survival

Building An #Igloo Alone: “Survive In Ice and Snow”

May 30, 2016 by mac slavo

OK, I know it isn’t anywhere near winter, and there aren’t many people reading this site who live in or even visit the remote tundras of the extreme north and south of this planet.

However, I find it fascinating how people have figured out how to survive and thrive with next to nothing.

Shaping an igloo out of blocks of ice cut from the snow covered surface is a great example, and has many survivalist and SHTF applications for those who find themselves in extreme climates. Besides that, it is just cool.

This man shows how it can be done by anyone – even alone:

YouTube channel: Overthehill Outdoors

Traditional development of igloos by Inuit tribes migrating across a vast frozen wasteland no doubt followed a formative conversation sometime early on addressing how desolate was their setting, and how little there was to work with.

“But we have nothing but snow and ice.”

“Then we shall build with ice and snow.”

And so the idea occurred to someone that with nothing else around, the ice itself offered a valuable resource as protection against the blinding winds and extreme conditions of the area. Clearly, it was born out of necessity, but became beautifully mastered over time.

Surrounded by little else, the stuff itself offered insulation, warmth and shelter. And with it, a way of surviving for people in harsh environments.

How the careful crafting of this snow and ice turns around into a secure yet temporary, and if desired, long-term location is no small wonder. Nature had to be reverse engineered.

The principles of construction are as solid as any other building material, and the practical use by man with only limited tools is nothing short of miraculous.

If nothing can be simply and skillfully transformed into life supporting stuff there, then it can be done anywhere.

Here’s a video showing it in timelapse:

Youtube channel: Daniel Kessler

Has anyone here actually tried to build one?

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

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Living Free Without Permission: “Building Without a Permit, Driving Without a License”

shtfplan.com

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

6 #Prepper Laws You Should Never Break: “Things You Need To Have Ready”

May 28, 2016 by mac slavo

Prepping? You should be thinking about what you might need.

But focusing all your time and energy on the wrong priorities can leave you just as ill-prepared as if you had done nothing at all.

City Prepping shares his top 6 priorities for being ready – starting with the most obvious necessities and working towards an expanded plan for survival in case of the worst.

Whether or not you agree with his specific order of operations, starting with a solid foundation and working towards the more extravagant possibilities is a good way to plan and develop skills.

Becoming fully prepared is an ongoing process and will undoubtedly require a lot of effort on your part, but starting here will make sure you can survive most situations, as further steps will cover the less likely “what ifs.”

Check out the video:

Water is an absolute necessity, and drinking unsanitary water will make you sick. Make sure you have plan to have enough clean water. Store it, treat it, purify it, have access to it. How much water do you need? 1 gallon per person per day for drinking, cooking, sanitation and the like. Water preservative can help keep it long term, and make sure it doesn’t become contaminated.
Storable Food. Extra food can be built up gradually a few cans at a time, and rotated out. Get items that you would actually eat, and balance your needs between protein, fats and carbs. Many canned foods have lots of extra sodium, which requires more water to balance out. In the event of a power outage or other emergency, eat the perishable foods you have on hand first, since they will of course go bad soonest.
1. -How will you cook your food? Keep extra fuel and useful stoves, grills, etc. on hand that aren’t reliant on the electric grid, or far away resources that would take a lot of effort to gather or obtain.
2. -Where to store food an water? Basements, closets, under stair storage space, etc. to keep it cool and away from sunlight.
Medical care preps, supplies, equipment and, of course, skills. First aid kits and basic medical skills, including C.P.R., are essential. Know how to handle major and minor cuts, stop bleeding and keep wounds from becoming infected. Learn how to clear an airway, when and how to use a tourniquet and take classes from your local medical authorities if you can. Know how to treat shock, since it is very common during stressful situations – and basically anything that falls under SHTF.
Having cash on hands. If/when the grid goes down, credit cards and online payment systems will be out altogether.
Securing your home. The widespread instability will leave countless people desperate and willing to invade your home and/or attack your family or group. Avoid conflict when possible, but have firearms and other weapons to defend your family, your preps and your property. What type of gun is best for you is a matter of preference, training and the amount you are willing to invest; however, ideally you would want a rifle or shotgun as well as a handgun, among other options. Train and continue to train as much as possible.
Prepare to bug out (but don’t leave unless it becomes necessary). Bugging out early and without need could put you in greater danger of exposure to the elements or bad circumstances, and your home may be the best place to stay. Nevertheless, you should have your bug out bag and plan ready to go, and execute when the time is right. It should provide all your vital needs for 72 hours, and will be different for each person and geographic area.

Tailor this list to your own specific needs, and do your due diligence to be ready for whatever may come.

Stay vigilant and protect those that you love.

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

“All The Prepping In The World Is Immaterial If You Don’t Survive Long Enough For Your Supplies & Planning To Matter”

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

shtfplan.com

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

This #Survival Capsule Could Insulate You Against Any Disaster: “More Control Than Safe Houses”

May 27, 2016 by mac slavo

Depending on your outlook, this could be the ultimate in survival gear.

In the wake of an extreme threat – such as a tsunami or earthquake – this capsule could be the best place to withstand the impact, no matter what.

It is water-tight. It is extremely durable. It floats, and it can withstand against the impact of super-strong winds, crashes, heat and many other factors.

For the right price, it could hold between two and ten people, protecting them from literally just about anything that could come your way.

As the London Guardian reports:

The Survival Capsule – a personal safety system in the form of a giant ball – has been designed to combat this issue.

This capsule, which features two small porthole windows so the occupants can see what is going on around them, was created to give individual groups and families more control of their survival in emergency situation than traditional ‘safe houses.’

It is designed to float so it will never be inundated by water levels rising too high, as they do in tsunami situations.

[…]

The sphere is designed to withstand the initial impact of a natural disaster, as well as sharp object penetration, heat exposure, blunt object impact, and rapid deceleration.

Occupants are strapped in to the seats with crash-test proof seat belts and can expect to survive in spite of rampant destruction and perhaps unsurvivable conditions.

It appears that the unfortunate loss of life and vast property destruction that took place during some of the most recent tsunamis inspired the ball’s inventors to hedge against all possibilities.

Since earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, hurricanes and other extreme weather events seem to be increasing right now, particularly surrounding the Ring of Fire, that could be a good thing.

Watch the video:

The test model is bright red and would be easily spotted by rescue crews once they arrive for clean-up after the event, though it could be camouflaged for those who also want to stay off the radar after a SHTF situation in which the political situation may be part of the threat.

The Ultimate Prepper Bug Out Home

Elite Bunker Down in “Secure, Safe Rooms Hidden in Plain Sight”… And You Can, Too

The Safest Areas in America: An Expanded Western Relocation Zone

Nukes and Fallout: How to Survive When Others Won’t

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

#SHTF In #Movies: “Lost, Wrecked and Left Alone to Survive”

May 20, 2016 by mac slavo

When it comes to prepping for a truly serious SHTF, experience is the best teacher.

Planning, preparation and learning from experts is also critical.

But can cinema also be a good teacher?

Obviously there are plenty of things in the average Hollywood flick that are ridiculous and far from accurate when it comes to real-life disaster scenarios.

But others have gone to great lengths to be as realistic as possible, and seeing these situations play out on the big screen, before the real stuff happens, can be a great way to start thinking about what you would do in a similar situation, if you ever found yourself in it.

Many of them are pure survival films after being lost in the wilderness, others are prepper-minded but all are thought provoking and depict the kind of desperate scenarios that may well occur someday.

