts?

Tomahawk or Hatchet?

I have seen a few folks having hawks as a part of a survival kit/ BOB or whatever. At least one of them is a person who knows his stuff and whose opinion I value. I did some looking and got to wondering. I fiddled around online looking at reasons folks choose them. One of the biggest reasons was that they are 'lighter' than a hatchet. I got to looking and the weight didn't seem to measure up to that claim at least on the models I compared.

I know hawks are cool and a lot of folks own them. Some folks like them for defense or fighting or whatever. That is a reasonable point however I am not really concerned about it. First any situation where I would have a hawk I would have a pistol and probably a rifle. Secondly yes, Rogers Rangers carried hawks as backups but they didn't have 30 rd mags for rifles and 17 rd mags in pistols. Third I wouldn't exactly want to get hit with a hatchet anyway.

My questions are as follows:

Does anybody uses a hawk for practical woods stuff like chopping a few limbs to make a shelter, cutting firewood, etc?

If so how does it compare to a hatchet for these purposes?

Other than the cool and theoretical tactical factor what makes a hawk better than a hatchet?

Input would be appreciated.

Problem Admiration-Embrace it then Kick it to the Curb

Problem Admiration is where you find a problem and just stop and look at it. You think about (admire) all if it's issues and facets and such. This can be particularly challenging with complex problems that have numerous second and third order affects. The issue with problem admiration is that it can make a person act like a deer in the headlights of an oncoming truck. Obviously that is bad.

How much time you can allow yourself to admire a problem varies. A 6'5" 280 pound naked Goblin with an erection and a butcher knife coming out of an alley does not lend itself to a lot of problem admiration. On the other hand if your income will vastly change in 4 years when you are forcibly retired from a successful career you can think about for awhile. Both are significant problems but the urgency and timeline vary considerably.

Problem Admiration can be sort of a good thing in that it lets you think your way around the different pieces of a problem. On the other hand you aren't figuring out how to deal with it, or starting to deal with it. Figuring out a specific amount of time (minutes, hours, maybe even days) that you will allow yourself to admire the beauty of this issue you have to deal with is a good way to go.

Folks can get into admiring the various problems involved in survivalism and preparedness.
The real way to get out of problem admiration is to figure out a solution and start executing it. A good check is to see if you are closer to solving the problem than you were an hour ago or yesterday.

Don't just study preparedness or admire problems. Get out and do stuff. Learn and practics skills, acquire necessary tools, equipment and foodstuffs. Do something to be more prepared today than you were yesterday.

Blog Update- Things That Have Been Bothering Me

The new blogger setup is terrible and I hate it. Maybe I am paranoid or something but I think it is also eating comments. The amount of time I waste waiting for it to unfreeze or editing out jumbled together stuff is out of control.

Something kind of weird has been coming clear to me. First people want to read or listen to folks who know what they are doing or at least have half a clue. This makes sense as I don't learn a whole lot from folks who know less than me about a given topic.

However half the time folks want to ignore the advice or scale it down such that they are basically ignoring it. I get this too. Different things work for different people. More to the point often the right answer is at least somewhat hard and people have varying amounts of time/energy/motivation. It is often harder to do the right thing than the easy less right thing.


The place where it confuses me is that folks seem to want a kind of rubber stamp of approval on these decisions which go against the advice which was given in the first place. They really, really want to hear that their own watered down psuedo version of your plan is going to clearly lead to the exact same results.

Example: I recommend that you practice an exercise program that consists of lifting heavy things and running or road marching with some bodyweight stuff mixed in. A guy comes on the net and says after reading 30 posts on this topic that he walks for 20 minutes 3 times a week and does some situps and pushups occasionally. If I do anything other than lie and tell him that this plan he is executing is great and will clearly prepare his body for the zombie apocalypse his underwear gets in a big wad about it.

