For those who don't know

For those who don't know, TEOTWAWKI is an acronym for "(The End Of The World As We Know It)".

It refers to a total long term breakdown of government, financial systems and society. Think the Mad Max movies or, more realistically, the book/movie No Blade of Grass to get an idea of what the term means.

If you Google TEOTWAWKI and do a bit of research you'll find TEOTWAWKI adherents generally break down into two groups: Gun Nuts and Sustainable food storage/growing Nuts.

The food nuts point out, correctly, that you can't eat guns.

The gun nuts point out, correctly, that a guy with a gun can get pretty much anything he wants from a guy without one.

(This is not an idle argument. I'd once just met a man who, when the subject of Y2K came up, opined that he wasn't storing any food because he had a gun. This man was a sergeant on the local police force.)

The term TEOTWAWKI became popular during the run up to the Y2K (Year 2000) nonevent in 2000 but its roots go back before that.

Gary North, among others, foretold the End Of The World As We Know It because computers hadn't been programmed and/or hardwired to acknowledge the year 2000 and all subsequent years. The theory was that computers would either read '00 as 1900 or wouldn't be able to cope with 2000 at all.

If you feel yourself becoming enmeshed in a desire to prepare for TEOTWAWKI keep in mind that beyond a certain reasonable point preparation for TEOTWAWKI hinders or even prevents preparation for other, more likely, events.

Yes, in the year 2011, a recession or depression seems likely in our future, but which action makes you more prepared for the MOST LIKELY scenario of 2012 or 2015 or whatever:

Paying down Credit Cards, car loans and other high interest debt as you buy cases of canned foods you normally eat and rotating them (eat oldest first and replace with case of similar), building up a reserve of cash and MAYBE a gun.

Or

Buying an "assault rifle" with hundreds of rounds of ammo and 500 pounds of rice & beans for storage in air tight containers in your garage?

Perhaps some adherents to TEOTWAWKI are attracted to the idea of avoiding car, mortgage and Credit Card payments in the smoking ruins of civilization, but the more rational approach to the MOST LIKELY scenario is to pay down debt, build up an emergency supply (one month's worth of expenses) of cash and buy foods you'll actually eat by the case.

Of course if TEOTWAWKI really comes (you turn on the TV and see smoke coming from the White House, riots on Wall Street and some guy proclaiming himself interim emperor) you can run down to Costco and buy cases of everything with your credit card and pick up a pistol on your way home. If it turns out that Orson Welles' grandson was having a bit of fun at your expense, well, Costco has a wonderful return policy.

All fun aside, most states have waiting periods for handguns so if you want one (non shooters should buy a .38 special caliber double action revolver with a two inch barrel and a box, fifty rounds, of bullets.) buy it and a trigger lock now. If you want to wait and buy a rifle or shotgun, remember there'll probable be a bigger rush at the gun store than Costco so you might stop by Pistol Pete's Pistol Trading Post first; right after you gas up the car.

Superfluous Survival Tip of the week:

Time is what keeps everything from happening at once which is why you'll have a hard time filling the pantry, buying bottled water, filling the gas tank(s) on your vehicle(s) and buying that gun all at once.

Desert Dave's helpful hint: if you get as many of those items checked off your list BEFORE the $#!t hits the fan you'll be ahead of the game.

To Comment on this article
Email
(If that link doesn't work for you try sending your comments to me, DesertDave@aol.com please put "Blog" in the subject line, thanks, Dave.)
Unless you specifically ask me not to, I'll post your reply here in the blog so everyone can read it. Of course I'll remove your name, email address and any other specific information for privacy purposes.

Got a Plan? Is it Viable?

(This is a long one folks so, in case you don't feel like reading it all, I'll put the salient points up here:

1. After TEOTWAWKI people will not sit in the cities and starve.
2. Roving bands will organize into formidable militias to raid for food (and later) farmland to grow food on.
3. You can hide a bunker, but you can't hide fields, orchards or even pastures.
4. Only ORGANIZED resistance by farming communities has any chance of holding on to their farmland.
5. Medieval nobility knew that all power is ultimately derived from the land.
6. If you're thinking long term survival you need to be thinking communities not bunkers.

Sorry if that bursts your bunker building bubble.)

I recently read a letter sent to a survival blog in which a person claiming 27 years of Army experience and service in several "failed" countries states that if TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It) occurs he expects a cascade of events which will render individual retreats and family survival farms untenable. His reasoning goes something like this:

A. "Food is the key resource" and there will be a tremendous population die off as the country regresses to an agrarian economy without the benefits of modern infrastructure with its (oil based) transportation and artificial fertilizer.

B. You can hide your bunker, but you can't hide your farmland.

C. After a TEOTWAWKI event unless there is an "immediate restoration of the economy" everyone living in cities is "doomed" unless they can "take over some kind of farm land."

He further states that the "teeming millions" in the cities [and burbs] will not "just starve and go away."

His points:
1. People are the most dangerous animal on earth and they'll be armed.

2. Small groups of raiders will quickly be replaced by larger better organized groups doing the same thing under the color of self-righteousness.

3. Without central authority people will form their own polities (governing bodies) organized around local government or churches [or survival groups?].

4. When (not if) a polity forms near you you'd better be part of that process or you'll be looked upon as a resource rather than a member of that community.

5. The newly formed local polity is almost certain to make mistakes. "Some of them are lethal blunders. Odds are, the locals will probably not have given a lot of serious thought to facing long term survival. They will squander resources and delay implementing necessary actions (like planting more food or working together to defend a harvest). They may even decide to take in thousands of refugees from nearby cities, thereby almost insuring their own longer term starvation."

He further states:
"A much better approach [for you] is to be an integral part of the community and use the combined resources of the community to defend all of your resources together. This would be much easier if a high percentage of the community were like minded folks who were committed to sharing and cooperating. Because any community with food is likely going to have to somehow survive while facing even larger polities, like nearby cities, counties or even state governments. Don't expect to face a walking hoard of lightly armed, starving individuals. Expect to face a professional, determined army formed by a government of some kind. [...] A small farming community can probably support a few outsiders, but not very many. The community will need to politically deal with outside polities or they will face a war they can't win. Hiding the fact that you are self sufficient is going to be hard. You can't hide farm land."

And that:
"Defending your resources against the nearby city will be even harder. You may be able to save the community by buying protection with surplus food...if you have prepared for that. You may indeed have to fight, but stalling that event for even a year could mean the difference between living and being overwhelmed."

Here I disagree. Buying off refugees fosters a sense of entitlement and insures they'll stick around for tomorrow's handout. They'll get mean when food runs low and they think you're holding out on them.

His conclusion is that to survive the community you live in will have to go into the crisis with a plan and that you'll want to go into that crisis as one of those making those plans and not as an outside resource.

He expects (based on his experiences in Albania in 1998 and other "failed" countries) that once it becomes apparent that the federal government has failed local committees will begin forming with the expressed propose of restoring order.
. . . . .

It's a frightening prospect. To begin with no small farming community has the resources to fight off a city and buying the city dwellers off with the finite amount of stored food available would only work until the farmers ran out of food they were willing to give away or, more accurately, pay. But the urbanites would still be hungry and they would know where to go for food.

But wait, there is hope because time keeps everything from happening a once. Will the unprepared hordes come pouring out of the cities the instant the end of the world as they know it is announced on TV ? Probably not.

For two reasons.
For one thing it probably won't be announced. In the face of impending crisis which announcement do you expect to hear broadcast by officials?

"Remain calm. Everything is under control or soon will be."
or
"Run for your lives, every man for himself!"

Yeah, I don't expect to hear the second one either. While the Chernobyl reactor was melting down Communist officials were privately evacuating their families while publicly proclaiming all was well because, they said later, they didn't want to create a panic. And I don't recall any officials or their families being caught at home in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit. Do you?

Second, when crises are announced people have a tendency to remain where they feel safe and comfortable i.e. at home. Every hurricane season we hear officials pleading with residents to evacuate endangered zones. Then we hear the death toll followed by interviews with survivors who stayed behind. In the absence of a clearly visible approaching danger people procrastinate and hope whatever it is will just go away.

If the approaching crisis does spur residents into evacuating you'll want to be the first out the gate. Our military veteran quoted above stated that once it became apparent that government control had lapsed in Albania roadblocks started going up within hours. I also believe there was at least one incidence of an official a roadblock going up when Hurricane Katrina* hit and that was when everybody knew there was still a federal government.

[*Two days after the storm passed, the Gretna police setup a roadblock on the bridge, refusing passage to evacuees. A lawsuit alleges that the bridge was closed due to racism against the largely African-American evacuees, while the city maintains that they had no facilities or manpower to serve the evacuees.[6]

In the initial weeks following the storm, only emergency personnel and contractors were permitted to use the bridge. The bridge reopened to traffic in mid-September as decreasing water levels on the East Bank of Orleans Parish allowed Interstate 10 to reopen and residents to return, but then was temporarily closed to regular traffic again when another evacuation was declared due to Hurricane Rita, with the bridge again reopening in late September.]