(in alphabetical order)
All is Lost (starring Robert Redford)
Cast Away (starring Tom Hanks)
Goodbye World
Panic Room (starring Jodie Foster)
Red Dawn (starring Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen)
The Edge (starring Anthony Hopkins)
The Road (starring Viggo Mortenson)
The Snow Walker
The Way Back (starring Ed Harris)
Wrecked(Starring Adrian Brody)

Obviously there are many, many other great films with these themes of lost, wrecked and left alone to survive.

What do you think are the best films with a survival, prepping or SHTF mentality as a major part of the plotline?

Preparing For Worst Case Scenarios: Using Pop Culture Media as a Forecasting and Training Tool

The Prepper Movie: When Survival Is All That’s Left

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

Dawn of the Homemade #Submarine: “Potentially Intriguing Vessel For A Post-Apocalyptic #World”

May 7, 2016 by mac slavo

No doubt it’s stealthy, and it’s homemade.

A Chinese man, reportedly a farmer, debuted this one-man semi-submarine which he invented and won a patent for. Basically shaped into a steer-cigar tube with a hatch and a propeller system, it costs only around $760. RT reported:

Zhang Shengwu, a 51yo farmer, received a Chinese government patent for a submarine he designed and built himself for around 5,000 Yuan (€670 / $760).

Here’s the video:

It is a potentially intriguing vessel for a post-apocalyptic world of human ingenuity and a pestering will to survive, maybe situated somewhere between Mad Max and Waterworld. The only problem?

It doesn’t actually dive to the depths like a full-blown submarine equipped for modern warfare. At best, it only submerges 1 meter, or around 3 feet… basically putting it back in boat category.

On the other hand, it could be utilized for stealth escape or travel in a crisis. More likely, it will just stand out on the waterways as a unique contraption.

Or, maybe it could spawn a new market of semi-submersible sport craft, or constitute an intimidating fleet of Chinese pirates who could hunt you down at around 7 nautical miles per hour.

Either way, it is inventive. Not bad start for a peasant farmer living under tyranny…

Can any of you preppers build a better or more ingenious one?

If you don’t have time for such an elaborate mechanism, here’s how you could improvise a personal water craft in a survival situation – out of next to nothing.

After the Collapse: Six Likely Events That Will Follow an Economic Crash

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

#Survival #Communications After a Collapse: “Pringles Can And Broadband Routers Could Create a WiFi Network”

May 6, 2016 by mac slavo

Are you truly prepared to survive what is coming?

It could prove to be the darkest period yet for modern civilization and the age of technocracy.

An EMP, a natural disaster, a nuclear attack, an economic collapse or a declaration of martial law rank among just some of the worst scenarios that could befall our society. And if you are not prepared, you will fall along with the masses.

Not long ago, the London Guardian interviewed global crisis expert and author Nafeez Ahmed, extracting lots of great info to think about prepping for survival.

Ahmed, who was involved with advising on a video game that included realistic portrayals of crisis aftermath, brought up lots of good points, including basics like:

1. Don’t hole up alone with hundreds of tins of baked beans
“There’s a survivalist response which is ‘I’m going to hide away all by myself’,” says Ahmed. “You’re probably not going to survive like that – you have to cooperate with other people… The more people who band together, the more likely you are to be able to rebuild something like a society.

2. You need to go rural … but not too rural
“Cities are found to be extremely vulnerable simply because there are so many supply chains that are interdependent… People will be competing with each other for these scarce resources, which creates violence… You need a group of differently skilled people who can work cooperatively in order to build your own supply chains and flourish…”

3. You need access to running water and agricultural land
“There’s also the need to grow your own food,” says Ahmed. “Again you’re better off doing that with a group of people on a large area of land where you can apportion labour. That’s not going to work as well in an urban environment.”

5. Don’t necessarily trust the government or law enforcement
All major governments have contingency plans in place to ensure their survival after a global disaster…. What we can be fairly certain of, however, is that it will involve the suspension of constitutional government and the instalment of martial law. To some degree.

But the most interesting discussion was on communications during a survival situation.

Of course, a lot of it has been brought up by different survival sources, but it is amazing how inventive people could be in setting up networks, even if the main internet went offline or was inaccessible.

4. Establish communications
The basic method of acquiring information will be a wind-up or solar-powered radio. However, to actually communicate with the outside world, or with members of your community, you may be back to walkie-talkies, two-way radios or even a citizen band radio…

Apparently, using a few repurposed items in tandem with alternative sources of energy could go a long way, and in the right configuration might even successfully set up a worthwhile local network.

If the internet providers and content sources go down, you can go it alone on a small scale, according to Ahmed:

Your best option, then, may be to set up your own community computer network – and the most sensible technology would be Wi-Fi, as the components are easily available. “You could loot a PC World for broadband routers and then hit a garage or supermarket for some Pringles cans,” says Bloch. “With those, you can probably build a reasonable network across a scorched suburb.”

Why a Pringle can? Well, it can be used to create a cantenna which would be capable of boosting a Wi-Fi signal from your computer. “Some students in Kansas made a cantenna that transmitted over 100 miles a few years ago,” says Bloch. He suggests using a cheap Raspberry Pi as the combined communications hub and router (although a basic netbook may be a good alternative). “I ran an old Pi off four AA batteries for four hours just to play a video game a while back, and that was wasting power on bluetooth and speakers. They can shift a lot of traffic, and run little servers, so I imagine you could run tiny hubs off a car battery for 1-2 weeks at a time.

“If you ran an old-school email network off those, it’d be quite handy and expandable piece by piece as you contacted neighbouring villages, cleared the zombies out, etc. I guess that’s the nice thing about the internet: the oldest protocols still adapt to this situation. I think some people really want to see this happen, just so they can prove it.”

A Pringles can to create a “cantenna” for wifi transmission? That bears some further explanation:

Getting a wifi antenna from pringles tube (DIY Cantenna)

Along with a number of low tech alternatives, there is also the chance that you and a network of survivors could piece together a wireless mesh network with radios or cell phones:

Broadband Over Radio Wireless Mesh Network Experimentation for Emergency Communications

It’s all very technical, so if you are serious about survival, it is obviously essential to test it before things collapse. Nevertheless, it offers up some rewarding possibilities.

According to Ahmed, who posts his work regularly to his personal website, it would be

“a long time before everything is safe… If you really wanted to stay safe, I think you’ll need to survive for a decade before civilisation sorts itself out.”

There are too many scenarios to list here, and every reason to think the world is titled towards ensuing chaos, and a grander attempt at “order out of chaos” than anyone has yet seen.

Top 10 Survival Downloads You Should Have

Deadly Reliance on Tech: “If Internet Goes Down… Preppers Will Be Last Ones Standing”

This Rural Community Stopped “Relying on Corporate America” and Created its Own Internet Service

How To Survive Occupied America: “We Will Eventually Face a Totalitarian Dictatorship”

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

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

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

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

Everything We Need to Know About #Survival, We Can Learn from a Missing #Cat

April 19, 2016 by daisy luther

April 19, 2016

Remember how I told you that the day we moved, our beloved kitty escaped out a window into the forest and our missing cat was never heard from again?

Well guess what?

He’s HOME!

How the Misadventure Began

Sylvester has always been a skittish cat. We got him when he was just a few weeks old, after some horrid person had tossed him and his sibling into a trash can to be picked up on garbage day. He was starving and scrawny, and my daughter fell madly in love with him, setting her alarm to bottle feed him in the middle of the night.

I guess you could say, he’s always been a survivor. Soon, he had become healthy and basically took over like a little 2-pound purring dictator.

