Urban Survival Skills

Wealth From the Ground

2012-02-12T06:56:00.000-08:00

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com has mentioned several times about it being a good idea to become a recipient of the Martenson Newsletters as Chris Martenson publishes newsletters and links to information of value to Survivalists and indicators of the coming collapse.

In one of his latest newsletters, Martenson post’s an article written by James Dines, titled “Owning 'Wealth In The Ground' Is Your Best Bet to Surviving the Coming 'Supernova of Inflations”. Although I have never heard of James Dines, apparently his record of making good calls is pretty strong.

Go here to read the whole article.

Dines made some pretty good comments, among them he sees the excessive credit in the financial system as having placed the global economy on a collision-course with hyperinflation. And of course we know that is true. 15+ Trillion dollar debt by the U.S. Government and really now way to fix it. Too much of an austerity program will induce a collapse as well continued spending. We have fenced ourselves in. And before some of hurl electronic bullets at me, the “we” I’m talking about is America and our elected politicians.....not “we” as Survivalists.

The rapidly increasing demand, increasing prices and shrinking supply of oil may be the catalyst. Dines predicts that at some point, when the military grasps the declining supply, they will seize the remaining supplies and you will not be able to drive your car until the last drop.

Dines states that the price of gold and silver did not go up. It is the fiat currency value that went down. Gold and silver are the ultimate money, coins of which are good anywhere in the world, no matter what is stamped on them, and that is the money. Gold (and Silver) are the only investible asset in the world that has gone up the last 11 years without interruption, and that is because they are just running the printing presses. The more they do, the more value builds into gold and silver. If a Survivalist does not have any precious metals then they run the risk of having a hole, large or small, in the plan.....plain and simple.

The point of the Wealth in the Ground article is about the only assets that would survive an economic collapse and the chaos that went with it is hard assets. Hard assets, in part being, being physical commodities, mining companies, gold and silver. When I first read the title and linked to it, I thought I would find someone advocating Wealth in the Ground” to mean,…a safe and secure survival site; a full time, year round water supply; ability to grow crops to sustain your survival family;......but Dines did not touch n that, but it is a logical extension of the wealth in the ground argument.

Anyway, a good article to read in it’s entirety and the Martenson newsletter at the very least motivates you to prep harder. He is one of many sources I tune to almost each and every day,…sometimes spending 2 or 3 minutes looking for something of interest,…and sometimes spending 20 minutes or more reading something where I’ll think,…”that’s a good point”.

Another Wilderness Survival Example

2012-02-10T04:46:00.000-08:00

Another Family Stranded in the Wilderness, Found Alive were recent headlines as a
A side line news story came out last weekend about a family of three who were lost for six days in an Oregon forest, finally rescued by a search helicopter.

The family went mushroom hunting without food, water or warm clothing. Parents Belinda and Daniel Conne and their 25-year-old son, Michael, survived by drinking water from streams and taking shelter in a hollowed-out tree.

After six days of being lost a search helicopter spotted them in a clearing where the family managed to crawl to.

Local Law Enforcement, volunteers and the Coast Guard were all involved with the search which reported only covered a 4-square-mile area. The family was in the search area but their routine of moving often and the heavy, dense trees and brush made the search very difficult. The family of three could from time to time see helicopters above them but could not signal.

Authorities said that the family was in an area where water was plentiful by food scare. The family said they considered eating their dog at one point.

This is yet another example of someone entering the wilderness, or just going through life, without rudimentary survival skills and a lack of adequate planning which would has necessitated carrying some survival tools with them.

Whenever I go practically anyway on foot I am carrying a knife, some water, a fire making capability and generally dress much warmer than needed knowing that is easier to take off clothes then it is to get warm.

Most of us have Bug Out Bags and a lengthy list of equipment, but how many of us carry the most basic kit each and every day? Such as a very small rendition of the the Bug Out Bag like a small camera case with survival items?

While I always have a knife, some water, and fire making tools I also have a small camera case that I can put on my belt just in case that route I am walking takes some unexpected twists.

The small camera case includes these items:

o Waterproof matches, cotton balls and dyer lint, a mini butane lighter all wrapped in tin foil. The tin foil can be used to create a wind break to help start a fire using the cotton balls and dryer lint as well as can become an improvised cooking pot or drinking cup.
o A couple one quarter zip locks bags that can be used to collect water or used to store tinder such as tree pitch or edible plants.
o Six or eight small salt packets taken from a restaurant used to help flavor anything cooked or to replace electro-lytes lost.
o Two small envelopes of bullion powder - also to flavor food and replace lost electro-lytes.
o Small button compass.
o Small small flashlight. I actually have two. One that uses a single AAAA battery and a photon light that uses a camera battery (120 hour life). Useful for signaling at night or for illumination to work at night.
o Four 30 foot lengths of gutted parachute line. The white strands of nylon inside paracord are very small and can be used to build a shelter; make a fishing line; improvise a snare for small game; secure a sharp rock to a straight stick for an improvised spear.
o In my older and slightly larger survival kit, I used to carry a nylon sleeping bag cover sack which folds up small and could be used to create a flotation device; a pillow; a forage bag and since it was bright orange in color - a signaling device.

I have a similar kit on each and every vest I own, using several different types of pouches such as single pistol mag pouches or utility pouches. In decades past we used to use the old military first aid kit pouch to carry a small survival kit. Some guys actually used the larger individual first aid or a NBC decon kit, both came in plastic containers, to hold their individual survival kits. Lots of good ideas out there,..in fact way too many for anyone not to pickup on one and never enter the wilderness without some type of kit.

Request for Target Source

2012-02-08T05:11:00.000-08:00

Ahmet sent us a request for a source of military targets: ”Hi, could you assist me finding information on the right suppliers of M4 Paper Target 10 Column, M240 and M249 Paper Targets, Half Body Paper Targets and Qualification Target? Thanks.”

UrbanMan replies: Ahmet, you may try Law Enforcement Targets, Inc., phone 1-888-489-7830, for some of these target needs.

Additionally, you can access a downloadable or printable pdf file of the M4 Zero target, here: 25 Meter M4 Zero Target

If any readers can assist Ahmet as well in finding what else he is looking for, please drop a line in the comment box.

One more thing Ahmet, The targets I use are just 8.5 x 11 inches white bond paper (standard printer paper) clipped, stapled, taped or glued to various scrap pieces of cardboard. If you place the white paper long axis up and down this represents the chest area on any human, obese or skinny for that matter. This is a huge cost savings if you shoot alot. And this becomes your standard for any weapon and any distances, sans zeroing and precision rifle use. I have also used 3x5 inch and 5x7 inch index cards, mostly for handgun use between distances of 3 to 15 yards. Another money saver. Scrap cardboard can be obtained practically anywhere.

cheers, be safe.

Iran and the Coming Fuel Crunch, Which May Be The Least of Our Concerns

2012-02-05T05:49:00.000-08:00

Jairo wrote and said: "Hi again Urban-Man. I don't mean to over do it. However I found this pretty alarming. The things this will do to the price of fuel in this country would most likely push our economy over the side. The price of fuel goes up- so will the price of food, staples and everything else! My preps are far from ready. However this just motivates me to press on. Stay safe, stay prepared!"

Thanks Jairo, you are absolutely right, an economic collapse would result.

Jairo also provided a link to an article about Secretary of Defense Panetta stating that Israel could strike Iran by Spring.

In the article US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta believes there is a "strong possibility" that Israel will strike Iran's nuclear installations this spring, and that President Barack Obama and Panetta are "said to have cautioned the Israelis that the United States opposes an attack, believing that it would derail an increasingly successful international economic sanctions program and other non-military efforts to stop Iran from crossing the threshold," he said.

Israeli media reported in October last year that the option of pre-emptive air strikes on Iran was opposed by the country's intelligence services but favored by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Ehud Barak. Israeli television said Mossad chief Tamir Pardo raised the possibility of a unilateral strike on Iran during a visit last week to Washington.

Additionally, WND also published an article written by Reza Kahlili is a pseudonym for a former CIA operative in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and the author of the award winning book, “A Time to Betray.” This article, titled "Global Insecurity - Iran warns world of coming great event"

This article, only excerpts are included below, details how even among crippling economic sanctions over its nuclear weapons program, Iran is continuing to prepare itself for war against the West, and now is warning of a coming great event.

“In light of the realization of the divine promise by almighty God, the Zionists and the Great Satan (America) will soon be defeated,” Ayatollah Khamenei, the Iranian supreme leader, is warning. Khamenei, speaking to hundreds of youths from more than 70 countries attending a world conference on the Arab Spring just days ago, told a cheering crowd in Tehran that “Allah’s promises will be delivered and Islam will be victorious.” Khamenei then claimed that the current century as the century of Islam and promised that human history is on the verge of a great event and that soon the world will realize the power of Allah.

Many clerics in Iran have stated that Khamenei is the deputy of the last Islamic messiah on earth and that obedience to him is necessary for the final glorification of Islam. Khamenei has been heard to say that the coming of the last Islamic Messiah, the Shiites’ 12th Imam Mahdi, is near and that specific actions need to be taken to protect the Islamic regime for upcoming events.

Mahdi, according to Shiite belief, will reappear at the time of Armageddon. Selected forces within the Revolutionary Guards and Basij reportedly have been trained under a task force called “Soldiers of Imam Mahdi” and they will bear the responsibility of security and protecting the regime against uprisings. Many in the Guards and Basij have been told that the 12th Imam is on earth, facilitated the victory of Hezbollah over Israel in the 2006 war and soon will announce publicly his presence after the needed environment is created.

Iran is speeding up completion of the nuclear bomb program in which missiles can be armed with nuclear warheads. Iran believes once that’s achieved, Iran can test a nuclear bomb, letting the world know that Iran has joined the nuclear-armed club and that any confrontation will result in destruction of much of the Western world.

The Revolutionary Guards not only can hit all U.S. bases in the Middle East with their ballistic missiles but also reach most capital cities in Western Europe. The Guards, with the help of China and North Korea, are working on intercontinental ballistic missiles. But more dangerous to America, as reported last July, is the Guards action in arming their vessels with long-range ballistic missiles and their expansion of their mission into the Atlantic Ocean, right into the Gulf of Mexico.

And here's the scary part,.....any Iranian military or commercial vessel easily could get right outside the U.S. coastline and in less than 60 seconds fire a ballistic missile armed with a nuclear payload and detonate it over U.S. skies in an electromagnetic attack that would plunge America back into the 18th century. Studies show within just one year after such an attack, two-thirds of Americans would cease to exist and the rest would live under dire conditions.

Possible scenarios that impact on us here in the states:
1. The Israeli's strike Iran, over 40% of the world's oil supplies are disrupted, economic disaster hits our homeland.
2. The Iranians strike Israel and the resulting war, no matter how short, will disrupt oil supplies - read economic disaster here in the states.
3. Possibility of Iranian sponsored nuclear strike(s) in the states, with a resulting SHTF and economic-social and basically total collapse.

Watch the video below:

Is Terrorism a Cause for SHTF?

2012-02-03T04:50:00.000-08:00

Since the startup of www.UrbanSurvivalSkills.com we have talked about the need for a detailed and substantial analysis of possible threats to you and your family's survival in order to help define the parameters of your collapse or SHTF plan. We have talked about the possibility of urban or suburban spillover demonstrations turning to riots; about possible threats from being in interest areas for the armed gangs that would certainly be created, or otherwise already exist and would increase their operational area and reach; about natural disasters and disasters from man-made catastrophes.

And now the federal government has produced a United States terrorism report detailing numbers and locations of terrorist attacks, from home grown and foreign borne or supported terrorist groups. The Blaze also posted an article entitled "Do You Live In A Terrorist Hot Spot According To This Map?", written by Liz Klimas.

Ms Klimas' source was: LaFree, Gary, and Bianca Bersani. “Hot Spots of Terrorism and Other Crimes in the United States , 1970 to 2008,” Final Report to Human Factors/Behavioral Sciences Division, Science and Technology Directorate , U.S. Department of Homeland Security. College Park, MD. Contact Information: 3300 Symons Hall, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, phone: (301) 405-, e-mail: infostart@start.umd.edu, website: www.start.umd.edu

Some of the key elements of this report:

The researchers, from the University of Maryland and University of Massachusetts-Boston, mapped all events considered terrorism since 1970 to 2008 in the United States (see map below). This established areas they deemed terrorism “hot spots” but also revealed that terrorism is actually “widely dispersed”.

The research found that a third of all terrorist attacks during that time-frame studied took place in five metropolitan cities — Manhattan , New York (343 attacks); Los Angeles County , Calif. (156 attacks); Miami-Dade County , Fla. (103 attacks); San Francisco County , Calif. (99 attacks); and Washington , D.C. (79 attacks).

While UrbanSurvivalSkills fully supports and even advocates the survivalist to be analyzing how likely and how catastrophic terrorist attacks would be on his/her survival and what events would be precipitated by a terrorist attack, really no conclusions can be drawn from this report as the researchers are using a definition of terrorism as: the threatened or actual use of illegal force, directed against civilian targets, by non-state actors, in order to attain a political, economic, religious or social goal, through fear, coercion or intimidation.

They are lumping criminal acts by idiots, such as that scum bag's hooting of Congresswomen Gifford in Tucson, in the same category as state sponsored, state supported acts from the "destruction of America" crowd.

There is little comparison with some attention seeking, video game playing, living in Mom's house loser that shoots some people in an insane act and with religious motivated terrorists putting Improvised Explosive Devices on the streets of New York City,....or spiking a communities water supply with poison,....or detonating a improvised or weapons grade Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD) next to a U.S. Government facility.

Survivalists need to determine themselves likelihood of and effects from potential terrorist attacks that would affect them. An example, maybe a poor example, but an example none the less may be a WMD terrorist attack in Brownsville , Texas which drives possible contaminants and refugees up the highways towards Houston impact negatively on all residents along that route. The Survivalist planners along that route would need to consider possibility of wind driven contaminants; contamination of water supplies; security requirements of property and protection of lives from desperate refugees, not only from northbound traffic into Houston but from squatters and the criminal oriented but also from southbound return traffic as Houston struggles to cope with massive refugees. What degradation of infrastructure from the resulting WMD blasts or EMP would cause for them; Bug Out routes based on refugee flow, etc.

Terrorism precipitating SHTF. Not that likely. We face more threat from economic collapse than from terrorism as the current world board game maps out.

More SHTF Ambush Tips

2012-02-01T04:40:00.000-08:00

I received the following from Paco: “The ambush post was great! Can you have more information on ambushes, maybe some advanced ambush techniques?”

UrbanMan replies: I will eventually write a post with additional ambush formations and maybe some case studies, but the thing to remember is the basics which set the foundation for all ambushes. So I offer this:

§ The ambush site should be suitable,.....having a covered and/or concealed approach/withdrawal route for your group; allow for the placement of observation/listening posts (LP/OP’s), for early warning, which also should provide defensible positions with good observation on the approaching threat; and the LP/OP’s need to be within communications distance from the main ambush element.

§ The Patrol leader or ambush team leader should conduct a leader’s reconnaissance of the ambush site to ensure it is suitable and select positions for the ambush team; the Patrol Leader/Ambush Team Leader should actually emplace each member of the ambush element to ensure they have covered/concealed positions and can cover the ambush “kill zone” effectively - think inter locking fields of fire.

§ There should be a designated fall back or rally position in case the ambush turns bad or the ambush element becomes separated. This rally position should be easy to pickout or recognize, even in the dark, and should be defensible in case the ambush goes bad and the team is pursued by the threat. It may not necessary be back on the route to the main survival site. Everyone in your patrol should have some land navigation skills.

§ The Patrol/Ambush Team Leader should have communications (probably radio) with the deployed LP/OP’s and should have a method to alert each ambush team member of the approaching threat – a pull cord can work well. This is a string connecting each ambush position and a simply mode of communication such as one pull meaning threat is approaching and two pulls meaning the member has received that message.

§ It is important that the kill zone and the placement of the ambush team will effectively cover the entire threat. You would be wise not to ambush only half the threat then have the other half maneuver against you. This is true if the ambush is a “harassing ambush” where the purpose may be the just drive the threat away or otherwise make them pick a easier route or target, or if the ambush is a “destruction ambush” where the intent is to completely destroy the threat.

§ If the threat is in vehicles, it may be effective to initial disable the front and last vehicle to fix the threat in the kill zone. Use of spike strips or other obstacles can help keep the threat vehicles from escaping the kill zone. Ensure the placement of obstacles, such as spike strips, T-posts or log buried with 18 inches or so exposed, or anything else, is concealed or otherwise the threat may recognize the ambush before it is initiated.

§ Ambushes are best initiated using a casualty producing device, other than small arms fire. The military uses high explosive direct fire weapons such as anti-tank missiles, anti-personnel/anti-vehicle mines or explosives, or, at least a machine gun. You may not be able to rig field expedient devices if you don’t have the expertise. It may pay off to have some reference material just in case. To be clear, I am not advocating violating any existing laws governing explosives, but in a SHTF scenario, there may not be any law enforcement and the laws or what people are willing to do to protect their groups from threats may become a little “relaxed”.

§ The Ambush should have planned signals, visual and audible, to “lift” or cease fire; maybe a signal to assault the killzone if that what your plan is or intent is; and a signal to withdrawal. Keep in mind that in a SHTF - total collapse where medical response may be gone and medical treatment relays on what you can do - taking risks such as assaulting a threat may result in an additional risk of wounds or injuries to your people. Be prepared to treat injuries and wounds, and, maybe have the ability to move non-ambulatory wounded back to your safe site.

§ If assaulting the kill zone on a destruction ambush, there are a couple things to remember: use two or three person teams with defined duties such as search or cover; do not put you back to any threat body that is presumed dead – last thing you want is to walk pass a body only to shot in the back; have a limit of advance so you don’t have your kill zone assault element all strung out – this would be bad if the threat counter attacked.

The post collapse or SHTF Survival Group should think clearly before committing their limited resources to a definitive action like an ambush. It must be necessary to the survival of the group first and foremost; have clearly established goals; be conducted by responsible members who won't put other team members at risk; and rehearsed,...from a chart talk, to a sand table exercise to a full mission profile rehearsal.

Comment on the Coming European Collapse

2012-01-29T06:02:00.000-08:00

Falcon15 sent a comment on the Europe Collapse is Imminent article: "The checks won't "bounce". The value of the dollar will be squat. As long as the Fed can print money, America will not default or run out of cash. What happens is an inflationary spiral, as the money supply increases, thereby decreasing the inherent "value" of each dollar. When the $250.00 welfare check will not buy a loaf of bread because bread is now $350.00, that is when we have problems. However, we will see an infrastructure collapse far before that, under this scenario, because when fuel prices get adjusted, but wages do not, truck drivers will not be able to afford the very fuel they need to move your food the average of 1500 miles from farm to store. A majority of finished and raw goods will stop moving. Those goods that do move and are available will be so expensive as to not be purchasable by the average American, due to pricing adjustments. Even if one could conceivably afford these goods in a massive inflationary market, will there be enough to go around? Got preps? Pray for the best, prepare for the worst."

UrbanMan's reply" Falcon15 you are essentially correct. It's not like the government won't send the checks, it's just that they'll be practically worthless. The "cost of living" raises will not begin to keep pace of the inflation. Some of us older people remember seeing pictures in the history books of people in pre-World War II Germany pushing wheel barrows of cash to the bakery only to find the shelves bare. But regardless of the checks either not coming or being worthless due to hyper inflation, the same basic problem is there. A very large percentage of the population being without any means to live and being really pissed and desperate about it. And I mean without anything.

You are exactly right about surmising that even if one could afford the massive hyper-inflation and reduced availability of goods, will there be any left?

Just imagine 40 million people who have to either rely on government camps or criminal acts to survive. How much different or worse would it be if that number is 80 million? 120 million? And while the majority of firearms in this country are own by people who are responsible, availability of weapons is substantial. Many in the disenfranchised segment of the population will be armed.

One of my acquaintances said, only partially tongue in cheek, that if you don't have a weapons, pre-collapse, then just wait as the government will either arm you, a la Fast and Furious, to sell you a gun as they empty out armory's to make money. Of course, that is not going to happen.

There are not just "Survivalist's" predicting some sort of financial collapse. Many political entities and financial planners are calling a complete economic financial breakdown being imminent. This of course will lead to massive civil unrest. Many think that if this happens prior to the 2012 Presidential election or the actual seating of a new President in January 2013 that the collapse would cause the current Administration to either suspend 2012 election or the installation of a new administration.

Solar Storms,......Again

2012-01-26T04:18:00.000-08:00

Jairo sent us a heads up: "Hey Urban man, Just thought you'd find this interesting, an article on Solar Storms. Stay safe, stay prepared!"

UrbanMan replies: Thanks Jairo. We would be remiss if we didn't mention it here on UrbanSurvivalSkills.com especially before this coming weekend as we are supposed to see the strongest solar storm since 2005. Although I don't remember that one hampering us much. Apparently some commercial airlines had to re-route some planned flights that were flying to close to the North Pole where the stronger aspects of the solar storms were projecting.

The solar storm according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center should not affect much, other than possibly disrupting some communications. The radiation threat could be a concern for those of us who have abnormally higher levels of radiation due to our jobs or past exposure. I think this will be much ado about nothing. This is what mb.com is saying about the coming solar storm:

The sun is bombarding Earth with radiation from the biggest solar storm in more than six years with more to come from the fast-moving eruption.

The solar flare occurred at about 11 p.m. EST Sunday and will hit Earth with three different effects at three different times. The biggest issue is radiation, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center in Colorado.

The radiation is mostly a concern for satellite disruptions and astronauts in space. It can cause communication problems for polar-traveling airplanes, said space weather center physicist Doug Biesecker.

Radiation from Sunday’s flare arrived at Earth an hour later and will likely continue through Wednesday. Levels are considered strong but other storms have been more severe. There are two higher levels of radiation on NOAA’s storm scale – severe and extreme – Biesecker said. Still, this storm is the strongest for radiation since May, 2005.

The radiation – in the form of protons – came flying out of the sun at 93 million miles per hour.