So you'll need to read between the lines of official news releases on an impending crisis if your plan includes vacating your bungalow in the burbs in favor of your bunker in the bushes.

But what about farming communities? Look at the size of a farm. It would take more people to defend it 24/7, particularly at harvest time, than it can feed.

Even smaller communities will have trouble though, because farming communities rely on massive amounts of outside input (oil based fuels and fertilizers) to make things work. How many farmers still have a plow horse drawn plow or a horse to pull it?

When I was stationed in South Korea I learned that farmers (there and around the world) sleep in the fields at harvest time to prevent the theft of their ripened crops.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CO writes:
"So lemme see if I follow you, because I am a little slow...

City Dwellers are going to become interested in agronomy? When I went through the Parris Island School for Boys, they made us all, as future amphibians, spend several days in a pool swimming with full combat gear. Those from the metropolitan places like New York and Philadelphia were petrified - they had never been swimming in their lives, as that is not a cultural norm of those areas, and many of them failed pitifully, and were retrieved from the bottom of a very, very deep pool before their lungs completely filled with over chlorinated water.

My point being that they will only do what they know. They don't have Pocahantas' family teaching them how to fertilize crops. My DNA may have tobacco farmers somewhere in it, but I grew up roofing with my Dad and uncle. I can't even grow a tomato, and I doubt there will be many resource materials in the Zombie World that will be available for me to use as guides. My 18th summer in Parris Island, and later, did teach me some other skills, however.

I gotta wonder if the street smart people will rely on their existing skill sets, rather than be patient and await the maturation of grain or soy bean plants. It just ain't in their makeup. It also isn't in the makeup of farming communities to understand the extreme, fast paced evil that metropolitans know as second nature. I doubt that people accustomed to riding subways are going to be skilled in equine transportation, either.

Just something to think on, brother."

CO
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hummmmm… Somehow I've failed to communicate. What you are espousing is exactly what I thought I was writing about.

When forced by hunger to abandon their comfort zone in the cities ravenous city slickers will descend upon rural communities with the disastrous effect you outlined.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To Comment on this article
Email
(If that link doesn't work for you try sending your comments to me, DesertDave@aol.com please put "Blog" in the subject line, thanks, Dave.)
Unless you specifically ask me not to, I'll post your reply here in the blog so everyone can read it. Of course I'll remove your name, email address and any other specific information for privacy purposes.

Moles, Voles and Pocket Gophers

(Y'all be sure to check out the picture of the squirrel cook, by clicking on the link, in the recipes section at the bottom of this piece. A picture is indeed worth 1000 words.)

Zombie Gopher and the 22 mag Derringer
Once many years ago, when I was working at the jail, I came home one afternoon and was engaged in conversation by my neighbor across the street. As we spoke, literally over her fence, we noticed a common pocket gopher bobbing its head up out of its hole in her flowerbed inches from my feet. He was chewing on one of her flowers!

Since the cultivated rockless ground offered no ricochet potential, I slowly drew my .22 mag derringer and, taking careful aim, fired one shot from approximately 18 inches (muzzle to varmint). The shock to the gopher was so great it actually bounced partway up out of the hole with a small drop of blood where the .22 magnum hollow point bullet had entered the little beastie's cheek and, I presumed, gone on in to finish the rodent off.

My neighbor congratulated me on my shooting skill and I felt rather proud of myself as I went over to my place, grabbed a shovel, went back and scooped up the gopher. I took it to a spot behind my place and started to dig a hole to bury it in.

Imagine my surprise when I glanced up from my grave digging duties to see the intended internee crawling away! No time for fancy shooting now! I took the flat of the shovel and whacked it a couple of times returning the situation to the point I'd thought it had been a few minutes before. When I was sure it was really dead this time I examined the zombie gopher to determine what had happened.

My field autopsy revealed the hollow point .22 magnum bullet had entered its left cheek pouch and expanded against the hard seeds the critter was storing in the pocket. The flattened bullet had transmitted all its power, through the seeds, to the varmint's skull knocking it out. The shock of the shot had caused the gopher's body to spasm, tossing it out of the hole.

And people wonder why I carry a .45 now.

Many of us (me included) don't see the coming troubles as a Mad Max movie or a No Blade of Grass world, but rather a slow lowering of living standards as availability of resources contracts and our infrastructure collapses probably due to hyperinflation or other economic malfeasances by our leaders.

Think Argentina nine years after their economic collapse.

In the aftermath of an Argentina style economic breakdown food and / or the wherewithal to purchase food may become scarce. Hunting in remote areas is a gamble which involves expenditures that often won't be recovered by the value of the game (if any) harvested. Hence hunting in urban areas may appear desirable until you consider the complications arising from carrying guns around and shooting in an urban or suburban environment.

There's also the problem of size. Any animal (pets or wildlife) large enough to be loose on urban/suburban streets is likely to be hunted in hard times. (There are precious few stray dogs on the streets of cities in countries where dog is on the menu.) As the sole predator of any urban / suburban creature you're likely to do better than if you duke it out with all the other predators for popular game.

As a retired businessman I can tell you that you don't want to be competing -- head to head – with a crowd. For the small businessman success if found along the edges of markets. Find the part of the market that isn't being exploited and market into that void. The little guys who go head – to – head against Walmart go under while the little guys who sell something Walmart doesn't sell thrive right next door to the big boxes.

Hence the desirability of urban trapping and snaring to supplement your diet. If you find yourself looking for protein in all the uncivilized places and wish to forgo Fricasseed Fluffy or Roast Rover traps & snares have several advantages over hunting in an suburban environment:

• Traps & snares can be in as many places as you set them so you can be hunting in dozens of places at the same time.

• Traps & snares operate 24 hours a day so you can be gathering food while you're sleeping.

The disadvantages of traps and snares are:

• Traps and snares have to be checked every day.

• Traps and snares can be stolen when you're not around.

First the quarry

Gophers
Gophers (sometimes called "Pocket Gophers" because they store food in fur lined pockets in their cheeks) can be up to 12 inches long and may weigh up to two pounds. Their fur is semi-water repellent and they are vegetarians eating the roots of plants then sometimes pulling the upper part of the plant underground to eat it too.

Gophers will do serious damage to your garden so trapping them not only protects your vegetables, but can add protein to your diet.

Moles
Moles are carnivorous eating worms and insects found underground. In ancient times moles were caught in water filled clay pots dug into the ground to a level just below a mole tunnel so that the mole, walking along the tunnel, would fall into the pot and drown.

Although they won't actually eat your garden plants moles can damage plant roots as they pursue their prey. You'll want to balance the need for worms in your food garden with the need for moles to eat those grubs that eat your plant's roots. Or the mole could add protein to your vegetarian diet.

Voles
Voles, also known as field mice, differ from the mouse in your house mainly in that voles seem to prefer living in holes in the ground instead of holes in your walls.

Rats
Rats are an important food source in some cultures and rats living in underground burrows can be trapped the way you'd trap voles, but with larger traps. Norway rats and Roof rats are prevalent here in America and you can add them to your larder with traditional mouse & rat traps both inside and out of your home.

Ground squirrels (prairie dogs)
Farmers hate them because they ruin fields and eat the crops. Farmers and ranchers often let "varmint" hunters onto their property to kill a few hundred a day. Unfortunately in a prolonged economic crisis the bullets to shoot the little critters may not only be too expensive, but wounded and dying squirrels tend to crawl back into their holes taking their meat and hide with them. An anchored trap, on the other hand… If you have traps and you're fortunate enough to live near a field full of the little beasties you're assured a meat supply.

Tree Squirrels (rats with fluffy tails)
Are beyond the scope of this little treatise, but you can click HERE for information on snaring squirrels on your backyard fence (being sure that the squirrels fall inside the fence so the neighbors won't learn of (and compete for) your protein supply. If you live in an area with enough squirrels you can eat the meat & sell the pelts and maybe even support yourself.

Getting back to trapping underground varmints, in THIS video you'll note that he marks his sets with little red flags (the wire poles of which serve as anchors to keep a wounded varmint from pulling the trap back down into the hole) and in some cases spray paints around the hole. That's great when you're marking something that most people don't want to touch.

But if people start getting hungry that inhibition may tend to get lost among stomach growls so less obvious markers might be in order.

I want to emphasize the importance of anchoring your traps. Many years ago while trapping coyotes in Texas I ran across a trap-wise coyote who evidently scented my trap and dug a hole nearby throwing dirt onto my set until the weight of the dirt triggered the trap.

Not wanting to be outsmarted by a dog I reset the original trap exactly like before; then set a second trap in the sand where the coyote had dug to set it off. It worked the coyote got caught in the second trap while trying to trigger the first one again.

Only one minor little problem, I'd failed to securely anchor the second trap and the dog dragged my trap off through the sagebrush. It was easy to follow the trap's marks in the sand and I eventually found the coyote where the trap's chain had got caught in some railroad tracks. I was lucky, secure your traps!