Fast forward to a year and a half later. Sylvester was a big, beautiful, luxurious house cat and the adored companion of my teenage daughter. His hobbies were jumping on our elderly cat, swatting the dogs tail, and scratching things he wasn’t supposed to scratch.

Then, just over a month ago, we moved to our new home on the edges of a national forest. I brought the cats and dogs over myself, in the back of my Jeep. I put the cats into the bathroom and shut the door. But what I should have done was shut the windows, because unbeknownst to me, the screen on one of them was not in properly.

When we went in later to bathe the cats because of an unfortunate incident during the car ride, Sylvester was gone.

We searched frantically, long after dark, calling him, shaking treat containers, opening cans of cat food. It was all to no avail. Our cat, who had never been outside at all, was lost in the deep dark forest.

Over the next few days, we did all the things you’re supposed to do when you have a missing cat. We put up lost kitty ads, we canvassed the neighbors, we put his litter box and some personal items outside hoping he’d find his way home.

He never did. After a couple of weeks went by, we were pretty sure that something had eaten him. There is quite frequently evidence of bears and mountain lions in the forest around our property, and he would have been a big, tasty meal for them. My poor daughter was broken-hearted.

The Return of Our Missing Cat

A couple of days ago I was walking out the front door to water the herb garden when I startled a cat on the upper patio. It took off before I could do anything more than stand there with my mouth open but I was pretty sure it was our missing cat. After all, how many fluffy gray and white kitties could there possibly be in the forest?

We went out and called for him to no avail, but I put out a dish of food and water on the patio. The next morning it was gone, but of course, we had no way of knowing if it was eaten by the kitty or something else.

The vet here in town lends out live traps in certain situations, so we picked one up the following afternoon. Within an hour of putting in the stinkiest cat food I could find, we heard a rattling. As we sat there and watched, hardly daring to move, a skittish, skinny kitty suspiciously sniffed all around the trap. Finally, the hunger was too much for him and he went in and ….

We have our cat back!

He was frantic when we caught him, absolutely terrified, and it took him a few minutes to recognize us. We carried the trap into the house and went into the bathroom with it so we could release him in a controlled area. After about 15 minutes of hand feeding little bites of kitty kibble, he was back with his mama.

He’s headed to the vet today for a check-up, but here’s our initial assessment.

He has assorted small wounds – gouges, scratches, etc.
He lost TEN pounds. He’s gone from a huge, kind of chubby cat, to a lean, mean, surviving machine.
He has what seems to be a hernia on his belly.
He somehow got a claw ripped out of his back paw.
He had a lot of ticks, which we’ve been patiently removing.

But holy cow. I can’t believe our pampered house pet survived in the forest for this long.

Survival Lessons from Sylvester

It really got me thinking about how unprepared most of us would be to survive in the forest alone for a month. You know, Sylvester didn’t pack a bug-out bag before his journey. He didn’t have food stored or a canteen of water or a firestarter. He only had the weapons nature provided him: his claws, his agility, and his speed.

Maybe the lessons from Sylvester aren’t absolutely everything you need to know about survival, but he covered the basics – you just have to fill in the skills to achieve those basics.

The main lessons are these.

Find something to drink. It would have been a lot more difficult for him in another location. Fortunately, we live right on a mountain stream, so water was abundant.
Find something to eat. You don’t get to be picky and you have to figure out how to catch it and kill it yourself. Obviously he found something to sustain him, although not much, given his extreme weight loss.
Hide from the things that want to eat you. There are all sorts of predators out in the woods that are just as hungry as you are. On their side is the fact that they are used to hunting and you are not. Find a place to hide where you are hard to get to.
Stay warm. It dropped below freezing for several nights, and we also had a lot of rain during his misadventure. Somehow, he managed to stay warm and dry enough to survive.

Here’s our boy’s before and after picture. Poor fellow sure is happy to be home. I’ll add an update after we see the vet!

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

#Venezuela Rations #Power to Avert Collapse: “Do You Think It Can’t Happen Here?”

April 12, 2016 by contributing author

This article was written by Daisy Luther and originally published at The Organic Prepper.

Editor’s Comment: It is indeed difficult to imagine life in the United States without power, and with such severe shortages that the government would have to excuse away the shortfalls, and divvy out what remains with an iron fist… or is it?

On a daily basis, we here about how divided the world has become, how impoverished, and how close the economic system to collapse. Could it… really… happen here?

Venezuela Shows Us What an Electricity Shortage Looks Like

by Daisy Luther

The SHTF might be a lot more subtle than an EMP or a massive natural disaster. We preppers tend to think in black and white, but there are some gray threats out there that few are considering. What if, instead of a total power outage, our country suffered a serious electricity shortage?

That’s exactly what has been going on in Venezuela, since they don’t have enough problems running out of food and other supplies in a previous development of the excruciating economic collapse of the country.

In the latest installment of collapse propaganda, bus-driver-turned-Venezuelan-President Nicholas Maduro offered some beauty advice. He wants the women of Venezuela to stop using hair dryers to save electricity aside from special occasions. He said, “I always think a woman looks better when she just runs her fingers through her hair and lets it dry naturally. It’s just an idea I have.”

This sage advice came along with announcements of further cuts and suggestions. State employees will now have Fridays off for at least the next two months, and he also recommended that citizens make small changes, like “embracing the tropical heat and hanging clothes out to dry instead of using tumble dryers.” (source)

The electricity shortage has been going on for almost a year.

This isn’t a new issue, but a worsening one. In May of 2015, they tried to sugar coat the rationing of electricity by saying they were just being green. Vice President Jorge Arreaza explained:

This is, of course, linked to global warming and the excessive industrialization of capitalism, which never stops, nor has ever stopped, for the effects that it can have on the climate, on society and on Mother Earth.

When the electricity concern began, public employees saw their work hours cut to 6 per day. Businesses were required to reduce their usage by 10% and new laws permitted police visits to inspect the businesses to ensure that they weren’t exceeding their allotments.

In February, citizens who were already facing shortages and long lines for items like cooking oil, laundry soap, diapers, and food were absolutely stunned when shopping centers were forced to shut off power from 1:00 to 3:00 pm and again from 7:00 to 9:00 pm in a measure to save electricity.

The rationing in Venezuela is a cautionary tale.

Here’s why we need to pay attention to what’s going on in Venezuela: It provides a modern-day glimpse into what an economic collapse really looks like, much like the collapse of Greece was a cautionary tale. These are both direct case studies of what happens to the middle class during an economic collapse.

Previously, I wrote about how it could happen here. (Excerpt)

These mandated power rations, the limited amounts of food, the government-funded snitches, the tracking, and most of all, the propaganda, are all what await us in an economic collapse situation. While the Venezuelan government will be facing no limits on their use of electrical power, the people will only be allowed allotted amounts.

Do you think it can’t happen here? Consider the forced rationing of water amidst the drought in California. Rationing that only applies to regular folks, not wealthy people or massive corporations.

It’s obvious that the state really is in the midst of an epic drought. But conservation mandates are not applied equally, much like the electricity rationing in Venezuela.

Golf courses for the rich and famous remain lush and green, while wells across the state run dry. Ordinary people aren’t allowed to have lawns or to even have vegetable gardens, and newspapers are calling upon “good Samaritans” to snitch if they feel someone is wasting water. There’s even an app for that, and Smart Meters are in place to target wasters. (Unless they happen to be wealthy corporations, of course. They have different rules and snitching on them will do no good.)

One small community, Outingdale, just received word that strict rationing is now in effect. Residents will be allowed only 50 gallons per day, per person, and no outside watering of any kind will be permitted. This is not good news for folks who rely on their vegetable gardens for food. Meanwhile, the Nestle corporation is busy pumping out the state’s remaining water, bottling it, and selling it back to people for an enormous profit.