“The whole volume of space between here and Jupiter is just filled with protons and you just don’t get rid of them like that,” Biesecker said. That’s why the effects will stick around for a couple days.

NASA’s flight surgeons and solar experts examined the solar flare’s expected effects and decided that the six astronauts on the International Space Station do not have to do anything to protect themselves from the radiation, spokesman Rob Navias said.

A solar eruption is followed by a one-two-three punch, said Antti Pulkkinen, a physicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland and Catholic University.

First comes electromagnetic radiation, followed by radiation in the form of protons.

Then, finally the coronal mass ejection – that’s the plasma from the sun itself – hits. Usually that travels at about 1 or 2 million miles per hour, but this storm is particularly speedy and is shooting out at 4 million miles per hour, Biesecker said.

It’s the plasma that causes much of the noticeable problems on Earth, such as electrical grid outages. In 1989, a solar storm caused a massive blackout in Quebec. It can also pull the northern lights further south.

But this coronal mass ejection seems likely to be only moderate, with a chance for becoming strong, Biesecker said. The worst of the storm is likely to go north of Earth.

Europe Collapse is Imminent

2012-01-24T04:29:00.000-08:00

From an article on ETF Daily News

The warning signs are all around us. All we have to do is open up our eyes and look at them. Almost every single day there are more prominent voices in the financial world telling us that a massive economic crisis is coming and that we need to prepare for the worst. On Wednesday, it was the World Bank itself that issued a very chilling warning. In an absolutely startling report, the World Bank revised GDP growth estimates for 2012 downward very sharply, warned that Europe could be on the verge of a devastating financial crisis, and declared that the rest of the world better “prepare for the worst.” You would expect to hear this kind of thing on The Economic Collapse Blog, but this is not the kind of language that you would normally expect to hear from the stuffed suits at the World Bank. Obviously things have gotten bad enough that nobody is even really trying to deny it anymore. Andrew Burns, the lead author of the report, said that if the sovereign debt crisis gets even worse we could be looking at an economic crisis that could be even worse than the last one: “An escalation of the crisis would spare no-one. Developed- and developing-country growth rates could fall by as much or more than in 2008/09.” Burns also stated that the “importance of contingency planning cannot be stressed enough.” In other words, Burns is saying that it is time to prepare for the worst. So are you ready?

UrbanMan's comments: If you are reading this then you are probably one of the few who don't need to be told about the importance of preparing for the collapse....you already are preparing to the extent you can. Or are you?

But of course it isn’t just the World Bank that is warning about these things. The chorus of voices that is warning about the next great financial crisis just seems to grow by the day.

Some of these voices were profiled in a Bloomberg article the other day entitled “Apocalypse How? Dire ’12 Forecasts“.

click here to review this Bloomberg article.

The most critical of these voices is Michael Panzner of Financial Armageddon, who said: “The fundamental outlook is even worse now than it was a few weeks ago, given (the lack of positive) developments in Europe and growing evidence that the economies of major countries around the world are deteriorating fast.”

When this crisis is over, all sorts of people are going to be running around claiming that they predicted it. But it does not take a genius to see what is coming. All you have to do is open up your eyes and look at the flashing red warning signs.

So what should we all be looking for next?

March 20th is a key date to keep your eye on. That is the day when Greece will either makes its 14.5 billion euro bond payment or it will default. Greece does not have a prayer of making that payment without help. If Greece can convince the EU and the IMF to release the next scheduled bailout payment and if Greece can reach a satisfactory deal with private bondholders, then the coming Greek default might be “orderly”. But if something goes wrong, the coming Greek default might be quite “disorderly”.

At this point, almost everyone in the financial world is anticipating a Greek default of one form or another. Edward Parker, the managing director for Fitch’s sovereign and supranational group in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, recently declared that a Greek default is inevitable. In Greece, 20 percent of all retail stores have already shut down. The unemployment rate for those under the age of 24 is now at 39 percent. Large numbers of Greeks are trying to get themselves and their money out of the country while they still can.

Greece is not the only declining economy in Europe by a long shot. Italy has a much larger economy, and if Italy totally collapses it will be an absolute nightmare for the entire globe. Right now, the Bank of Italy is forecasting a significant recession for the Italian economy in 2012.

Only this time the U.S. is in a much weaker position. The U.S. debt problem has gotten much worse since the last crisis.

During 2008, our national debt crossed the 10 trillion dollar mark. Less than 4 years later, we have crossed the 15 trillion dollar mark. So what are we going to do the next time large numbers of banks fail and unemployment skyrockets? Where are we going to get the money to bail out all of those banks and to take care of all of those newly unemployed people?

Some people say that socialism is the answer, but the truth is that we are already a socialist welfare state. If you can believe it, nearly half of all Americans live in a household that receives some form of financial benefits from the U.S. government.

During the next great crisis, the number of people that are dependent on the government will go even higher. If you don’t want to end up dependent on the government, you should heed the warning signs and you should use this time to prepare for the hard times that are coming. When even the World Bank tells us to hope for the best but to prepare for the worst, you know that it is late in the game.

UrbanMan's comments: Newt Gingrich took some shots from Liberals when he referred to Predient Obama as the Food Stamp President,......but this is essentially true if you consider people on food stamps has risen by 25% in the past couple of years. What's going to happen when the U.S. Government checks bounce for 150 million people in the U.S?

Request for More on Bugging In

2012-01-21T05:43:00.000-08:00

Jay wrote "Have you thought of an article on people who, due to age, physical disability, or taking care of someone who falls into those categories and can NOT bug out? There may be something on the site that I haven't seen yet but I encountered your blog for the first time tonight. And some of us do have need to stay put. Any ideas?"

UrbanMan replies: Jay, the primary reason I started this site was for Urban and Suburban dwellers who would, for the most part and for whatever reason, stay put during a collapse. Having said that, no matter how secure your site is, you ALWAYS plan for a Bug Out.

Temporary Patrol Bases, semi-permanent operational bases and permanent forward bases all have a planned and hasty evacuation protocol. This necessarily means packing load lists, individual and group responsibilities, routes, link up or rally points, maybe caches implanted to support a Bug Out, and a destination to a temporary or permanent safe site.

I fully realized that more many reasons people and families will not be able to Bug Out, but will have to hunker down. This could be because of caring for infirm or elderly family members, outside situation too dangerous to attempt movement, or simply having no place to go. I believe a person can mitigate, not eliminate, but reduce these risks and should have a Bug Out plan in case staying in place, even if intended for the duration, is too dangerous.

I have written many times about common, low cost preps. About the use and selection of common types of sporting firearms for protection and security as opposed to a unrealistic arming with the latest high dollar, custom semi-automatic copies of military assault weapons.

Staying in place most assuredly requires a survival team. In fact, my plan is to stay in place in my near-Urban environment, relying on my current survival team of eight families, not counting the local neighbors who are in various stages of preparation. I have a phone alert roster system, for some of my neighbors can call me or others if they need assistance, which can be to change a tire to respond to prowlers. I have several neighbors who now garden for vegetables based on me giving them some of my produce and talking to them about the advantages of growing our own crops. Several of them have stocked pantry foods, have a water service deliver so they have water on hand for several weeks, and, I have taken two of my neighbors shooting and helped them pick out guns for self defense.

If you are planning on Bugging In, you cannot do it alone. You have to have an organized effort, maximizing and leveraging people's resources and skills.

Hope this convinces you to come back and visit this site from time to time. Prepare well.

OPSEC Alert - Firearms Owner Identification and Targeting

2012-01-18T04:29:00.000-08:00

It has come to me that U.S. based gangs have been conducting reconnaissance and surveillance on vehicles parked close to gun shops and gun ranges and marking these vehicles with subtle signs so that the gangs or surrogates can rapidly identify vehicles for burglaries or vehicle theft that may have guns or ammunition stored inside.

Another use is to identify vehicles parked at homes to alert home invaders that the occupants have guns, and to burglarize the home after that vehicle leaves as most people would probably put their weapons back inside the house after range time is complete.

Vehicles at gun shows are also be targeted. The gang bangers will mark the vehicles with a paint dot, chalk or a host of other changing signals to denote the vehicle being associated with gun shops/shows and gun ranges. Places on the vehicles that are known to be marked include bumpers, wheel wells, wheels and tires. Get in the habit of making daily checks on your vehicle.

In one known case, a vehicle and driver were followed from a gun shop. While the driver stopped at another store and went inside, the gang bangers broke into the vehicle and stole a weapons. So also be concerned with being followed from these locations, as well.

If you think you are being followed make a detour that no one else would make to the same destination, and once you get back on your route check to see if that same vehicle(s) are still following you. By the way, this detour is called a Surveillance Detection Route or SDR. It has to be a large enough detour or change of direction, without spooking the potential surveillance, to be able to detect possible surveillance.

You may have to drive to a safe spot such as a police station. A cell phone, which is now as universal and common as people having teeth, would come in handy if the best option for you was to call the police and alert them to someone targeting you.

The next logical step for gang bangers are to mark private vehicles in parking lots adjacent to or associated with law enforcement agencies to enable bangers to rapidly determine if that vehicle belonged to a law enforcement officer and hence an armed individual.

Be aware, be safe.

SHTF Bug Out Bag, Latest and Greatest

2012-01-16T06:37:00.000-08:00

A buddy of mine sent me a new rucksack to evaluate as a Bug Out Bag or general patrol rucksack. Thought I had seen them all and nothing would surprise me, but this did. For the individual that has to have the latest gear,…we call them “gear pigs”,……the new MARPACK from Force Protector Gear (FPG) is a must have. This is one of the best small rucks on the market. I think this ruck is being issued to MARSOC units, hence the name, MARPACK.

The shoulder straps are padded and ergo-metrically placed so they are not only comfortable, but push back and fold away so the zipper to the padded compartment can be easily open. The padded waist strap is well thought out as well and uses a larger fastex buckle for closure.

The padded compartment is not only the pad that provide wear comfort, but can be zipped open where the pad becomes a fold out thermal ground pad for very hot or very cold environments. This is great idea! This pad is connected to the ruck with three pull snaps and can be removed or detached from the ruck for any reason.

The bag has, of course, molle webbing on the outside for the attachment of additional bags or equipment. The ruck main flap opens up to a roomy compartment that can be closed with a cord lock. There are two mesh pockets on the inside that run the length of the inside compartment.

Two Fastex buckled straps on the outsides of the ruck allow to secure equip with two elastic pockets that would hold a one quart canteen on both sides, or a large water bottle, or Nalgene bottles.

A smaller zippered pouch is located on the back of the ruck with a separate inside pocket. The MARPACK does not come with a hydration bladder, but has the re-enforced hydration bladder straw hole in the top so it is compatible with common hydration bladder – a 100 oz Camel-Bak bladder fits well. Lastly there is a smaller zippered pouch on the very top of the ruck flap suitable for holding easy to get to food; a map and/or compass; fire starting gear; etc.

Vehicle Mods for SHTF

2012-01-14T05:30:00.000-08:00

I received this from Anonymous: ”Hey don’t see much on vehicle modifications for survival in case you have to move and live with your vehicle. I added a cargo rack and trunk vault to my SUV. The rack gives me more room to store stuff and use bungees to hold down. The vault lets me store weapons and rounds safely.”

UrbanMan replies: I have used truck vaults for a few years now. They are great. You can get them with a key lock or a push button cipher lock. You can have them built with a hinged map board or dry erase-map board combination. This is a good idea to store and secure survival weapons, ammunition and other gear you don’t want visible exposed to people looking into the passenger compartment of your vehicle. However, won’t help much if your vehicle is stolen.

Here are some sources for Vehicle Vaults or Safes:

Truck Vault

Gun Safes

Pickup Specialties

The roof mounted cargo rack is a great idea for SUV’s and cars. I like them box shaped for additional security and makes it easier to tie things (or bungee) down.

www.thule.com

www.yakima.com

www.etrailer.com

You may want to rehearse loading your roof cargo rack so you have an idea on what you can carry if you have the time for a planned Bug Out as opposed to a hasty Bug Out. I would put boxes of containers that I would need to get into first on the outside of the rack so they were accessible. Once you do a rehearsal I think you would get more ideas on the best types of containers and securing systems, meaning ropes, bungees or a cargo net.

One of my friends has a roof mounted rack. He cut three quarter inch plywood (2 sheets) to fit inside the rack so in case he had to make a field expedient shelter he had two plywood sheets for a lean to. I guess you could use them for ground mats or even firewood for that matter.

Urban Bug Out after the Collapse

2012-01-10T04:35:00.000-08:00

Received this message from an Urban Survivor: ”Dear Urban Man. I have recently came across this site and have found it very informative and eye-opening. It got me thinking a little bit about what will I be able to do. I live in the greater (city deleted) area, living paycheck to paycheck, in a small 2 bedroom apartment, with my wife and 7 month old baby. For supplies we only have a weeks worth of food tops, a Ruger GP100 and a Winchester M12 with about 50 rounds each. Also some camping gear I like to hold on to (sleeping bag, ponchos, old army ruck sack). Not much, but it's what I have to work with. What advice if any would you be able to provide myself and for people living in these apartment buildings, if any, should the need arise to bug-out? Thank you.”

UrbanMan’s response: I intentionally left this gent’s name and city off, but suffice to say it was a large city on the Northeastern coast.

Unless a substantial part of your apartment complex population are prepared, equipped and can act as a cohesive unit, your best bet is to develop a Bug Out plan. You are reduced simply by the nature of geography on what direction you can go. You are hampered by the fact that one of you, your wife or you, will have to be a full time caretaker of the baby for several more years. You have a good start on a survival firearms battery with the Ruger GP100 and the Winchester Model 12 shotgun.

You Bug Out plan should consider a safe place to go, outside of normal refugee routes, possibly is the mountainous areas to your West. If you do not know anybody in a remote or rural location, then you may want to consider some weekend trips to do so. A lot of small communities are slowly dying. Looking around and letting people know that you are thinking of re-locating is a good way to get the feel of the area and to meet some people. You don’t need to articulate that you would be re-locating there just ahead of a Zombie mob or Mushroom cloud. You may have some close friends who do have some other friends of relatives in rural – remote areas.

As far as how you are getting there the best option is to be able to get ahead of the crowd of refugees. That’s means being ready to execute your Bug Out plan before all hope is lost or even if the situation is still undetermined. You probably be using a vehicle. It’ll pay to always keep your vehicle in some stage of readiness such as with some gear loaded and a fuel tank probably never below ¾ full. If you plan requires travel at the very limit of your vehicle range, then to pre-stage fuel cans and to fill them when the small indicators of a collapse start tingling your spidey sense.

A well stocked Bug Out bag for you and your wife is a requirement. Sleeping bags, ponchos, survival gear like multiple lighters, knifes, Gerber or Leatherman pocket tools, flashlights are all necessary; canteens and hydration packs are very necessary as well. I would put long stay food like MRE’s and/or Main Stay Food bars in my Bug Out Bags. A bucket or two of Wise type Survival meals and larger water containers like five gallon water jugs would be in my vehicle.

I would choose my routes out of the city carefully, avoiding the more dangerous choke points like narrow bridges and two lane roads. Have multiple routes so that you can transition from your primary to alternate to contingency to emergency (PACE) as necessary. Have some linkup points that are easy to find and that provide some cover and/or concealment in case you and your wife get separated.

Consider a couple more firearms so that you and your wife each have a handgun and a long gun. I think you priority on weapons now would be a decent repeating rifle. An AR platform such as an civilian M-4 is great, but you would not be handicapped much a pump action or small magazine fed semi-auto rifle.

I would also think about adding some Silver coins, bullion or old U.S. silver coins for their melt value to my Bug Out bags. They may come in handy. Have adequate amount of ammunition for each firearm.

Read the Survival Chronicles of Jim, from Chapter 1 to present and you’ll get an idea on how Jim and his plan and preps have evolved. Good luck to you.

The Basic Ambush

2012-01-07T06:35:00.000-08:00

In a worse case collapse scenario survival groups will be faced with the threat of armed groups that will try to take resources by force. Imagine a suburban community based survival group gaining intelligence or otherwise being informed of a large group of well armed gang bangers going from street to street invading homes and killing people for their supplies and equipment. This was a scenario in Rawles' latest book, "Survivors" where an increasingly well armed and populated gang lived by going from community to community robbing and murdering for food and supplies.

The ability to protect yourself, your family and the bigger group from threats may require the survival group to be able to perform "offensive" type tactical operations such as an ambush.

The Ambush is a surprise attack from covered and/or concealed position upon a threat that is moving or temporarily halted.

Ambush can be hasty in nature or they can be deliberate.

Hasty Ambush. A good definition of a hasty ambush would be your patrol spots a threat group moving towards or near your patrol. Contact may be imminent so you take covered or concealed position and initiate the ambush from your covered/concealed position catching the threat unaware and unprotected. A hasty ambush is also associated with a withdrawal from the ambush positions and not the movement to and occupation of the kill zone. In other words in a hasty ambush you are not assaulting or closing with the threat. The kill zone being the area you project the threat to be in when you initiate the ambush and the area you can cover with your collective weapons.

Deliberate Ambush. This would be a planned action most likely requiring good intelligence on a threat group that will in the immediate or near future pose a sufficient threat to you and your group, and you have information on the routes (and possibly times) this threat is going to be moving on. This is the best type of ambush as you can plan the ambush better, prepare positions and most likely rehearse.

Many factors on setting up ambushes: how many people you can dedicate to the ambush against how big the threat group is; quality of shooters you have against the professionalism and organization of the threat; the type of terrain you will set up and execute the ambush is; type of weapons you have available - probably would not be a good idea for a survival group of ten with bolt action rifles to ambush a threat group armed with semi-automatics.

There are many different type of ambush formations with the linear ambush and the L shaped ambush being the most basic. Being the most basic, they are easier to control.

The basic linear ambush is easy to control; allows minimal chance of fraticide - that is shooting your own people;

The L shaped ambush allows for a cross fire into the kill zone. The short leg facing any vehicular traffic into the kill zone allows for fire into the front of the vehicle;s engine compartment and windshield. While a little bit harder to control, the L shaped ambush would be preferably if the group had to break contact under pressure from the threat they initially ambushed.

Ambush Tips:

o Use listening/observation posts (LP/OPs) to provide early warning of the threat group you are ambushing as well to warn of or delay threat re-inforcements or to prevent threat escapes.

o Make sure the kill zone does not offer any immediate cover and concealment for the threat group. You do not want to initiate an ambush then find yourself just in a fire fight from a threat under covered positions.

o If you are not going to assault through he kill zone, such as conducting a harassing ambush, then best case to have some sort of obstacles between your ambush positions and the kill zone to prevent the threat group from assault to your positions.

o The kill zone and coverage of the kill zone with your weapons has to be big (long) enough to contain the threat you are ambushing....or you will face the prospect of getting maneuvered on (getting flanked).

o If the threat is in vehicles and you are desiring to decisively engage the threat, then the ability to disable both the front and rear vehicle will at least momentarily fix the threat group in the kill zone so you can concentrate maximum firing.

o Mechanical devices such as spike strips, expedient incendiary and/or explosive devices are greatly enhance the ambush. And it is preferred to use a casualty producing device to initiate the ambush - worst case a gun shot, better for coordinated fire or use of mechanical devices. Do not use an initiation signal like a whistle.

o Plan for signals (visual and audio) to command a cease fire, withdrawals, and/or the assault of the kill zone (if this is what you are planning).

o You will have the best chance of success if you rehearse and once you establish the ambush position, assign areas of responsibility to each shooter so you have coordinated and overlapping fields of fire.

Too Late for Gold and Silver?

2012-01-04T08:22:00.000-08:00

Too Late for Gold and Silver? I get that a lot. People write me saying buying Gold and Silver are worthless or at best will only have value if someone accepts these precious metals for commodities. Many people write me advocating the purchase and stockage of guns, ammunition and food rather than Gold and Silver.

From my perspective, and considering the capabilities of the common person, anybody preparing for any kind of collapse – nuclear attack, dollar collapse, economic or infrastructure collapse, must consider all aspects of preparation from guns, ammunition, food, viable water supply and sources, transportation, gear and equipment,…and,…precious metals. Not to have any quantity of Gold or Silver is to leave a hole in your survival preparations.

I get that people are scared off by the costs of silver or more so Gold. Purchasing Gold and Silver as a survival asset has to compete with all other aspects of survival and most often places second, third or is not considered on the priority of purchases. That needs to change. Even if you can only afford $30 worth of junk silver coins (for silver melt value) or one ounce silver round, then get started today.

Mike Maloney from the ElevationGroup TV produced a video called “Is It Too Late To Buy Gold and Silver? This is a good education on paper money and how Fed policies influence how the dollar collapse will happen.

Watch more on GoldandSilver.com

Doomsday Scenarios from Ron Paul

2012-01-01T05:45:00.000-08:00

According to a Reuters News Report, Texas Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) author of "End the Fed", fears eroding Civil liberties, a United Nations take over of the U.S. money supply, and violence in the streets following a Soviet Union-style economic collapse.

Congressman Paul, seen as a loon by some and the People's Champion by others, often warns of a deeply indebted federal government and hollow currency. He draws parallels between the current situation in the United States and that of the former Soviet Union, whose economy collapsed amid the union's breakup and civil unrest in 1991.

Paul acknowledges that his proposal to avoid that outcome - an immediate, $1 trillion spending cut that would slash the federal budget by more than one-third and eliminate the departments of Education, Energy, Commerce, Interior, and Housing and Urban Development - could have some unpleasant side effects.

Unpleasant side effects? How about $10 a loaf bread and $25 a galon gasoline, when you can find it - to me that's unpleasant.

"I'm afraid of violence coming," he recently told a crowd while campaigning in Iowa. "When you see what the government is preparing for, and the arrests and military law, and the demonstrations in the streets, some people aren't going to be convinced so easily that you don't owe them a living."

What Paul say's does ring true with the recent passing of the NDAA which gives the military unprecedented ability to hold U.S. citizens as hostile combatants.