To avoid detection you'll want traps that can be set completely underground in the gopher's hole so avoid "Box Traps" and those things that look like a guillotine with sharpened prongs in place of a blade.

You'll need two traps for each set since you've no way of knowing from which direction the gopher will come. Also, a bit of bait (dab of peanut butter, sliver of Juicy Fruit gum, slice of fruit) between the two traps may entice the varmint to the traps quicker.

The Macabee gopher trap has been around for over 100 years so you know the design works. Sweeney and Victor both make good wire traps very similar to the Macabee. All of these traps will work on gophers, voles and moles.

The Gophinator gopher trap also sets completely underground and is constructed entirely out of high temper stainless steel wire so it may last longer than the others.

Macabee and the others are sold at local hardware & feed stores, Granger, Sears and lots of places online. Happy hunting and bon appetit

Recipes

Squirrel
She ain't glad ta see ya' 'cause that's a Squirrel in the Dutch oven and a pistol in her pocket.

Mice
Dipped in honey with a sprinkling of poppy seeds.

Gopher
Gopher stew.

Moles
Just cook like chicken Mole

Voles
Voles Souris Cordon Bleu

================
JRG writes:
You can also ‘create’ tunnels by stacking a length or lengths of plywood along a building foundation. Many ‘vermin’ often use protected routes of travel, and this would funnel them into your trap areas.

Good idea, JRG, I've used obstacles to guide field mice into the "right" side of traps in my wife's garden. Your idea not only guides them into the proper part of the trap, but gathers them in from a much larger area.
DD

To Comment on this article
E-Mail Me
(If that link doesn't work for you try sending your comments to me, DesertDave@aol.com please put "Blog" in the subject line, thanks, Dave.)
Unless you specifically ask me not to, I'll post your reply here in the blog so everyone can read it. Of course I'll remove your name, email address and any other specific information for privacy purposes.

The Ultimate Suburban Survivalist Guide Part Two

Here's the second half of my review of Sean Brodrick's The Ultimate Suburban Survivalist Guide. (If you're just joining us see Part one below.)

Sean correctly points out that once power is knocked out (earthquake, hurricane, tornado or downed power grid) pumped water (drinking, washing, watering & waste) goes with it.

As noted above, three days without water and you'll be out of the struggle. There are three ways to assure yourself and yours of a water supply (I say you'll need one gallon per person per day for drinking and cooking only with a minimum three day supply.):
• Store water in advance of a crisis (Easy & cheep peace of mind.)
• Store water immediately upon learning of a crisis (You'll probably need containers. Act quickly; you won't be the only one scrambling for it.)
• Garner water during and after the crisis (Oh, so you like to gamble do you?)

According to Sean you can store bottled water in a cool dry place for up to two years in advance of a short term crisis in washed out milk & juice plastic jugs or buy distilled or purified water. Sean recommends two gallons per day per person for drinking, cooking and washing.

If you can't be bothered to check and rotate your stored water supply every once in a while, you can keep empty washed out food grade containers around and hope you hear about the impending water shortage soon enough to fill them before the communal water supply runs out. Military surplus five gallon plastic water cans and those big clear five gallon bottles like Culligan delivers which you can often buy at grocery stores will work well for this.

Once word gets out that they're running out of water you'll have a short time to fill up everything in the house that'll hold water while the guy on the civil defense radio station tells you to remain calm and not horde water. After that you can hope for rain (you do have rain barrels right?) or depend on your friendly local government.

Here's a helpful hint from me: When a water shortage is announced people will rush to the stores to buy bottled water. Of course the stores will run out right away. But there are ways to avoid having to rub elbows with the hoi polloi as you rush to assure your family's future hydration. Bottled teas are virtually all water and will fill your body's need for water. You can even cook with it in a pinch. Fruit juices, vitamin water & "health drinks" will all also help keep your body hydrated.

In a disaster situation, potable water may be unavailable. Therefore, always purify water for drinking, cooking, and medical use with one of the following methods.
Heat method
• Heat water to a rolling boil for 1 minute.
Water purification tablets
• Use iodine or chlorine tablets to kill waterborne pathogens. When using these tablets, follow the product directions provided.
Bleach
• Use unperfumed liquid bleach. Add 8 drops of bleach for each gallon of water. Mix well and let the bleach/water solution stand for 30 minutes.
• If the solution doesn't smell or taste of bleach, add another 8 drops of bleach and let the solution stand for 15 minutes before using.
• If the water is cloudy, double the recommended dosage of bleach.
http://www.citizencorps.gov/cert/IS317/medops/medops/ic_04_02_0680.htm

Sean devotes six pages to water storage methods and water filters. It'll be worth your time to read it.

[Here's my two cents worth: Paper plates & cups plus plastic utensils and cups will significantly extend your water supply by saving dishwashing water. They'll also help with sanitation since washing dishes and utensils in a bucket isn't nearly as efficient as washing them in a sink with running water.

I hate washing dishes so try to eat all my meals off of paper plates with plastic spoons. I find that I use about 100 plastic spoons for every plastic fork or plastic knife used. You may want to use that ratio when stocking up on plastic utensils. When a crisis hits you can't have too many paper plates, bowls & cups. Some plastic bowls & cups might come in handy too.

They come pre-wrapped in plastic bags, buy a bunch now and store them on a high shelf somewhere. As an added bonus paper plates can be burned aiding sanitation and providing heat.]

Having your own source of food during a crisis can help you Bug In (or "shelter in place" as the government calls it) thus avoiding evacuation camps, government shelters and dependence upon others to feed you and yours.

Sean does a good job of covering bulk storage, dry goods, canned goods, dehydrated foods and ready-to-eat meals.

Sean's favors bulk storage and buying foods in large lots. He also recommends storing foods you normally eat as much as possible. ("If you try to suddenly go from grazing on fast foods and frozen pizza to living on MREs, it's pretty much guaranteed that your digestive system is going to revolt, and the results will not be pretty.") With text and tables he helps you decide what to store and how to store it.

In table 7.2 he shows the potential storage life of commercially available foods which gives Honey, Salt and Sugar a shelf life greater than 20 years if stored below 70 degrees F. In my never so humble opinion if Honey, Salt and Sugar are stored in a cool dry place in airtight containers they're almost guaranteed to outlive you and your kids.

Another long term (but expensive) food storage solution commonly considered by survivalists is the military MRE (Meal Ready to Eat) which Sean covers stating "These pouches can be stored for seven years."

Er… well kind'a sort'a maybe. From personal experience I can tell you that although it's possible for a sealed MRE pouch to provide editable food after seven years it'll do so ONLY if it's been stored properly. The military base where I was stored MREs in humidity and temperature controlled warehouses to extend the ration's shelf life.

So if you've got a humidity and temperature controlled environment you can store them in, and the money to buy'em, here's a guide to buying real military MREs.

As I read this chapter it became apparent that you have choices between frugal do it yourself processing and packaging of food which will have to be rotated every year or two and expensive professionally packaged freeze dried nitrogen-packaged foods which will last up to 30 years. But Sean points out one inexpensive long lasting exception – the commercially canned food you buy at the grocery store.

Sean states: "Most canned goods sold in U.S. supermarkets are guaranteed for 10 years. However, Del Monte and other corporations have done research that shows canned goods sealed forty years or longer are just fine to eat." He goes on to state "In reality canned goods can be fit to eat unless the can bulges or rusts all the way through." Again I agree.

In fact canned foods stored in a cool dry place may last a hundred years or more. Just remember acidic foods like tomatoes may eat through the can's lining over time and, as Sean points out, don't store cans long term on concrete or in cardboard which can cause the cans to rust.

Sean also points out that sealed cans can be washed off, opened and the contents eaten even after exposure to radioactive fallout, chemical agents or biological contaminants.

Moving on to cooking without gas or electricity Sean talks about Solar Ovens. Of the many commercially manufactured ones I have used the Sun Oven and can testify to the skeptical that sun cookers work. However if you want to save money you can build your own. The site that Sean cites in the book seems to be dead or dying so try this one to get an idea of what you can make from a corrugated cardboard box and some aluminum foil or even a windshield sun shade.

Sean also mentions fire pits but remember fire safety and when cooking over a campfire you're going to need pot holders or leather gloves.

Chapter eight is about smart shopping, planning meals and clipping coupons. There are lots of ideas on saving money and whole page listing coupon web sites, good if you're into that sort of thing.

We buy the large bottles of both vitamins (A, B, C, D, E & fish oil) and "one a day" type vitamins at Costco and I try to keep a reserve bottle on the shelf as we use the oldest one up. There's no problem with expiration dates since they are all good for a year or two on the day we buy them.

A Special Forces medic once told me that, although efficacy continues to decrease over time, most over the counter medications are still good long after their expirations dates. I believe that holds true for vitamins too.

I've found that a membership at Costco (you might also look into joining Sam's Club, BJ's Wholesale Club or FedMart) gives me good prices on food and gasoline. I buy canned goods by the shrink wrapped flats (usually 12, 24 or 36 cans) and mark the product's official expiration date on the outside so I know which box to use next as I rotate my stock. Yes, I know properly stored canned goods have a shelf life of over 30 years, but I want to keep adding new as I eat the "old" stock.