I guess part of teaching or instructing people and to a degree a piece of this whole blogging thing I do is giving people recommendations about how to do things that I matter of factly do not recommend. Typically this is trying to fit them into the closest option to the thing I actually suggest and have it work with their life. I might be improving with this as my ability to use tact has increased over time but then again my willingness to argue or debate is dropping so who knows.

Another thing that bothers me is bringing up a problem without a solution. Maybe it is just because it was ingrained into me at work to never bring anybody a problem unless I have a solution. Chances are they know it is a problem also and if they could figure out a better answer they would already be using it. So basically just pointing out the problem is being a sharp shooting jerk. The difference between being that annoying sharp shooting jerk and somebody offering their .02 cents is having a solution to the problem you present.

Example, I got into a discussion with a fellow over combatives. I favor the modern hybrid style that is MMA. He talked forever about what is in his very well informed opinion wrong with MMA. The thing is that he failed to actually offer a better option. That was convenient because last I checked MMA guys were just beating the hell out of everybody all over the place. So much so that over the past few years traditional competitions and old school combat type sports have been frantically making up random arbitrary rules to keep MMA guys from curb stomping their stupid fake little competitions into oblivion. You don't see MMA leagues banning super deadly karate/ kung fu fighters from showing up but the opposite is definitely true. If anybody mentions the so deadly you can't possibly practice it against an opponent who actually tries to fight his own plan "Krav" I might burst a frickin blood vessel.

Another thing that has been bothering me is when folks try to argue feelings instead of actually discussing facts or valid points. Maybe to say it more accurately when they try to make up facts or points to fit their feelings.

Example: I hate the Springfield XD, strait up. I hate the angle of the grip, I hate the stupid little grip safety, I hate the way they look, I just hate them. The only way I would buy one is if the deal was so good (like say $200) that I knew I could either pass it to a friend and be doing them a favor or easily sell it at a nice profit.

Note that I never said they were not good, reliable and functional weapons. I didn't say they are not safe or a very good value which comes with a well thought out initial set of accessories. They are fine weapons, probably in the top choices for tough practical use, just not one I have any interest in owning.

Does this distinction make sense? I didn't try to make up some BS facts to fit my feelings on the matter. I just stated them and moved on.

Finally it gets even worse if I talk about any gun negatively. Every single gun all of you all own is the perfect survival weapon for every possible situation. It doesn't matter if you can't hit the broad side of a barn with it at 5 paces, the thing holds 1 or 2 or 7 bullets, it is notoriously unreliable, ammo for it was only made between 1897 and 1899 in Zaire or that  only 7 of them were made in somebodies mom's basement and thus parts/ accessories are virtually impossible to find. It is the best damn gun ever. Everybody finally happy?

Anyway that is what has been bothering me in the blogosphere lately.

Skills and Mindset

Recently I realized something that I do not like about this blog recently. There is not anywhere near enough discussion of skills, mindset's or training taking place here. After looking around long and hard for somebody to blame for this shortcoming I was unable to find anybody but myself.

I got to thinking about why exactly this is the case. The answer came about pretty easily. This blog is largely a reflection of what I am doing, working on or thinking about. Skilss haven't been a big part of this personal journey in survivalism or it's subsequent twists and turns.

The reason that skills haven't been a big part of my journey are that I came into this thing fairly comfortable with my skillsets. At the risk of tooting my own horn when I became seriously interested in survivalism I had a solid outdoor background, decent hand to hand and firearms/ tactical skills and a variety of little stuff learned from rural living and various redneck jobs. Certainly not saying that I know everything or am a master of anything but somehow I had a pretty good grab bag of skills to work with.

Once I started getting into this I pretty much needed stuff to feed the skill sets that already existed. This I have been more likely to be thinking and talking about something related to food storage than how to cook with a camp stove as I can do that. While I have worked on a small skill here or there it hasn't been a big part of my personal preparations.

