planning

How to Start #Prepping Without Breaking the #Bank: “All About Self-Reliance”

April 21, 2016 by mac slavo

You don’t necessarily have to pull out your wallet, and pay big bucks for storable food, emergency camping equipment, ammo and fatigues… though you can if you want.

Instead, if you are just starting to prep, check out these essential items and focus most of all on the mindset of being ready for anything.

This video by the Dynamic Prepper gives some good insight into doing what counts – instead of what costs.

The Dynamic Prepper writes:

Top Ten things to get to start your prepping. Have you wanted to prep but don’t know where to start because of too much info and too many big prepping companies telling you to buy expensive “starting packages”. Tell those prepping corps. to take a hike!!! Start this list today. With a little money and weekends worth of shopping you will be well on your way to keeping yourself and your family fed and safe in extreme times.

In many cases you can make your own kits – for first aid, bug out bags and more – and perhaps you should.

Not only could it save money, but it will ensure that you are thinking about the use and purpose of every item you intend to carry or use.

5 Mistakes Every New Prepper Makes

How Horrific Will It Be For The Non-Prepper?

29 Essential Tips for the New Prepper: “Start Small. Develop Your Skills. Create a Plan”

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

This 72 Year Old Survived 9 Days in #Arizona Wilderness: “Lost, With No Gas and No Cell Reception”

April 13, 2016 by mac slavo

Image: Arizona Department of Public Safety.

Running out of gas. Lost on a remote back road. No cellphone signal, unreliable GPS. Maybe an accident.

It could happen to anyone, but not everyone would handle this desperate situation as well as this 72 year old woman managed to do.

Indeed, her resourcefulness and determination in keeping herself alive, along with her dog, after being “lost, with no gas and no cellphone reception” for 9 days in the remote Arizona wilderness is down right incredible.

via AZ Central:

A 72-year-old woman and her dog survived in the Gila County wilderness for nine days before being rescued by the Arizona Department of Public Safety on Saturday.

Ann Rodgers and her dog survived by drinking creek water and eating berries and plants, according to reports by law-enforcement officials. A weeklong multiagency search ended with a helicopter crew rounding a bend in a canyon to find her waving at them from below.

Rodgers had done her best to guide searchers: She had spelled out “HELP” in sticks and rocks on a canyon floor, hoping to gain attention.

According to the report, Ann Rodgers was running low and got lost while exiting for a fuel station, and then got stranded for more than a week in the vast national forest area between Phoenix and Show Low, Arizona.

The Gila County Sheriff’s Office released this statement:

On April 3, 2016, at approximately 8:00 p.m., the Gila County Sheriff’s Office received a call from the White Mountain Apache Rangers to assist with a missing person. The Gila County Sheriff’s Office, Gila County Search and Rescue, Tonto Rim Search and Rescue, along with the Arizona Department of Public Safety Helicopter responded to assist the White Mountain officials in attempts to locate the victim.

On April 9, 2016, at approximately 5:45 p.m. Ann Charon Rodgers, 72 years old, was located in the Canyon Creek Area. The Arizona Department of Public Safety Helicopter was able to get assistance to her and transport her to a local Hospital to be evaluated.

Image: Gila County Sheriff’s Office

Though the search rescue team worked diligently to find her, it took them a week, and everyday in the harsh wilderness made the challenge for Rodgers that much more difficult.

She found water, and made fire for warm and to attract attention from search crews. She left signs, like the word “Help” spelled out in sticks; she attempted, in vain, to find a ranch she saw, and she attempted to find a spot with a working cell phone signal.

But most importantly, she continued on, in spite of these setbacks.

How did she do it? She had taken a survival training course, and had cultivated skills. As the AP reported:

An Arizona woman lost in the wilderness for nine days says she became desperate but stayed alive because of her survival skills.

[S]he slept in her car the first night and wore several layers of clothing to keep warm […]

She says she survived on plants, pond water and at one point, a turtle. Rodgers says she took a survival course and studied techniques for years.

There a lots of things that could have improved her condition if those supplies and tools had been with her…

But this wasn’t just theoretical, it was real world survival, making do with the environment around you when there is no one else to turn to.

And this woman made it; hopefully you can, too, if and when the situation arises.

Of course, it also offers us some lessons for being prepared for anything.