Paul also warns that the Federal Reserve was soon to "bail out" the Euro zone, a move that he said ultimately would cause the United States to surrender control of its own currency to the United Nations. "This monetary crisis is well known by the international bankers. They want the U.N. to come in and solve this problem," he said. "The dollar will probably eventually disintegrate and be taken over. But I don't want the U.N. issuing that currency."

Economists note that Paul's long-standing proposal to return the dollar to a gold standard would force the United States to relinquish control of its currency. "We would still have monetary policy - it would be set by gold miners in South Africa and Uzbekistan, rather than bureaucrats in Washington," said Michael Feroli, chief U.S. economist with JPMorgan Chase.

JPMorgan? - Oh Yeah, the robber barons....he has a lot of credibility.

"If you like what OPEC means for oil prices, you'd love what the gold standard would do to financial markets."

You can read the original article here.

EMP Threat In The News

2011-12-29T04:53:00.000-08:00

It is becoming more mainstream to talk about the EMP Threat. Recently on Fox News and on web based reporting, good explanations on how an Nuclear weapon or EMP attack over the central U.S. could potentially cause a blackout or infrastructure destruction to over half of the U.S.

EMP is of course an intense electro-magnetic pulse that will instantly destroy electrical circuits which is a by product of nuclear detonations but also several countries have been experimenting with EMP weapons designed specifically against the electrical infrastructure as opposed to physical destruction of everything.

For example a 1.4 megaton EMP bomb detonated 250 miles above Kansas would destroy most electronics in the U.S. See map below of anticipated effects radius or area. This of course will cause complete chaos and subsequent death from the total destruction of our electrical infrastructure as the entire U.S. economy is dependent upon this grid.

Actually, nobody knows the magnitude of infrastructure failure and destruction that an EMP attack would cause. All of the conjecture is based on modeling. Electrical grids going down for months - if not years; communications gone;

Reports by experts confirms that the U.S. is totally unprepared for an EMP attack and that Terrorists Groups and rogue nations like Iran are fully aware of what such an attack would do to the U.S. Conservative estimates are that the U.S. would lose tens of millions of people in the first year and many more to follow
as the infrastructure that virtually powers every aspects of our lives would be down for years to come and in fact may never regain even parts of it's former capacity.

New Father Fears the Future

2011-12-26T05:26:00.000-08:00

Received this from Anonymous: "I am 27 years old and recently married. We have a three year old daughter and a 4 month old daughter. I live in a duplex, in I guess you would call it the burbs, because I went to school with the owner and he gives me the best rent price possible. My wife is not working now because of the baby, before she was a temp secretary but had work about 60% of the time. I am a
school engineer (really a fix it all guy), plus I do home repairs for the guy I rent from for extra income. Now I need it the extra money more than ever. One of the men I work with taught me about the Survivor Movement with me some magazines to look at and talking about the economy. I am not into guns, recently I have been thinking about getting one and I find myself thinking about what happens if the power goes off and doesn't come back on."

UrbanMan replies: I am curious if you are from the Northeast where a power outage went on for quite a while for some folks. Hopefully, the people who were affected by this used the lessons learned to get better prepared for an alike event,.....or something much worse.

You are wise to start considering what can happen, to include providing for security and protection for your family. Just having a gun is not going to solve everything. If the power goes off and does not come back on, that will only be the beginnings of your problems. Lack of food and fuel, disruption of water utilities, reduced emergency services, a fast and substantial rise in angry, hungry people are can occur quickly if the catalyst for the event are severe enough.

There are four generally categories of Survival Preparation: Food; Water; Shelter; and, Security/Protection. Each with many facets of understanding and preparatory actions.

Consider food for instance. You could have months worth of frozen goods in a freezer, but when the power goes off, what are you going to do? Canned and boxed pantry goods will have an expiration date at some point. Dehydrated foods require water to hydrate. Ready to eat meals like Military MRE's are expensive. You final survival preparation solutions for food, will probably be a combination of all these food items.

One of the easiest things to do is to buy dry and canned pantry goods on sale or when you find good deals. Put away several months of items and rotate them using the first in, first out principal.

Security and Protection. I believe all law abiding Americans should own multiple guns. One gun cannot accomplish all your protection tasks as well as possible hunting applications. An individual prepping for survival against many different collapse scenarios would be best served by having several firearms (and ammunition) such as a handgun, shotgun and rifle.

There are other factors of security. Where you live; potential threat streams; refugee routes; defensibility of your home. Protection and security are usually best achieved in a teamwork approach. I say, "Survival is a Team Sport".

And of course, you cannot live without water. You will dehydrate and die without water long before you die of starvation. You simply must have a full time water source, best if not dependent upon power solutions to provide you the water. Some people have a water service where they, like stocking pantry items, buy 15 or 20 five gallon jugs as their stock then reduce the periodic delivery to what they use and use their existing stock again using the first in first out principal. This is not the cheapest way to insure you have some water on hand when the lights go out or SHTF, but having some emergency food and water on hand gives you time to make a decision,....to stay or bug out.

Shelter is important as it provides protection from the elements and two legged threats. No matter how defensible or strong your survival location is, a Bug Out plan so you can rapidly vacate and move to another safe location are paramount. The Bug Out just doesn't consider where you are going, but how you are going to get there; but what you will take with you.

You can learn much and need to learn much in as quickest time period as you can. This site, as well as many other on-line sites reflect alot of planning tips, lessons learned, techniques, equipment ideas and much, much more. Make use of all these resources. Many of which we are linked to on the bottom right side of this page. Quickly develop a plan. Objectively review that plan continually. And prepare for some unfortunate things to happen to this country be it from an economic/dollar collapse or externally generated chaos. Educate yourself, prep well and good luck.

Winter Survival - Stranded in a Snow Storm

2011-12-24T06:50:00.000-08:00

I recently had a question from Robert B., based on a story he read in the newspaper, about what would I do in a similar situation. Apparently two college kids traveling on a seldom used road became stuck in a snow storm. Robert’s questions were would I stay in my vehicle? How long would I stay waiting on help before I would trek out towards civilization? Would I take the shortest route or would I follow the roads? What if I didn’t have any survival gear with me in my vehicle?

My reply to Robert:

It would near impossible for me to be caught in any vehicle oriented situation without my traveling Bug Out Bag holding various pieces of kit depending where I am going; the season (hot or cold weather); whether I am flying or not; and what purpose I am traveling for.

But for the sake of argument let’s say we ventured out without any kit, without any knowledge of impending adverse weather, cell phone went dead or no signal, traveling a remote road with long distances between any infrastructure, and, became stuck in our vehicle in a snow storm.

Your first priority is not to become a cold injury. I would not sit in my car running the motor and heater as it will eventually run out of fuel. I would use it to get warm between bouts of survival work. I would build a shelter outside of the warm for two reason: one - to have a fire (for signaling and warmth) and, two – the vehicle becomes a refrigerator without the motor and heater running....two plys of sheet metal do not insulation make.

Shelter. Even in the desert location, there are natural materials to build an overhead cover or lean to type shelter. Maybe not enough to provide decent cover from a rain, but if you make it sturdy enough you can stop snow even if you have to clear the snow off from time to time (to reduce the weight and maintain the survival shelter’s integrity).

Vehicle seat covers, floor mats and trunk carpet can be used as a tarp for your overhead cover. All these materials as well as removable seat(s) can provide insulation from the ground as well.

I would build and maintain a fire. If you do not have lighter, the vehicle’s cigarette lighter (until the Government outlaws them) can be used to ignite tinder. One of the vehicle’s battery cables can be loosened and touch connected to the other cable to produce a spark to ignite tinder.

The vehicle’s fuel supply can be used to provide an accelerant. Stuffing a piece of string, root or vine down into the gas tank with a piece of cloth wrapped on the end can collect enough fuel to help start a fire. Maybe you can stuff some paper or cloth down into the carburetor or fuel injection system then pump the accelerator to collect the fuel onto the rag or paper.

Everyone has a owner’s manual or vehicle registration, or scrap paper,…or maybe even a pile of traffic citations or parking tickets in their glove compartment. This paper source combined with small twigs, scarps or torn pieces of clothing or insulation material from your coat provide the tinder. Most vehicles have a paper air filter. The paper filter can be used as a tinder sources as well.

Don’t start your fire until you have an adequate amount of tinder, bigger tinder, small pieces of fuel and even larger pieces are collected and ready to be added to your growing fire.

Water. Don’t pile the snow into your mouth to drink. Instead collect snow in a cup, water bottle or makeshift canteen and melt it by placing it close to the fire. If you have a used water bottle you can pack with snow and put in your coat pocket or under the vehicle’s heater when you run it, to melt. Hub caps and removable vehicle cup holders all can be used for improvised canteens.

Signaling. Keep the vehicle roof, trunk and hood clear of snow so that any aircraft can more easily spot it. You can take two, 2 or 3 inch diameter sticks and fashion an “X” on the roof. You can find an open area on the ground and create a larger “X”. If and when you decide to walk out, leave a note in the vehicle on the dash or steering wheel articulating your intent and direction.

If your vehicle ran off the road, making a signal on the road where passers by can see it is a good idea.

Decision to Walk Out. The decision to walk out has to be made considering your physical condition,.....what your condition will be in a day or two. How far you have to walk…if it is within your capabilities. I would probably walk the roads, as it is much easier and in case there is other traffic on the road – you can access help. If you have no land navigation skills and are in poor condition, there is no other route but staying on the roads. Other considerations are what gear you have on you in order to build shelters and fire if the trip will take more than one movement. A final factor is if anyone knows what route you took and will be missing you therefore reporting you as missing.

The bottom line is that winter survival, as described in the scenario, above can be made much easier if you carry wilderness survival kit in your vehicle. A simple bag in the trunk or cab containing a blanket or two, a couple small tarps, fire starting material, some long stay food, a couple of bottles or tins of water, a flashlight,…even better if you add candles and chemlights. These are all simple and inexpensive items to keep in your vehicle just in case.

Economic Collapse: Watch Out For QE3

2011-12-22T04:50:00.000-08:00

QE3 is of course Quantitative Easing Round Three, where more fiat currency is printed further devaluing the current paper money in circulation and necessarily causing prices to inflate because the dollar is worth less. Once QE3 is announced or actually executed,.....expect the latter since the Government and the Fed have taken secrecy from the people to new heights,....precious metals will go up, particularly Gold.

In fact, when the major central banks launched a joint action to provide emergency U.S. dollar loans to banks in Europe, which put more money (not backed by anything but some politician's word) there became a rush to buy equities and commodities that would survive inflation and Gold rose $30 an ounce.

As 2011 ends, the four FED governors will be replaced and most analysts figure that the next four will be much more liberal in their monetary policies. QE3 will probably be snuck in, money created from air, without much publicity; and the present incredible low interest rates will climb as the dollar devalues. This will incite the $16.4 trillion Federal Debt to explode and the U.S. will be all probability start the slide to become like Greece. So the smart people are buying precious metals ahead of the very probable QE3.

It shouldn't end there for Survivalist. Everything will go up in price,... excepting your pay checks. The smart idea is to procure now what you can, because as the interest rates rise, the beginning of the dollar collapse begins. Scary times my friends. They will likely become much more scary in early 2012.

I am not advocating going into debt to purchase vehicles or property at the current low interest rates, although I know a couple people who are rationalizing that they would rather have new, reliable vehicles for a Bug Out
than to try and procure one when the interest rates are higher and the dollar buys less. I'm not going to do that. I'll continue on the same rate, maybe just step it up a notch, on procuring long stay food items and perhaps more Silver.

2012 is going to be ugly. Be prepared.

Copper: The Other Precious Metal?

2011-12-20T03:44:00.000-08:00

Received an e-mail from Henry who wrote: "What do you think about savings pennies for their copper value. One of my friends told me that the one cent penny is now worth 5 cents as copper scrap metal."

UrbanMan reply: Henry, you wrote me over three weeks ago and to be frank I did not think I would reply, until I saw a recent article on the internet talking about potential legislation in Congress that may result in the abolishment of the penny as currency. Until then, and only then can pennies be legally melted down for their copper value.

But not all pennies are made of copper. Pennies made in 1982 or earlier have 95% copper. Pennies since then are made mostly from zinc. The current value of a copper penny is around 2 1/2 cents.

Copper has a lot of scrap value, otherwise you would not be seeing copper related thefts of copper wiring, construction sites, phone facilities, etc. As I write this copper scrap is valued at $3.57 per pound.

Going back to the value of a copper penny, 150% of it's face value, is substantial, however you would need a truck load of it to make any substantial money once or if the legislation is passed to abolish the penny. Plus it is just so heavy as to not be practical. I even know gents who have taken very substantial amounts of silver and converted it to Gold to reduce the weight to value ratio.

I think you would do okay just to save what you normally get in pocket change. I do this and routinely fill a jar which I take once a year to the bank to convert to dollars. My average yearly conversion is just shy of $200. A little mini- windfall which contributes to my survival stockage as ammunition, or helps buy a new gun or long stay food.

You could collect copper pennies, again 1982 or before, and sell on e-Bay as some people do. I would recommend however that you put your precious metal collection efforts into Silver and/or Gold. My efforts are concentrated mostly around the buying of silver coins for their silver melt value, one or two ounce silver rounds, or, five ounce bars.

Government Crackdown on Survivalists?

2011-12-17T04:42:00.000-08:00

UrbanSurvivalSkills received several e-mails from readers alerting us to "government raids on private citizens who had been stocking food" because these people fit a profile for domestic terrorist activity. Apparently this story came from an Oath Keepers report on a federal raid on a Mormon (Latter Day Saints) facility in Tennessee and was later de-bunked by Glenn Beck and the Blaze and the
story recalled by Oath Keepers.

However, the roots from this story, and possible others like it, come from government "intelligence" reports about domestic terrorism with survivalists, "gun nuts" and returning "disillusioned war veterans" as potential "lone wolf" type domestic terrorists. One of the government documents that fuel the belief is a joint bulletin from the FBI and Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) titled "Communities Against Terrorism" where the bulletin listed potential indicators of terrorist activities related to (purchases at) military surplus stores.

The joint bulletin lists suspicious activity and encourages store owners to call authorities if they have customers who meet any of these profiles:

What Should I Consider Suspicious? People or Groups who:

Provide ID that is inconsistent or suspect, or demand identify privacy.

Insist of paying with cash or use credit cards in different names.

Significantly alter appearance from visit to visit.

Have missing hands/fingers, chemical burns, strange odors or bright color stains on clothing.

Make racist or extreme religious statements coupled with comments that are violent or appear to condone violence.

Make suspicious comments regarding anti U.S radical theology, vague or cryptic warnings that appear to endorse the use of violence in support of a cause.

Demonstrate interest in uses that do not seem consistent with the intended use of the item being purchased.

Possess little knowledge of intended purchase items.

Make bulk purchases of items to include: Weatherproofed ammunition or match containers; Meals Ready to Eat; Night Vision Devices, night flashlights or gas masks; high capacity magazines; bi-pods or tripods for rifles.

See the Blaze story here, as well as a copy of Joint FBI-BJA Bulletin.

UrbanSurvivalSkills believes that if you are not doing anything illegal then you have little to fear from the government, except tanking the economy and running businesses out of business, but it stills pays to maintain OPSEC,....against misguided government instusion and criminal threats targeting you because you are a prepared survivalist.

Captivity, Escape, Evasion and Survival

2011-12-14T04:41:00.000-08:00

Last week an American teenage boy kidnapped and held in captivity for five months, by Philipino militants associated with Abu Sayyaf and al-Qaida, escaped and evaded his way until he was provided aid by villagers. Kevin Lunsmann, 14 years old, had been taken captive with his mother and cousin while boating near Zamboanga City. His mother was released after two months and his cousin reportedly escaped captivity last month. Apparently after having gained some trust from his captors, Kevin escaped while supposedly bathing in a nearby stream.

Guerilla forces, operating in secret base camps, have to have a water source. Conducting patrols alongside running water sources such as streams and rivers to detect signs of Guerrilla activity, is a common Counter-Insurgency patrolling procedure and I wonder why de-briefings of the released mother and the escaped cousin did not lead Phillipino Army forces to the Guerrilla before.

Anyway,…… just some thoughts on captivity, escape, evasion and survival.

Captivity. The idea is to keep from becoming a captive. Having and utilizing knowledge of the Environment and Threats you will face in a particular area; possessing Situational Awareness; using counter-surveillance skills; and, not drawing attention to yourself are key to not becoming a captive. However, once a captive there are some things you need to consider/implement: do not be combative until you absolutely have reason to do so, as if you are uncooperative it may result in a beating and physical condition that is life threatening and certainly can greatly reduce any successful attempt at escape.

Intentionally use of the word “attempt” rather than “attempts” in the plural form. You have to figure that you have one,....repeat, one chance at escape. An unsuccessful escape attempt will most probably results in serious physical injuries or death. Instead, be compliant; lull your captors into thinking you are cowed; always plan your escape and execute at the best time and place; if your captors are giving proof of life for a ransom or other demands – be cognizant of what innocent things you can say on a video/audio recording that will help Friendlies find you. Find ways to leave clues of your presence around your detention area.

Escape. There are story and after story of captives who have found nails, pieces of wire and other things and have meticulously fashioned lock picks or other tools to help in an escape attempt. The prepared individual has tools hidden on and around his/her body and would not be found in a cursory search.

Evasion. Skills that are useful and indeed required for a successful evasion are:

* A plan. Once free where are you going to go, and avoid leaving sign of passage by sterilizing at least where you cross road, trails and other areas where sign of your passage is easily detected.

* Use terrain to your advantage. Always analysis the terrain for cover and concealment. Reduce any shiny spots on the exposed parts of your skin and anything you may be carrying. Mud, burnt wood and foliage can be used to help camouflage yourself. Use resting spots that provide cover and concealment and allow for observation of likely routes your pursuers will be on.

Survival. Skills that are useful/required for surviving while evading.

* Able to tell direction of travel using the Sun and the stars.

* Be able to read terrain and use terrain association. Valuable for finding the best routes, whether you are trying for a difficult route for pursuers or trying to find easy of movement. Also useful to detect best places to find water sources.

* Be able to use field expedient methods to procure and filter water.

* Be knowledgeable of poisonous and edible plants in the area. However, great the hunger is, water is more important. Given a decent physical condition when beginning evasion, you can go several days without food. Be considerate of what stomach upset natural plants can cause. Crapping your pants all day long does not lend itself to successful evasion and provides sign for pursuers to track….plus it will severely dehydrate you.

* Know how to construct survival shelters. Be considerate of the detect-ability of your shelter.

* The ability to set traps and snares may come in handy as may constructing survival hunting tools and weapons.

* The skill set to built fires is necessary for survival, however the escaped captive will probably not have fire making tools. Knowing how to build a fire without a torch and how to keep that fire as covert as possible by using masking terrain and vegetation, burning only dry wood may save your life.

The greatest survival aid is your mind and the best way to employ that is to be prepared for all threats. Preparation, both knowledge, training and equipment is what is going to keep you alive.

Foods that will be Gone When SHTF

2011-12-12T04:43:00.000-08:00

UrbanSurvivalSkills received a comment from Horsyguy: "There is a new advertisement about 37 foods that will sell out when SHTF, but they don't list them or give them and want you to buy books? I think the site was 123foodsurvivalplan.com ? Does anyone know what they are or have read the books? Are they legit books worth reading? thanks."

Horsyguy, I have seen many different lists of the foods that are supposed to run out or be first off the shelves and unavailable during a dynamic collapse of when SHTF is apparent. Safe to say all foods will be gone. The advertisement may be 37 foods that will go first, but after two days o not eating, I think a can of Lima Beans, expired for three years would look good.

Here is an example of 37 items that will go quick, taking the obvious Food items, bottled water, guns, ammunition and fuel for vehicles off the table:

1. Water Filters/Purifiers/Pumps.
2. Generators (even though the fuel will run out - people will buy them.
3. Firewood, depending upon the time of year.
4. Candles,
5. Flashlights and Batteries,
6. Dog Food,
7. Butane Lighters and matches
8. Coleman/camping fuel to include propane and butane bottles.
9. Water containers (get more than one and in different sizes)
10. Propane Heaters and all accessories that go with it (extra propane, heads, etc)
11. Some clothing items, starting with coats, gloves, socks and footwear
12. Hand Tools
13. Lumber
14. Aluminum Foil
15. Feminine Hygiene/Haircare/Skin products.
16. Gasoline containers
17. Toilet paper, paper towels, hygiene items
18. Work gloves, Work boots, Work Clothes
19. Seeds (non-hybrid or hybrid - some people don't know the difference)
20. First Aid Kits and all medical materials
21. Large and small Plastic Containers
22. Canning mateials, jars and lids
23. Camping/Cast iron cookware
24. Duct Tape
25. Garbage cans (metal and plastic)
26. Rope and twine
27. Laundry Detergent (dry and liquid)
28. Backpacks
29. Garden tools & supplies
30. Bleach
31. Knives, axes, sharpening stones
32. Bicycles and spare parts/tires
33. Camping material such as Sleeping Bags
34. Books on Survival, gardening, raising animals, etc.
35. Hardware such as nails, screws, bolts, etc.
36. Cigarettes
37. Wine/Beer/Liquor

Let me know if I forgot something.

More from Lt Col Dave Grossman

2011-12-10T04:49:00.000-08:00

If you have not heard of Lt Col Dave Grossman, then you should learn the name and research his writings. He is an internationally recognized scholar, author, soldier, and speaker who is one of the world's foremost experts in the field of human aggression and the roots of violence and violent crime.

One of Grossman's writings, titled "On Sheep, Wolves, and Sheepdogs" and includes insight such as: “Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident. I mean nothing negative by calling them sheep. To me it is like the pretty, blue robin’s egg. Inside it is soft and gooey but someday it will grow into something wonderful. But the egg cannot survive without its hard blue shell.

Police officers, soldiers, and other warriors are like that shell, and someday the civilization they protect will grow into something wonderful. But they need warriors to protect them from the predators.

Then there are the wolves, and the wolves feed on the sheep without mercy. Do you believe there are wolves out there who will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in denial.

Then there are sheepdogs, and I’m a sheepdog. I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf.