I want to add these parts to the blog in greater frequency, mostly for readers. The way I talk and operate here works for somebody with a background similar to mine but would fail miserably for a lot of people. Different folks need different things to become more fully prepared. The desired endstates are the same but how to get there is different based on where one currently is. A super rural small scale organic farmer/ rancher has different needs and concerns than a big city SWAT cop. Obviously what is good for one person isn't necessarily good for another.

In any case broadly speaking my lack of discussion of skills is an issue. In the worst extreme it could leave them with thousands of dollars of stuff they don't have a clue what to do with. I will try to consciously step back and talk about different foundational skills to the best of my ability.

Priorities should probably go to the most foundational stuff. You have got to learn basic weapons handling before you learn to shoot steel at 1,000 meters and how to change the oil before rebuilding an engine. This also helps because it typically puts the easiest targets in front of you first. Finding a basic (qualified) instructor in firearms handling, outdoor skills, auto maintenance, etc is probably something you can do pretty locally and cheaply. Heck if you are willing to invest some time and sweat equity money may not even be an issue. Less so if you want to shoot like Sammy The Seal or Wally the Super Woodsman who an go into the woods with a knife and build a shopping mall.

Personally I have some things to work on. Mostly because of the eccentricities of Germany (as well as our OP Tempo and deployment) the skills I need to develop have pretty much been in a holding pattern. I need to get better at mechanical stuff and harvesting wild game/ plants. I could greatly benefit from some targeted professional firearms training. Additional medical training is always beneficial. I am almost surely missing other stuff. Some of these things will take sweat equity and the rest will take cold hard cash.

Not quite sure how I will do this. Maybe a weekly feature or something. Despite any of my failures as a blogger please pay attention to the skill sets which you have and those which you lack. Work to close the gap between the two. Come up with some sort of plan that will allow realistic progress towards these goals.

My EDC

You showed me yours, now it is time to show you mine. It is always better to do it that way;).

I carry the typical stuff like a cell phone, keys and a wallet with some cash. In terms of survival stuff I carry a knife, typically a buck 110,  a bic lighter and a tiny led flashlight. Often I carry a Cold Steeel push knife and when legal/ practical I also carry a Glock 19 with a spare magazine.

My everyday life takes place in a pretty small area. If it was more open a sniper with a .50 could just about cover the whole thing. As such I don't worry about EDC all that much. When I go further away I add items to supliment my EDC.

Every Day Carry

What do you actually carry every day on your person?

Please no BS. I am interested in what other folks actually carry all the time, not their opinion of what a perfect survivalist would somehow manage to haul around all day long. If you say that you carry a fullsized handgun with 6 reloads,  a backup piece with 4 reloads, a kabar, a .22 derringer in one boot and a boot knife in the other, a 4" folder, a folding saw, a leatherman, a GPS, binoculars, a night vision monacle, a water filter, 3 MRE's, and "mini" survival kit whose contents would barely fit into a shoebox and some other junk it will be pretty obvious that you are lying.

A Mans Got To Know His Limitations

To steal the classic line from Inspector Callahan, a man has got to know his limitations. This would be the sum of his capabilities, strengths, weaknesses and intelligence. Today I want to talk about the mental side of this. Most specifically two questions I think we all need to get at least partially answered in our heads.

-What are you capable of?
Under what conditions are you capable of it?
For me the question of what would I am capable of is easy. Just about anything.  I wouldn’t sacrifice somebody close to me to save my life, I know that. I don’t think I would eat people. However in the right (probably better termed wrong but you know what I mean) scenario nothing else comes to mind that I would totally rule out.

Under what condition I would do these things is a significantly more complicated topic.
The immediate security and survival of my family and tribe is an easy one. I would lie, cheat, steal, injure, or kill my fellow man if I had to. I’ve seen the pictures of those poor starving African kids and that is not happening to Walker or anybody else I love as long as I am alive and able to do something. I would do terrible things to protect them.
 (Of course I put a lot of time, energy and money into avoiding a scenario where I would need to steal from or otherwise impose on or harm my fellow man. I try to keep what we would need on hand and probably have something to trade for unexpected needs.)