Here are some links to develop ideas about what to focus on next… and what it might take to survive in a wilderness scenario alone for an extended period:

7 Tips to Keep You Alive and Found in the Wilderness

Survival Skills: How to Find Water In the Wild

The Prepper’s Blueprint: Step-by-Step Guide to Survive Any Disaster

The Number One Knife Skill for Wilderness Survival and Self-Reliance

Teaching Kids How to Survive in the Forest

Wilderness Survival: Preventative Measures and Off Grid Treatment for Deadly Bugs

The One Thing You Need To Survive: “Everything Else Is Just Talking and Wishful Thinking”

Are You Prepared to Survive in the Wilderness Alone? “Natural Shelter, Blend In”

12 Bad Strategies That Will Get Preppers Killed

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

#SHTF Skills Every American Needs: “Improvise With What You Have”

April 8, 2016 by mac slavo

Does the future hold prolonged economic collapse? Electric outages? Food shortage? Civil unrest? EMP attacks? Looting and the general descent into madness?

Whatever may come, you and your family will be extremely vulnerable unless you have prepared for continuity and self-reliance without the aid of society. The vast majority have made no attempt to prepare, or decrease their dependence upon government agencies for basic needs. In an emergency, they will have no one else to turn to either.

But you will be ready.

Every American who values his/her independence, and hopes to survive and thrive in an after-math economy that will be very different needs to develop and hone their SHTF skills.

There are too many to list in one article, and most of the basics are well known to this audience, but here is a good resource for starting your prepping, and expanding to cover all important areas.

But it is equally important to tailor your plans around your actual situation in a way that will give you the optimal support in a crisis, and fit around the freedom lifestyle you actually want to lead.

Reallybigmonkey1 is a great example of unique prepping. He has invented devices around his needs – and improvised with what he has one hand.

In this video, he explains a homemade stove that is also designed to store & boil water, as well as cook without the need to use a pot or pan. It might be the best solution in a bug out situation.

His inventions make prepping, camping and surviving a fine art of creativity and style, and prove that you don’t have to spend a fortune to get ready:

“If you do have to leave your house and bug out, this is the kind of things that happen. You need to have the ability to make things… and improvise and make do with what you have.

He also addresses the top items he carries that aren’t in the bug out bag of others.

After the basics, this guy has included a host of homemade and improvised devices that serve his potential SHTF needs and will make his chance of survival better than the average suburbanite.

What do you carry in bag, and what have you figured out on your own to make off grid living even better?

95 Survival Tips For When the SHTF: “Carry These. Do This. And Don’t Ever…”

The Six Laws of Survival: Strategies For Beating the Worst Case Scenario

12 Bad Strategies That Will Get Preppers Killed

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

How to Dress to Avoid Suspicion, Blend In During a Crisis: “Be a Grey Man”

March 14, 2016 by mac slavo

Survival is all about blending in.

If you stand out, you could become like the unhammered nail, begging for unwanted attention.

Whether you are carrying concealed or attempting to negotiate your way through a post-apocalyptic SHTF scenario, take notice that you don’t appear “militaristic” or tactical, as it will work against you.

Mark Twain long ago observes that “clothes make the man” – and the last man you want to be in an emergency scenario is a conspiracy theorist, an obvious doomsday prepper or an overzealous gun-toting idiot who beams controversy and strange looks wherever he goes.

Camouflauge fatigues, “fishing” vests and militia-gear will all work against your efforts, and put an exclamation mark over you while interacting with whatever remains of society, and potentially put a spotlight on your prepping efforts, your stores or retreats, and deflate your hard work to survive.

The last thing you want to do is look like someone who wants a fight, someone who could be stolen from or someone who could become a target or mark.

TheOl1911 explains his philosophy on finding common and even “trendy” clothing with muted colors and enough style to pass the “sniff test” that also offers advantages for concealed carry and tactical preparedness. There’s no one right answer here – but there are certainly wrong ones.

Author Jeremiah Johnson recommends in his Green Beret’s Guide:

Cargo pants. These are preferred because of what you can stash in them. You can hold an infinite combination of gear in them…a polar-tech cap and a balaclava, a “drive-on” (do) rag – the o.g. Army cravat. You can carry shooting gloves (leather for all-weather) and ear plugs (radians do tell!). With all of these things in the cargoes, there is still plenty of room for the main function: when you change your mags or speed loaders, you can shove the empties in your cargo pockets.

Loosely fitting clothing will break up the outline of your body. Also, remember all of the caps and do-rags I mentioned before? A quick disguise is where you find it; need I say more. An old Russian saying: “Do not be a white crow among black crows or you’ll be pecked to death!” Make sure that you blend in as best as you can. Earth tones in your dress if you have to dee-dee into the woods. Balance your tones with the discretion of common sense. Do not try to be a walking Realtree monster right next to downtown city hall.