Any collapse, gradual or dynamic, will cause and allow the wolves of society to operate more openly. We have to be prepared to operate in a much more dangerous environment. The time to prepare is now when we have relatively better resources and a safer environment.

Lt. Col. Dave Grossman has presented a seminar titled "Bullet Proof Mind". Talking about topics ranging from school shootings to psychological response to a violent encounter… but one of the most critical things Grossman stresses is the importance of having a sense of urgency.

The Bullet Proof Mind is not available as a 5 disc DVD set covering such topics as:

* The truth about the explosion of violence in America (Think things are getting better? Think again…)
* What it takes to be a warrior capable of stopping multiple attackers and mass murdering lunatics
* The hidden truth about lethal combat…
* How the body responds to a violent attack, and what you can do now to ensure your body responds the right way
* How to prepare your spouse for an attack
* The New Killer of the 21st Century, and why most people aren’t willing to talk about it
* Important drills that Nobody practices that would save countless lives
* Who is Teaching Our Kids To Kill? Find out now so YOU can put a stop to it

To watch a short video on Lt Col Grossman and look over the Bullet Proof Mind DVD offer, go to this site.

$1000 to Spend on Survival Firearms

2011-12-08T04:53:00.000-08:00

Wally wrote UrbanSurvivalSkills with the following question: "If I had a $1000 and no more to buy a gun for survival what would you recommend?"

UrbanMan's reply: Wally, I would have to make some assumptions in answering question. I am assuming that you have no firearms of any type right now, and after spending your $1000, you would not, in the future, be buying any additional firearms. I limited my search to firearms advertised in the local, but national franchised, sporting goods store which give pretty good prices and this is how I came up with spending your $1000:

Handgun. Taurus, 9x19mm semi-automatic. $299

Shotgun. Stevens, 12 gauge pump riot shotgun. $199

Rifle. Marlin Model 336, .30-30 Winchester, lever action rifle. $379

total spent of Firearms, $873, leaving $123 left.

Then I would use the rest of the $1000 to buy the following:

Ammunition. One box (50 rds) of 9x19 $10.99; two boxes (40 rds) of .30-30 $26.98; one box (25 rds) of 12 gauge bird shot $14.99; and, four boxes (20 rds) of 12 gauge 00 buckshot $19.96

Cleaning Kit. One rifle-pistol combo cleaning kit $6.99, and one shotgun claning kit $6.99 for a total of $13.98 spent of cleaning kits.

Binoculars. Bushnell Compact 8 x 21 Binoculars $12.99

Knife. CRKT M16 tactical folder $16.99 (great price on this knife by the way).

By my math you would have about $6 left over.

If money is a difficult issue for you, each week, I would put away what I could each pay period or month that goes by,........a few bucks here and there to spend adding to my ammunition stockage and buying survival food across the spectrum of long storage term food, dehydrated foods and pantry items.

Another way to go in the Survival Firearms decision is to buy an AR for around $850 and put the rest of the money into ammunition and magazines.

I chose the three guns, ammunition and accessories that I did because a Survival Firearms battery needs to fulfill many requirements across the spectrum of of possible collapse of SHTF scenarios. Personal protection being the main requirement. Ask yourself this question: Is the three person survival team better off with only one gun - that being one of the members equipped with an M-4 or AR platform?.......or would they be better off with each of the survival team members being armed with the three firearms I choose? Really doesn't matter what I think or say. The solution is what works best for you. Good preps my friend.

Unique and Efficient Stove - The Russian Wood Stove

2011-12-06T04:48:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine sent me this article, photo and video. He explained that while he granted this is an old video, but it does a good job with basic explanation of the technology. I have never seen a design like this before, but I'm sold 100% on it for if/when we build a house someday. There is a North America association with a list of builders around the country, and designs have been updated since this video
was produced.

There are other wood burning stove designs at this site.

Another site would be Russian Wood Stoves

Survival Shops Report Big Sales For Possible Collapse

2011-12-04T05:55:00.000-08:00

From a local Television station in Missouri comes a report about a Survival Food and Gear store saying a huge jump in sales reflects that many people are getting prepared for the “possible collapse” of society. The stores are selling expensive MRE's at 50 cases a month. Reports that people come in as a family and build Bug Out bags on the spot.

Others are stocking up on freeze-dried meals and other supplies to stash at a remote location away from the city where they would go in an emergency. Other people have said they have property which they have set up different things to protect themselves like towers they can stand up and watch.”

One of the store owners said that business has been brisk since the spring, when uprisings in the middle east, the U.S. Federal deficit and lack of government movements to fix it bringing on a deep concern for the future of the U.S. He says " People are just plain scared. They don’t know where this country is going".

From the on-line version of this news report, many diverse comments are made and
UrbanMan is going to take the liberty of commenting on some of them:

"If you haven’t stocked up by now, pray."

UrbanMan say's: It's never too late to start. I think that if you polled all the preppers in the country, most of them would say they are not finished prepping or at a point where they would want to be preparation wise if the STHF.

"I’m stocking up on GUNS and AMMO, the currency of the future. With those things, I can have all the food I can eat when I take it from the liberal pacifists. I’m making a list of all the turds in my area with Obama bumper stickers or yard signs."

UrbanMan say's: Really. A lot of "if's" in this premise. If the "liberal pacifists" have food for you to steal. What "if" they don't have any food? What if the older gent who drives a BMW, who you think as a Liberal, is really a Vet,....much better trained than you,...and in fact knows your cowardly

kind and is just waiting for you to give him a reason to kill you? And you know what's funny? I don't like Obama either.

"Make sure you have plenty of Ammo and several rifles and hand guns. You can always take the food from the others who are storing it. OR Ammo will be a trade item.. Your call if the doo doo hits the fan."

UrbanMan say's: Here it is again,....taking food from others. You may evne be able to do it, if they are unprepared. Are you prepared? Have you been tested with your life on the line? Take you stealing mind set back to the couch and re-read your "Soldier of Fortune" magazines.

"People streaming out of the city when TSHTF, remember Katrina. Most city dwells won’t be able to get out. Many are to dependent on the government for any type of help and wouldn’t be able to find a road out of the city. Also after a while with people panicking I’d imagine alot of pileups on the highways. Without police to direct traffic or city workers to move the wrecked cars alot of people will be walking out of the cities. Without the massive and daily trucks of food the keep grocery stores stocked people leaving the cities aren’t going to find alot to eat, unless they learn to catch animals by hand."

UrbanMan say's: You have a good point based on the Katrina scenario. But do you really think people,....hungry refugees....can't travel 10, 20 or 30 miles in search of food? What kept a lot of Katrina victims in the city were: obstacles such as large bodies of fast moving water and blocked bridges; a fairly rapid state and federal response; the idea that it would never get so bad. I have said many times, be sure to look atthe natural routes for refugees when you are planning.

"Pshaw. For this type of collapse you need a good financial plan or adviser to protect your savings from government trying to inflate their way out of debt. Society is not going to collapse, in the US; no telling what will happen in the EU. Europeans get barbaric fast – think Bosnia."

UrbanMan say's: You will be one of the people railing at the banks at forced bank holidays, calling your broker (if the phones work),....here's a tip, he won't pickup as he will be loading his SUV with food, guns, gear, gold and silver and heading to his bug out location. If you really think the way you wrote, then you are a chump,......but not everyone is planning adequately for a economic or societal collapse so I guess you'll be one of the first victims. To use some social media code: LMAO at you.

"Things certainly appear to me to be headed for big trouble for us average people. I doubt that a complete collapse of society and riots everywhere will happen, but we need to be prepared for some of this if the food supply gets interrupted. I think the most likely scenario coming toward us is that energy and fuel prices will spike so high that the truckers will refuse to drive and therefore no food or other goods will go to stores. How long do you think it will take the shelves at Safeway to empty out? So, somewhere between everything collapsing and everything is roses, we need to prepare. Why not just buy extra canned goods, pasta, rice, nuts, etc. and store them in your house? Put them in expiration date groups and eat the oldest ones first. So, instead of eating what you bring home from the store, you store it and eat what you previously stored. Using this method I have now about 3 months of food in a pantry. It’s sort of a hobby, picking food at the store and arranging and storing it. Anyway, if you don’t get ready for at least a temporary interruption, then you are very foolish."

UrbanMan say's: I don't think the truckers will refuse to drive, unless it gets too dangerous. I just think they won't be able to afford to drive or find fuel for their trucks. You are certainly right at least being ready for a temporary interruption.

The Bad Guys Are Us

2011-12-01T05:06:00.000-08:00

Starting to come out two days ago, then more fully yesterday and today, are details of the Senate Defense Bill for Fiscal Year 2012 that has a provision, Section 1031, which allows for the designation of the homeland (meaning the 50 states) as a part of the War on Terror or as Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) put it: "The homeland is part of the battlefield and people can be held without trial whether (they are) American Citizens or not." Notable supporters include Senator's John McCain (R-AZ) and Carl Levin (D-MI).

On the surface it seems like a logical means and set of tools for Federal Law Enforcement to combat domestic and imported terrorism. Until you get to these four facts:

1 - The Senate Defense Bill was developed in secrecy contrary to law.What is the Senate worried about? That the People would see what the bill was shaping up to be and be outraged as they should be?
2 - The bill allows for the use of the Armed Forces in domestic law enforcement and anti-terrorism operations.
3- That domestic Terrorist suspects include,.....people who disagree with the Government; people who may be missing fingers; people who collect or store guns and ammunition especially multiple guns and waterproof ammunition,...and people who have 7 days or more of food stocked.
4 - Finally, some wisdom from one of our great Founders, Benjamin Franklin,.."Those who would sacrifice freedom for security deserve neither.

I don't know who else besides Rand Paul (R-KY) is on our side and the side of tens of millions of Americans, but what I do know is if this bill is passed the game changes. Primarily focused on conditions and threats outside of our control,.e.g..economic collapse, dollar break, external terrorist attack by Weapon of Mass Destruction or EMP attack,.....or even natural disasters have now been superseded by the very real threat of a totalitarian government,....at least we have a counter-measure that that is redress of grievances through petition (phone call and e-mails) or through the ballot box. Holy Jesus, this scares the shit out of me!

The Mayan End of the World Prediction in the News Again

2011-11-29T04:36:00.000-08:00

Headline: Mexico acknowledges 2nd Mayan reference to 2012. UrbanMan still gets an occasional e-mail or comment from readers who are transfixed on the possibility not from man made collapse but from pre-destined collapse as interpreted by the Mayan Calendar and other dooms day predictors. I subscribe to the theory of self determination, be it good or bad. If we didn't have free will and everything was pre-determined, then what the hell are doing?

Anyway, an article by Mark Stevenson of the Associated Press details another Mexican archaeology find backing up the Mayan Calendar prediction that the apocalypse would occur in 2012.

While Mexico's archaeology institute downplays these theories that the ancient Mayas predicted the apocalypse in 2012, they did acknowledge that a second reference to the date exists on a carved fragment recently found at a southern Mexico ruin site.

The "Comalcalco Brick," as the second fragment is known, has been discussed by experts in some online forums. Many still doubt that it is a definite reference to Dec. 21, 2012 or Dec. 23, 2012, the dates cited by proponents of the theory as the possible end of the world. Given the strength of Internet rumors about impending disaster in 2012, the institute is organizing a special round table of 60 Mayan experts next week at the archaeological site of Palenque, in southern Mexico, to "dispel some of the doubts about the end of one era and the beginning of another, in the Mayan Long Count calendar."

No matter what your beliefs are,....Mayan predicted end of the World; Socio-Economic Collapse; Foreign attack induced collapse,....it still pays to be prepared in some form or function,...again: planning, security, food and shelter all need to be considered to have a reasonable chance of survival during hard times, be it from the dollar collapse, a Mayan Boogeyman or from fire breathing dragons.

Bad Advice on Buying Silver?

2011-11-27T06:18:00.000-08:00

Tina wrote to UrbanSurvivalSkills and asked: " Several of my friends and I get together to can vegetables, and we take turns going to flea markets to sell items we no longer want or can do without. This has brought about a on-going conversation about the dollar collapse (not all my friends believe) and what it would be like to have a barter only community. I brought up the fact that I have been buying some Silver coins. Two of my girl friends almost seemed offended saying that: if we have a Germany type of dollar collapse, money and gold and silver will be useless and only bartering items and growing your own food for trade would be the right. How can I make them see that having some Silver and possibly Gold is a good idea, along with food?"

UrbanMan's reply: If your friends agree with having physical skills and material to enter into a collapse and survive through barter then they have taken the first step to Surviving SHTF, however you won't be able to talk anyone into anything. It just may be too uncomfortable for them to think about it or accept the possibilities of an impending collapse and the chaos it brings. It will come back to haunt you if you do try and talk them into anything. They need to reach the belief in preparation on their own accord based on the merits of the facts.

Second of all, if one or two of your "friends" think that buying Gold or Silver is foolish, then their attitude probably stems from the "Being Left Behind" syndrome. This is where they are mad that they did not have the same foresight to procure Silver and Gold, be it Bullion or coins for Silver melt value, and don't want you to be ahead of them. This is also the so called "Crabs in a Bucket" phenomenon. If you put crabs in a bucket, when one finds a way to climb up and escape, the others will actually pull him back down into the crowd.......it's like "how dare you" get ahead of us.

In fact, you ought to search for "Crabs in a Bucket" on you tube.

It is great that you and your friends can produce barterable goods, go to flea markets to work in the barter society or otherwise find that what you can make has value for others. There are many other categories for preparing for a economic collapse,.... .......planning, security and the stocking of appropriate durable and on-durable items and material to make survival not only possible, but possible with some decent standard of living. After all, that's the goal.

If you continue dripping information to them about buying Gold and Silver your "friends" will undoubtedly turn to the "Gold and Silver are poor investments argument". Your counter is that you are buying Gold and Silver as a commerce contingency in the period of time when the dollar deflates in value and before a true straight barter society will commence.

I truly think that during and after the period when the dollar becomes worthless, Silver and Gold will be of value and will end up being the new basis for a new currency standard. Tell your friends that if they think Silver and Gold are not important then that's fine,....don't buy any. And I'll just bet one silver round to a can of your vegetables that your friends will experience "fear of being left behind" and start some type of Silver procurement, even if it's just a couple of one ounce Silver rounds a month.

Good luck and prepare well, Tina.

Another Look at the Coming Dollar Collapse

2011-11-25T05:48:00.000-08:00

Excellent and easily readable article by Greg Hunter’s of USAWatchdog.
Defining conditions in Europe and how the collapse of the dollar and therefore rise of Gold will occur.

At the beginning of this month, the G20 met in France to try to find a way to solve the European sovereign debt crisis. It ended with world leaders in disarray over a way to come up with a solution. At first blush, it appears that nothing of any importance came of the meeting of the 20 leading economies of the world, but that is not the case. It was widely reported the G20 came up with the idea that Germany might put up its gold reserves to back a bailout fund called the European Financial Stability Facility or EFSF. Of course, Germany , with its more than 3,400 tonnes of gold (number 2 in the world), quickly shot that idea down. End of story? Quite the contrary–the gold story is just beginning to get interesting.

You see, the G20 did something accidentally that was very important, and that was confirm that gold has a place in the monetary system, especially in times of extreme turmoil. Why doesn’t the EU use sovereign bonds to back the EFSF? They are considered a store of value and are held as reserves in many European banks. The simple answer is the world is waking up to the fact that debt can’t back up debt. Europe finds itself in a tough spot, and the leaders there know it. Reuters reported Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, “Europe is in one of its toughest, perhaps the toughest hour since World War Two,” she told her Christian Democrats, saying she feared Europe would fail if the euro failed and vowing to do anything to stop this from happening.” Well, anything but put Germany ’s gold up as collateral. Maybe Chancellor Merkel will be the next leader to exit the European stage? Who knows, but what I do know is that gold is once again going to become an important part of the world monetary system.

UrbanMan's comment: By the virtue of Gold increasing in value, so will Silver. Currently the ratio of Gold and Silver, $1,800 and $34 an ounce respectively, is at an approx ratio of 1:53. That ratio is expected to decrease as the historic Gold to Silver ratio is much narrow than that, so the correction will bring the value of Silver much higher as well.

In a new book called “Currency Wars,” Wall Street insider Jim Rickards examines how countries try to get out of financial trouble by devaluing their currencies. Rickards says, “Today, as yesterday, countries are attempting to devalue their way out of trouble. Following the strategy of beggar-thy- neighbor, the U.S. , Europe, China and Japan all want to weaken their currencies. The flaw in the tactic should be clear. “Not everyone could cheapen at once,” Rickards writes. “The circle still could not be squared.” Rickards predicts the U.S. dollar’s future is not bright, and if there were a “catastrophic collapse of investor confidence,” the dollar’s buying power could suffer suddenly and dramatically in a global sell off.

Gold would be the big beneficiary if the dollar declined, and Rickards’ top price for gold per ounce is–wait for it–$44,552! That price is the absolute highest possibility. Rickards and others predict that in the next few years, America will go back on some sort of gold standard. Meaning, the dollar will be backed by gold, but Rickards has stated on many occasions that there probably will not be a100% gold backed U.S. dollar. Instead, Rickards contends it will be more in the neighborhood of 40%. If that is the case, then gold would be $17,821 per ounce using Rickards numbers. It appears gold prices are going much higher.

UrbanMan's comment: Again, silver will increase as well and by virtue of it's lower cost to procure, it remains not only the poorer man's precious metal for SHTF, but an easier bought one as well.

The main factor in determining gold price is money printing, and one of the biggest currency creators on the planet is the Federal Reserve. It created enormous amounts of money in the wake of the 2008 meltdown, and it looks like it is getting ready to unleash mountains of even more cash to stop the impending Euro-land meltdown. This week, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard indicated the central bank would take action if the EU sovereign debt crisis turns chaotic. According to a Wall Street Journal report, “Bullard said that if overseas events worsened significantly, the Fed could respond, saying “the Fed can re-open some of the liquidity facilities that were used during 2008-2009″ to reduce related market disruptions. “It will be fairly clear if some sort of crisis occurs in financial market that causes trust to break down,” it would then be time for the Fed to take action to alleviate the market tumult, he said.” It looks to me the Fed will be forced to print money to stop another financial meltdown. It is only a matter of time, and time appears short.

UrbanMan's comment: Something we hope never happens but refuse to let hope override good common sense in prepping. When the currency printing press start working over time the price of goods goes up because the dollar becomes devalued. Your pay checks will remain the same.....buying less and less until the one million a year that goes into poverty, becomes 15 million or more. Anarchy will reign when the true poverty level, currently at around 45 million hits 1/3 of the population or around 100 million.

Renowned economist Martin Armstrong says, “What this is really about is it’s the entire Western civilization that’s starting to crumble.” In an interview Monday on King World News, Armstrong warned, “Everything is falling apart and the politicians will not address it because it means having to change the system and that’s what they do not want to do. The real big money that I speak to, they are really starting to look beyond Italy , Greece , Spain and Portugal . They are starting to look at France and Germany .” Armstrong goes on to say, “They have borrowed year after year with no intention of paying it back. The US had $1 trillion of debt when Ronald Reagan took office in 1980. We are now pressing $15 trillion of debt.” The debt crisis throughout the Western world will push the price of the yellow metal (Gold) higher even though it is currently range bound. Armstrong says, “Basically what you are doing is you are building a sideways type of base. Eventually gold is going to take off to the upside, but largely when people begin to see the Emperor has no clothes and we’re getting close to that. I would only give it a few more months.”

When the next financial calamity hits, the Fed and other central banks will have two choices. They can print money to try and save the system they love, or let it implode. That means this is really all about gold now.

Mosin Nagent or British Enfield?

2011-11-22T04:49:00.000-08:00

Nick wrote and asked UrbanSurvivalSkills which would be a better rifle, the Russian Mosin-Nagent or the British Enfield: "Hey I like your web site, especially the discussions on low cost preps and some of what some people do with about nothing. I am going to pickup a second rifle. My first is a M1 Garand in .30-06 and I have been looking at either a Russian 7.62 bolt action rifle or a British Enfield each I can get for less than $250. What do you think?"

UrbanMan's comment: With the price of the British Enfield at $250, I assume that it is a British Short Magazine Lee Enfield (SMLE) in the .303 British cartridge, and the Russian rifle is a Mosin-Nagent in 7.62x54R mm. Both are good rifles. If the Enfield you are talking about is an 1917 Enfield - then the discussion stops right here - buy that gun assuming it is in shootable condition. But lets go back to my first assumption that the Enfield is a Short Magazine Lee Enfield,....my thoughts on deciding between the two,....

Do you have enough ammunition stocked for the M1 Garand? Do you have a 12 gauge shotgun, with a decent magazine capacity and enough shot shells stocked for this gun? Both would be considerations for me before I bought a surplus military rifle.

The relative effectiveness of each cartridge - the .303 versus the 7.62x54R mm Russian are similar given the same bullet weight. If I am not mistaken, the .303 British has a very slight edge in muzzle velocity, too little to be a concern of mine. Both are accurate on large animal or man targets, certainly at 100 yards.

The advantages of the Lee-Enfield is a detachable 10 round box magazine, which presumably you could procure several more for a basic load. The disadvantages of the SMLE is that some were made in Canada (called Long Branches if I am again not mistaken) with only two grooves and were not very accurate at distances greater than 100 yards. Well, now I have to admit that thirty years ago, when I was in my twenties and buying guns left and right, I owned a SMLE of Long Branch manufacture and it was inaccurate. Maybe another disadvantage is the ammunition availability .....probably not nearly as available and more costly than the Russian 7.62x54R mm.

You can find 76.2x54R mm at multiple surplus and commercial sources, and at reasonable prices - stick to the non-corrosive primered stuff. The ammunition availability fact would drive me to choose the Mosin-Nagant over the SMLE. However, there are some SMLE re-barreled to 7.62 x 51mm Nato and if I found one of those in good condition it would be my choice over the Mosin-Nagent. Hope this helps you out. Prepare well and stay safe.