Chapter Nine Gardening begins by stating the obvious: unless you've got a really big back yard you won't be able to supply all of your fruit & vegetable needs, but adds a garden can supplement whatever food you're able to buy during the crisis and your stored food.

The whole chapter if chock full of useful gardening tips. Sean also recommends you use heirloom seeds so as to be able to grow next year's crop from the seeds of this year's crop. Again, I agree.

Since Sean doesn't have a chapter on hunting I'll insert some information here. "What? But this book is about SUBURBAN survival ! You can't hunt in the city ! Can you?"

Well yes and no. If you go wandering up and down city streets with a 30-30 rifle you're likely to attract some unwanted attention from your neighbors and the authorities. On the other hand spreading parts of your garbage that birds like to eat in the backyard will draw them in close enough for a nearly silent shot with a BB gun out the back window. A pellet rifle will give you a little more noise and a little more range.

Shooting firearms in the city is a no-no because of the danger it poses to others and the noise; which would give you away.

Even the smallest bird has two large breast muscles that are easily removed for cooking. The rest of the bird (plucked) can be used for soups, stews or cat bait.

Cats, rats and squirrels (rats with fluffy tails) like rabbits can be trapped in anything from a simple box balanced on a stick which is pulled by a string trap (like you used when you were a kid) or set and forget homemade traps that you check every day.

You can snare squirrels on your backyard fence (being sure that the squirrels fall inside the fence so the neighbors won't learn of (and compete for) your protein supply.

If you live in an area with enough squirrels you can eat the meat, sell the pelts and maybe even support yourself.

Chapter Ten Health, Medicine and Disease covers the medical profession's preparations for a WTSHTF (When The $#!t Hits The Fan) event [Hint: y'all better stock up on the medicines you need 'cause they aren't.], why you should have a "Traveling Medicine Bag (and what to put in it) & a Survival Medicine Kit (and what to put in it), protecting yourself from Pandemics & epidemics and household & garden spices and plants you can use to treat some ailments.

I would add two items to the above mentioned kits:
• Moleskin to stop blisters when they are still forming and alleviate already formed blisters. (If your motorized evacuation turns into a hike you'll need it.)
• New-Skin an antiseptic liquid bandage that seals small wounds like glue. (In fact you can use Super Glue for the same purpose because it's practically the same thing.)
Both are available over the counter in the drug section of your local grocery store.

In the home remedy department Sean outlines the use of garlic and aloe vera (among dozens of others) for help if the store bought medicines run out.

"Pandemics are illnesses spread across vast geographic areas. Epidemics are when a large part of any particular population gets sick." Sean not only has the definitions down pat he's got some advice for you too.

Sean advocates a mix of common sense and hard science to combat diseases:
• Keep your distance (three feet, six feet if you can)
• Sanitize (wash your hands often)
• Stock up on food and medicines (you don't want to have to go to the store when a plague is raging)
• Stock up (with hand sanitizer and latex gloves)
(I keep Rubbing Alcohol and/or isopropyl alcohol and/or hydrogen peroxide and/or vinegar around for their cleaning and sanitizing qualities.)

Sean also has advice for when friends or relatives show up at your door during a plague: quarantine them (in the garage or whatever) until the incubation period is over. [Or you could hang a Quarantine sign on your door and decrease the chances of anyone who isn't already noticeably ill bothering you.]

Chapter eleven has an interesting story about thieves and the Pharaoh of Egypt as well as lots of tips on securing your home from burglars and home invaders. Let me break it down for you
• Iron bars on ALL windows (The window you fail to bar is the one they'll use.)
• Iron gates in front of ALL doors (So you can open the door to see who's there without them being able to force their way in.)
• Double key deadbolt locks on all doors.

You'll want the strong bars and gates here's why

Yes, you CAN miss with a shotgun !
Like most people Sean doesn't realize that at in home distances shotgun pellets don't spread out all that much so he thinks shotguns are excellent home defense weapons.

Try this real world experiment:
Unload your shotgun and order your dog to lay down in a room with a phone. To be a creditable threat you must keep your shotgun aimed at Fido while you pick up and dial the phone. If you love your dog double check that the shotgun is unloaded before trying this. Yes, it's damnably near impossible to dial a phone with one hand and cover a crook with a shotgun without pulling the trigger.

Speaking of home invaders, what are you going to take with you when you answer the knock at the door at 3 am? It's hard to hide a 12 gauge. Also, once past the muzzle your assailant is in no danger from your gun. You can pack an 870 when you take out the trash before going to bed, but I prefer a .38 stub nosed double action revolver.

And .38 stub nosed double action revolver is what I recommend for anyone who doesn't practice at least monthly. The pistol should be a stub nosed double action revolver because in a panic situation you don't need to turn off the safety before pulling the trigger on that guy leaping at you with an ax.

Then there's advice from gun pundits. Since you'll be reading his or her advice in a gun magazine, they assume you're armed with the latest armaments available to mankind. With their usual penchant for variety, they offer informed opinion on the utility of a dozen or so short and long guns in this situation. While not completely discounting the evacuation option, as a group they tend to hold a bunker mentality.

Many would have father (armed with laser mounted pistol) gather the kids into the master bedroom while the wife calls the cops while keeping the bedroom door covered with a flashlight mounted 12gauge shotgun. Their advice sometimes runs into trouble upon implementation i.e.

while his wife hides behind the bed with a shotgun in one hand and a phone in the other, our pistolero hero, goes down the hall to collect the kids. Returning with a bundle of joy and/or toddlers tagging along, he then has the unenviable task of convincing a frightened female with a 12 gauge shotgun that it is he, her beloved, not a rapist coming through the bedroom door.

Discounting the option of sending the kid in first, (and assuming the trailing toddlers aren't asking "Why did you wake me up, daddy? Why are the lights off daddy? Why …) we are faced with the question of how loud can you whisper through a closed bedroom door before the burglar hears you?

Assuming the kids are old enough to come quietly in the still of the night, and that both you and the Missus remember the code word/knock there's still the problem of calling the cops. And yes, the gun magazine writers also, wisely, advise calling the gendarmes.

Oh, and chapter eleven has lots of good tips on getting your home expenses down so the weeks without work in a crisis won't hurt your budget/saving so much. Lists of tools and lots of other good stuff here too.

Chapter twelve: Education and Entertainment encourages you and the family to learn new skills that'll come in handy for home repair, building a neighborhood sense of community and brewing beer.

He also has a very good list of books you should have whether WTSHTF (When The $#!t Hits The Fan) turns into TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It) or not. The list alone is worth the price of the book.

Chapter thirteen, Transportation mostly covers how to get around if and when gasoline becomes unavailable or hyper expensive. Hint: learn how to repair a bike and stock up on bike parts.

Chapter fourteen covers evacuation in the event of a WTSHTF (When The $#!t Hits The Fan) event. Topics include:
• What to pack in your BUG (Bug Out Bag) [Minimum genuine Swiss Army knife, Leatherman Multi-tool. matches & a role of Duct tape.]
• How many BUGs should you have (Car, home, work) [You should have EDC (Every Day Carry) items too. I carry a Swiss Army knife you might opt for a Leatherman multi-tool)
• Nine signs you should "get out of Dodge" (Government curfew, Epidemic, etc.)
• Things to figure out before you leave (Where ya' goin'?
• How to use Google maps to plan your escape [See below]
• What to do if you're the one taking in refugees (Got extra ?)
• What to tell your kids [We're not in Kansas anymore or Super Secret Spy mission?]

If power and computer systems are up Costco, Sam's & other membership only stores that sell gasoline may be able to sell you gas along an evacuation route after other gas stations have run out of gas.

Walmart is a non-membership store that sells debt cards which can be used to buy gasoline at the Murphy gas stations in their parking lots, but everybody and his brother can (and probably will when gas gets short) buy the Walmart cards to get the gas so those stations would probably run out of gas right after the regular gas stations do.

Before you evacuate print out a list of Costco (or Sam's or whatever) stores with maps along your planed route so you will know where to turn off to get gas in strange cities. Sean tells you how to do that with Google Maps on pages 307 – 308 of his book.

Where ya' goin' from most to least desirable: family, friends, hotel, motel, campground, RV park, church or community shelter, storage facility, government shelter or refugee camp.

As you read the book it becomes obvious that living in a paid off house with a garden and some savings will aid your passage through tough times. Also having water & food stored at home will enable you to evade most evacuations. The lists and links in Sean's book are invaluable for accomplishing those goals.

In the Notes section at the back of the book Sean lists many of the web sites from which he got his information. That list alone is worth the price of the book.

To Comment on this article E-Mail Me Unless you specifically ask me not to, I'll post your reply here in the blog so everyone can read it. Of course I'll remove your last name, email address and any other specific information for privacy purposes.