Blend in and be inconspicuous; be the “gray” man in the crowd.

Police and most trained marksmen know the techniques to spot someone carrying concealed, and otherwise looking shifty. Tell-tale signs of behavior, including subconsciously checking pockets, and changes in the gait, shifting weight to one side, or uneven clothing (from the weight of the weapon in a pocket) are all give away to the professionals. You’d do best to know them, too, so you can spot others, and avoid giving yourself away.

Be aware of how your behavior can give you away, and dress to blend in with the local population. The styles will change depending upon what part of the country you live in, and whether or not you live in or near a city, or out in the countryside.

Psychology of Survival- Gray Man Concept

Instead, you should have the “uniform” of average clothing and accessories for your area, so that no one would notice you in a crowd, and few would remember you after the fact based upon your demeanor and any “give away” actions.

Civil Unrest: You’re Pretty Much on Your Own If You Are Caught In a Riot or Other Violent Demonstration

A Green Beret’s Guide To Planning Your Personal Posture: “First Things First: Always Be Armed”

How Can You Tell If Someone is Hiding a Gun?

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

Who Is a Threat To You? “Dangerous People to Avoid After the Collapse”

March 9, 2016 by mac slavo

Who can you trust, turn to or rely upon during a collapse?

Morals are effectively suspended in the midst of a great crisis. And, as the Canadian Prepper explains, you will want to consider and profile high risk people, dangerous personalities and groups to avoid during a disaster – well in advance.

Those with nothing else to turn to will act in desperate ways, and could act unstable during a collapse, during martial law or civil unrest. Many will turn to the system, and go willingly into FEMA camps – but others may drag, steal or lean on you. Worse, they may expose your hideout and compromise your carefully laid survival plans.

Just a few of these types are discussed below:

– MEDICALLY DEPENDENT/DRUG ADDICTS: People who are dependent on medication may become desperate for drugs when prescriptions fall through, and could become unstable, dangerous or a liability to your survival plan. Most wouldn’t mean

– PANICKED/WEAK MINDED: Emotionally unstable, prone to upset, who can’t keep their cool under pressure and those who are temperamental are difficult to trust, and who put your life in danger

– GANGS/CRIMINALS/LOOTERS: Then of course there are always going to be violent gangs, looters and outright criminals. It’s pretty obvious what they want, but it may still surprise you how far they are willing to go to get it. Only, some criminals won’t be as easy to spot, and historically they have taken advantage of hard working, prepared and ultimately naive individuals using any and every tactic they can think of. Keep in mind, this includes color-of-law rogue government agents, too; historically the appearance of authority will be used to gain entry, take advantage and catch you off guard. During Hurricane Katrina, some cops were caught on tape looting Wal-Mart… just imagine the type of stuff that wasn’t seen by cameras.

– WANNA-BE LEADERS: Narcissists, selfish, egotistical, grandiose and those willing to use psychology and tactics to gain advantage of your group and your resources, let you down when a plan needs to come to fruition, or turn tail when the going gets tough. These people are in it for themselves, would create a mutiny if they thought they had the leverage to do so, and will be even more undependable than the easily panicked and the addicted.

– ALSO BEWARE OF: The above category is closely related to those who are overly macho, those who hold obvious and disproportionate gun fetishes, those prone to uncalled for paranoia, the weaselly and conniving salesman types, and the foregone-conclusion doomsday nihilist who secretly wants to fulfill his entimes fantasy and die in a fight, rather than living to fight another day. There are other variations of these types, but few of them will be all that helpful when reality sets in, regardless of how big they talk as things gear up.

– PARASITES AND NOSY PEEPERS: Perhaps the most dangerous type of person, at least immediately when the SHTF, is the one who knows about your prepping, your supplies and stocks, and expects to come over to your place and join you without contributing any skills or having prepped in advance. Even worse, if a reward or a position of power is offered, this person is far-too-willing to turn you in and turn you over to a FEMA camp if they can derive any benefit. Though this individual may be a nosy neighbor or family friend during times of normalcy, they are a very dangerous liability for you and your family during times of emergency. Here’s what to do when those types come knocking…

Good character and common sense just aren’t as plentiful as they used to be, so be careful about who you willingly associate with. These kind of mistakes could easily cost your life.

There are many people worth working with, trusting and helping during a collapse, but you should be very judicious in determining who these people are – and careful to keep away from the rest as much as possible. If you find yourself in captivity in a government facility, many of these same types will cause you just as much or more trouble inside the system.