Anyway, back to electricity.

I’m reminded of the series, The Hunger Games, in which residents of the outlying districts are only allowed power when the Capitol deems they should have it, such as when they want to air propaganda “entertainment” to keep people in line. In the movie, citizens of the Districts were relegated to cooking over open fires and lighting their rooms with candles. No one had transportation or power. They were not allowed to hunt to supplement their meager food allotments and in the heroine’s District, they were not allowed to use the coal the area was rich with. Uniformed “peacekeepers” patrolled the districts to ensure that the rules were strictly adhered to and that the excruciating poverty was the standard for all residents.

With the widespread installation of mandatory Smart Meters, how difficult would it be to forcibly ration our electricity here?

They can already remotely turn off appliances they deem are using too much energy. At the press of a few keys on a central computer, our electricity usage could be monitored to make sure we stay within the designated limits, strictly slotted to only certain hours of the day, or even cut off entirely if we exceed our rations. It may not even be direct rationing that cuts us off, as it is in Venezuela. As prices of electricity keep climbing, how extreme is it to think that one of these days, electricity might only be for rich people?

However it goes down you can be sure that no one in the government will admit to mismanagement or a desire to enhance control and dependency. It will be couched in warm, fuzzy terms of saving the planet from carbon emissions, much like the propaganda coming out of Venezuela. It’s easy for us to see it when it happens to them, but many people here are so deeply entrenched in cognitive dissonance that they’ll swallow the green pill with a smile, moving into their Agenda 21 microhomes and martyring themselves for the good of Team Green. (Find the original article HERE)

So…what if electricity was only for rich people?

It’s not that far-fetched, and if you don’t fall into the category of “rich people” it is definitely something you should prepare for.

What if the Big Event isn’t an EMP, but that no one could afford to pay the electric bill? Power prices are going up – what if they rise to the point that it’s a choice between food and electricity? What if the lights in the middle-class neighborhoods just start going out?

Let’s face it, if you really had to pick, you’d choose to feed your kids over having the lights on, right?

What a control mechanism that would be.

What better way to return to a “Lords and Serfs” lifestyle than the strong visible delineation of who has power and who does not?

The rationing of electricity or the lack of affordability would change life as we know it. Our society is incredibly dependent on the power grid, not only to keep us comfortable, but also to keep us entertained. We’ve grown soft. As well, we depend on others having access to electricity to make our lives easier by keeping us fed and clothed, and by making the things we purchase easily accessible to us.

Here’s how to maintain your independence throughout an electricity shortage.

You don’t have to return to serfdom, though. The steps you take and the things you learn now can help you overcome any hardships presented by the lack of affordable “necessities.”

Learn to provide your own food.

If the stores are closed or supplies are limited because manufacturing plants can’t produce food, you’ll have to provide for yourself.

Grow a garden
Raise chickens and rabbits,
Join a food co-op,
Try hydroponics or aquaponics
Sprout seeds for added nourishment
Grow salad veggies in the windows
Preserve your harvest through canning and drying
Save your seeds so you can do it all again next year!

For more self-reliance information, be sure to check out this round-up manifesto with more than 300 resources!

Reduce your dependence on the power grid and use less.

If prices skyrocket, there are lots of things you can do to cut your usage. Before anyone starts arguing that this is “caving in” to the demands of those who are rationing power, (because there’s always someone who says that) sometimes it’s a matter of personal economic survival. Whoever survives, wins.

If it’s a matter of the price of power skyrocketing, your ability to use minimal electricity may allow you to still afford to use a freezer, a laptop, or a medical device. It only makes sense that the less dependent on the grid you are, the less you will be affected by a shortage.

Lights: Solar garden lights, candles, kerosene lights
Cooking: Wood stove, nutritious home-canned meals that only require reheating, stock up on buckets of meals that only require the ability to boil water, cast-iron dutch ovens to use on the wood stove, sun oven, outdoor fireplace, meals that don’t require any cooking.
Refrigeration: Pack a large cooler with snow in the winter and use it indoors, get a plastic storage bench that is lockable to be used outdoors in the winter (the lock is to keep 4 legged critters out of it), root cellar for summer, using a spring or creek to keep perishables cool, change of eating habits in summer. (See how this family lives without a refrigerator entirely.)
Water: Back-up manual or solar pump for your well, 1-month supply of drinking water stored, water filtration system with extra filters, buckets along with a wagon or wheelbarrow for hauling water from a nearby source, rain barrels to collect water, direct the gray water from your washing machines to reservoirs for flushing or watering plants (Here’s a link to my book on water survival.)
Laundry: Hand wash, hang dry.
Entertainment: Solar chargers for small devices, read books, play games, engage in productive hobbies.
Heat: This assumes you have power. Without electricity, see the suggestions in the next section. Run the heat briefly to take the chill off. Keep blinds open if there is some solar gain, otherwise keep windows insulated against drafts to keep the heat in.
Keeping cool: Check out this article for ways to stay cool without using an air conditioner.

Find other ways to stay warm.

If you can’t afford to run your central heat, it’s important to have back-up methods for staying warm.

This article was written by Daisy Luther and originally published at The Organic Prepper.

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

Man #Fined for Vegetable #Garden: “Harassed Over Growing His Own Food”

April 4, 2016 by contributing author

This article was written by Lily Dane and originally published at The Daily Sheeple.

Editor’s Comment: This personalized and local form of tyranny is becoming all-too-familiar. It is utterly clear that the powers-that-be hope you and yours never become self-sufficient and able to feed your family. How many towns have cracked down on this simple and uplifting activity that used to be encouraged by the government, but is now enough to initiate a SWAT raid, fines or worse?

Few things are more empowering and important in a situation where your income is cut off, or food simply becomes unavailable at the stores in your area. Despite the attempt to intimidate individuals out of gardening, there is every reason to start growing your own, and encourage others to do so as well.

Man Harassed and Fined for Planting Vegetables in His Own Garden

by Lily Dane

A family in Sugar Creek, Missouri grew the beautiful vegetable garden in the photo above.

They’ve been given four days to tear out the entire garden or face a fine.

Why? Because it is in their front yard, and city officials and a few neighbors don’t like it.

Nathan Athans said he planted the garden in his front yard because it gets optimal sunlight. His backyard only gets sunshine for about two hours per day, and only in certain areas.

Athans told KSHB that he grows several different types of vegetables on his lawn and loves tending to his garden.

I’d probably say about 300 hours [so far this year], I spend all my free time out here.

I want my family to know where their food is coming from, I don’t want to have to go to the grocery store and worry about what was done to that food.

Last summer, the city cited Athans for weeds in his garden, and he complied with the order to clean things up, and paid the fine.

But now, the city has passed a shiny new ordinance – one that Athans believes is part of a witch hunt against him.

The family started an online petition, which explains why they feel targeted:

The city of Sugar Creek, Missouri passed an ordinance two days ago on March 28th, forbidding front yard gardens to grow food, within the first 30 feet of front yard space from the street. Mayor Matt Mallinson both passed and approved this ordinance. They gave us until April 1st to comply. We are the only house in the city with a front yard garden, and just happen to be exactly within those first 30 feet. They have been targeting us since we moved in last year, because we grew a garden in the front yard.

The city’s building official, Paul Loving, told KSHB that city received many complaints and that the ordinance is their solution.