Begin Tangent- This is worth noting because I do not think I am alone here. Most folks will do about whatever it takes to survive. It is just that some like me are a bit more aware of it. There are lots of these folks in America and just by the numbers a good chunk of them will have guns. If things get real bad a good chunk of the others will get guns. You had better be darn ready to fight to keep whatever you have. End Tangent.
Beyond that fairly narrow set of circumstances it gets a lot more complicated and my answers are less certain. I have read or heard about some scenarios other talking heads think may come to pass. What I would do in some of these situations is something I think about every once in awhile. My only conciliation is that the scenarios which give me trouble are not the sort where immediate action would be required. Thus I could take my time (certainly days and probably weeks) and think it over and come to a conclusion if they actually do come to pass. 

Knowing what you are capable of is important for numerous reasons. The first that comes to mind is so you can mitigate the effects of your weak points. The second is so that you can avoid putting yourself into situations you don’t think you can handle.

Note: I used the masculine gender because it fit with the cool old movie line. You gal's had better get right with this stuff also.

quote of the day

Many self proclaimed "authorities on everything survival" claim this or that ""will be worth its weight in gold". Based on what exactly? Many times it is based on absolutely nothing.

Fantasy vs Reality

It occurred to me just a minute ago how much of a role fantasy plays in survivalism/ preparedness.

Part of it is that while we don't want to admit it preparedness is in many ways a hobby. Yeah it could be real important some day but on a normal everyday basis it is a thing we allocate resources and time to because it gives us enjoyment/ entertainment in some form or another. In that respect it is not so different than being in a softball league or bass fishing or stamp collecting or any other hobby. Seriously you can sharp shoot that statement all day long but it has at least some truth.

We can also want to be vindicated and thus entertain very specific worst case scenarios that let what we like and prepare for shine. A guy with a super fancy tricked out rifle envisions it saving his life and whatever. A guy with a closet full of Mosin Nagants imagines arming/ forming a large neighborhood guard or a militia. An avid gardener imagines their massive crop feeding the whole neighborhood. A person with great preps envisions being able to be the neighborhood hero. Somebody who has an awesome "retreat" but debt up to their eyeballs sees things falling apart and them being in a great position.

More concerning is the inverse of this fantasy worst case scenario. Simply put by focusing too heavily on this tailor made scenario they ignore a variety of other scenarios, much to their detriment. The guy with a super fancy rifle who also doesn't have any food ignores the possibility that we will not be attacked by a bunch of thugs and will sit there bored and very hungry. Instead of another sweet mil spec wanna be accessory he should get some frickin food. The very nice friendly gardener lady (The ones who go whole hog preparedness but totally ignore defense tend to be women) ignores the distinct possibility that she could need to protect herself from violence or theft. Somebody might want all of her food instead of a basket full or they might even want her. Instead of another garden bed she should buy and learn to use a defensive firearm. The guy with a basement full of preps doesn't have any savings. He somehow sees complex and unlikely worst case scenarios playing out but not say an unexpected emergency car or home repair. I wonder how these guys plan to push a homeless guy cart around with a years worth of food and a dozen guns in it after a fairly normal life event leads to their financial situation falling apart. 

The guy with the awesomely setup and well stocked retreat but debt up to his eyeballs sees scenarios where his debt is almost magically washed away but he still has all the cool stuff and preps. This guy is probably the most idealistic and fantasy fueled of all. He is almost wishing for (a narrowly and conveniently defined) TEOTWAWKI. He talks about how the "sheeple" will get their due and he will finally get to live free and untroubled by money concerns. He really thinks it would be great to not have to pay back the guys who loaned him the money for the land and the house and all the stuff. He thinks about how his sucky money situation would be washed away but fails to see that in significant ways people who have never even heard of preparedness but just keep their financial houses in order are probably more likely in the long run to have good outcomes than he. Instead of looking at his massive mortgage (possible an ARM) he sees a wonderful "retreat" on a nice piece of productive land and instead of a huge visa bill he sees a pair of night vision goggles and a pair of cool rifles. 