FBI Says Gangs Infiltrating the US Military

2011-11-19T06:08:00.000-08:00

FBI Says Gangs Infiltrating the US Military, from a 27 October report available on military.com

The U.S. military is facing a "significant criminal threat" from gangs, including prison and biker gangs, whose members have found their way into the ranks, according to an FBI-led investigation.

UrbanMan's comments: Great! Not only is the gangs population growing across the U.S., now we have to be concerned with additional and more modern weaponry and training for these already organized criminal groups. As if the gang lack of respect for life and law isn't enough.

Some gang members get into the military to escape the streets, but then end up reconnecting once in, while others target the services specifically for the combat and weapons training, the National Gang Intelligence Center says in a just-released 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment/Emerging Trends.

Whatever the reasons, it's a bad mix. Gang members with military training pose a unique threat to law enforcement personnel because of their distinctive weapons and combat training skills and their ability to transfer these skills to fellow gang members," the report states. Gang members have been reported in every branch of the armed forces, though a large proportion of them have been affiliated with the Army, the Army Reserves or Army National Guard, it says.

The gang report is the third by the NGIC since 2005 and includes the most information yet on gangs in the military. The 2005 report made no mention of gang members in the armed forces, while the 2009 report devoted two paragraphs to the problem and listed 19 gangs said to include military-trained members. The NGIC is a multi-agency operation -- federal, state and local – headed up by the FBI to bring together intelligence on gangs and gang activity. The latest report devotes four pages to the problem and lists about 50 gangs with members with military backgrounds. In the past three years, it states, law enforcement officials in more than 100 jurisdictions have encountered, detained or arrested a gang member who was on active-duty or a former service member.

Younger gang members, who do not have arrest records, are reportedly making attempts to join the military, and also attempting to conceal any gang affiliation, including tattoos, during the recruitment process. And given the large U.S. military footprint overseas, gangs and gang dependents have found their way onto bases from Japan to Germany and Afghanistan and Iraq , where the center recorded instances of gang graffiti on military vehicles. The report also specifically relates the 2010 cases of three former Marines arrested in Los Angeles for selling illegal assault weapons to the Florencia 13 gang, and a U.S. Navy SEAL charged in Colorado with smuggling military-issued machine guns and other weapons from Iraq and Afghanistan into the U.S.

"Gang members armed with high-powered weapons and knowledge and expertise acquired from employment in law enforcement, corrections or the military may pose an increasing nationwide threat, as they employ these tactics and weapons against law enforcem4nt officials, rival gang members and civilians," the NGIC report says.

The NGIC assessment is not the first to look at the rising problems of gang members in the military.

The Army's Criminal Investigation Division has done a number of them over the years. It found the number of investigations of gang-related violent crimes rising to 9 in 2005, after several years of decline, with just 3 the year before. Most Soldiers found linked to gangs are junior enlisted members, CID found. "Overall, military communities continue to be a more stable, secure and lawful environment than their civilian counterparts, especially given recent access control and other
security enhancements," Army CID concluded.

UrbanMan's comment: Rawles' new book, "Survivors" has a story line about existing urban based criminal gangs accessing military grade weapons and equipment, which should make everyone think about the potential.

Food versus Vitamins?

2011-11-16T09:51:00.000-08:00

Anonymous (who we are going to give the name "Mack" for the purposes of this post) left a comment on the post Wood Stoves and Preps, ......"25 lbs of rice at Costco = $15. A 5 gal bucket and lid from Walmart = $4. For $19 you get 25 lbs of stored rice which equals 67 cups of uncooked rice. One cup of uncooked rice when cooked equals two cups of cooked rice, enough for a meal for two people. There are 268 meals in 25 lbs of rice. Of course the meal would be improved with some meat and veggies but do not underestimate the value of a cup of cooked rice to a hungry person. For $100 you could have 5 five gallon buckets of rice, 1340 meals!!"

UrbanMan's comment: Great. Thanks for the lesson in rice per pound per meal. I am going to re-visit my bulk rice and see what I come up with.

Then Chris replied leaving this comment about rice,....."Rice is great to fill your belly, but it's low in calories, and has almost none of the vitamins and minerals you need to keep healthy. Even supplementing with beans and procured meats, a large supply of multivitamins will go a long way to keep your mind and body fully functional.".

Mack replies back "Chris you are absolutely correct. However when you are hungry rice is filling. When you are hunting and gathering for food rice makes the pickings a meal. I can gather a few greens or perhaps catch a fish but there is damned few edible and tasty carb foods out there to eat. Rice or wheat is the staple. And of course combine it with beans or other legumes to make a complete protein. The whole point of my post was not to claim you could live on rice alone but to show how cheap and easy it is for anyone to store a lot of meals for a little money. I also store wheat and freeze dried potatoes in various forms, but in everyday cooking when I'm planning a meal rice is the easiest and most satisfying carbohydrate choice for me and goes with any other food.

The problem I have with the multi-vitamin theory is it misleads people into thinking it is a solution. It is not. If you have multi vitamins and no food you have nothing. If you have food (a grain and legume) simple greens you can pick in your backyard and along the road will supplement most of your needed vitamins. I am preparing and my intent is to provide for anything and everything I might need and I will be storing no vitamins of any kind. I intend to get my essential nutrients from my food and I do indeed know what nutrients are in the foods I store and what nutrients are in the foods I can gather from the wild. Vitamins are a false crutch not a solution."

UrbanMan's comment: I think Chris and Mack are both right, and both wrong. Rice is undoubtedly one of the major staples in all Survivalist's food preps. It is so easily stored, cooked and like Mack say's, goes with everything. Chris is right that a nutritional supplement is necessary, as even the most well stocked preppers will not be able to get all the required vitamins, minerals and antioxidants from their foods, no matter how fresh they are.   In a SHTF environment with minimal medical care available, personal health is going to vitally important. However, to put your faith in poor quality supplements is wasting your money and the time it takes to buy them. I have read study after study about the poor quality store bought supplements, and long ago stopped buying them. I have stocked one years supply (so far) of prescription grade vitamins and minerals, take them every day (as does my family) and using the first in, first out stockage plan will go into any collapse with at least one years supply. It's paying off so far as I haven't been sick in many years. Hopefully that would continue into a degraded collapse environment.

Food is important not just for the caloric (energy) value, but for a psychological value as well. I have vacuum packed small amounts of hard candy in my buckets to provide for a "treat" during hard times, but rice, beans, pasta, nuts, soup mixes are my bulk staples.

More on Solo Survival

2011-11-13T05:36:00.000-08:00

Prepper Website left a new comment on the post "Planning to Survive Alone",.......:When I think of someone going solo, I think of staying fast and mobile. I would think that the hope would be, in a SHTF situation, to stay low until some sort of normalcy came back to society, then join the living. I picture a heavily forested area with plenty of moving room and maybe several areas to hold up in...some caches along the way etc...."

UrbanMan's reply: Prepper, I agree - fast and mobile,.....or, stationary and hidden in a well stocked safe location. About anyone with decent survival training and a modicum of preparation can survive. I've done that in small increments for training. Ten days with nothing other than a fixed blade knife, 2 one quart Army canteens and one canteen cup, a small survival kit with snare wire, para cord, matches, button compass, a lightweight poncho and a map. It sucked. I lost about ten pounds. Learned much about isolation and being bored as well. And as stoic and tough as we think we may be, humans are not made for isolation.

I think the idea is to not only survive but live with some decent standard of living. The only way to do that is to have planned ahead, prepared well, and most likely be part of a larger survival group.

I'm not advocating some type of "survival commune" living, but planning and preparing with an alike minded group of individuals and families for mutual support.

Caches are always a good idea. To support the Bug Out plan, either at or near the safe location, or along the way supporting long range movements. I have written several posts on caches. And my student Jim (from Survival Chronicles of Jim) emplaced a couple near his family cabin which is his Bug Out location.

I hope not, but cannot help but think there are people out there thinking that if a severe enough collapse comes, they will survive on their own in a minimalist fashion. Great to have those skills, but better yet to be prepare across the spectrum of needs and do so with a focused plan and a team.

Lights Out, For Real

2011-11-11T04:44:00.000-08:00

News Report from the Associated Press,....HIGHLAND PARK, Michigan. (AP) -- As the sun dips below the rooftops each evening, parts of this Detroit enclave turn to pitch black, the only illumination coming from a few streetlights at the end of the block or from glowing yellow yard globes. It wasn't always this way. But when the debt-ridden community could no longer afford its monthly electric bill, elected officials not only turned off 1,000 streetlights. They had them ripped out -- bulbs, poles and all. Now nightfall cloaks most neighborhoods in inky darkness.

UrbanMan's comments: Highland Park being $58 million in debt and taking out two-thirds of the light poles, is only one of many inner city and adjacent communities that are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy,...their own local financial collapse, which from a security pint of view sets the scene that many other communities across this country may very well experience in the coming months. In Highland Park's case, financial woes have taken this city to cut back on electric bills plunging many of the city's areas into darkness, causing crime, notable break ins and home invasions, to increased obviously from the advantage the unlighted streets give the criminals in casing, selecting, approaching and taking down houses.

This caused me to re-look my suburban community, adjacent from only a few short miles from the heart of a urban environment, and the possible security consequences of all public utility lighting turned off. Not only public utility lighting, but if the electrical grid goes down, which it will surely have the probability of doing in a large chaotic SHTF scenario, what will this mean to me and my survival team as far as added security requirements as all artificial light from ambient sources, mostly houses, will be gone?

Heretofore areas that provided good observations of oncoming traffic, friend or threat, were now dark with even darker shadowed areas that would provide concealed approach routes to our site.

The absence of lighting and threat of darkness can be mitigated somewhat with a larger security presence, obstacles and LP/OPs, but knowing ahead of time what areas will provide natural concealment will not only allow you to plan for security measures but also may allow you to channelize threats to where they be more effectively handled.

Solar powered flood lights that can be used in the motion detection role or modified to be turned on at the flip of a switch can be a great tool for early warning or to create the illumination for which to engage threats with verbal warnings and/or protective fires if need be. The problem with the sensitivity of motion detection lights can be gotten around by disabling that feature and using an initiator such as a pressure activated or pull release activated mechanism to turn the lights on focused on the appropriate area.

I have four solar powered floodlights currently mounted on my house, one on each side. All are mounted on bolts with wing nuts so I can rapidly take them down if needed someplace else or in case of a controlled Bug Out. Solar powered lights with low wattage bulbs can also be placed outdoors during the day time and brought inside during the night to provide interior illumination.

Of course, a robust night vision capability backed up by 81mm Mortar Illumination rounds would be a partial solution as well.:)

The bigger question is here is what does the bankruptcy of urban municipalities mean? This is a trend with debt ridden cities and the debt ridden national government. With less and less money to pay for entitlement programs we are much closer to seeing a Greece type economic collapse here and with 45 million people or so on welfare and that number growing every day, the Occupy Wall Street protests could turn rapidly into riots in major cities especially with any type of event that marginally interdicts the food supply.

Survival Roulette Wheel

2011-11-09T04:46:00.000-08:00

I received this correspondence from "Jerry":............"Although this appears from as anonymous, call me "Jerry". I am a former Marine Captain and have saw combat in Iraq, before I got out of the Corps. I am now an insurance advisor for a nationally recognized company, have a side line business managing investments for some people (some of my old Marines for some), and have a network marketing business as well. I live in a suburban area while it is not a gated community, we are governed by a Home Owners Association (HOA). Most of the residents are older than my wife and I, and we are in our mid thirties.

My wife doesn't necessarily agree with my preps. She may even think my actions are part of PTSD. I really don't care at this point, but I see a major event happening or starting to happen soon, so I want to be ready.   Next month the HOA is going to have elections again. My wife is against me even attending these meetings, which so far I have not.   I think it prudent to be involved if for nothing else but to know the people in our area and have some type of ability to influence the actions of many and group think. We live in a pretty good area, only one two lane road entering in and exiting out of our area.   Highly defensible for a Platoon of Marine riflemen, but not for a bunch of non-organized civilians.

I am having a hard time explaining myself to my wife that I am not trying to take over the HOA. In other activities I have became involved in, I have often found myself in a leadership role and I think my wife is worried that this will consume my time and degrade our businesses, and our family.   Any ideas on how to get her to see what I am going to do is a prudent measure?"

UrbanMan's reply: Jerry, first of all, thanks you for your service.   Were you and your wife married when you were in the Corps? If so, she ought to understand that your were, and are a leader and will continue to be in any segment of your life.

Second of all, it seems like you are working like crazy on your life,....insurance, investment and a home based business. Good for you.

I would explain that trying to understand the HOA much like you did already with trying to get to know people and the credibility you establish with these fellow homeowners will go along way to providing some leadership or direction in the case of a collapse where, in all probability, your neighbor will have to stand together or perish separately.

It's kinda like this: Imagine a Roulette wheel at the Casino. You have 20 chips. If you put all your chips onto one number, you have a small chance of winning anything. If you place most of your chips on the three or four numbers you think will win, and then place maybe one chip on numbers that you are less sure off, you'll have better chances of winning something.......risk mitigation. You understand this from the Corps where risk assessment and risk management are a fact of life.

If you think food and protection-security are the biggest risks then you put a high percentage of your resources into stored food, survival site selection and survival firearms. If you think that even in the collapse, electricity won't be a problem, then you may save the money you would put into solar, wind and other energy technologies and use it for other higher priorities. If you think that there will be no exchange of commerce except for barter and that precious metals will not be worth anything, then you would not be stocking Gold and Silver.   If you think there is a chance, however small, of being able to use Gold and Silver then you may put a minimum amount of your resources procuring precious metals.

I think the idea of getting involved at least on the edges of your HOA can pay off big dividends if/when the SHTF comes.   The good thing a HOA would have is connectivity within that community. Placing names to addresses. I know a local urban HOA that hosts gardening classes each month......ready made for converting to vegetables rather than flowers.

Did you read a previous post from Selco who survived Bosnia in 1992 to 1995? He said it best when it takes a team or a group to survive. The HOA is part of the team you have. Most of the people in the HOA will see you as a leader whether or not you serve on the board or not.   Getting involved in the HOA will give you the contacts to develop this credibility so it can be exploited when you need to. Hooah Captain, Drive On.

Financial Collapse in Americans Cities, Counties and States

2011-11-07T04:44:00.000-08:00

From the Yahoo! article titled: 9 American Cities and Counties Going Broke

Pension plans, rising prices, depleted population and therefore reduced tax base all contribute to the following cities going broke. Image the potential chaos when city and county pensioners, food bank recipients and city county employees are not paid.

Imagine if the city/county utilities fail because of lack of money....either to pay for fuel, maintenance, etc., or just fail because they cannot pay their workers. The aftermath of these local governments going broke may give us some insight to a larger U.S. collapse.

These are nine American cities or counties facing financial collapse:

1. Central Falls, RI
2. Pontiac, MI
3. Jefferson County, AL
4. Harrison, NJ
5. Detroit, MI
6. Salem, NJ
7. Riverdale, IL
8. Strafford County, NH
9. Camden, NJ

Not only is this happening with cities and counties, several states are near collapse. 2.2 million unemployed in California. 1 million of have been unemployed over one year. Another 530,000 unemployed people have just exhausted their 3 years of unemployment benefits. There are another 6 million Americans who are scheduled to lose federal unemployment benefits in 2012. Almost one third of them (1.8 million) will be running out of these benefits in January 2012 alone.

Illinois' is almost bankrupt. The state had to borrow billions of dollars this year to pay for unfunded state pensions. Business is leaving Illinois at about the same rate they are exiting California (5 viable businesses leaving every two weeks) due to unreasonable state regulations and anti-business taxation.

Welfare rates in heretofore financially stable areas is increasing dramactically. This is obvious due to the poor economy nationwide, dwindling employment opportunities, and changing demographics as there is a hidden exodus of people all over the country moving trying to find a sustainable way to live.

Imagine what will happen to the already existing and currently expanding anti-capitalist demonstration being enacted across the country. Fueled to a large extent by liberal, leftist and union groups (sorry for being redundant) a hotter catalyst for these demonstrations, who currently only have a vague point, could be the
financial collapse of one or two middle to large sized population centers.

Some of these high population dense centers are going to cause follow on problems for outlying communities from any number of reasons: refugee traffic; collapsed logistics chains of supply from warehousing areas or supply distribution centers; utilities breakdown on water, electrical, consumer vehicle fuels or natural gas; and increased crime.

If you are near any of the nine population centers listed above you should be weighing the risks and possible threat streams. If you are near ANY population centers you should do the same.

Selco's SHTF School

2011-11-05T04:48:00.000-07:00

I tell people that as Americans we have very few examples of SHTF scenarios from which to draw lessons learned and conclusions from. Basically the Civil War, which happened 150 years ago, and the Great Depression of the 1930’s are our national history and sources for hard times. We also utilize novels based on potential causes of and the aftermath of some type of collapse event,….be it EMP or economic collapse. Most Survivalists have read “Patriots”, “One Second After”, “Lights Out” and possibly the new Rawles’ novel “Survivors”.

However, what I didn’t realize until I read Selco’s posts on Survivalistboards was that this country is full of transplanted Americans or otherwise people who have escaped terrible situations in other countries and have immigrated to the U.S. They have a wealth of knowledge to share with us.

I welcome Selco’s website, http://shtfschool.com as an excellent resource for first hand experience and lessons learned from his survival of the Bosnian conflict. Great website Selco!

Planning to Survive Alone

2011-11-03T09:14:00.000-07:00

UrbanSurvivalSkills received the following comment or e-mail (can’t remember which) but I have taken out key words in order to provide some OPSEC to the writer who we’ll call “Bob”. Bob wrote,......I have been reading your site for several months now. I am a retired military engineer, I served 30+ yrs. I have always been a closet "survivalist". I served nine tours in various parts of the planet and am very much aware of what can happen when things breakdown. Now while I agree with 90% of what you say, especially about survival being a team effort, my question to you is this: What can a single individual do to prepare, and what advice can you give to someone who through circumstance must go it alone? I have stocked food, guns are no problem and I reload for everything but shotgun. I have no stock of precious metals and frankly I don't think gold or silver would help much except in the very short term. I keep cash on hand and do pay attention to news items (mostly financial news) I think I am about half way to the level of preparedness I want. In a crisis what measures should I take for security? Other than the obvious electronic options (all requiring power sources of some type) what should I take into consideration? Thanks for your comments. Regards Bob

UrbanMan Replies: Bob, you’re an old guy like me. That alone gives you an edge because you’ll think through your situations and develop your requirements from that and not act as hastily. It’s a given that the fact is Survival is a team sport,…. but you are alluding to having to go it alone. If you do not have the ability to build a team there will be some priorities for you as an individual survivalist. A couple of those priorities may be:

Your survival location needs to be very secure. Remote area, defensible ground, observable approach routes, covered and/or concealed Bug Out or escape routes all carry a bigger importance as you may have to rely on them more quickly than a larger team. This may have to be an austere environment if you expect to ride it out without compromise. Be careful about brushing out or reducing sign off of normal roads that lead to accessing your place. You can leverage your security using mechanical and electronic means for early warning devices. Since you have a military engineer background as well as the availability of numerous publications, you can simply fashion early devices from mousetraps, trip wire and flashlights and/or snap caps….particularly to cover approach routes and dead space. You may be able to wire a solar panel and disguise it well enough, maybe with remote cables, to power a game camera that will send a picture over the air to cell phone or lap top.

Commercial or field expedient spike strips may help you protect vehicle capable routes to your location. These would need to be placed at a location that a vehicle would travel in order to setup, assembly or otherwise attack you. This really goes for any mechanical early warning device.

In the event of a catastrophic collapse with absence of civilian or military law, command detonated home made explosive devices may be a force multiplier for your situation. Although I would always caution people against violating state and federal laws governing explosive devices. Maybe an explosives license is in order to be legal. People reading this post – do not think I am advocating the violation of any existing BATFE regulation concerning explosives or destructive devices, because I am not. However, I would assume that in a total collapse scenario the inhibitions against breaking such regulations and federal law may not be a concern to some people.

At the very least I would have some solar power generating capability and an AM/FM/UHF/SSB type radio if not a full blown HAM radio setup. This will allow you to stay abreast of the situation as well as not feel too isolated.

As for cash and/or precious metals…..I would re-consider having at least some silver to go along with your cash on hand. This would be primarily for emergency purchases at, or just after, the collapse beginning, or further into chaos of it all. So I would convert some of my cash holdings to silver. It will at least hold it’s value when paper fiat currency loses it’s value.

Items for barter would be good also. Consider small items that when you normally buy 2, buy four, such as butane lighters, socks, boxes of band aids, iso-alcohol, soap, heirloom seeds, batteries, etc.,…the list is endless. These small items would allow you to travel longer distances, enhancing your security and better protecting the location of your place, if and when to go make contact with other people.

The following books may help determine early warning and booby trap solutions for your safe area. Good luck.

Major Storms on East Coast

2011-11-01T04:33:00.000-07:00

Headlines from yesterday morning - Millions in the Northeast remain without power as recovery efforts continue. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reports power outages in the following states: West Virginia , 14,937; Virginia 10,600; Pennsylvania 307,000; New York 265,155, and, New Jersey 597,083.

The News media is reporting approximately 750,000 customers without power in Connecticut; at least 650,000 in Massachusetts; 285,000 in New Hampshire; and over 150,000 in Maine. There have been about 10 storm-related fatalities to date. Note: that estimate has been recently updated to over 20 deaths.

FEMA, as well as all the affected states have activated their Regional Response Coordination Center (RRCC) and State Emergency Operations Center (EOC) respectively. FEMA Logistics is coordinating transportation of 30,000 gallons of water the Northeast. The American Red Cross states that shelters in Massachusetts and Connecticut are open and ready to receive occupants.

The National Guard Bureau reports that National Guard units in Massachusetts and Connecticut have been activated to provide support to the State EOC’s and medical response.

The Department of Transportation reports Amtrak service has resumed in Eastern Pennsylvania and some New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority lines should be in service soon. The Federal Aviation Administration states that there are no delays at airports on the East Coast, however the television/cable news reports there are substantial delays.