The Ultimate Suburban Survivalist Guide

(My review/critique is over 12 pages long so I'm breaking it up into two parts. Here is the first part:)

I'll have to begin by apologizing for this "book review" because I frequently found that I couldn't resist the urge to chime in with trivia of my own rather than just fault Mr. Brodrick for leaving something out. Hopefully you'll be able to discern the difference between my paraphrases of his work and my own interruptions of myself.

Don't let my carping dissuade you from buying his book or checking it out from the library. The book really is packed with useful information and worth reading.

I like that each chapter closes with a boxed sidebar entitled "The Least You Can Do" which outlines steps to take with regards to that chapter's subject.

Sean Brodrick, the author of The Ultimate Suburban Survivalist Guide The Smartest Money moves to Prepare for Any Crisis and I got off on the wrong foot when while cataloging major disaster scenarios he listed (thereby giving credence to) the Department of Homeland Security's straw man/bugaboo "right-wing domestic anti-government groups" as something to worry about.

Everybody outside Hollywood* and DNC headquarters knows these right-wing groups, allegedly based primarily in the Pacific Northwest, are basically incompetent in any meaningful political sense and so busy squabbling for power amongst themselves as to preclude them from having any meaningful affect in a crisis beyond their local neighborhood. They shouldn't even be mentioned in any serious discussion of either TEOTWAWKI or WTSHIF which are two of the definitions Sean gets right by the way.

* In Tom Clancy's book The Sum of All Fears (book) the terrorists are Muslim extremists. When Hollywood got control of the movie rights they ignored the fact that the most successful attacks against the USA were carried out by Muslim extremists and the book's Arab nationalists were changed to neo-fascistsThe Sum of All Fear (film)s in the film.

Forgiving Sean for his conspiracy Faux pas I agreed with most of the rest of his proposed major disasters: Economic Depressions, Natural Disasters, Oil Crisis, Food Crisis, Climate Change, Shutdown of Large Portions of the U.S. Energy Grid, Civil Unrest (where he went astray), Pandemic and Terrorism.

Sean believes we're going to see "waves of chaos" building to a crescendo just short of TEOTWAWKI and then receding to some sort of recovery. I tend to agree with him on that point.

Sean spends too much time proving his point at the beginning of each chapter. He also covers personal disasters (your house burning down or flooding) and citing statistics to prove various disasters are likely to happen. Yeah, I know having a fire extinguisher might come in handy in a house fire, but there's a chrome coated adaptor you can buy at the hardware store that'll let you attach a garden hose to your kitchen or bathroom sink. A dry chemical fire extinguisher's discharge time is measured in seconds. A water hose stays on as long as the water is turned on and a nozzle gives you control at the business end of the hose.

Yet I guess I can't fault him too much for feeling he needs to prove his points to people just becoming aware of the self-made precarious financial positions of the world's banks or hyper indebted governments crushing us with debt or crises approaching the boiling point like the oil crisis and continuing terrorism.

These events are real and are affecting all of our lives. He also feels he needs to show WTSHTF (When The $#!t Hits The Fan) disasters like hurricane Katrina [or the San Francisco earthquake] will happen again.

[Speaking of Katrina, I keep running across differing descriptions of what happened in the immediate aftermath of the storm. Some stories like John's (linked to from this blog before) found destruction and hardship generally countered by neighbors coming together for mutual aid while Sean quotes a Mr. Michael Homan who claims to have been held a virtual prisoner in the equivalent of a government concentration camp.

I guess the lesson I've learned from studying people's reactions to Katrina is that when it's a reasonable number of survivors people rush to help, however when they see the line of survivors needing help stretching to the horizon the barriers begin going up as they realize there just isn't enough to go around. We saw this with the Gretna police setting up a roadblock on the Crescent City Connection Bridge two days after the storm passed.]

I recently completed a federally sponsored CERT class which trained volunteers in light rescue, light first aid and triage. One of the messages of the class was it may take the government three days to get to you. As Sean puts it:

"That's because a real disaster knocks the government for a loop, and it's busy trying to find its feet in the first few days; saving you becomes secondary."

Speaking of threes, Sean's "Survival Rule of Threes" reads as follows
• It takes about three minutes to die without air.
• It takes about three days to die without water.
• It takes about three weeks to die without food.
• It takes about three months to die without hope.

I would add "or become seriously incapacitated" behind the word "die" in each of his first three, I don't know about the fourth.

Sean points out that the Katrina crisis in law and order lasted about two weeks and that although many of the problems caused by hurricane Katrina lasted for years, Katrina was a short-term crisis.

Pointing to an example that is definitely not short-term he devotes the better part of four and a half pages to the problems of Argentina in general and the experiences of one Fernando Aguirre (oft cited on this blog by his nom de plume; FerFAL) in particular.

Another Argentinean Sean quotes in this section is one Willy Tovar whose account is more easily read here on Google Books.

Note that Willy saw what was coming and had the courage to act on his convictions. He exchanged his Argentinean pesos to US Dollars and moved his family out of the country.

Of course you're asking, "How the heck do I get out of US Dollars?" Well, I chose to exchange a portion of my US Dollars for Canadian dollars held in a Canadian bank in Canada. A friend chose Swiss Franks and Australian dollars (yes it's legal as long as you pay taxes on the interest). Of course gold and silver are good choices too.

"A Big-Picture Look at the U.S. Economy – We're So Screwed" (Ch. 3 pg 39) Sean says the world's financial center of gravity shifted from Europe to the United States during the Panic of 1873 and he thinks it's about to shift again from the United States to Asia. Again, I agree.

We paid off the mortgage on our home years ago and I'm sure Sean would agree having a rent free place to live would be a good thing in hard times, but he has several reasons not to pay off your mortgage:
• You might need the money for other things like preparing for TEOTWAWKI.
• The value of your house may go down some more.
• You may get bailed out by the government.
• It's much more important to pay off credit card and other high-interest debts.

Personally I'd say if you're within a few months of paying off your mortgage, go for it, but remember paying two months worth of mortgage payment one month does not relieve you of the obligation of making the next months payment.

Sean suggests paying off high-interest debt like credit cards and vehicle payments. Again, I agree.

(True, credit cards are "Unsecured debt" which means you could walk away without paying and in most cases the most the credit card company would do would be to ruin your credit rating. But consider, we're expecting the USA to be rocked by waves of WTSHTF (When The $#!t Hits The Fan) events. Wouldn't you want access to credit during such times?)

I think much of Sean's list of "New Careers for a Brave New World" will only be needed after a series of prolonged crises.

• Bike Mechanic (Maybe, but I'm thinking bicycle tires & parts would be more in demand as people fixed their own Schwinns.)

• Seamstress/Taylor (My wife regularly presides over rummage sales at the church selling hundreds of garments in a day. Right now three full 30 gallon trash bags sit by our door awaiting transport to such a sale – all from cleaning out her closets. I expect the nation's supply of surplus clothes to last for years.)

• Cobbler (Sean claims our shoes are "…made to wear out in a matter of months." I don't know where he buys shoes, but most of mine have lasted for years and I now have ten pairs plus two pair of boots. I counted 42 pairs of my wife's shoes before giving up. Our clothes and shoes may not be the latest style in a WTSHTF event, but I doubt we'll be bare or barefoot for years into it.)

• Making beer (Takes a steady flow of ingredients from somewhere. I'm guessing in a prolonged shortage most beer drinkers will go to pot.)

• Acoustic musician (Yes, non-electric music & entertainments (think Vaudeville) would be popular in a scenario where electricity was intermittent or nonexistent.)

• Tool maker (I'm not sure on this one; it all depends on the scenario.)

I can hear you sneering:
"Alright, smartass, which careers do you think will prosper?"

Well, people gott'a eat and I think one of the main criteria of starting a new career in a crisis environment would be small startup costs. Although these may not support you, they're likely to augment income and help stave off starvation.

• Backyard truck gardens. (Also window & roof gardens for fruits & veggies.)

• Backyard chicken ranches. (Many municipalities already allow a small number of ducks rabbits or chickens (NO roosters!) within city limits.

• Backyard aquaculture. (Maybe ya' can't afford the pool boy any more, but tilapia will keep down mosquitoes, provide food and maybe some to sell at the farmers market.)

• Farmers markets (To sell all the extra fruits, veggies & eggs.)

• Flea markets (To sell shoes, clothes, bike parts, tools & what-have-you.)

• Backyard marijuana farms (In desperate and forlorn hopes of raising tax revenues governments may legalize the stuff. Of course they've as much chance of collecting taxes on the pot you raise in your backyard as on the carrots you raised in your backyard.)

• Trader (Buy cheap here, sells dear there. Avoid selling at wholesale (rag picker, aluminum can collector, etc.) because the real money's to be made in selling at retail IF you buy at a low enough price.)

• Farmer/Rancher (If your backyard plot is large enough to produce a surplus you'll want to avoid selling veggies, eggs or fish to wholesalers or stores because, again, there's a bigger profit margin selling directly to consumers.)