When doing a final edit on this I  realized that in all but one of the above scenarios the individual was specifically identified as a man. This wasn't conscious but is definitely significant. Upon 5 seconds of reflection I realize something. Aside from the (predominantly liberal and pseudo environmentalist) woman who make great preparations in many ways but completely ignore protecting themselves; women tend to take a pragmatic and realistic stance toward preparedness. It is us guys who seem to fall into these at least partially fantasy fueled preparations.

I am certainly not going to claim perfection. I have fallen into a stereotype or two myself as I started with a pretty solid gun collection and went from there. However as time goes by I am allocating a majority of my resources in a more reasonable manner which is the goal.

It is fine to day dream now and then. Just don't take the next step and focus too heavily on scenarios that involve buying toys you like, hobbies you enjoy or happen to just work out real conveniently for you. At a minimum at least consider your vulnerability to scenarios that do not happen to be tailor made to your interests and position. I urge you to be realistic and prepare for a variety of scenarios, not just the one that happens to be convenient and ideal.

One Thing That Has Been Bothering Me

Why is it that some folks seem to think the first thing to do if you get into survivalism as an adult is to pull every penny you have out of retirement and put it into preps? It reads like a worn out record. "I saw the light and immediately pulled every penny I had out of retirement and bought food, guns, etc."

This bothers me for a lot of reasons. First it is more emotional than rational. People see (legitimately) a threat and this is their knee jerk reaction. Just like a super fast halfway from the hip "point shot" it is almost always a miss. To continue my shooting analogy they would be better off to get a half a shooting stance or at least bring the gun level and the front sight onto the target before squeezing the trigger.

Second I have an issue with this plan because it is almost binary. It eludes to there being only two options, normal life and TEOTWAWKI. The unfortunate fact is that life is not that simple. You can definitely get a mix. A great example is Katrina. I am sorry to tell you this but in terms of realistic worst case 'survivalist' scenarios this is about as bad as it gets. For several weeks things were completely screwed. Not killing your neighbor over Krispix or all Mad Max but pretty screwed all the same. Assuming he wasn't stupid enough to stay right on the coast or in New Orleans proper a guy who had enough food and water to be comfortable and maybe some to share with the neighbors, batteries to run a radio and a couple flashlights and a couple guns with some spare ammo things were manageable. After awhile things got back to normal. In 20 years that guy who was well rewarded for having plenty of food, water, fuel, a couple/ few guns and ammo is going to sure want to stop working. So for a period your life can be completely screwed and then it can go back to normal.


As much as it is nice to think you will be richly rewarded for cases upon cases of canned food and rows full of buckets of dried goods and cases of ammo that may not be the case. Food and bullets are great and all but will not pay a mortgage or property taxes or buy a tank of gas. Do consider the question of "what will this do to me if the world doesn't end?"

I do not gamble. Not saying you are bad if you do but it just isn't me. Even aside from all games being rigged to give the house an edge it just isn't me. For example if you think it is 51% likely that the world will genuinely end is it smart to put your whole darn nest egg towards that? What about that other 49%. However if you honestly believe 51% that a full on genuine end of the world Mad Max scenario is going to happen I would submit that either you have a screw loose or have some information (prison planet type stuff doesn't count) I have not seen. Our world might get a bit crazy now and then or even change in significant ways but digging a fighting position in the front yard or bayoneting your neighbor to protect your canned goods is probably not so likely.