The petition goes on to explain the reasons the garden is so important to Athans and his family:

We believe in sustainability, growing our food locally without pesticides and excessive fertilizer use, reducing our need for fossil fuels to import produce from other countries, countries that have little or no regulations on pesticide use. Sugar Creek is also prone to flooding, as it is located next to the Missouri River, so using our yard for growing plants instead of grass is beneficial because our garden takes in water as well as holding the soil together to prevent erosion, all while filtering out pollutants. It has helped our basement not flood during storms, prevented storm water runoff pollution, reduced fossil fuel use, helped us eat healthier, and prevented us from consuming pesticides and GMOs.

Unfortunately, Athans isn’t the first to be subjected to harassment over growing his own food. People have been charged with crimes, threatened with jail time, and had their property destroyed for growing gardens in their own yards.

Remember, in the US, you never truly own anything.

This article was written by Lily Dane and originally published at The Daily Sheeple.

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

Could You Escape Your #Vehicle In a #Disaster? “The Potential Is All Too Real”

April 4, 2016 by mac slavo

Disaster could come anytime, anywhere. It could be a widespread, system-wide event, or it could be a personal crisis.

Hopefully you have your home and family as prepared as you can be for any and all such SHTF situations.

But what about your vehicle?

Countless hours and miles are covered in our cars and trucks, and the road can lead us anywhere.

What happens in the event of a natural disaster that could sweep your vehicle into flooded waters, or turn your vehicle over in a ditch or a road side?

Obviously the potential for serious injury or death is all too real. The open road is one of the single most dangerous factors in the American lifestyle, and car accidents are one of the leading causes of premature death.

Worst of all, auto accidents and severe road hazards are completely unpredictable in most situations.

Son of Liberty shares some very prudent and important preps that he has installed in his truck to deal with the many possibilities that could arise while on the road and in the vehicle:

Of course, a emergency medical kit, a tourniquet and a bug out bag are all essentials to keep in your car, and take with you everywhere you go. These devices can and will save lives when first responders are still on their way, or even unavailable.

But here are a few additional installations that can be added to your vehicle to protect you and your loved ones:

– Auto Escape Strap Cutter and Glass Breaker Tool: Simple and inexpensive devices like Auto Escape Strap Cutter and Glass Breaker Tool this one made by Gerber Gear could save your life. This man installed one on each side of the vehicle so that any passenger could easily reach and uses it to cut their seat belt strap and break out a window to escape, even if the worst should happen to the driver or alpha member of the group.

Here’s a demonstration of how it would work:

– Tactical Visor: This inexpensive organizer goes over your existing sun visor and allows you to keep much more than just sunglasses. This simple solution can hold scissors, medical supplies, communications devices and other tools you may need in an emergency.

– Raptor Emergency Medical Tool: These scissors and multi-tools are designed to fold up for tight storage and protect sharp edges in case it flies loose in a moving vehicle or other situation. Its applications are numerous, but obviously it could help to administer first aid, or free you from being trapped in a wrecked vehicle.

– Mobile HAM Radio: This device can be mounted in your vehicle and independently powered for emergency communications with police and emergency workers, or other individuals in situations where your cell phone has no service, or is dead, lost or forgotten. It can and will save your life and keep you from being stranded in an already-bad situation.

–Locking Gas Cap: In the event of a SHTF collapse, zombie apocalypse or even a stranding situation, fuel may become scarce, and you’ll want to keep any gas you have in your tank. A simple and inexpensive locking gas cap can deter thieves and looters from siphoning off the fuel in your vehicle’s tank. If the supply chain does break down, or you have to bug out into the wilderness for help, it will be essential to keep whatever is left for when you might need it. This won’t make stealing your fuel impossible, but it will significantly deter those looking for a quick score.

–Fire Extinguisher for Electrical/Gas Fires: If a serious collision or impact takes place, fire could easily engulf your vehicle – and having a fire extinguisher rated to put out electrical and gas fires is critical, as they are the most common fires in vehicles. This one is compact and handles all these contingencies.

Of course there are many other supplies and preps you may want to consider for your vehicle, and there are obviously many situations where your car could become inoperable or impractical to use.

Nevertheless, having these items installed and ready in your transportation will keep you ready to survive and save the lives of others in numerous possible circumstances.

Stay vigilant, and please add any other important preps you have considered for your car, truck, boat or RV.

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

Denial is a River in the USA: No to Tiny Homes, #Veggie #Gardens, the Words “Islamic Terror,” Old Remedies

April 2, 2016 by daisy luther

April 2, 2016

In this week’s Survival Saturday round-up, the news topics are all about denial: saying no and burying our heads in the sand here in the good old US of Nay. Steps toward personal independence? NO. Saying the words “Islamic terror?” NO. Using an ancient remedy Big Pharma can’t patent? NO. Calling a shovel a spade and discussing the real cause of antibiotic resistance? NO. NO. NO. Personal freedom and awareness are positively radical, folks. Cognitive dissonance, that’s what is encouraged.

Survival Saturday is a round-up of the week’s news and resources for folks who are interested in being prepared.

This Week in the News

Here are the stories that caught my attention this week. You may notice a bit of a theme.

Will tiny homes and gardens become illegal?

If you don’t live the 9-5, consumerist, processed-food-soylent-green, compliant lifestyle of the majority of Americans, you can look for the things you do to become increasingly illegal. Who knew that living on the road or growing veggies would make you an outlaw one day? Here are two examples of overreaching laws meant to quash independence that are getting attention this week:

Soon it may be illegal to live in your RV or tiny house. HUD wants to pass a law requiring manufacturers to label tiny homes and RVs that they are not for full-time occupancy. Everyone who knows how the government works knows that this is merely a slippery slope. Once they’ve been declared “not homes” then a precedent has been set to make it illegal to live in them. (How dare you avoid paying 40% of your income to remain sheltered, peasant? You’ll stay indebted to your overlords for your housing!)

With another spring comes another front yard vegetable garden to be destroyed. A Missouri man is under pressure to rip out his vegetable garden or face the consequences. Last year he was fined for having weeds in his garden, and this year, he’s being fined for having it at all due to a brand new city ordinance aimed at him. (How dare you grow your own food, peasant? You’ll eat what we dole out!) If you want to be all brassy and grow food out there where everyone can see it, apparently you need to be stealthy. (This book can help.)

The Antibiotic Resistance Apocalypse Approacheth

Did you even know that there was a “national action plan” to fight antibiotic resistance? No? Neither does anyone else, and for good reason. President Obama’s carefully chosen “council” is ignoring the number one cause of antibiotic resistance while developing their plan: agricultural antibiotic use. “There are no targets—none—to reduce agricultural use of antibiotics, even as the council presses for reductions in the amount of antibiotics prescribed to people.” Emphasis mine. As politicans (and people in the pockets of politicians) it’s anethama to tick off the big spenders in Big Agri.

Back in 2014, blogger Lizzie Bennet from the UK warned that this was the biggest threat to mankind, bigger, even, than a nuclear holocaust, an asteroid strike, or societal collapse. “Children will die of tonsillitis, any type of orthopaedic surgery will become a lottery as infection in the bone is most unlikely to be survivable without antibiotics. Most forms of chemotherapy will be useless as antibiotic therapy is run alongside the treatment. Organ transplant patients are plagued by infections, none of which would be treatable. People would once again become insane as a side effect of syphilis, and other sexual transmitted diseases would run rampant through society.” (Read the rest of her well-thought-out warning HERE.)

There are options, of course. Did you know that a thousand year old Anglo-Saxon potion was found to be extremely effective against deadly, antibiotic resistant MRSA? It could be worrisome that the ingredients are unlikely to be patented by anyone in Big Pharma. The potion is a combination of simple things like onion, garlic, wine, and oxgall (cow bile.) Have you noticed that unless Big Pharma can make Big Money, effective remedies get hushed up? The remedy was rediscovered last year and the deaths from MRSA, particularly prevalent in hospital settings, just keep piling up. You simply can’t rely on these corporations. It’s time to begin learning how to make your own remedies whenever possible.