Do you know what would bother me the most? Even thinking about being dependent upon the federal government for ANY relief or support. This is a good lead for anyone who is having trouble getting their family to prep at any level. A few extra days of food and water; some candles and lanterns; cold weather gear such as appropriately rated sleeping bags; and of course security and protection precautions since scum bags are keenly attuned to take advantage to any situation or circumstances.

I recently attended a party where I was telling someone about an edible plant they had in their backyard. Another lady, who I found out later was a high school English teacher, was standing nearby and overheard us then told me words to the effect “…that it was cool I knew about edible plants then she remarked that she had just finished reading the novel ‘One Second After’ and was scared to death, and, now was stockpiling some food…”. Some lessons learned from storms can be lessons learned for the rest us; can be used to develop or start developing a prepper mindset in family and friends who are reluctant to believe that bad times can happen; and, can provide a realistic measurement of what the government can/cannot do. Just imagine all the people sitting idle waiting on the government to come to their aid.

SHTF - The Bosnian Example

2011-10-30T14:44:00.000-07:00

The below linked article is from www.Surivalistboards. I found it through a link on Chris Martenson's Daily Digest of 10/21.

I have often wrote that Survival is a Team Sport, as the tasks and necessities of survival in a collapse situation, or when SHTF if you prefer, is going to require many people. Obviously a smaller, tight knit team is better than a larger, un-disciplined group of individuals. The idea of surviving on your own, or even in a small family unit is fantasy unless you are so remote and so well stocked as to be able to pull it off. Even then, eventually the chances of running into trouble be it from an armed threat, .....or from disease, illness or injury that would require help are great.

In the reference post from www.survivalistboards, the author (Selco) talks about his experiences from Bosnia from 1992-1995. I found this quote of his quite telling: ".......and from my experience, you can not survive alone, strength is in the numbers, be close with your family, prepare with them, choose your friends wisely and prepare with them too."

Again, here is the link to the article.

Gold and Silver - Perceptions Changing

2011-10-27T04:34:00.000-07:00

UrbanSurvivalSkills received this comment from Anonymous…… ”I remained unconvinced that buying Gold or Silver is a smart move. Historically the prices have fluctuated, caused by the filthy rich people buying and selling large amounts to make enormous profits. Anyway, the ratio of Gold to Silver is constantly changes so people can lose their ass buying silver when it will be devalued against gold. If there is a really bad SHTF situation then all commerce will be conducted by either hyper-inflated dollars or through simple barter or trade goods. I also think there are people who are not thinking clearly about what can happen and scaring them into buying Gold and Silver is doing them a disservice.”

UrbanMan’s reply: Everyone has to make up their own mind on the value of owning precious metals, Gold and Silver, or even silver coins for their silver melt value. I know people in my income group who have spent 4x or 5x the amount I have spent on Gold and Silver. Obviously they value precious metals more; think that during a collapse or SHTF situation that it will be extremely valuable to own; or they are thinking about coming out of a collapse and beginning over with a lot of wealth.

I approach buying precious metals, overwhelmingly Silver, as a hedge against the projected worthlessness of paper money during a collapse and as a way to buy necessary items when barter or trade is not feasible. While I prefer Silver not to lose it’s value as I eventually want the world to return to normal and to pass off my Silver bullion and Silver coins to my family, it does not matter too much to me if silver drops to $10 an ounce. Once an economic collapse occurs, the value will certainly rise significantly. I simply own it to be provide a possibility of commerce after SHTF. I would much rather trade in Silver than in food or ammunition.

If you don’t want to procure precious metals, primarily Silver, as a contingency during hard times then that is your business. I just think the suggestion of making this decision after considering all the facts including historically use and value or precious metals; type of collapse and after affects we may see; and your current state of preparation.

Here are some facts from http://dollarcollapse

The US Mint sells about the same dollar amount of gold and silver coins, which means it sells 50 ounces of silver for every ounce of gold. UrbanMan’s notes: Today’s current prices were (approx): Gold/ounce $ 1,715.00 Silver/ounce $ 33.00 This is a near 52 to 1 ratio.

Ten times more silver than gold is produced each year, and the ratio in the earth’s crust is 15:1, so how can the price be 50:1? Expect a return to the historical norm of 15:1, which implies that silver will outperform gold.

The paper silver markets trade a billion ounces a day and the world only produces 900 million in a year. The amount available for settlement of these futures contracts is something like 1.5 million ounces, ludicrously little compared to the amount of paper. On the physical side most dealers are only seeing buyers not sellers. There are a lot more people who can afford a one-ounce silver coin than an ounce of gold.

UrbanMan’s notes: Consider this as well -

Today’s (Oct 2011) fuel prices were $3.55 a gallon and Silver is $ 33.00 an ounce. So one ounce of Silver would allow you to buy 9.3 gallons of fuel.

One year ago (Oct 2010) fuel prices were $2.90 a gallon and Silver was $ 23.00 an ounce. This would allow you to buy 7.9 gallons of fuel.

Two years ago (Oct 2009) fuel prices were $2.80 a gallon and Silver was $ 17.25 an ounce. This would allow you to buy 6.2 gallons of fuel.

One more thing: Roger Wiegand of www.TraderTracks.com posted the following alert: "Chances of a major problem in Europe have escalated. Chances of huge precious metals moves in this last quarter of 2011 are very good. I am not talking of $60 in one day but perhaps a huge run from this morning’s gold futures at $1707 all the way to +$2,000. There is no where to go with money if bad things happen in Europe except physical PM and quality related shares. I would not touch any kind of bonds and the only stocks of merit are those juniors holding 2-3 three years of corporate cash with good prospects.

Also the intermediate and larger gold companies should be protected and do well. THIS WEEKEND IN THE USA IS CRITICAL. If SOMETHING GLOBAL BAD HAPPENS. It would probably hit after the markets are closed this Friday. Again, I caution everyone to hold a minimum of one month’s cash, fuel and other provisions. This is not a game. This is very serious and in all likelihood nothing happens. But not make a mistake disregarding this apparent danger."

I hope you are not alleging that I am either scaring people into buying Silver. I have nothing to gain from this. I am simply rendering my opinion. What is right for my Survival Plan is to procure Silver both in bullion and in coins for Silver Melt value. Even then the ratio of my silver procurements is much lower than most of the other Survival Preppers I personally know. I am just trying to cover all the bases. But by and large most of my resources are going into food and other material as well as alternate energy. I have bought several solar power kits when they are on sale – and these are for barter. I have bigger units and small man portable solar power solutions for my groups own use.

EMP Radio Blog

2011-10-25T18:26:00.000-07:00

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com received a tip from Anonymous. " I've found a lot of good blogs and articles that talk about EMP. The best thing that I came across was an EMP radio blog that holds live conversations with people every Wednesday at Noon (Eastern Time.) This Wednesday (tomorrow - 26 October 2011), Lt. General (retired) Thomas McInerney is going to be on their show. It should be really great to listen to- here's the link:"

EMP Radio Blog

Growing Gangs - A Threat to SHTF Survival

2011-10-22T10:41:00.000-07:00

I recently had a chance to read the FBI's 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment on Emerging Trends. This does not paint a rosy picture for Americans in general and Survivalists in particular, in the event of our existing enforcement infrastructure being degraded during a collapse.

Every Mexican Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO) is allied with one or more U.S. based street gangs. The Mexican DTO presence is in every major American city; present in the National Forests with marijuana grows; and, the declining economy presents even a broader scope as a recruiting tool for American's, particularly our disaffected youth.

Organized gangs, organized before any SHTF event, will have an advantage from that existing organization and established networks. This makes it extremely necessary for Survivalists of all types (urban, suburban and rural) to put thought and effort in security, protective postures and building a survival team.

Click on the link above to read the entire report, otherwise the highlights I have posted below:

Executive Summary

Gangs continue to commit criminal activity, recruit new members in urban, suburban, and rural regions across the United States, and develop criminal associations that expand their influence over criminal enterprises, particularly street-level drug sales. The most notable trends for 2011 have been the overall increase in gang membership, and the expansion of criminal street gangs’ control of street-level drug sales and collaboration with rival gangs and other criminal organizations.a

Key Findings

Gangs are expanding, evolving and posing an increasing threat to US communities nationwide. Many gangs are sophisticated criminal networks with members who are violent, distribute wholesale quantities of drugs, and develop and maintain close working relationships with members and associates of transnational criminal/drug trafficking organizations. Gangs are becoming more violent while engaging in less typical and lower-risk crime, such as prostitution and white-collar crime. Gangs are more adaptable, organized, sophisticated, and opportunistic, exploiting new and advanced technology as a means to recruit, communicate discretely, target their rivals, and perpetuate their criminal activity. Based on state, local, and federal law enforcement reporting, the NGIC concludes that:

* There are approximately 1.4 million active street, prison, and OMG gang members comprising more than 33,000 gangs in the United States. Gang membership increased most significantly in the Northeast and Southeast regions, although the West and Great Lakes regions boast the highest number of gang members. Neighborhood-based gangs, hybrid gang members, and national-level gangs such as the Sureños are rapidly expanding in many jurisdictions. Many communities are also experiencing an increase in ethnic-based gangs such as African, Asian, Caribbean, and Eurasian gangs.

* Gangs are responsible for an average of 48 percent of violent crime in most jurisdictions and up to 90 percent in several others, according to NGIC analysis. Major cities and suburban areas experience the most gang-related violence. Local neighborhood-based gangs and drug crews continue to pose the most significant criminal threat in most communities. Aggressive recruitment of juveniles and immigrants, alliances and conflict between gangs, the release of incarcerated gang members from prison, advancements in technology and communication, and Mexican Drug Trafficking Organization (MDTO) involvement in drug distribution have resulted in gang expansion and violence in a number of jurisdictions.

* Gangs are increasingly engaging in non-traditional gang-related crime, such as alien smuggling, human trafficking, and prostitution. Gangs are also engaging in white collar crime such as counterfeiting, identity theft, and mortgage fraud, primarily due to the high profitability and much lower visibility and risk of detection and punishment than drug and weapons trafficking.

* US-based gangs have established strong working relationships with Central American and MDTOs to perpetrate illicit cross-border activity, as well as with some organized crime groups in some regions of the United States. US-based gangs and MDTOs are establishing wide-reaching drug networks; assisting in the smuggling of drugs, weapons, and illegal immigrants along the Southwest Border; and serving as enforcers for MDTO interests on the US side of the border.

* Many gang members continue to engage in gang activity while incarcerated. Family members play pivotal roles in assisting or facilitating gang activities and recruitment during a gang members’ incarceration. Gang members in some correctional facilities are adopting radical religious views while incarcerated.

* Gangs encourage members, associates, and relatives to obtain law enforcement, judiciary, or legal employment in order to gather information on rival gangs and law enforcement operations. Gang infiltration of the military continues to pose a significant criminal threat, as members of at least 53 gangs have been identified on both domestic and international military installations. Gang members who learn advanced weaponry and combat techniques in the military are at risk of employing these skills on the street when they return to their communities.

* Gang members are acquiring high-powered, military-style weapons and equipment which poses a significant threat because of the potential to engage in lethal encounters with law enforcement officers and civilians. Typically firearms are acquired through illegal purchases; straw purchases via surrogates or middle-men, and thefts from individuals, vehicles, residences and commercial establishments. Gang members also target military and law enforcement officials, facilities, and vehicles to obtain weapons, ammunition, body armor, police gear, badges, uniforms, and official identification.

* Gangs on Indian Reservations often emulate national-level gangs and adopt names and identifiers from nationally recognized urban gangs. Gang members on some Indian Reservations are associating with gang members in the community to commit crime.

* Gangs are becoming increasingly adaptable and sophisticated, employing new and advanced technology to facilitate criminal activity discreetly, enhance their criminal operations, and connect with other gang members, criminal organizations, and potential recruits nationwide and even worldwide.

Wood Stoves and Preps

2011-10-20T08:23:00.000-07:00

Received this from Dan in the Midwest: ”Hey urbanman, been reading your site for a while now and haven’t read anything about wood stoves. I live in the Midwest where the winter temps are usually highs of maybe 30 and lows in the mid teens and we do get snow. Enough snow to make me not like it, except for the moisture it brings to the soil for the farmers, which I am not one. I put in a wood stove with a low electric blower. During a power outage, I’ll be able to charge up my solar
recharged automotive batteries then power the small electric blower on the wood stove to eat the family room which the stove is place in. This past winter, we turned the heat off in them morning, did errands and such, then came back in the later afternoon and fired up the stove, used the blower and the main room was toasty in no time. So in a crunch, we plan on using the main room as a common room and the bedrooms with big sleeping bags for sleeping. right now, I have about 6 cords of wood on hand, and have access to wooded areas to cut more if needed. There is a storage lot about 1 and ½ miles away from my house which contains, among
many other things, stacks and stacks of wooden pallets. I intend of procuring this supply of wood if it becomes necessary.

I have my wife and two kids to think about. My brother and his wife and kids, plus my wife’s brother and his wife would be coming to stay with us in any scenario where we feel unsafe. I have about 10 Wise survival food buckets. They come in 56 packet buckets for meals. Plus I have 60 lbs of rice right now and just over 100 pounds of pinto beans stored in mylar bags inside of buckets. I think I am okay. My brother and brother in law would be bringing down all the stored food they have as well."

UrbanMan's comments: Dan, The food you have stored would not last very long for 10 people. Think about what would be necessary to feed ten people each day, then see how many days your food would last. I am not trying to diminish you efforts as you are much further along than most Americans. I have written about the categories of food I have stored from canned and dried pantry goods for immediate food, to military MRE's and commercial dehydrated foods, to bulk foods like rice/beans/pasta as well as sealed units of sugar, salt, peanut butter, nuts, honey, bullion and spices, all of which are things you can procure on a small or larger basis to further you ability to survive a food crisis. Any collapse, not matter what the cause, will interdict our food supply and lead to massive riots and chaos. I would also continue stocking more foods along he line you already have, and hope you have a year round water source.

Also consider stocking non-hybrid seeds. I have a pretty big supply of non-hybrid seeds. I plant a decent sized garden each year using store bought hybrid seeds. I will also buy additional hybrid seeds of whatever brand and type seems to do well. These are for an immediate needs and also for barter......plus they tend to be much cheaper.

I think wood stoves are probably necessary for all survival locations as they can be used for cooking and for heating. Depending upon your location you will need to take steps to migrate the threats of using a wood stove. The wood smoke smell and the visible smoke trail could attract unwanted people to your location.

Good for you for having the situational awareness to determine other local sources of needed items such as the wood pallets nearby. Your ingenuity on the solar power solution to your blower is a good idea. I do not have blowers on my wood stoves but will not consider it because of your idea.

You do not mention means of protection such as firearms. It's going to be hard enough for 10 people to accomplish all the daily survival tasks without a robust means of protection.

Lastly, I hope you in a location outside of potential or probably refugees or rioting and are considering building a bigger team. Not necessarily to absorb into your survival household, but to make your community safer....and some type of communications capability can make a different in identifying and reporting threats and garnering support within your local community be it a suburban street, gated community or small town.

be safe and prepare well

Weapons Maintenance the Interesting Way

2011-10-18T11:17:00.000-07:00

Those of us who ever served in the military have had it drummed into us about weapons maintenance. Woe behold the young serviceman who did not take this seriously. Maintenance, cleaning supplies including solvents and lubricating oils, and, spare parts are going to huge in a collapse scenario where SHTF factors make it unlikely that these items will be commonly available.

As I age, I reflect on training methodology and wonder if there wasn't a better way to instill the need for very tight weapons maintenance and the process to train young men how to take care of their weapons. Well, lo and behold I receive an e-mail with a weapons cleaning video that I thought would keep young men's attention on the task at hand.

For any of you who get upset at the video, please chill out. I meant nothing by it except a break from the serious. Even if the young lady's Glock cleaning techniques could be improved, she did get the lube points right.

Reader Comment of Societal Breakdown following a Collapse

2011-10-16T06:06:00.000-07:00

Anonymous left a new comment on the post titled: "Urban Survival Firearms - Sniper Rifle Necessity?",......"I think the 0%/99% (??) commenter improperly judges survivalist prepper's and the "culture". Many of us are not itching for a reason to shoot someone. I see things heading in a scary direction, and feel it's prudent to prepare to be able to provide for myself and my family and protect us if it's necessary. If ever the SHTF, words like "civilian" and "gang member" will be meaningless, if that individual is an actual threat to you or your loved ones. People get violent and ugly quick if they think they need to in order to look out for #1. People got into fist-fights over bottled water in Boston when the water main broke, and that was just a couple of years ago (the 21st century!!... but yeah, 'mankind has evolved". Right. Sure we have). Heck, people get trampled to death in Walmart's for Thanksgiving Black Friday deals, and that's just to save some money on a bauble. You're right, the thought is horrifying that I may
need to defend my family by killing someone in the future. That it is horrifying is irrelevant if the situation ever becomes that dire. You and I may not be able to determine what the world does around us or if TEOWAWKI happens or not, but it is foolish to not prepare - especially given current indicators. For your own sake, I hope you are preparing, which means all the things they discuss on this blog: food storage, knowledge for crop growing, a water supply, shelter, gear (rain, boots, cold weather, etc), and owning and knowing how to use a weapon to defend yourself."

UrbanMan replies: I am agreeing with you on all your points.

Only ultra liberals and ostriches cannot see what this country is heading for,...a total economic collapse which will be followed rapidly by a societal collapse. Gang Bangers, racist militia, etc., will all change to a general category to be known as the threat. The Threat may include your neighbors. Especially if they are not prepared and know you are.

It will help to understand the threat as all operations are in a planning and execution deficit without intelligence or just plain information about the enemy. And this enemy will be driven by fear and hunger for the most part. This is a potent danger as common people who will hold the door open for you and stop on the side of the road to help when you have a flat tire, all will be driven to do things they, at present, may not have any idea that they are capable of doing.

The prudent person prepares across the necessary categories of food, shelter, water and protection......and all the little things, and not so little things, that comprise those categories.

I was just explaining to a friend on the phone a few days ago that I know a handful (maybe more) of people who have taken loans out of their 401K or Government TSP plans to buy long term food and some other higher end items like solar generators. This way they have adequate (for the moment) stocks and can pay back the costs of their preps a little at a time. And if the SHTF in the mean time, I guess they get out of that debt anyway.

I hope to never have to shoot another human being again. I hope to never have to harvest another animal again, but I know I have it in me if the situation requires it. I just hope like hell that time never appears and I am distrustful of people who hope it will. But like that old saying goes, "Wish in one hand and spit in the other and see which one fills up first",.......

Survival Prep Questions - Switchblade Knifes and Raising Animals for Food

2011-10-13T04:26:00.000-07:00

I thought I would use this spot to answer two questions that have been in my que for a couple weeks.

Larry, from New Orleans e-mailed me this question: ”Urbanman, I bought a Infidel switchblade made by Benchmade from a buddy of mine. This is one of the coolest knifes on the market and just wanted your opinion on it.”

UrbanMan replies: Larry, I have handled a Benchmade Infidel and did not like it for a survivalist knife. Maybe a pimp knife. I would not own any switchblade knife for many reasons…..1 – they are illegal in most locales and the Benchmade Infidel IS a restricted item – hope you bought it legally and hope you can get rid of it as legally; 2 – they are inherently weak because they use a spring with can weaken with age (and use or non-use); and 3 – they are also weak because the blade has to move to open hence not having the integral strength like a full tang knife or even liner lock type folders. I suppose you bought it for last ditch, close personal defense – if so, consider that the blade design can/will snap or bend at the handle/blade connection if stabbing someone or something, or trying to leverage a cut on a tree limb. I think you would be much better off instead of spending the several hundred dollars that you undoubtedly spent on this type of knife, by buying several well made folders and/or small fixed blades, AND, sharpening equipment.

Anonymous e-mailed me this question: You talk about storing food and growing gardens but I have not seen any information on raising animals for a food supply. My husband and I raise rabbits. We sell them to local kids for fairs and FFA projects and other events, but we primarily raise them so when the crunch hits we’ll have a source of meat and barter. Rabbits are very high in protein and low in fats so they really are a good food source once you get over the harvesting your pet thing.”

UrbanMan replies: Rabbits. I have ate plenty of them over the years. Not necessary some I would order in a restaurant but that’s not the point, is it? Rabbit meat is a good source of protein but is not very high in carbs nor does it have all the essential amino acids like beef. None the less, roasted rabbit would sound (and smell) very good if you were hungry.

I have not talked much about raising animals such as rabbits, chickens, goats, sheep or even cattle because it is not something an urban or even suburban dweller would do. However, now that I think about it a couple rabbits, maybe 2-3 females and a male (buck) rabbit kept apart then used to breed when the coming economy and therefore food collapse happens would be a good idea. Not all urban survival preppers will want to do this. One thing they can do is locate retail or private supplies of animals and be prepared to immediately buy animals when the indicators for SHTF are aligned. The raising of rabbits or any other animals would require some facilities such as cages and stored feed. If you Survival Plan includes a Bug Out Plan (as it should!) then preparations for transport of these animals would be necessary.

There is a gent about ¼ mile from me who raises pygmy type goats. I have struck up several conversations with him (building rapport and winning the hearts and minds) and even took him a couple squash that I grew. He knows me as someone on the fence about make a decision to raise goats or not. I have some t-posts and hard wire fencing stored in my garage and my plan is to buy a couple goats to breed for meat if I can time it right based on the collapse indicators. I can always try and buy or barter for some later as well.

If your plan to raise rabbits works for you, then great. However, don’t let this food source be your only one. Good luck.

Backyard Homestead

2011-10-10T04:35:00.000-07:00

If you are not on Organic Gardening e-mail list, then you should think about getting on it. This site occasionally offers good deals on home gardening products and information.

Organic Gardening

The last Organic Gardening flyer, advertising the Backyard Homestead book, stated that even if you live in an apartment, you can start growing at least some of the food you eat and reap with every harvest — saving money ... boosting health ... savoring irresistibly fresh flavors ... conserving energy ... and have loads of fun. And I think also learning a thing or two and be much better prepared for a Collapse where these skills will come in handy.