Any financial adviser worth the title will say that unless you can absolutely avoid it raiding retirement accounts is the absolute last thing you want to do. While it is true that I would not ask their opinions on storing wheat in buckets or pooing in a bucket I also think it is equally imprudent to let a survivalist tell you what to do with your money or how to plan for retirement.  Of course a "survival expert" will say you should put all your eggs into that. Kinda how guys who work at Motor Trend probably think you should spend more money on a car than is prudent or guys from Gaming Laptop probably like gigabytes and ram more than they do your pocket book.

Of course if you have a few bucks just sitting around putting it towards preps isn't a bad idea. Raiding the money you plan to live on in old age however is just a bad idea. For most people the money maker is going to be selling off unnecessary toys (swap an old dirt bike for a good rifle, etc) and cutting/ changing your lifestyle to create money to go towards preparedness.

I plan for things going all crazy AND the world going on more or less normally with me getting older and wanting to work less or not at all. I think you should do the same.

Need a Reason to Prepare?

Most of my readers do not need any more reasons to prepare. Their heads are constantly filled with various threats and what they can do to mitigate them. For a few folks who are either more towards the liberterian or gun side of the house, as well as the elusive armchair survivalist, a bit of a nudge might be needed.

I think there have been survivalists in some form or another for ever. Back when people lived differently they were just a person with a bit more food, equipment and weapons than the norm. In the Cold War bomb shelters were the cool thing to do. There was a brief lull after the commies went broke and suddenly became very enthusiastic capitalists.

In the last decade I can think of 3 big reasons to get prepared.

The first was September 11th, 2001. The end of the Cold War brought a tense and potentially very dangerous situation to an end. However when that tense situation ended it was replaced with a very chaotic and in some ways far more dangerous one. [A sane if hostile neighbor with a rack full of guns really isn't a threat because they want to keep life going on. However a crackhead with a razor knife might do something crazy.] By and large that chaos and danger was kept to people in 3rd world counties killing each other.  While a revolution here or a civil war there might bother someone that keeps track of international news or worries about random people they will never meet it doesn't affect your life in Omaha or whatever. There were certainly signs that September 11th was coming but like all things it is a bit easier in hindsight.

On September 11th 2,974 Americans died. Terrorism struck America for real. Not some criminal with vague revolutionist leanings but legitimate and serious terrorists. It was a big deal, I don't think I need to tell you that.

Lots of people got scared. People bought guns, stored food, water and all that. Some would say that their risk is next to nothing because they live in a remote or less populated area. To a certain degree I would agree with that theory. In my home town 6 military aged Arab national males would stick out like a sore thumb. It would be 50/50 if they could manage to shoplift gum from the grocery store, let alone some larger more nefarious thought. However I would submit to those people that some risk likely exists. Over the course of a year most people get on a plane, or go to see a pro sports game or take the wife to the big city to do some shopping, attend a business conference, etc. It doesn't matter if you spend 364 days a year working at your isolated retreat if you happen to be shopping at a mall (or whatever) on the day a bomb goes off.

So depending on your location and lifestyle there is at least a small risk you could be caught in a terrorist attack. 

Hurricane Katrina made august 2005 pretty darn interesting. No point in whipping a dead horse but the government and emergency response was depressingly lacking. Katrina made it explicitly and painfully clear that if there is a significant regional disaster you're going to have to fend for yourself. It was really Welcome to the Jungle time. More than any other single factor Katrina pushed me into preparedness.

Probably more interesting than how crazy NO and the region got was how long it took for real organized relief efforts to get on the scene and provide logistical support (food, water, ice, medical). The old and fairly accurate advice that several days of food and water was plenty got tossed out the window. Four to six weeks is probably more reasonable. [Not suggesting to only prepare for that parse. If nothing else charity would be a reason to store additional food.] Also some people ended up firing a lot of warning shots. The legal and tactical use of warning shots is another discussion but lets just say that 25-50 rounds of ammo for the pistol/shotgun/ whatever would not give me a warm and fuzzy.