If you don’t say “Islamic Terror” there is no Islamic terror

Remember on Scooby Doo back when we were kids how Shaggy and Scooby would huddle in a corner, scrunch their eyes shut, and Shaggy would chant, “I don’t believe in ghosts, I don’t believe in ghosts” over and over, even though there was a giant apparition looming over them? That seems to be the reaction of the White House to Islamic terrorism. In fact, they won’t even let anyone else say it. Check out how they edited a video of French President Hollande denouncing Islamic terror by removing those words. They are carefully nurturing a culture of cognitive dissonance, and unfortunately, the greater majority of the public will only wake up when something irrefutable happens in their own backyard.

Author Salman Rushdie says this is a terrible mistake. “…if you have a group of murderers who say–all of them–that they do it in the name of a particular prophet and a particular ideology, to say it’s not about that is just self-evidently evading the truth.”(You may recall that Rushdie’s irreverent depiction of the Prophet Muhammed in his book, The Satanic Verses, prompted the Ayatollah Khomeini to issue a fatwa for Rushdie’s death in 1989.)

Anyway, we should all stop being silly about the Muslim immigrants. They’re working hard to assimilate. To prove it, click here to see a quick video of them marching through the streets in Germany, chanting, “With Allah’s help, we shall conquer you!” They just want to be loved and accepted, duh.

The Bookshelf

I’ve been slacking on The Bookshelf lately because, well, I haven’t been reading as much, what with our recent move. Thankfully, things have settled down and I got to curl up and do some reading. (It didn’t hurt that I was without internet for a week and a half!) Here are this week’s picks for the books you need to have on your own bookshelf.

Prepper’s Natural Medicine: Life-Saving Herbs, Essential Oils and Natural Remedies for When There is No Doctor

Remember how we were just taking about antibiotic resistance and simple remedies that you can make yourself, since you sure won’t get them from the doctor? Well, here’s your guide. You don’t have to pour over dusty archaic texts and try to figure out what oxgall is. Cat Ellis did it for you and she wrote this incredible book about home remedies. The ingredients are accessible, and you can grow many of them yourself. This book is loaded with safe, effective, and tested remedies that you can use to treat yourself if you find yourself in a situation in which professional medical care is not an option. The author is a long-time herbal practitioner and her advice is expert, easy-to-follow, and perfect for preppers. Get this book, then make a list of what you can grow and what you need to acquire.

Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal

First, let me say this right off the bat. I have the world’s biggest brain crush on Joel Salatin. I admire his work, his libertarian views, and his farming skills. This book sealed the deal for me. And considering the first topic of the discussion today, it couldn’t be more appropriate. It’s an enjoyable read that holds your interest while providing the facts about the food industry and exactly WHY everything we want to do is illegal. (SPOILER: It’s money. It’s always about the money.) Even if you never intend to plant a seed, you need to read this book, because you eat food, don’t you? ????

Straw Bale Gardens Complete

I’m strongly considering straw bale gardening this summer, and a book by Joel Karsten that I just picked up is pretty compelling. It’s relatively inexpensive, it doesn’t matter what your soil is like, and it’s apparently incredibly effective. “Straw Bale Gardens Complete contains all of the original information that has set the gardening world on fire. But it also goes much deeper, with nearly 50 pages of all-new advice and photos on subjects such as growing in a tight urban setting, making your straw bale garden completely organic, and using new fertilizers and conditioning products. There is even information on using straw bale techniques to grow veggies in other organic media for anyone who has a hard time finding straw.”

The Self-Reliance Weekly Report links you to all the best articles relating to prepping, homesteading, DIY, and independence.

This week, the topic is setting up your homestead as quickly and inexpensively as possible. Whether you’ve just moved (like me) or you want to turn your existing property into a more self-sufficient one, these tips from experts around the web will help you get the job done on a dime.

Click here to check out The Self-Reliance Weekly Report!

The Shopping Cart

This is the area for bargains, things I bought, and cool places to shop.

This week I ordered some signs from Amazon to increase the security of my homestead I’m posting these on my gates, and posting regular no-trespassing signs on the perimeter of the property.

This one is meant to warn strangers about the potential of being eaten by my 160 pound guard dog, Thor. I thought of putting up a regular “beware of dog” sign, but people aren’t always smart and I decided to be a little more blunt. My dog isn’t vicious, but he’s territorial, and no one gets past him without an invite from his mama.

Order it here

I don’t have a camera pointed at my gate just because I want to take pictures. I want people to KNOW I’m taking pictures. My home is pretty remote, and out here, a lot of people are serious about security. Therefore, having a camera at the gate is not a big red flag that says “There’s lots of stuff to steal here!”

A sign announcing a video camera is proven to be a better deterrent than signs that say your home is monitored by a security company. (Especially if you actually have a video camera.) A criminal will often head for a house to rob where they are less likely to see themselves on the evening news.

Order it here

Anything to add to Survival Saturday?

Do you have any news links you want to share? Now’s the time! You are absolutely welcome to post your links in the comments below. (Your participation is what makes this feature so unique out here in Bloggerland!)

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

March 25, 2016 by mac slavo

Whether you are just starting out with prepping and are figuring out what to focus on first, or whether you are a veteran prepper tracing over your plans for potential flaws, you can always make improvements.

These videos can help you cover the essentials, boil down to the most important factors and start actually putting your preps into action.

Don’t wait until the trouble starts, because it will already be too late.

How would you survive if the food supplies stall out, the economy and digital grid crashes, or para-government forces unleash a round-up plan?

Have you made your family as secure as they can be with stored goods, equipment and a fool proof bug out plan for continuity of life off the grid?

There are some good answers on where to start and how to account for just about everything, but the point is that you must start somewhere.

For beginners, the best tip may be to start small and build up from there as you learn what you’re doing:

10 Tips for New Preppers: Supplies, Survival food and Emergency Essentials

Survival Know How explains his Top 10 Tips For New Preppers:

1. Start small. There is no need to prepare for the zombie Apocalypse if you don’t have enough supplies to last you 3 days without power.
2. Start with Food and Water. To often new preppers want to focus on guns, knives and ammo. It may not be as glamorous but your first preps should be food and water.
3. Develop your skills. Prepping is not just about what you buy but is also about developing your skill set and expanding your knowledge.
4. Build a prepper community. Talk about prepping to your friends, co-workers and family.
5. Tailor your preps to your geographical location. If you live up north you need to focus on keeping warm in the winter, if you live down south you need to focus on staying cool in the summer.
6. Develop a plan B. AKA a Bug Out Bag. Bugging in should always be your plan A. Only Bug Out if you absolutely need to.
7. Practice with your preps. Having preps is not enough, you need to be proficient with them and know how to use them when shit hits the fan.
8. Use List to stay organised. Create prepper supplies list, emergency food list and anything else. This will help you stay organized and buy everything you need.
9. Get into shape. When the shit hits the fan and you are forced to fend for your self you want to be in the best shape possible.
10. Learn First Aid. Skills in first aid will literally save your and your family life.

Even if you have everything you need to survive at home, there are many bad situations that could force you to leave your home and seek survival somewhere else – if you can make it.

Here are some important factors to consider when planning to bug out. What will the roads and highways look like during disaster? Likely they won’t be easy to travel on, and could be downright dangerous. Foreknowledge of the back roads and other alternative means of travel are essential if you are in a serious situation.