Ahem! Getting back to Mr. Brodrick's book…

Sean devotes an entire chapter to a long and impassioned justification of owning and possessing gold & silver (mainly as coins because they're more fungible) and alternative currencies particularly the Australian, New Zealand and Canadian Dollars (in that order) particularly if you plan to flee to one of those countries in a crisis. (I'd emphasize having the money in an account in one of that country's banks in that country.)

He reprints one of the better "First 100 Things to Disappear in a National Emergency/Crisis/Power Outage" lists from the Internet. Here's one of them, but I notice that despite the large number of items on the list that require a flame to get started matches aren't listed. If things deteriorated to the point that y'all needed even half of that stuff I'm willing to bet matches and cigarette lighters would be at the top of that list of first things disappearing.

Matches would be a great thing to stock up on because they're free for the taking – now. Yet with the success of the anti-smoking campaign sources of free matchbooks are drying up. Bowls and boxes of free matchbooks used to sit beside cash registers at nearly every restaurant and bar, now not so much.

I'm leaving the rest of Sean's financial advice out of this review because it's much to complicated to get into here and I don't feel qualified to critique his choices. Suffice to say he thinks your investments should be diversified and probably include Exchange Traded Funds (which I eschew), gold & silver coins.

In case you're interested my own investment preferences include the above mentioned gold & silver coins, dividend paying US utilities (politicians won't let thirsty/unwashed constituents freeze in the dark), Canadian oil, gas & pipeline companies plus a few others like 3M and Clorox. Hormel (makers of Spam) should do well in the coming hard times too.

(In the Notes section at the back of the book Sean lists many of the web sites from which he got his information. That list alone is worth the price of the book.)

- - - - - - - - - - -
6th Texas Cavalry writes:

"Thanks Dave for your comments on "The Ultimate Suburban Survivalist Guide"...of particular interest was the "New Careers" section....and BTW it sounds like your closets resemble ours....plenty of clothes/plenty of shoes, not to mention hats/coats/scarves/gloves ect

Several "Careers for a Brave New World" come to mind for me:

Small engine mechanic...as gas becomes expensive or scarce folks will switch to motorcycles/ATVs for transport....a mechanic that can keep small engines running should have lots of work.

12 Volt electrician....a person that can hook a solar panel to a 12 volt car battery then use that battery to run a LED lighting system will be in demand...not to mention hooking a car alternator to a water wheel to charge a 12 volt jump pack...or charge up a tray of rechargable flashlight batteries....in a SHTF scenerio you don't want to run out of batteries....your life may depend on being able to shine a light on an intruder at night.

Diesel tractor owner/operator...it's much more efficient to plow up a garden with a tractor than with a spade...and unless you have draft animals, a tractor w/plow and disk harrow is necessary for small grain production...you can't till a 3 acre community wheat field with a shovel....most diesel tractors will run on home heating oil and there should be some of that around in people's furnace tanks.

Manure salesman....after the bags of commercial fertilizer run out down at the home improvement center who you gonna call?...me, I'm heading down to the local riding stable and buying a load rotted horse manure...or maybe over to the neighbor's pasture for some cow pies...any natural fertilizer that can boost food production will be in demand.

Woodcutter....since the beginning of time, woodcutters have always had work....whether for heat or cooking, people are eventually going to need wood...lots of people switched back to wood during the Depression...and it's already happening again in America... Google 'wood stoves' and you'll see what I mean.

Good luck to everybody,
6th Texas Cavalry
- - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - - -
Agent P writes:
My experience is this is very much an innate survival instinct in all of us.

I recall standing in an orderly line waiting to purchase bleacher seat tickets to the World Series back in 1968. Most of us has been sitting in line in a neat and orderly fashion all night long. The line stretched for blocks around the stadium parking lot.

Early in the morning the line broke and there was mad rush to the ticket window. Now it was just a crowd, but when tickets went on sale, people at the front of the mass got tickets. Those who were slow to respond lost out.

Its a dog eat dog competitive world out there. Chaos is very possible when law and order breaks down. And many of us need reminders that the law is nearby and ready to restore order if necessary. Without that, anything goes.
- - - - - - - - - - - -

END OF PART ONE

To Comment on this article E-Mail Me Unless you specifically ask me not to, I'll post your reply here in the blog so everyone can read it. Of course I'll remove your last name, email address and any other specific information for privacy purposes.

What Will the Gangs Do?

I recently watched a story on the local news about four gang members arrested in an undercover sting trying to trade guns for drugs. Then the question occurred to me; "What will the gangs do after TEOTWAWKI? Then I had a disturbing thought.

Many years ago (before the term "Political Correctness" was coined) I read a post TEOTWAWKI Science Fiction story wherein the AmerIndians had recovered from a TEOTWAWKI disaster faster than the "whites" because of their tight knit communities and adherence to heritage. With command and control already in place the AmerIndian chiefs were able to organize a recovery much more quickly than the surviving "palefaces" were. The second generation whites were the ones who couldn't hold their lacquer and so on.

At this point it would be helpful to remind readers of the main difference between a WTSHTF (When The $#!t Hits The Fan) event and TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It) event.

In a WTSHTF event federal, state and local governments survive and eventually restore order. That is to say law & order, infrastructure and commerce.

With TEOTWAWKI established governments don't survive and new governments must eventually be carved from the chaos.

Looting and other opportunistic crimes common in the temporary turmoil following a WTSHTF event are committed with a guilty glance over shoulder as everyone awaits the return of governmental control in the form of police and National Guard troops.

Once survivors become aware that the troops aren't coming (TEOTWAWKI) the gloves come off as survivors realize they won't be held accountable for their actions.

Such a situation exists now in many parts of Mexico.

When the Mexican military started using aircraft to find drug cartel camps in the wilderness the cartels began hiding in established structures i.e. ranches and small villages. Today along the Mexican American border Mexican cartels are demanding entire towns evacuate so the cartels can hide their illicit activities in the buildings thus conducting their drug business out of the view of airborne surveillance.

The following is an account of what happened when one Mexican man chose to resist such a takeover of his isolated ranch.

The story began in the morning of Saturday November 13, [2010] when a group of armed gunmen went to deliver an ultimatum to Don Alejo Garza Tamez: He had 24 hours to turn over his property or suffer the consequences.

Instead of packing his belongings and fleeing Don Alejo loaded his weapons placing them (and ammunition for them) at every door and window of his home. The "hunting rifles" referenced in the link below is a rather broad description of his armament. It could include semi autos as well as bolt action rifles and even single shots. Although not "rifles" I'm sure shotguns and pistols were included in the mix too.

[The next day] The trucks entered the ranch and took up positions surrounding the house. The gunmen got out of their trucks, fired shots in the air, and announced they came to take possession of the ranch. They were expecting the terrified occupants to run out, begging for mercy with their hands in the air.

But things didn't go as expected. Don Alejo welcomed them with bullets; the entire army of gunmen returned fire. Don Alejo seemed to multiply, he seemed to be everywhere. The minutes would have seemed endless to those who had seen him as easy prey. Various gunmen were killed on sight. The others, in rage and frustration, intensified the attack by swapping out their assault rifles for grenades.

When everything finally fell silent, the air was left heavy with gunpowder. The holes left in the walls and the windows attested to the violence of the attack. When they went in search of what they had assumed was a large contingent, they were surprised to find only one man, Don Alejo.

The surviving gunmen did not take over the ranch. [In fact they were so shell-shocked they fled without even stealing Don Alejo's guns.] Thinking the military would arrive at any moment, they decided to run. They left behind what they thought were six corpses, but two of their gunmen had survived.

The Last Stand of Don Alejo

The street gangs you see on the nightly news aren't going away after TEOTWAWKI. Indeed they are armed and they already have a command structure in place. More to the point, today's controlling factor in their existence (the police, jails & court system) will be gone.

The weapons and modus operandi of the cartels (automatic weapons and hand grenades bought or stolen from the Mexican military) are known and we can expect our own street gangs to try mightily to acquire similar armament as post TEOTWAWKI time goes by.

Reading ancient history we see intimidation used by barbarians to entice walled cities to surrender without a fight in an attempt to reduce causalities among the attackers. Of course once the city surrendered the ill-mannered barbarians often forgot their promises of safe passage and ravaged the city's now defenseless inhabitants anyway.

A post TEOTWAWKI situation could rapidly deteriorate into something similar to ancient times when bands of barbarians roamed about seeking food and plunder.

So... what'er ya' gunn'a do to prepare to defend your Bug Out Location (BOL) from gangs after TEOTWAWKI?

First, bars on all windows & bared gates, with double dead bolt locks, on all doors. (And, yes, those will help keep you safe in a WTSHTF scenario too. Come to think of it they'll keep burglars out in normal times as well.)

Second, chain link fence shutters on all doors & windows will keep out hand grenades while still while still allowing those inside to view shoot through at attackers. (OK so you probably wouldn't want to do this to your home right now.)

Next you can plant cactus gardens, if you live down south or rose bushes if you live up north, in front of all windows and on both sides of all doors. (This is a passive defense that'll discourage burglars from breaking in through windows and channel people knocking on your door out where you can see them.)