Not only a source for growing the vegetables and fruits, Organic Gardening's Backyard Homestead also covers keep bees, raise chickens, goats, or even cows. As well as how to cook, preserve, cure, brew, or pickle the fruits you grow.

Some of the subject material in this new book, also include: 13 container-loving plants; Best ways to water for sweeter strawberries; Why you should never soak bean seeds before planting; How to tell if a tomato plant is hungry; Why your fruit tree needs a mate and what to do without one; Complete herb-growing guide from basil to watercress; How to tell if an egg is fresh; and, Beekeeping the easy way.

Another key element of gardening is crop rotation and learning how to properly do so is a great way to get more variety and bounty out of even the smallest gardens, while keeping in more soil nutrients. But successful rotation means planting the right crops in the right order — and making sure you don't follow certain plants with their "arch enemies." Backyard Homestead covers fail-proof planting plan for crop rotations.

Free Trial issue of Organic Gardening and a Garden Planner, click here.

Home gardening in preparation for a SHTF scenario has taken on a new importance with the degradation of the U.S. farming capability. The U.S. used to feed the world. Now we would have a hard time, absent of an exports ban, to feed ourselves. Part of the problem is the high start up and maintenance costs of commercial farming. Read this post from the Greenhorns Blog.

Greenhorns Blog/high costs of farming/

Orgaznied and Pro-Active - A Survival Team

2011-10-07T05:01:00.000-07:00

UrbanSurvivalSkills received a comment from Chris, regarding the post about our accountant being a surprise prepper,... ......."With indicators becoming so clear and prepping going "mainstream", Is there anyone starting a movement that doesn't involve Egypt-style riots? As preppers, we know how to farm, and most are handy with a hammer... I just think we'd all have a better chance together, organized and pro-active."

UrbanMan's comments:

I recently talked to a retired banker, who had converted much of his wealth to previous metals, mainly, silver, then converted most of his silver to gold to reduce the weight to wealth ratio. This gentleman did not know about me nor my survivalist preparations. I could sense his reluctance to talk me about possible scenarios that would make survival preparations necessary. The conversation started about how Greece may default on or about 10 October and what repercussions this would have not only on the European Union but for the United States as well. Then it melded into peak oil, then the problems with the U.S. capability to grow and feed ourselves and the phenomenon with the giant increase in family gardening. Only when I started to describe my thoughts and preparations did this gentleman open up and tell me about his wealth - precious metals conversion, and his procurement of six AKM's and 9mm handguns for his family and his current focus on stockpiling food for what he see's as a huge catalyst for SHTF and one that is most probably.

Interestingly that this guy, without any military or law enforcement time, instinctively chose to standardize firearms.

Anyway, this gentleman lives with his wife in a city and is actively looking to move to a small town with agrarian links, size anywhere from a few hundred people up to a few thousand population. He is scared about the big population centers and the high density of starving, desperate people that would come from a food crisis with or without a collapse of the monetary system.

I did not let on about this blog site, but I did talk to him about building a survival team with alike minded and alike prepared individuals or families. So when I read Chris' comment about "we'll all have a better chance together, organized and being pro-active", he is right on the money. Without a survival team large enough accomplish all of the necessary survival tasks in a worst collapse scenarios, we'll be scrambling.

Some of the Survival tasks a group or team may have to consider would be:

~ Provide Security for the Group, 24/7

~ Provide for a rest/sleep cycle for team members

~ Growing food, processing food and cooking - which may involve some travel away from the Team location of safe zone

~ Travel to meeting with other groups - which may require any additional manpower for security or to transport material

~ Procurement patrols - which may include travel to barter with other groups

~ The Survival team may establish a command post type of duty to monitor radio frequencies for dedicated net control or to collect information on other radio traffic

I would think that a minimum Survival Group, for sustained operations, would be around 8 people, all who had compatible skills and who could be relied upon to accomplish any of the Survival Group aforementioned tasks. This minimum number could be larger if the threat situation warranted it, or if the environment (terrain and weather, urban, suburban or rural areas) dictated it as well.

Restraints - You May Need Them

2011-10-04T04:44:00.000-07:00

J.M. left a comment on regarding handcuffs, which to me are a much better restraint method than flex cuffs, duct tape, rope or anything else. Anyway J.M. says “These seem to be quite strong, but the ones I got were slightly bent right out of the package, and one cuff didn't close too smoothly. Seems like poor quality control. Worse, I think ASP missed the whole point of hinged/rigid cuffs - with the wide availability of universal cuff keys, having the keyholes faced away from the hands is a great aid to security, but with these, the double-sided keyways allow anyone who's concealed a key to remove them. The removable locking mechanism might allow modification.”

UrbanMan replies: We have been using cuffs and other restraint devices for several decades now so we have an opinion on what works and what doesn’t. No cuffs are pick proof. But you will get what you pay for.

The ASP cuffs are too easy to pick or shim. As well as can be pried apart. They are in fact, part plastic and do have handcuff key holes on both sides.

The Schrade cuffs are terrible. Bad finish and fit. Another brand I don't recommend are Hiatts. However, I have some (older) Peerless cuffs and they are serviceable.

The Smith and Wesson Cuff are quality cuffs but they too can be picked or shimmed.

Flex cuffs are designed for one time use. I would not re-use them as it makes the teeth catch weak. Besides, flex cuffs are inherantly weak, all it takes is for the restrained person to notch the plastic just a little bit and the flex cuffs (or field expedient) wire tires can be leveraged and broken.

Duct tape? You gotta be kidding me. A person can get out of duct tape in seconds, unless you use a whole roll of tape to restrain them.

The idea when you detain people, such as people you find on your property after SHTF, is to have the ability to restrain them, and again handcuffs are best,...... AND have a armed guard at a appropriate safe distance.   You may have to hood or blindfold these temporary prisoners if they will see too much of your lay out, defensive positions and measures, supplies, personnel strength, etc., where you detain them.

I have read forums where Survival Preppers are declaring they will be shooting trespassers or worse yet, any shoot simple stragglers who approach their Base Camp, be it a urban home or a remote farm. Killing people ain't as easy as some arm chair operators think Outright murder has got to much harder not to mention immoral. Everybody has it in them to kill, especially when their family or their own life is threatened, however murdering people outright to keep from having to feed them and sending them on their way, just ain't right.

My Survival team has talked about this and to be sure we have some people in the group more hard line than others, but murdering people ain't even on the table for us. Hence the need to restrain people until you can turn them over to authorities, or in the absence of authorities you can figure out what conditions you will use to let them go.

Handcuffs L to R: Smith and Wesson Model M300 Hinged – Recommended; Schrade Professional – NOT Recommended; Smith and Wesson Model 1 Chain – Recommended; and, ASP Model 250 Hinged – NOT Recommended. Not shown, but recommended – Smith and Wesson Model 100 – chain which are smaller than the S&W Model 1 but have a double lock mechanism.

Survival Kits and Contingency Planning

2011-10-01T17:27:00.000-07:00

Did you read about the 64 year old man who was hiking in the Utah desert, broke his leg and survived four days until Search and Rescue found him? This was the same area where another hiker wedged his hand in a crevice and had to cut off his hand to escape? This was made famous in the movie "127 hours".

Amos Wayne Richards of North Carolina, was hiking in the same area where Aron Ralston of "127 hours" fame had his self amputee event, when he fell and dislocated his shoulder and broke his leg. All he had on him was two water bottles, two protien bars, a cell phone (out of service area), a camera and a GPS. Mr Richards crawled about 5 miles until (four days later) he signaled a search helicopter
using the flash on his camera.

Mr Richards was lucky. Temperatures in the region were in the 80s F in the day to upper teens at night - more than a sufficient temperature difference and drop to make hypothermia a real threat.

In any event the two points I'd make about this latest hiker getting hurt are the absence of an on the body survival kit and the absence of a contingency plan.

Survival Kit

Just how much room or weight does it take for a person to carry an adequate amount of survival gear or equipment on any foray into othe wilderness? A hydration pack, with fire making items - yeah magnesium strikers are good but it doesn't take up much room or weight to add a cheap butane lighter (or two) and some fire starting material...even a mini-can of sterno. A poly pro or thermal top, a watch cap, gloves, ground cloth and/or thermal blanket are all light weight enough to carry.

Chemical lights, flashlight and even a mini-strobe would be necessary additions.

A small water filter straw and/or water purification tabs plus some more food items such as nuts and jerky would have been really useful as well.

Contingency Plan

We all know contingency plan are useful when things don't do as planned. We do this instinctive in some cases, such as when we drop our kids off at the mall and tell them "I'll meet you here at 5:00pm. Call me if you're are running late. I'll call you if I am running late. If I'm not here by 5:30pm, then head over to the Denny's restaurant and I'll pick you up over there."

There are some essential elements for a contingency plan. These essential elements are:

~ Intended Route - a map with crayons marks on it would do! Otherwise a written description and a sketch would certainly help understand the intended route.
~ Intended Timeline - where you plan on being when.
~ Emergency Actions - what you plan on doing if something goes wrong. Can included safe areas or holeups and emergency rally points or pickup points
~ Communications plan and contact schedule. This would also include any code words - avoid using real names over an unsecure line, as well as any visual signaling measures.
~ What to do if you don't show up.

If Mr Richards would have simply left a contingency plan with a friend and told that friend that if he didn't call by a certain time to call the Canyonlands National Park and inform them of Mr Richards' plan.

If we're involved in a total SHTF scenario where we are running patrols out of a safe site, then developing and issuing contingency plans for patrols of other movements outside of observation and/or supportable distance from the base camp needs to become second nature.

Recession and Revolution

2011-09-29T11:35:00.000-07:00

A reader of UrbanSurvivalSkills.com sent us this article written by well known author Seth Godin, whose book Tribes is a good read for the average urban or suburban survival prepper to provide some concepts and ideas about leading, connecting and creating movements, such as building a survival network or team in case of SHTF.

Anyway, Seth Godin's article below, is entitled "The Forever Recession (and the Coming Revolution)" is a good read for all Survivalists.

By Seth Godin

There are actually two recessions:

The first is the cyclical one, the one that inevitably comes and then inevitably goes. There's plenty of evidence that intervention can shorten it, and also indications that overdoing a response to it is a waste or even harmful.

The other recession, though, the one with the loss of "good factory jobs" and systemic unemployment--I fear that this recession is here forever.

Why do we believe that jobs where we are paid really good money to do work that can be systemized, written in a manual and/or exported are going to come back ever? The internet has squeezed inefficiencies out of many systems, and the ability to move work around, coordinate activity and digitize data all combine to eliminate a wide swath of the jobs the industrial age created.

There's a race to the bottom, one where communities fight to suspend labor and environmental rules in order to become the world's cheapest supplier. The problem with the race to the bottom is that you might win...

Factories were at the center of the industrial age. Buildings where workers came together to efficiently craft cars, pottery, insurance policies and organ transplants--these are job-centric activities, places where local inefficiencies are trumped by the gains from mass production and interchangeable parts. If local labor costs the industrialist more, he has to pay it, because what choice does he have?

No longer. If it can be systemized, it will be. If the pressured middleman can find a cheaper source, she will. If the unaffiliated consumer can save a nickel by clicking over here or over there, then that's what's going to happen.

It was the inefficiency caused by geography that permitted local workers to earn a better wage, and it was the inefficiency of imperfect communication that allowed companies to charge higher prices.

The industrial age, the one that started with the industrial revolution, is fading away. It is no longer the growth engine of the economy and it seems absurd to imagine that great pay for replaceable work is on the horizon.

This represents a significant discontinuity, a life-changing disappointment for hard-working people who are hoping for stability but are unlikely to get it. It's a recession, the recession of a hundred years of the growth of the industrial complex.

I'm not a pessimist, though, because the new revolution, the revolution of connection, creates all sorts of new productivity and new opportunities. Not for repetitive factory work, though, not for the sort of thing ADP measures. Most of the wealth created by this revolution doesn't look like a job, not a full time one anyway.

When everyone has a laptop and connection to the world, then everyone owns a factory. Instead of coming together physically, we have the ability to come together virtually, to earn attention, to connect labor and resources, to deliver value.

Stressful? Of course it is. No one is trained in how to do this, in how to initiate, to visualize, to solve interesting problems and then deliver. Some see the new work as a hodgepodge of little projects, a pale imitation of a 'real' job. Others realize that this is a platform for a kind of art, a far more level playing field in which owning a factory isn't a birthright for a tiny minority but something that hundreds of millions of people have the chance to do.

Gears are going to be shifted regardless. In one direction is lowered expectations and plenty of burger flipping. In the other is a race to the top, in which individuals who are awaiting instructions begin to give them instead.

The future feels a lot more like marketing--it's impromptu, it's based on innovation and inspiration, and it involves connections between and among people--and a lot less like factory work, in which you do what you did yesterday, but faster and cheaper.

This means we may need to change our expectations, change our training and change how we engage with the future. Still, it's better than fighting for a status quo that is no longer. The good news is clear: every forever recession is followed by a lifetime of growth from the next thing...

Job creation is a false idol. The future is about gigs and assets and art and an ever-shifting series of partnerships and projects. It will change the fabric of our society along the way. No one is demanding that we like the change, but the sooner we see it and set out to become an irreplaceable linchpin, the faster the pain will fade, as we get down to the work that needs to be (and now can be) done.

This revolution is at least as big as the last one, and the last one changed everything.

Geo-Magnetic Storm Warning

2011-09-27T06:15:00.000-07:00

Early Autumn Geomagnetic Storm reported by the NOAA......

A Geomagnetic Storm, now at the G2 (Moderate) level and now forecast to reach the G3 (Strong) level began following a shock arrival today (Sept 26) at 1237Z (8:37am, Eastern). This storm is a result of a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) that erupted from the Sun on Saturday morning.

Customers who may be affected, power grid operators, satellite operators, commercial airlines, etc., have been notified and are taking appropriate actions to minimize any adverse impacts.

This is still early in the storm, waiting for the predicted higher levels of activity to occur and no impacts have yet been reported to SWPC – these will be contained in a For The Record that will follow this event at its completion.

This can consider this a near miss because we’re only seeing the flanks of the CME. If this one had been headed directly at the Earth, then severe (G4) to extreme (G5) storming would have been likely.

Also, the storm duration will be limited to about 12 hours, rather than the 24-36 hours that a direct hit could cause.

The active region responsible for the CME is moving into a more geo-effective position and will remain capable of sending more activity our way for several days. In the past 24 hours, a slight decrease in the frequency of activity has been noted, but the region remains capable of emitting strong storms.

The most likely locations for aurora from this storm are Europe and Asia , but activity could persist long enough for North American viewers. The maps below show likely visibility of aurora keyed to Green (G1), Yellow (G3), and Red (G5).

My Accountant - A Suprise Prepper

2011-09-26T08:46:00.000-07:00

I received a letter through the mail from my accountant.   I typically get these in December,...kind of a reminder for the upcoming tax season. This time along with the usual magnetic calendar with the accountant's contact information, I received a personal note......and remember this is from a white collar guy who lives in the city and commutes about 2 miles back and forth to work each; is a workaholic; and golfs once in a while - the classic "head in the sand" American:

"Deared valued Client (here he crossed through "client" and wrote my first name). Just wanted to drop you a line with the annual calendar. Yep, still in the same building, same floor, same office. Look forward to see you before taxes are due! Another reason I wanted to drop you a note is that I am sure you are seeing the same things I am seeing in the economy: higher prices; lower return on investments; and, federal deficit and debt out of control.   All of these things together and other factors spell bad economic times in the short to not to distant future.   I am advocating that the thinking man prepare for bad times ahead. Think closely about where you put your investments. Think about stocking some food and water, maybe two months worth I would suggest. Think about where you can go and what you can take with you in the event of a calamity. I am not trying to scare anyone.   But it pays to be prepared, like I was taught in my Boy Scout days."

UrbanMan comments: Wow! Preparation for bad times and outright Survival Preparation for the Coming Collapse are certainly going mainstream.   Since my accountant opened the door, I will approach him on a conservative basis about better prepping. He did not seem the type to own a bunch of guns nor have outdoor skills. I think I'll drop off a copy of "One Second After" or "Patriots" for him to read.

I guess he is reading the same indicators the rest of us are: 46.2 million in poverty and nobody, the government or private economists, expect it to get better than time soon; With the government running out of money, therefore less money to spend on entitlement programs, this number will be bigger,.....much bigger; etc., etc.

Now with New York Mayor Bloomberg stating with college graduates having no job prospects and with Congress in stalemate the U.S. can easily experience the same types of riots that Egypt, Tunisia, England, and other countries saw, you can start to see how preparedness may be going much more mainstream.

I wonder just how many other people my accountant gave this advice to? Maybe it'll drive business away from him, or maybe if the collapse hits, he'll have people knocking on his door for help.

It is in our best interests to have more people prepared for hard times as opposed to adding to the legion that will not prepare. I am constantly balancing OPSEC and dripping survival preparation ideas and tips. I recently enabled one of our Administrative people, a older single woman, to start growing vegetables. She can't wait until next April when she can plant again, this time a much bigger garden according to her.   She even said something to the effect "that she'll have food when the grocery stores run out."

Viva la Food Bars

2011-09-23T08:34:00.000-07:00

I received a comment from Anonymous regarding the post 'SHTF While at Work - Get Home Bag':...
...."Most of my friends, prepers I know and yourself seem to carry MRE's or even Power Bars in
their kits or cars. I carry ER-Bars. They're made by Vita-Lifeindustries.com. (I have all I need for a
while, which is the only reason I'm sharing my secret).

-They are the US Coast Guard standard approved ration.

-100% of every vitamin and mineral you need, zero cholesterol or Transfat

-The 27oz package has (9) Nine, 400 calorie meals. Enough for 3, maybe 5 days if you stretch it.

-One 27oz package is much smaller and lighter then one MRE, with no mixing or cooking needed.
(They also come in a 2-day - 4"x6"x1" size)

-The Lemon cookie flavored bars are moisture neutral. Doesn't contain water, but won't make you feel
thirsty either.

-They are vacuum-sealed in a thick Aluminum package and have a 5-year shelf life.

-And they are CHEAP! Less then 4 bucks each for the large size. That’s Top Ramen cheap! I have two bars in my Bug Out Bag, 2 in my Car-B.O.B, one in each Molle vest, and a stack in the cabinet for re-supply…..Viva la Revolucion, Putos!"

UrbanMan replies: I also have Main Stay bars. I have several hundred dollars worth and I do include one three day bar in each Bug Out Bag I have. You could stretch them up to nine days if necessary. They are actually pretty good tasting especially if you put alittle peanut butter or better yet, honey on the bar. They also have a shelf life of 10+ years. Honey is a great item to add as well. Never goes bad and it is crystalizes, you can heat it up. All of my food drums have several plastic, and some glass, jars of honey.

But what botheed me about your comment was the " Viva la Revolucion, Putos!" comment at the end.
What revolution are you talking about? And who are you calling whores? Hope you are not one those reconquistas or from some other radical fringe group.

I think that the only good thing about a collapse will be that the loser radical groups and individuals will be exposed, leading to their removal. Sort of like a well needed house cleaning.

Oh, thanks for the tip on the ER Bars.

Get Home Bag

2011-09-20T14:44:00.000-07:00

VikingRS left us a comment on the post "Survival Lessons Learned from West Coast Power Outage….."The extra bag you talked about at the end of the article is what my friends and me call a GHB; Get Home Bag. I am in the process of getting my BoB together, but I wanted to be sure I had a GHB ready. It has some food (I always carry a metal water bottle), emergency blanket, two knives, fire starter, bug spray, rain poncho, mini first aid kit, pain killers, sunblock, radio, sharpie markers (to leave messages), cheap flashlight, 2 glow sticks, etc. And a book too. All of that fits into a small pack that I got at Walmart in the hunting section that goes around my waist and has shoulder straps. Also in the trunk of my car I keep a pair of pants, a shirt, 2 pairs of socks, my combat boots, my duster (coat) and a hat. I have these things so that in the event I am not near home I have supplies ready. Even if the car is unavailable, I have the stuff I would need to make the trek home, or at least start out if that wasn't an option. If the Wife and I take her car somewhere, I throw that stuff in her trunk. Maybe you could do an article about the usefulness and IMO, importance of a GHB.”

UrbanMan’s comments: VikingRS, good comments about Bug Out Bags and Get Home Bags. I did not have Sharpies in any of my kit. I had small waterproof notebooks and pens, but never even thought about Sharpies until your suggestion. Thanks!

In my mind, the Bug Out Bag and Get Home Bag are essentially the same thing, however the package or bag the items are carried in, and what items are carried could be influenced by different factors. I actually have two bags in my vehicle I take to work. I have one of those vacuum packed storage bags in my trunk with a pair of older running shoes, extra 5.11 pants and an old Khaki hunting shirt, extra socks, a ball cap, a watch cap and a pair of lightweight gloves. I also have a small Eagle Industries hydration bag I keep in the back seat which I refer to as “the Bug Out Bag I Keep In My Vehicle”. The 100 ounce hydration pack stays full and if I had to Bug Out from work I would augment water with water bottles from one of several refrigerators at work.

I also have a leatherman tool (or is it a Gerber?); a fairly cheap Spyderco folding tactical knife; butane lighter, and fire starting material; a lightweight green gortex jacket; a cut down MRE meal; a metal canteen cup; one small packet of bullion cubes and a couple instant coffee packets; a small first aid kit with a couple travel packets of aspirin; a “AA” flashlight and pack of extra batteries; a small red lens photon key chain type light; and some other small items.

I always carry a handgun (Glock 19 and one extra magazine) and if the threat indicators grew I would add a rifle to my vehicle as well.

Some of the factors that could influence what you carry in a Get Home Bag, in my mind, would be:

Terrain. The terrain you have to negotiate or transit to get to a safe site. If you had to transit a lot of concrete and asphalt, this would influence a different type of footgear, than if you were traversing forested areas or other rural type terrain. If you had to cross a river and planned to a bridge, what are you doing to do if the bridge is down, or access is blocked or if it is occupied by what appeared to be a criminal group? Maybe a small inflatable floatation device and waterproof bag cover would come in handy for an expedient river crossing.