Setting up cache sites along your bug out route could also be vital to your survival plan, particularly if your travel plans hit a snag.

Bugging Out: What to Know Before You Go! 19 Tips for Preppers for SHTF Escape Planning!

The Healthy Prepper explains her 19 Tips for Preppers for SHTF Escape Planning:

1. Know your routes.
2. Have multiple forms of travel. (car, bike, foot, zodiac etc.)
3. Preload car with bug out bag
4. Bury caches along routs.
5. Know your final destination.
6. Lay low and blend in.
7. Choose off roads, back roads etc.
8. Sleep in a different location than you cook your food or build a fire.
9. Have back up fuel on the car.
10. Keep bug out vehicle maintained and full of gas.
11. Know when it is time to go.
12.Learn to use maps, compass, star navigation
13. Expect to get lost forced off route.
14.Avoid ridge lines and tops of hills.
15. Have alternative bug out locations in mind if the first one does not pan out.
16. Practice you bug out plan with your family.
17. Know where water, food, fuel can be found along your bug out routes.
18. Be prepared for interactions with others.
19. Be prepared someone may have already pillaged for bug out location or has already set up camp there.

Realistically, you may not be able to cover all of these points, and may find some of them to be contradictions with your real world situation. Regardless, you must prepare for all eventualities.

The point is to consider the best information you can, match it up with the realities of your area, your home, your financial situation and the reliability of the people around you (or lack thereof).

Plan ahead, and avoid becoming paralyzed by fear and inaction if and when the SHTF.

5 Mistakes Every New Prepper Makes

12 Bad Strategies That Will Get Preppers Killed

Report: Feds Take Down Preppers Accused of Stockpiling Guns and Ammunition: “Federal Conspiracy Charges”

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

Surviving a #Terror Attack: Strategies To Save Lives If the Worst Happens: “Run, Hide, Fight” #Trump

March 23, 2016 by mac slavo

Terrorism is a fact of life.

The political causes and effects of it are complex, and the reaction is often used in politically expedient ways. In other words, the default is to use fear to sell an agenda – perhaps for war, security measures, diplomatic pressure.

Regardless, the chances of being caught up in the scene of an attack is very low.

But if you do find yourself in such a situation, here are some strategies to maximize your chances of survival, avoid disaster, fight back or flee and hopefully help other would-be victims get out of the way.

Hone your skills of assessment and situational awareness to make quick life-or-death decisions and avoid at all costs becoming a victim or statistic. Obviously police, SWAT and/or other forces won’t be there until after the fact, once all the victims have been killed or injured. Individuals must do something while they can.

Via Paladin Press:

How to Survive a Shooting Attack: LIVING SAFELY IN DANGEROUS TIMES

If an attacker shows up on scene, your first response should be to get out of his line of vision and avoid the assailants ability to lock eyes with and target you.

If armed, consider the reality of the situation (hopefully from cover) to decide whether or not it is your fight – quickly, but with good judgement. Sometimes it is simply better to walk away, but if you are in a position to stop a shooter and save other lives, then it may be the right decision.

Meanwhile, some police are now being trained to take out active threats…wait for it… without waiting for back-up to arrive. This is a good sign that things are turning back towards common sense, and perhaps our civilization has a chance:

No strategy will be foolproof in every situation, but this kind of training can improve your chances if the worst happens unexpectedly.

Do you have any advice to add?

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

Survival Hacks: With These 17 Tricks, You Can Improvise Through Any Crisis

March 17, 2016 by mac slavo

One part of prepping is gathering and storing lots of useful gear and supplies.

Another part is honing your skills so that you could likely manage without any of those supplies – if you had to.

This video will start you out with some tips on how to whip up some useful devices out of practically nothing.

Tips in this video:

1. Use an aluminum soda can, cut open, to reflect and magnify the light of a candle

2. Use a piece of cloth and two containers to purify dirty water by transferring through the cloth. Then boil.

3. Instantly light a fire without lighter fluid. Place charcoal briquets in the spaces of an empty egg carton, and just light the egg carton for a quick lunch out and about.

4. Use or burn rosemary, basil or other common herbs to repel mosquitoes and irritating insects

5. Create an instant solar oven by cutting open a box, lining the top and inside with foil. Just add sun, and your food can be warmed in just a short time.

6. When the compass gets lost in your gear, you can point towards north by static charging a sewing needle by rubbing it on clothing. Place the charged needle on a leaf floating in water, and you’ll find orientation by connecting man, metal and nature.

7. Combine cooking oil with a paper-towel wick in a spare can, and create an emergency candle… more expensive the more virgin and imported it is.

By starting to think this way, you can conceive of and notice hundreds of other ways to modify, improvise and “hack” your way through survival – anywhere, anytime.

Here are even more life hacks that could help in a crisis.

Perhaps even cooler are the “life hacks” presented by the CrazyRussianHacker:

His hacks include:

– Making a candle out of an orange peel, which provides container and wick, and vegetable oil (as above)

– Creating fire with an aluminum-coated gum wrapper connected to the opposite terminal ends of a AA battery (way cool)

– Make a makeshift harpoon-like weapon out of a wooden BBQ skewer, a balloon, and a stabilizing bottle top

– Open a can the Russian way: using just a knife and some strategic angles

– Pick a padlock with an aluminum scrap from a soda can

– Modify an aluminum can into an alcohol-fueled gas stove

– Use aluminum foil to create a battery-dud to complete the circuit when you only have one battery to power a flashlight that requires two.

– Power small devices with the miniature cells inside a AA battery by peeling it open, carefully

– Reconfigure paper clips into wire electrodes to connect batteries to a light bulb and create a flashlight.

Seriously, this guy is the Russian MacGyver!

Train your mind to re-envision the common items around you. Many of them can serve your survival needs and create comfort at times when there is little else around to work with.

There are infinite possibilities, and you are only limited by your cleverness once you understand the basic principles involved.

These Clever 100-Year-Old Life Hacks Can Still Make Your Life Easier Today

Can’t-Do Generation: “Expect Everything to Just Work,” and Throw Out What They Can’t Fix

How To Get a Family of Four Prepped for The Coming Collapse – In The Quickest and Easiest Way Possible…

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

Don’t Blow Your Cash On These Overrated #Survival Items: “There Really Isn’t A Good Reason For It”

March 11, 2016 by contributing author

This article was written by Joshua Krause and originally published at The Daily Sheeple.

Editor’s Comment: Not only are there lots of prepping items that are overpriced and expensive, but you may not even need it. There is quite possibly a better strategy that is usually learned only through experience and thoughtful planning– and recognizing what not to do after things go wrong.

With that in mind, the newbie prepper, as well as the veteran, should remember that blending in, lying low and adopting the “grey man” strategy may serve you better than hot-headed stockpiling of military surplus gear, and overpriced survival toys. Pace yourself, and invest in the equipment that will truly serve you in times of need, and avoid drawing too much attention to your efforts.

Five Alternatives to the Most Overrated Survival Items

by Joshua Krause

If you’re new to the prepping scene, you should probably know right off the bat that you’re about to waste a lot of money. I’m so sorry to break it to you, but it’s true. We’ve all done it. It’s practically a right of passage by now.

You’ve just become aware of how fragile our society really is, and all the horrifying ways the shit can hit the fan, and you think you have to rush out and buy a bunch of supplies and gear to survive the inevitable looting spree. There’s something you should know first though. If there is one thing that is practically guaranteed to part an otherwise smart person from their money, it is fear.