So depending on your location and lifestyle there is at least a small risk you could be caught in a terrorist attack.  Some regions, like say the Southern Atlantic and Gulf Coast and in particular areas there below sea level are more dangerous than others. However all regions are prone to some disaster or disasters. If these disasters are major and on a large scale you could be on your own for weeks instead of days.

The Subprime Mortgage Crisis and consequent worldwide economic downturn was a huge event. There have been booms and busts forever. When cave men were living as hunter gatherers they had booms and busts of roots and woolly mammoth meat. In any case I got two meaningful things out of this whole mess. First for awhile there it looked like there was a real chance our entire financial system would collapse. Of course it didn't but if things had gone a slightly different way.... Second and to me more significant it was a big fat reminder that events far and removed from you can radically change your life. Even if you didn't own any derivatives the value of your 401k probably took a big hit. Maybe you don't have an adjustable rate mortgage but the value of your home almost surely changed. If you don't own a home or stocks but lost your job because of the overall economic downturn it sure affected your life.

So depending on your location and lifestyle there is at least a small risk you could be caught in a terrorist attack.  Some regions, like say the Southern Atlantic and Gulf Coast and in particular areas there below sea level are more dangerous than others. However all regions are prone to some disaster or disasters. If these disasters are major and on a large scale you could be on your own for weeks instead of days. Also our current financial system is pretty fragile and events that are far and removed from you (sub primes were only huge in a few states) may dramatically affect your life. Still need a reason to prepare.

I talk a lot about ways I prepare. The fact that I choose to put my time/ money and energy there says pretty clearly they are the ways I see as most prudent. Take my advice and adapt it to suit your unique situation or just round file it, I truly don't care. However the world is a wild and crazy place. All indications show that it is going to get wilder and crazier for the foreseeable future.

Take some steps to prepare for whatever may come in order to best take care of yourself and your family no matter what comes.

Why Centerfire Rifles?

I got a comment about this topic which I approved and then could not find. Unfortunately I can't copy and past comments on the moderation page. The guy basically asked why people bother with center fire rifles at all. He mentioned them being impractical to hunt all but the biggest game and talked about the utility and benefit of a .22/.410 over under.

TOR replies: First I think it is important to have a center fire rifle because it is part of a basic 4. Different types of guns are tools with unique capabilities and one can often not duplicate the performance of another. This is the smallest set of weapons that will readily meet a large amount of firearms needs. You can easily have a dozen guns and still find a niche for some sort of new pistol or a whizz bang flat shooting rifle. However if you have a decent .22, a shotgun, a defensive caliber pistol and a center fire rifle you can meet most basic needs. There is a .22 for plinking or small game hunting or potting the unpottable chicken. There is a shotgun for shooting stuff with a shotgun. There is a pistol to keep near the bed in case there is a strange knock at the door late at night or to carry on your person while doing chores.

Back to the subject of center fire rifles. First they are useful for hunting large game. As you mentioned (I searched for that comment for like 20 minutes, wish I could have found it) people will not shoot a deer every day after the world ends. However hunting does put a lot of meat on a lot of tables. Also rifles are good for taking out predators, both two legged and four. In particular center fire rifles will defeat soft (the most common) body armor.

The .22/.410 combo is great for hunting pot sized animals such as rabbits, squirrels and birds at close range. For this role they are hard to beat. However they are not particularly capable of harvesting larger game at any range and are a poor choice for any sort of predator.

How To Handle Anything

I got to thinking of the basics of solving any problem. Some USAF COL named John Boyd came up with a concept called the OODA loop. It stands for observe, orient, decide and act. To me this is one of those ridiculous military things where we make up an acronym and a very complicated way of saying what people have always done. I think it is utterly stupid that this thinking is considered new or unique.