Oh, and did I mention the anti ramming 10 inch concrete filled iron pipes set four feet into the ground and extending four feet above it on either side of doors? OK, that's a bit much for home defense in normal times, but strategically placed ornamental rock walls would do as well.

When I posted a version of the above on a TEOTWAWKI board I frequent I received this well thought out response:

"You're going to need more than well prepared defenses. You're going to need backup, reserves, and cover. You're going to need other defenders. You're going to need a community."
-- HaltCatchFire

There were obviously enough weapons to arm a squad of defenders. However, Don Alejo Garza Tamez had chosen to fight alone. Was it because he didn't want to endanger his friends & workers?

Or maybe he knew they'd be too scared to fight?

In any case only rich friends would likely know how to aim and shoot guns because in Mexico only the rich, the military/police & crooks have guns.

Here in the USA it wouldn't be all that hard to put together a pickup squad of experienced shooters -- not so much so in Mexico.

In this case the gangs are looking for places to hide out of the view of airborne Mexican military. After TEOTWAWKI they'd be looking for the next store of food to plunder before moving on to another ranch.
http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2010/11/thousands-of-ranches-abandoned-in.html

HaltCatchFire is right. A viable post TEOTWAWKI community would look very much like frontier America with clusters of farms around a fort much like in medieval times. I don't expect to see castles, but rather fortified towns which surrounding farmers could flee to in times of crisis. Reading actual accounts of frontier battles would, very likely, provide a guide to the strategies and tactics (updated to account for modern weapons) that would evolve.

To Comment on this article E-Mail Me Unless you specifically ask me not to, I'll post your reply here in the blog so everyone can read it. Of course I'll remove your last name, email and any other specific information for privacy purposes.

CERT Community Emergency Response Teams

I'm putting aside two articles I've been working on (one on water that a friend suggested and another on the similarities between hunting and combat) to give you this report while the experience is still fresh in my mind.

I recently graduated from a Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) class. CERT classes train people in "… basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations."

At first I was rather skeptical of the program, however having completed the class I can see where the training could come in handy in large scale disaster situations like the Northridge earthquake, Hurricane Katrina or the Great Chicago Fire.

In spite their size, all of the above were WTSHTF (When The $#!t Hits The Fan) situations and not TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It) situations because state and federal governments survived and, despite widespread destruction, help was (eventually) on the way.

The concept behind CERT is to create a cadre of trained civilians that can be of great aid to local first responders in the critical hours immediately after a disaster. Until outside professional help arrives it goes without saying that local fire, police & medical personnel (and equipment) will be woefully inadequate to deal with such situations. With terrorists trying to double down on 911* it would seem to be prudent for us to be prepared.

So what's CERT got to do with your personal survival plans? Just this:

CERT volunteers are taught triage and to "do the greatest good for the greatest number" which means if you or a loved one needs Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to survive you're not likely to receive it from a CERT volunteer – they are taught to move on and save others rather than invest even half an hour saving just one life. CERT volunteers aren't even taught CPR (although they are encouraged to take the Red Cross first aid classes which teach CPR among other things).

[Addendum]
Another example of this policy, taken from the class, is their position on remaining with a victim who needs to be held in the Head-Tilt/Chin-Lift position (page 3.4).

As you may know there is a tendency for the tongue to fall back into the throat of unconscious people blocking the airway. The first aid for that is the "Head-Tilt/Chin-Lift" which we were taught. However, the instructors stated that if the victim reverted to the tongue in throat state we were not to stay with them holding them in position to breathe.

When I suggested placing something under the back of the victim's head/neck to hold them in the Head-Tilt/Chin-Lift position I was told doing so might irreparably damage the victim's spine if s/he had a broken neck. Since doing nothing guarantees death to the victim and the Head-Tilt/Chin-Lift method has already moved the spine I think I'd take the chance rather than walk off and let someone die.

But this gets back to CERT's primary goal which is to "do the most good for the most people" reminding me that to the government you & I are not a people, but statistics.
[End Addendum]

You may have noted the term "light search and rescue" in the second paragraph.

We were repeatedly told of the "100 rescuers who died trying to save others" in the 1985 Mexico City earthquake. We were told over and over again that our safety came first. (Unspoken translation: becoming a casualty while trying to save someone else merely creates two casualties.) Although we were taught the correct (safe) way to raise heavy objects off of a victim we were not given any equipment to do it so we'll have to improvise in the event of a real disaster.

We were also taught light fire fighting i.e. with dry chemical fire extinguishers, but given that the "firing" time of these fire extinguishers is measured in seconds and they are few and far between I doubt that many CERT volunteers will be in the right place at the right time (before the fire gets too big) to squelch many incipient fires. But each CERT volunteer did get a chance to practice sweeping the extinguisher's chemical plume across the base of a small fire in a half barrel putting out the fire and building confidence.

But we were issued some equipment. A wrench for turning off natural gas lines going into houses and buildings (In my opinion one of the more useful things CERT volunteers will be able to do in the immediate aftermath of a disaster.), a role of duct tape, a pair of leather work gloves, a flashlight with batteries, a tiny first aid kit, a green hard hat, a good quality green backpack and a cheap green vest with reflective stripes. Oh, and since this is a government operation, about a pound of manuals, guides, lists and assorted forms.

So, what can you, as a survivor, expect from CERT volunteers in the minutes, hours and possibly even days after a major disaster like the Galveston hurricane?

CERT volunteers are told to first check the safety of their own homes and families before rallying. If not called up, via phone, CERT volunteers may "self activate" if phone lines are down. In either case teams (minimum two members) are formed and set out to assess the situation.

The way it is supposed to work is:

Search & Rescue teams are taught to do a "sizeup" before they enter a building and to enter only "safe" buildings. The criteria for "safe" buildings is ridiculous: a building with a few shingles blown off the roof is safe to go into, but a building with a wall or part of a wall gone is deemed too dangerous to enter despite the fact that the changes are there will be more casualties in the latter than the former.) Once walking wounded and those who can be safely moved are outside the S&R team moves on to the next building.

If someone is trapped inside a "Cribbing team" will go in and attempt to lever heavy objects (walls or whatever) off of the victim. A "crib" (in training) is alternating layers of four by fours put in repeating alternating tic-tac-toe patterns to form a stable support under the object until it is lifted high enough to pull the victim out from underneath. Then the victim is taken outside with the other evacuees to await further assistance as the cribbing team goes on to help the next victim.

Medical teams are trained to bandage wounds, improvise splints & transport the wounded to makeshift collection points where they will presumably be when the EMT's, military medics and ambulances arrive.

At our graduation exercise (final exam) I noted some problems. Namely in an emergency people don't want to wait for their team to be called into action. It was hard to keep people in inactive teams from wandering off to help teams that were actually doing something. The problem there is that if they wander off there's no team (or a reduced team) available when the Incident Commander calls on the team for a mission.

And yes CERT does have Incident Commanders, chains of command and paperwork; it is, after all a government entity. CERT's main purpose, it seems to me, is to start turning chaos into order. By collecting casualties, marking searched buildings and clearing ruble the CERT teams make it that much easier for the Red Cross, National Guard and LEO's (Law Enforcement Officers) to get right to work when they arrive on the scene.

But again, what's all that to you?

Since these are WTSHTF (When The $#!t Hits The Fan) situations and not TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It) situations you'll probably be doing pretty much what the CERT people will be doing: checking your family for injuries, checking your home for damage then checking neighbors and the neighborhood for the same things.

Where appropriate you'd be shutting off gas lines leading into damaged buildings, fighting fires (garden hoses might be more useful than fire extinguishers), clearing ruble and setting up or staffing a neighborhood emergency center. The biggest difference between you and the CERT volunteers would be the green hard hat and vest.

Oh, and the CERT people might have a bit more pull with LEO's and other disaster officials when it comes to allocating resources.

Bottom Line

---

You don't want to be too dependent on CERT in the aftermath of something like the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake because, as outlined above, CERT volunteers aren't nearly as interested in saving you and yours as you are.

If your house collapses around you sure, CERT and the Red Cross shelter start looking pretty good, but odds are you'll be among that very large percentage (Did you notice that most people in the areas of the disasters cited did not suffer direct damage or injuries from the events?) of residents whose homes and health aren't affected.

That's a pretty good case for stocking up with 72 hours worth of food & water for your family like the civil defense people recommend.

But being a Prepper/survivor you'll probably want to at least double the recommended food & water and actually go down to Radio Shack and buy a battery/hand-crank powered radio instead of just planning to do it someday.

Also, if you need medicines (that's what they used to call "medications") It'd probably be a good idea to keep at least a weeks worth on hand.

In my opinion CERT would not be appropriate for events like the 1918 Spanish Influenza outbreak (CERT volunteers wandering around neighborhoods would likely do more to spread disease than alleviate problems.)

-------------------

*A persuasive argument can be made that the terrorists have already won in that for the thousands of dollars it cost to train a few fanatics they've forced us to spend billions of dollars defending against box cutters, explosive shoes & guncotton underwear.