So stop, take a deep breath, and realize that in all likelihood the world is not going to end tomorrow. There may not be any serious crises for months or years. I know this (as do many other preppers) because I couldn’t possibly count the number of times I’ve heard someone I would consider reputable, sound the alarm on a possible threat.

Don’t get me wrong I’m glad they do, because it’s good that we have people who are dedicated to looking for these threats, but you should know that most of them never come to fruition. If anything, they are usually signs that our society is in a slow decline towards oblivion, rather than an explosive last hurrah. There’s still danger ahead, but when it’s all said and done, there may never be a single day that will go down in history as the day the world ended.

So now that I’ve assuaged your fears, hopefully you’re gripping your wallet a little tighter than you were before. That state of mind you’re experiencing, the one that isn’t an anxiety riddled mess, is the correct state of mind you should be in for prepping. It’s time to take a critical look at that list of supplies and gear you’re thinking of purchasing, and be prepared to cross a few items off, because some of them are highly overrated.

Canned Food and MRE’s

I don’t want to completely bash canned food. It certainly has its merits. In most cases it will last a very long time, longer than the expiration date in fact, but most canned foods aren’t very healthy. The whole canning process tends to degrade the nutritional value of the food, and most cans are laced with toxic preservatives and BPA. They’re also heavy and somewhat awkward to store. If you want to can your own food, that’s a worthy endeavor for other reasons, but to go to the store and max out your credit card on canned food is a terrible idea.

After realizing the folly of cans many preppers turn to MRE’s, but they also come with their own set of problems. For me personally, I find them to be utterly disgusting and unhealthy. They usually taste great when you’ve been hiking all day and you’re starving, but in that condition anything can taste good. I remember the first time I tried an MRE. I thought, “wow, this tastes familiar.” After looking over the ingredients, I realized that I was basically eating the same stuff that is served at McDonald’s and 7/11.

What Should You Get Instead?

Freeze dried food. Mountain House brand is the most popular, but there are several other good brands out there. It’s arguably healthier than most packaged food, and has a shelf life of 10 years or so. It’s small and lightweight, and to me at least, has an excellent flavor. The only downside is that it’s not perfectly edible out of the package. You have to add water (preferably hot), but I consider that a fair trade-off compared to the downsides of the other options. If you live in an area that would have a severe lack of water after the collapse, then maybe canned food is for you. Otherwise, freeze dried is the way to go.

Generator

This is a tough one, because I have to admit that generators can be useful for many short-term disasters. If you need to keep the lights on for a couple of days it’s a viable option, but generators may be completely useless during any long-term disaster. In that case, they become a logistical nightmare. Since it’s safe to assume that there will be gas shortages during any major disaster, do you really want to store enough gasoline to last you six months? And keep in mind that gas has a limited shelf life, and generators are usually really noisy.

Another thing to consider is energy efficiency. The majority of the electricity you use in your home goes toward appliances that provide heat. But the process of turning the combustion from your generator into electricity, and then back into heat, is incredibly inefficient. We don’t normally think about this because the power grid provides electricity at such a low-cost, (relative to a generator) so it’s not a big deal.

What Should You Get Instead?

If you live in a rural area, you might be able source wood from your environment. Otherwise, You should probably use propane for all your heating needs. There are portable stoves, lanterns, and space heaters that all run on propane. You can buy those tiny Coleman tanks for your stove, or you can buy an adapter to connect it to a larger tank. Most of the lanterns have to take the Coleman tanks, but many of the space heaters are designed for the 20lb tanks as well. It’s a pretty versatile option, and best of all, propane has a much longer shelf life than gasoline. If you have to stock up on fuel, this is definitely the superior option.

The rest of your energy needs will probably go to electronics, which will be minuscule compared to your heating needs. For that, I would take a thin and flexible 100 watt solar panel over a generator any day.

Camelbak Canteens

I’m an avid backpacker, so I think I have more experience with this than any other item on this list. For such a simple task, there is a wide variety of ways to carry water. Nowadays the most popular way is with any kind of soft, flexible canteen. They’re lightweight, easy to store, and since you can squeeze the air out of them the water doesn’t slosh around and make a lot of noise.

Over the past 10 years it seems that the Camelback and the Platypus canteens have come to dominate the market. But frankly, I’ve never been a big fan of those drink tube apparatuses, due to their maintenance needs. You have to keep the tube and the drink valve very clean if you don’t want to get any mold. It doesn’t take a whole lot of effort, but personally, I don’t want to put any more work than I have to into my canteen, and I don’t see the Camelbak giving me a huge advantage in any way.

What Should You Get Instead?

For a while I tried using bota bags, but honestly I don’t think they make them like they used to. Maybe I’m just unlucky, but I’ve tried using three different bota bags over the years, and none of them worked very well (they always leak).

If you want a really simple soft-shelled water carrier, I’d recommend the military issue bladder canteen. It holds two quarts, and has all the advantages you’d come to expect from a flexible canteen, but without any of the fuss.

Camouflage

I’d have to say, the most overrated item a prepper could buy is military camouflage. There really isn’t a good reason for it unless you live way out in the sticks, in which case you probably don’t need a military pattern. A good hunting camouflage pattern should be sufficient. And since only 18 percent of the US population lives in a rural area, it’s safe to say that camouflage isn’t really that important for most preppers. If anything, that would just make you stand out in an urban or suburban area.

Even camouflage that is specifically designed for an urban area is a bad idea. Even if it helps to conceal you in a tactical situation, it will still make you stand out in literally every other situation.

What Should You Get Instead?

Instead of camouflage, just get something that is durable, comfortable, and is dyed in solid, muted earth tones. I’m sure there’s more than one opinion on what that entails, but in this case I’m referring to brown, tan, olive drab, and gray, or at least something similar.

These colors have the advantage of being versatile. You can wear them on city streets or in suburban parks without standing out, but on the off-chance that you wind up in a rural area later on, you won’t be too obvious there either. Basically, it’s not the best you can use for any single environment, but it’s the best you can use in most environments without looking like a stereotypical survivalist.

Your best bet would probably be something made by Dickies. They make great civilian looking clothes that are just as durable as their military counterparts, and it’s not hard to find Dickies shirts and jeans that come in earth tone colors. Wrangler and Carhartt brands are also great choices.

Ballistic Plates

This one has a lot of the same problems as wearing camouflage. It’s pretty much impossible to wear these bullet proof plates without it being painfully obvious. They’re so big and heavy, that every soldier who wears them looks like some kind of sci-fi mashup with a Roman legionnaire.

That’s not to say it’s stupid. It’s probably just unnecessary. These plates are made for stopping rifle rounds, and considering the fact that only 2-3 percent of murders are committed with rifles, it’s safe to say that ballistic plates are overkill for civilians.

Keep in mind that the violent criminals you might face after the SHTF aren’t that different than the ones you might run into now. There will probably be an increase in murders committed by rifles since there would be no cops to stop people from carrying them openly, but I suspects that pistols, shotguns, bats, and knives will still be the most common murder weapons.

What Should You Get Instead?

If you even need ballistic protection to begin with, which I don’t think most people will, just an ordinary kevlar vest will do. At most you won’t need anything that is rated above level IIIa, which should stop pretty much all handgun rounds, and some shotgun rounds. They’re also lighter, breathe better in hot weather, and some are designed to be concealable. There’s no need to overdo it with a hulking rig of ballistic plates.

Now I’m sure a lot of folks will disagree parts of this list, but does it sound reasonable to you? If not, then for the benefit of anyone reading this who is new to prepping, let’s hear your opinion in the comments. And if you have any overrated boondoggles from your early prepping days that you’d rather forget, now is a good time to get it off your chest!

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