My Great Grandfather did this without any sort of fancy acronym. When standing in the kitchen where he saw (observed and oriented) a rabbit eating the plants in garden. He then decided (decided) to shoot it. He grabbed the Remington 241 Speedmaster, opened the door and shot that rabbit (acted). He then walked outside, picked up the rabbit, cleaned it and Great Grandma cooked it up for dinner. He had a functional understanding of how to see a problem and react to it without a fancy acronym. Also he had a very nice .22 to shoot rabbits and such.

So my little rant aside back to how to handle anything.

First you need to see a problem or something worth handling. We don't fix stuff that we don't see as broken. This could be anything. It could be that your area could have a natural disaster that is an equivalent to Katrina. The rise of home invasions may have you concerned. You might get worried about losing your job in these crazy times. So you have seen a problem.

Next you take reasonable steps to deal with the problem. If you are worried about a natural disaster then stashing some water, easy to prepare food, a radio and flashlight with spare batteries, a gun (of any type except rimfire, lets not degenerate to gratuitous gun talk) with a couple hundred rounds of ammo, an envelope full of a few hundred bucks in small bills and a couple gas cans would be a great start and not a bad finish.

Lets say you have long had plans for dealing with a generic burglar. You keep a loaded .357 magnum near the bed and practice with it monthly. However with all of the home invasions going on your wheel gun is not looking like a solution. You decide to replace the old wood and glass front door with a heavier solid metal one with good locks and reinforce the door frame to boot. You also get a heavy "screen door" just for good measure. You keep them both locked and are extra vigilant about opening the door. Unless you know someone or expect them to show up you don't open it. Also you always have the revolver on you when answering the door. A couple paychecks down the road you get a pump shotgun with an 18-20 inch barrel and some buckshot. You move the pistol into the living room when you are out there during the evening and weekends. Eventually you decide to laminate the glass on all first floor windows with that film stuff. You go to the range more and learn to move tactically through your residence. Of course not much of anything is going to help if a half dozen outlaw bikers crash through the wall (Sons of Anarchy "Eureka") but you have gone a long way toward dealing with 2-3 criminals tricking their way to get you to open the door and forcing their way in. Also you have armed yourself and hardened your home to give you time to get set in case 2-4 criminals try to bust the door or a window and force their way in.

Or course we will always see new problems from time to time. For example I wasn't too worried about things going totally nuts until Katrina. I saw no real reason to own silver until the Subprime Crisis and subsequent all around financial mess. All of a sudden having some silver seemed like a pretty good idea to me. I saw a problem in potential currency weakness/ failure and took reasonable steps to mitigate that by getting some silver.

See a problem and do what you can to mitigate it that is the simple way to handle anything.

quote of the day

"It's human nature to cooperate to survive" 

-Jim Rawles

quote of the day

"the number one rule of surviving a disaster is….dont be there."
-Commander Zero

Do Something

Some of you probably read this review of Patriots. Jim Rawles's reply to the review was interesting also. I am however not so concerned about either. I sort of got stick on a single sentence of that review and can't get it out of my head.

"Even a single can of food tucked away or a single useful book read and understood is better than despair."
- Tom Baugh

Some jobs are only available in urban areas or even big cities. Some folks have family or cultural ties in an area. Some (as bad of a situation in so many ways as it is) stay in an area or a home because it is what is necessary to stay married. For others the idea of a nice little farm house on some decent acreage is  just not realistic and the idea of a travel trailer on an acre of desert land is not appealing.

I have some thoughts on what you should do to prepare. Not going to bother to rehash them, just read the blog. For looking up a specific topic the search bar then clicking on the applicable 'tag' is a good method. One could probably spend a morning drinking coffee or an evening drinking whatever beverage they prefer and get a decent idea on my thoughts about a topic. If that doesn't work just send me an email and I will probably write about it.

In any case the fundamental point is TO DO SOMETHING TO PREPARE! Store some food, learn to shoot a gun, pick up a couple boxes of band aids or shotgun shells or packs of batteries. Learn about home defense and security and primitive sanitation. We could talk about what you could or should do all day long.

The fundamental point is to just DO SOMETHING.