Despite the fact that virtually all of these attacks have been carried out by young Moslem males from certain countries (or who go to certain countries for training) Political Correctness dictates that we treat millions commercial civilian aircraft passengers like murder suspects in order to avoid being accused of profiling.

To Hell With That, Let's PROFILE!

To Comment on this article E-Mail Me Unless you specifically ask me not to, I'll post your reply here in the blog so everyone can read it. Of course I'll remove your last name, email address and any other specific information for privacy purposes.

Timing Is the Thing it's True

One of the problems with discussing survival scenarios is the assumed timing & circumstances that the parties bring to the party. If they're talkin' different stages of the same scenario or different scenarios they'll often talk past each other.

Are we talkin' an emergency lasting a few days (flashlight), a few weeks (generator), a few months (candles) or a few years (know how to make candles)?

The optimist will think in terms of an emergency that'll last, at most, into the generator stage. The pessimist will be stockpiling candle making supplies. Unless they clearly state their expectations to each other their preparations may be at cross purposes.

Timing has to be taken into consideration when planning for a survival scenario. Are we talkin' a short emergency which may work itself out in a few months (Hurricane Katrina) in which case you may expect a return to normal societal functioning in the near future?

Or are we talkin' a get out of California as it sinks into the sea scenario for which you'd want to carry your legal documents, credit info, health records and other information you'd need to reestablish yourself in the new, albeit badly shaken (pun intended), economy?

Perhaps you want to be ready for an asteroid the size of the Empire State Building hitting the Earth and you'll need to get to the Equator where enough sunlight may get through to grow crops?

My point is your preparations depend on your estimation of future events and how long you think those events, and the fallout from those events, (bad pun) will last.

If you expect the current crisis to last for decades, and gasoline production to be a thing of the past, you might want to trade your brand new gas powered Jeep 4X4 for a horse (gasoline, even with stabilizers, will only store for about a year; diesel lasts much longer but they won't be makin' much more of it) OTOH If you expect the crisis to be largely over in a few months, keep up the Jeep payments.

If you're a guy with a can of gas facing three guys; one offering a briefcase of fiat paper legal tender that can be used as tinder or toilet paper, one with a suitcase full of canned food, that will last for years if stored in a cool dry place, and a guy with a pouch of gold & silver coins and you:

A. Are where you want to be so don't need the gas to 'get out of Dodge' anytime soon.
B. Believe the current crisis is short lived (i.e. you'll be able to buy more gas later) or so long lasting that gas will spoil before you can use it.
C. Can't leave due to family or other obligations.
D. Don't have a motor to use the gas in.

So you determine that trading the gas will be better for you than keeping it. But what do you trade the can for; the briefcase, suitcase or pouch?

If you believe the situation is short term and will soon revert to normal and that the number of dollars in the briefcase is greater than the current value of the gold you'd want the dollars.

If you believe the situation is less than total TEOTWAWKI and will resolve in a few years you'd want the gold because its value would almost surely be greater than that of a dollars assuming the wounded dollar survives at all. Also the gold (which is after all just a medium of exchange) could be traded for food, medicine and other things.

If however you believe the situation to be total TEOTWAWKI and you'd be better off trading the gas for the suitcase full of food because starving people won't trade food for gold no matter how much is offered and certainly wouldn't want fiat toilet paper.

Gold (and silver) coins would be useful in the early stages of going into TEOEWAWKI as a trading medium for goods and services, but useless during the following famine when people would rather live than die rich.

Au & Ag coins would probably be useful again when civilization begins reestablishing itself most likely as a mixed lot of robber barons morphing into some sort of feudal systems and Greek/Roman style direct democracy city states. In such a situation transitioning from barter to coinage would require trusted coins. Unfortunately there's no guarantee (and little likelihood) that will happen in your lifetime. So if you're thinkin' TEOTWAWKI any gold & silver coins you don't use would be useful for your children or grandchildren.

If you've got a full larder sufficient to last you and yours through till the crops come in a year or two hence you'd probably choose to sell to the person offering gold & silver because when all the excitement is over the Au & Ag is more likely to have some value to those you hope to trade with. Besides you can always use twigs and leaves for that other stuff.

To Comment on this article
E-Mail Me Unless you specifically ask me not to, I'll post your reply here in the blog so everyone can read it. Of course I'll remove your last name, email and any other specific information for privacy purposes.

Revisiting Armageddon Man

In Armageddon Man on the History Channel Rudy Reyes starts off by pulling a Bear Grylls (on Man vs. Wild) type stunt (telling the audience how dangerous it is to do something and then showing how to do it.) The contrived bridge crossing Rudy uses to open the show is great theater, but lousy survival tactics. Throwing a makeshift grappling hook across a broken bridge was an excuse to show how to make an improvised rope ladder which while being a useful bit of knowledge is misused in that instance.

Running around in the open in broad daylight when you fear interception or ambush? I think not. Maybe the director just wanted some action footage, but I fail to see how running in the open on railroad tracks is a good thing under the circumstances the show is purporting to show us how to survive.

If you have to move during daylight stay in the tree line; pausing often to listen and observe. Walk next to buildings popping into doorways and alleyways to disappear (as least momentarily) from the sight of those who may be observing from one point of view. Where possible enter buildings by one door and exit by another.

Better yet, wait for nightfall. There's a reason Rangers and Special Forces types train to operate at night and it ain't for the ambiance.

Skipping looted homes and breaking into the intact ones may work for heavily armed squads where Rudy and his special ops team operated, but here in the states where firearms ownership is legal for the citizenry it's likely the homes weren't broken into for a reason. The show should have pointed out that while the guy outside may consider it foraging, the guy inside considers it looting.

However Armageddon Man does demonstrate, albeit briefly, some good tactics for those for those operating behind enemy lines (as he was trained to do) or surviving Armageddon. The use of a piece of a metal sheet (supported by bricks, rocks or other non burnable objects) to build a small fire on in a building was well demonstrated.

-- Once while hiking I built a small fire on a metal plate in an abandoned and falling down line shack. I thought the metal by itself would keep the dry wood floor beneath it from catching fire. I was wrong. Fortunately it was raining and I was able to cool the smoking floor boards before they burst into flame. --

As Rudy points out, when in a city camping on the second floor does give you several tactical advantages. For one it's difficult for an enemy to rush you from all sides when you're on the second floor. For another attackers are forced into kill zones (stairwells) and the walls of the first floor act as sounding boards confining and reflecting the sounds made therein thus increasing the chances of early warning for those on the second floor.

Further on the plus side escape from the second floor is as near as the closest window. Or, as Rudy demonstrates, you can slide down the elevator shaft on the elevator cables however I find that a less than optimal (slow and noisy) method of egress while under attack.

Even with editing you could see that Rudy had trouble getting the elevator doors open to get into the shaft. After sliding down the cables we find the elevator doors conveniently open and the elevator car conveniently not on the first floor which would have necessitated opening a trap door in the roof of the elevator car, climbing down into the elevator and then prying not one but two sets of doors open to get out. Like I said slow and noisy.

Like most other survival instructors Rudy is anxious to show us how to start a fire using steel wool and a nine volt battery. However, he fails to inform us that the finer the steel wool the better. And it is that lack of significant, often crucial, details that I noticed running through the entire show.

Yes, you can use a hand bicycle pump to pull gasoline or diesel (or water) from the underground storage tanks of gas stations by cutting off the valve at the end of the pump's tube and attaching a garden hose for added length using duct tape to get a good seal. But you'd better bring a good pair of bolt cutters along because gas station owners don't leave thousands of dollars worth of fuel unlocked when they go home at night. Also they don't want some drunk unscrewing the lid and lighting a match to "see what's down there" after the bars close.

And, yes, you could (eventually) get enough fuel that way to start up a hospital generator so as to charge a battery but it's more likely that the hospital's generator was run until it ran out of fuel. A better option, here in the states at least, might be the offices of a large corporation which (if it had a backup generator) is more likely to have shut down during the chaos that led to the city being abandoned and therefore still have fuel in its tank.

The segment on making fuel from the contents of grease traps behind restaurants was, as far as I know, accurate but lacked details.

In house to house combat soldiers will take to the sewers to avoid machine gun and sniper fire that's how Rudy was trained. But the rationalization for that stunt with the field expedient grappling hook on the bridge was to avoid the vary contaminants he encounters when he goes into the sewers.

Also, once in the sewers he's trapped down there with only one way to retreat if he runs into hostiles. And the exits (where he can reach them) are usually in the middle of streets.

The same goes for maneuvering in flood control channels when they are dry. These concrete lined sunken highways are, for the most part, devoid of cover and in many places impossible to get out of without a ladder or rope, a perfect place for an ambush.

Bottom Line
If time constraints require you to travel quickly in the open, do so at night and sleep during the day.

Rudy seems to have some good information but it's presented out of context without supporting data and in segments that are far too short for him to get all the information across.

To Comment on this article
E-Mail Me Unless you specifically ask me not to, I'll post your reply here in the blog so everyone can read it. Of course I'll remove your last name, email and any other specific information for privacy purposes.