Ideally, you want to be working with those people already, and eliminate anyone from the group and from your confidence with unstable and dangerous personalities. Moreover, you should be able to read and identify people to screen out these traits and avoid the people who will endanger or prey upon you.

Above all, don’t lose sight of the fact that they are all still human beings, and unless they are physically attacking you, should be treated as such. Nonetheless, they can and will work against you if you trust the wrong people. It is simply human nature.

5 Mistakes Every New Prepper Makes

If you don’t use a bank, where should you stash your cash?

“I’ll Come To Your Place When SHTF” – No You Won’t

10 Prepping Mistakes That Could Get You Killed (And How To Avoid Them)

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

Incoming Asteroid Passing Extremely Close: “If It Doesn’t Hit Earth, May Strike Something Around Us!”

March 4, 2016 by mac slavo

It’s not worth panicking over, but it is at least worth mentioning the “chance” that a giant asteroid could hit the planet.

Its calculated trajectory varies, with reports claiming it will arrive March 5, or between the 7th and 8th, and will hurl as close as 11,000 miles away from Earth, but that’s about as close as anything close to its size has come on record.

Lexi Morgan at Intellihub.com explains:

NASA has now updated its Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s close approach data to reflect a 22 hour window of uncertainty regarding asteroid 2013 TX68, which is currently set to nearly graze Earth.

NASA hopes the massive chunk of rock will pass safely by Earth at a distance of around 18,000 miles between the dates of Mar. 7, at 1 p.m. and Mar. 8, until 11 a.m. Eastern Time.

It’s also worthy to note that even if the asteroid safety passes the planet, it still has the potential to collide with the moon, orbiting satellites, the International Space Station or other space-based platforms.

The Sun story adds additional details:

NASA has admitted there is a chance the asteroid 2013 TX68, a 100ft-wide rock which is currently heading towards us, could impact earth.

The asteroid is due to pass earth on March 5 by as close as 11,000 miles however NASA says there is “a chance” it could actually hurtle into our planet on September 28, 2017.

But NASA puts the odds of this happening at “no more than 1-in-250-million.”

[…]

NASA has said it could be anywhere between 9 million miles and 11,000 miles. This large range is due to a wide range of possible trajectories since it was tracked for only a short time after discovery.

Though there’s only a fraction of a chance that we will be entering a doomsday scenario ripped from the pages of Hollywood in a period of just a few days from now, scientists also point out that it could wreak havoc on the moon, or satellite and man-made space infrastructure.

So, there could be noteworthy damage. Maybe.

Regardless, it is a reminder of the fragility and mortality of our condition here. There are many disturbing forces, and there is little reason to remain well adjusted to them.

Russia has just unveiled a plan to use ICBMs to blow up smaller asteroids/meteors that more frequently pelt their homeland. Chelyabinsk took an unexpected hit last year.

NASA has previously announced a nearly identical plan for United States defense against possible threats from space. The Daily Mail reported:

Dramatic proof that any of these can strike Earth came on 15 February last year, when an unknown object exploded high above Chelyabinsk, Russia, with 20 – 30 times the energy of the Hiroshima atomic bomb.

The resulting shock wave caused widespread damage and injuries, making it the largest known natural object to have entered the atmosphere since the 1908 Tunguska event, which destroyed a forest area of Siberia.

The Daily Caller reports:

The Russian government is going to revamp some of its intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) in order to blow up asteroids before they reach Earth.

[…]

Apparently, the nuclear-armed ICBMs would be used to target asteroids with a 20 to 50 meter diameter (approximately 65 to 164 feet). Asteroids of these sizes are difficult to detect, and using an ICBM to take them out before they hit Earth would be the last line of defense preventing a potential catastrophe.

In an age where space has been weaponized, along with weather and climate, and foreign relations have returned to Cold War tensions, that could have layers of hidden intention as well.

“Unfortunately, we only know about roughly 1% of those asteroids that get down to the 30-meter size, so there’s a tremendous amount out there that we have yet to discover,” said Jason Kessler, NASA’s man in charge of identifying potential asteroid threats, to CNN.

Anyway, there could be surprises. Russia has certainly taken note of what could and has happened.

H/t Intellihub.

Is NASA Covering Up a Devastating Meteor Strike In Iran: “Destruction On An Unimaginable Scale”

The US Government Is Prepping For Unlikely Events Like War, Catastrophic Collapse of Society, and Even Asteroids – Are You?

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com