Weather. Unless you live or work in paradise, you probably have diverse seasonal weather conditions which would make ir important to pack and re-pack your Get Home Bag so that the contents are necessary for the weather conditions you’ll face. The summer months may make it necessary to carry more water. The winter months may it necessary to carry warmer clothing items.

Threat. What are the active and passive threats you could be facing on your movement to the identified safe area or your home. Passive threats could be radioactive fallout or contagious disease. Active threats could be roaming gangs, violent crowds, law enforcement or military activity such as patrols and checkpoints if there was movement or curfew restrictions.

Distance. The amount of distance you have to travel will certainly affect what you carry. If you have to traverse 20 miles, it may take you two days of fairly careful movement to complete.

SHTF While at Work - Get Home Bag

2011-09-17T14:26:00.000-07:00

VikingRS left us a comment on the post "Survival Lessons Learned from West Coast Power Outage"....."The extra bag you talked about at the end of the article is what my friends and me call a GHB; Get Home Bag. I am in the process of getting my BoB together, but I wanted to be sure I had a GHB ready. It has some food (I always carry a metal water bottle), emergency blanket, two knives, fire starter, bug spray, rain poncho, mini first aid kit, pain killers, sunblock, radio, sharpie markers (to leave messages), cheap flashlight, 2 glow sticks, etc. And a book too. All of that fits into a small pack that I got at Walmart in the hunting section that goes around my waist and has shoulder straps. Also in the trunk of my car I keep a pair of pants, a shirt, 2 pairs of socks, my combat boots, my duster (coat) and a hat. I have these things so that in the event I am not near home I have supplies ready. Even if the car is unavailable, I have the stuff I would need to make the trek home, or at least start out if that wasn't an option. If the Wife and I take her car somewhere, I throw that stuff in her trunk. Maybe you could do an article about the usefulness and IMO, importance of a GHB.”

UrbanMan’s comments: VikingRS, good comments about Bug Out Bags and Get Home Bags. I did not have Sharpies in any of my kit. I had small waterproof notebooks and pens, but never even thought about Sharpies until your suggestion. Thanks!

In my mind, the Bug Out Bag and Get Home Bag are essentially the same thing, however the package, or bag, the items are carried in, and what items are carried could be influenced by different factors. I actually have two bags in my vehicle I take to work. I have one of those vacuum packed storage bags in my trunk with a pair of older running shoes, extra 5.11 pants and an old Khaki hunting shirt, extra socks, a ball cap, a watch cap and a pair of lightweight gloves. I also have a small Eagle Industries hydration bag I keep in the back seat which I refer to as “the Bug Out Bag I Keep In My Vehicle”. The 100 ounce hydration pack stays full and if I had to Bug Out from work I would augment water with water bottles from one of several refrigerators at work.

I also have a leatherman tool (or is it a Gerber?); a fairly cheap Spyderco folding tactical knife; butane lighter, and fire starting material; a lightweight green gortex jacket; a cut down MRE meal; a three day Main Stay Food Bar; a metal canteen cup; one small packet of bullion cubes and a couple instant coffee packets; a small first aid kit with a couple travel packets of aspirin; a “AA” flashlight and pack of extra batteries; a small red lens photon key chain type light; a small FRS radio; and some other small items.

The FRS radio is for use on scheduled voice communications contact times. I also carry a cell phone (doesn't everyone?). In fact I have two. Again, I have scheduled voice contact times in case of an emergency, and the cell phones allow me to send text and e-mails. Both are GPS enabled so if the internet is up, my survival group has a good chance of getting a geo-location fix on anyone in our group trying to make it to safety (we call it Home Plate). During a voice contact, I can send my position relative to "Home Plate",..example: "I am approximately 7 miles West by Northwest from Home Plate." This ads a measure of security to an otherwise open net.

I always carry a handgun (Glock 19 and one extra magazine) and if the threat indicators grew I would add a rifle to my vehicle as well.

Some of the factors that could influence what you carry in a Get Home Bag, in my mind, would be:

Terrain. The terrain you have to negotiate or transit to get to a safe site. If you had to transit a lot of concrete and asphalt, this would influence a different type of foot gear, than if you were traversing forested areas or other rural type terrain. If you had to cross a river and planned to a bridge, what are you doing to do if the bridge is down, or access is blocked or if it is occupied by what appeared to be a criminal group? Maybe a small inflatable floatation device and waterproof bag cover would come in handy for an expedient river crossing.

If you were traversing a great distance through an populated area, you may not want a military looking bag or personal appearance. I would suggest dull, pastel colored backpacks, hydration packs or other bags.

Weather. Unless you live or work in paradise, you probably have diverse seasonal weather conditions which would make it important to pack and re-pack your Get Home Bag so that the contents are necessary for the weather conditions you’ll face. The summer months may make it necessary to carry more water. The winter months may make it necessary to carry warmer clothing items.

Threat. What are the active and passive threats you could be facing on your movement to the identified safe area or your home. Passive threats could be radioactive fallout or contagious disease. Active threats could be roaming gangs, violent crowds, law enforcement or military activity such as patrols and checkpoints if there was movement or curfew restrictions.

Distance. The amount of distance you have to travel will certainly affect what you carry. If you have to traverse 20 miles, it may take you two days of fairly careful movement to complete. If you are one of those people who transit a great distance every day, and in my mind that would be 35-40 mile or more, then I would prepare for several days of travel in case some threat, environmental or terrain factors causes you to hole up or take a long detour from your intended route.

prepare well, Cheers, UrbanMan

Remarks on FEMA Camps

2011-09-15T04:55:00.000-07:00

Anonymous left a new comment on the older post entitled "USA FEMA Concentration Camp Controversy - Part I": "Ok, If the government were to imprison all the citizens, the country would crumble because the small businesses and consumer spending is what makes the country run, if you take that away, not only would the country cease to run, all materials the government would need to continue would not be produced, and all of the economics of the country would halt because the government would keep the spending, but the citizens of this country would be spending to somewhat equal it out so we would spiral into a black hole of debt, making us easy prey for others to take us over..."

UrbanMan Replies: I think the point is that the government would use the FEMA camps to imprison Americans,...maybe selected Americans,.....AFTER a collapse, after the businesses crumble, where it would be rationalized that Americans (maybe just some) need to be imprisoned to maintain order,...or perhaps in order to control disease and feed starving masses.

I am not a rabid anti-government conspiracy theorist, but I recognize the this may be become a possibility if the economy collapses, welfare checks stop coming and food is scare. The resultant chaos, especially in urban population centers may make it necessary for a "law and order - population control type approach" to handling masses or,...well, a large pissed off entitlement population.

I know the government well enough to understand that this is most probably being planned for at some level,....an outline of a plan,...what resources (read troops) would be necessary, and what the political fall out would be. I have been involved at various levels on operational plans,..no, not for population control but for lower level contingencies. This is simple contingency planning that all SHTF preppers should be doing anyway.

Reader Opinions on SHTF Weapons

2011-09-13T04:42:00.000-07:00

I received the following responses on the post concerning recommending survival-collapse weapons:

Response #1”Good response Urbanman. I think a lot of preppers out there have a skewed sense of reality. In other words how likely is the worst-case scenario to occur? Living in earthquake and wildfire country we have built our preparations, and planning, around the most likely event scenarios. Mobs of famished, displaced, and desperate people fleeing are on our threat assessment matrix, but farther down the list. We eat what we store for food and every weapon we buy has to have at least two uses.”

Response #2”Just my .02 but any gun in your hand at the time of trouble is far better than having a bunch of money hidden away waiting for a gun sale or to have the right amount of money to buy that M-4 clone. I've got water, shelter, food and guns that won the west with experience of 30 yrs using them. Not an AR or AK anywhere in my supplies. I'm happy with my choices.”

UrbanMan replies: If a prepper was absolutely sure,…had a crystal ball or something, and knew,..really KNEW,....that the collapse was coming and to what extent their safety would be in jeopardy, …well then of course the right thinking individual would ensure he/they had a slew of survival weapons geared toward protection, and a large inventory of ammunition.

As it is, what do we know? We know that the economic indicators foretell bad times to come. Does it also mean a total collapse of authority? Chaos and anarchy reigning across the land? Heavy handed Governmental controls, even military deployments to control the population? Food supplies drying up. Limited or no medical care for chronic or emergency medical issues?

None of us know. We read books, visualize and war game STHF scenarios in our minds; develop planning, preparation and material solutions we think will solve the problem of at least give us an edge. Obviously, the more financial resources we have the more we can invest in procurement.

I am very lucky I have the resources to have bought what I consider enough survival weapons and routinely add to my preparations with mostly food, and some new gear. But even my comfort level has a limit. Where am I gonna stop? Six years of stored food and 10,000 rounds per weapon on hand?

I think the idea is to consider the threats that response #1 said, and develop what preparations across the categories of Shelter, Food, Protection and Water are going to be necessary. Look within each category,....Protection isn’t just guns, it is much more such as clothing, medicines and medical supplies/equipment, procedures and protocols for dealing with all manner of emergencies. Boy, you can make a list a arm long.

Survival Lessons Learned from West Coast Power Outage

2011-09-10T21:21:00.000-07:00

In case some of you missed it, there was a power blackout in Southern California and for a time the cause was unknown making people surmise everything from software glitches and hardware failures to terrorist attacks. This affected a reported 6 million people from Los Angeles to San Diego to Yuma, Arizona,....and in a time of the year when some temperatures hit well over 100 degrees.

Good comment received from Secunda, entitled: Notes from the Southern California Blackout of September 8, 2011

The blackout yesterday provided us with a good test of our emergency plans. Some things we did well in, others not so well.

The hand crank radio we purchased for $10 gave us great information. Discovered the power was out all over Southern California, Northern Mexico, and Arizona.

My husband called from Downtown. The Trolley system was down. He caught the bus. He had only one water bottle and his walking shoes at his office.

The highways and roads were choked. Few intersections had working street lights. Most people treated intersections as 'stop sign only' intersections. A 16 mile bus ride took 3 hours.

Cell phone coverage in the area weakened the longer the power outage lasted.

A neighbor asked if the municipal water was safe to drink. Her family had NO emergency water stores. Some water districts were already issuing boil- water orders within just two hours of the outage.

Most grocery stores had to close. The small independent convenient stores who remained opened were swamped with people making last minute or panic purchases of water and ice. Some merchants were over-charging for water and ice. Most gas stations were closed.

The power was off long enough for looting to take place but I have heard of no instances yet where it occurred.

I cooked eggs on the camp griddle over a charcoal grill for supper. We finished all the items in the Frig like the milk that would spoil soonest.

LESSONS LEARNED
Store more water at my husband's work site, along with a extra cell phone battery and an alternate communication method.

Identify more routes out of the city he can take if he is forced to walk or bike out.

Store more water and freeze water in a couple of old milk jugs to keep in the freezer.

Keep the cars no less than half filled with gas.

UrbanMan's comments: Thanks Secunda for the excellent comments and your lessons learned.

Your observation of the cell phone infrastructure becoming weaker or less reliable as the power outage went longer is interesting as cellular networks and the repeaters have sometimes both both solar and fuel generation emergency power designed to last at least 24 hours. It would have been interesting to see if text was more reliable than voice communications. During the Hurricane that hit the East Coast, I lost voice comms with some of team, but our texting and e-mail on portable devices was reliable.

I would add a couple things to your lessons learned:

Look at the possibility of buying higher end radios so that your husband can have another means of communications with you as he makes his way home. The FRS/GMRS radios, e.g..talkabouts probably won't do it,....may have to be something in the VHF or UHF band. You hit on additional routes out of the city....this is PACE planning (Primary, Alternate, Contingency and Emergency),.....for not only routes but for communications as practical everything in our plan.

Always have cash handy for those circumstances were ATM's are out and you need to and can buy additional items. It is a rare day I don't have at least $60 or so in my pocket and I always have a couple silver rounds on me as well.

You also hit on your husband having an additional cell phone battery and water. Does he have a Bug Out Bag? Not necessarily a fully equipped Bug Out equipped for a total SHTF scenario, but maybe if your husband wears business clothes, then a bag containing durable clothing to change to, including some hiking boots and a smaller bag with extra water, some food such as nuts, jerky and granola bars, extra water, maybe a fold up rain coat, multi-tool, butane lighter,....you get my drift.

In any case you sound like you have your act together and are using your biggest and best weapon against a collapse type scenario and that is your brain. Thanks again for your comments. Be safe.

The Likelihood of a Collapse

2011-09-08T16:53:00.000-07:00

We received a anonymous comment for the Survival Chronicles of Jim - Chapter 25 post entitled Don't Lose Focus......"I too am turned off by those who want the S to HTF (no offense to you because of your comment). I fear the coming collapse. I don't think our leaders are capable enough to get us through this and in fact I think that some of them are intentionally making the situation worse for
political reasons. A collapse with our current batch of leaders could be a disaster of biblical proportions. Don't wait too long to complete your preps."

UrbanMan replies: The bad side of hosting a website, doubly so on a site that talks about surviving the coming collapse is that people come out of the proverbial woodwork writing e-mails a week concerning conspiracies.

When discussing (arguing?) about the causes of the economic disaster we find ourselves in now, and the intent of our elected political leaders and appointed bureaucrats, it is hard to persuade some people that the current leadership is intent on destroying this country's economy. Hard to persuade, because even the most rational people are scratching their heads in amazement of the Government's
failure to enact a balanced budget; failure to spend less money than they take in from the tax payers; failure to enact any, let alone, meaningful entitlement reform; continuous implementation of regulations, from the EPA' clean air act to the FDA's Food Safety and Modernization Act,.etc., etc., ...all with the result of making it harder for small businesses to remain afloat and for the economy to get better.

So in short, yes it does seem like our "current batch of leader are intentionally making the situation worse for political reasons." This is called riding your ideology to our demise.

However, aside from all the things we can do,..... such as writing our legislators to vote correctly; urging good people to run for office; and, contributing to the campaigns for candidates that are patriots, it really boils down to that the average citizen and therefore the average Survival Prepper has little control on the factors that control the pace or the depth of the coming collapse.

What we do have is some control over is what we do about it. Do we bury our heads in the sand thinking things must get better? Do we move to some remote wilderness location where we can be self sufficient and ride out SHTF? Probably for most people, the answer lays in between somewhere. Do what your conscious tells you
to do in regards to communicating with your elected political leaders abut your concerns, complaints and ideas,....but,......do what your gut tells you to in regards to preparing for hard times. Have food; have some firearms; develop some friends; read and expose yourself to the Survival Preparation movement to leverage everyone else's recommendations and lessons learned; look at all the threats and see how they affect you; and, above all, have a plan. Do not rely on the Government to make it better. As we all know, the Government never does the right thing before they have exhausted every other option.

Bad Advice on Survival Firearms?

2011-09-06T04:37:00.000-07:00

I received this e-mail taking me to task for advocating sub-standard weapons for survival……”I have no idea why you would advocate people getting Mosin-Nagants and Double Barreled shotguns for Survival weapons. The threat is going to come from very well armed groups of people with bad intent. A five shot ancient rifle and a two shot shotgun will only give these people a false sense of security. They are going to need weapons just like the military. I have an older HK91, an M1A1 and two brand new Bushmaster model 4 carbines just like the Army M-4. I have several different 9mm pistols. Would never own a double barreled shotgun! Are you kidding me?”.

UrbanMan replies: Hey, I’m all for taking constructive criticism. But,.......

The first rule to a gunfight (or for SHTF protection for that matter) is “to have a gun”. Have you ever been in a gunfight? I know full well the value of good weaponry and the skill to use it. However, refer back to rule #1. Some people cannot afford the latest in civilianized military firearms. If someone has serviceable rifles, shotguns and handguns and has not done anything else to prepare for hard times, then what would you suggest their next preparation priorities be? Trade in their "obsolete" firearms for the latest piston M-4?

I would think the best answer would have to be the steps they are willing to do and have the resources to do as well. Buying and stocking food come to mind. Having stored water and the capability to store more...... Building a Bug Out Bug....Developing a plan.....Maybe having a little bit of Silver or Coins for Silver Melt value.....Having some good clothes and gear. These would all be necessary before upgrading your survival firearms. In my humble opinion.

For example, Jim who often writes a post for this site called "Survival Chronicles of Jim" is a great example of someone who has come from total ignorance of survival preparation to a pretty decent readiness posture, despite his lack of any military or law enforcement experience or even wilderness skills. He realized the necessity of firearms yet he has centered his "survive the collapse" firearms battery around a couple handguns, a Mosin-Nagant rifle, an SKS and a 12 gauge riot shotgun. Purchasing a $1,000 or more rifle was too far out of his comfort zone.

But for the record, I have never, nor would I encourage or recommend a survival prepper starting from scratch to sink money into “antique” firearms. Although, the more important component is the skill at using these weapons. Ask the Russians armed with modern AK-74 assault rifles who went against Mujh armed with bolt action Short Magazine Lee Enfields just how important skill is.

Agricultural Decline and Survival Gardens

2011-09-04T20:26:00.000-07:00

The facts on the Agricultural decline: 36 days for most Americans to earn enough disposable money to pay for their year's worth of food; 150 years ago, 50% of the American population lived on farms or ranches, producing not only their own food, but food for this country and for export. In fact, we used to feed a large part of the world.

Today, less than 2% of the American population live on farms or ranches. 98 percent of the population do not produce their own food to any substantial degree. However, we have seen a recent turn to the popularity of home gardening,...in the cities and suburbs people are growing vegetables for many, and sometimes multiple, reasons: To defray the rising costs of food; to give themselves a sense of accomplishment that comes with planting a seed then months later harvesting something to eat; and, to practice farming skills that may be a priority in a major economic collapse or what others call for SHTF.

I think the idea most survival preppers have is to grow food to augment what they have painstakingly stored for the coming collapse. For a small family, harvesting just a couple cucumbers, squash, and corn each week could go along way when combined with rice and beans stored in bulk for emergency purposes.

It should come as no surprise that world wide food production is diminishing (part of what is driving prices up), .....and that the nutritional content of these foods is less and less. Hell, that's a great reason right there to grow your own.

When Peak Oil hits, the availability of food will decrease and the prices will increases (law of supply and demand my friends).

I recently took a bunch of excess squash, cucumbers and pomegranates to work to give to the secretarial staff. They were amazed that I grew it. While none of them know my beliefs and practices pertaining to Survival Preparation, two of these ladies (both middle aged single women) asked how hard was it to grow vegetables? Now, I'm thinking "you got to be kidding me?", then I realize that most people have never grown anything but flowers and weeds. So I spent about five minutes explaining to them how to plant a couple squash plants (success early don't you know) and made a list of what to buy, how to water, and more importantly how to educate themselves by reading.

So if you haven't started your own garden, then what are you waiting for? If you are like me you have limited room,......so what? four or six squash and cucumber plants is better than nothing.

Amazon.com Widgets

Survival Chronicles of Jim - Chapter 25 Don't Lose Focus

2011-09-02T04:44:00.000-07:00

This is Jim here. Long time since I sent Urban Man sometime to post. These last few months had me a funk. I had spent a lot of money and effort getting prepared, and not like I was hoping an event would happen, but I started to lose focus on why I was preparing until it became apparent, again, that the Government may just be driving this country into a financial Armageddon. Then I realized that basically what I am doing is giving myself some insurance.

A chance of survival in a post SHTF world. All my food preparations, firearms procurements, equipment acquisitions, silver bullion buys and even my recon and cache prep of the family cabin were the foundation of why I lost focus because I was actually moderately prepared for many terrible events, again which I hope not to experience, but there was some part of me that wanted it to happen. I had a phone conversation with Urbanman and he said I was an “asshole” for wanting the collapse to occur.

With the stock market on a roller coaster; Gold at $1,877 an ounce (this morning as I write this) representing a 21% increase PER YEAR since 2002; seemingly spontaneous riots in some of the major cities that are associated in some cases with racial tensions, but are really linked to the failing economy. Just too many reasons to be concerned.

From UrbanMan: Jim sent this to me last week. Today's Gold price was at $1,859.

One of my friends, a civil service computer guy with the Army, told me that the Government is downsizing Defense civil service jobs. We wondered what these displaced workers and the tens of thousands of service members separated from the military during the end of the war(s) obligatory downsizing will do to the economic outlook and especially the unemployment rate.

I hope most of you are NOT doing the same thing - starting to lose focus. Arguing with the wife about the $130 you spent this month to buy three silver bullion rounds or the bucket of Wise prepared meals; or, looking at your monetary expenditures on canned or dehydrated food and start to think it's a waste. Because it's not. And if you get to the point where you think you need to slow down on your preps you face the real time danger of quitting altogether, albeit much better off than you are now, but not totally prepared as you can be.

I am now looking for a second vehicle. Something like an 1970’s era Jeep or Pickup so I can buy some spare parts, tires and wheels for it and store it at my family cabin. I’ll be looking soon to emplace (cache) some of the prepared food buckets I bought through Costco.

I just planted some “winter” squash in my backyard. It is AMAZING how fast squash grow when you give it adequate water. I have been harvesting the cucumbers and other squash I planted in late April and being pretty creative in making dinners out of it. My son, visiting from College, even likes it.

I took some of my produce to the house on the corner where a old couple live. Now I’m friends with them and found out the lady has been canning for years and the Husband is an old Korean War Veteran, who owns an M1 Garand. In a week or two I will take him some a couple boxes of .30-06 ammunition. Urbanman also gave me a couple clips to give him. Since I am stuck in this neighborhood until I Bug Out, I thought I would work to build a team, first by building rapport. Urbanman calls it "the heart and minds things".

So after a couple of months of losing focus, I am back at more prepared than ever. I just now know that, in fact, there isn't anything such as being "fully prepared", it really is a continuous process. Don't be like me - I lost two months getting ready.

Comments on the Collapse Factors

2011-08-30T12:57:00.000-07:00

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com received the following comment from Anonymous on the Collapse Factors: "Since the beginning of the financial collapse, which started in Oct 2008 (but has it's roots back in 1998 and 9/11/01), I have been amazed at how long things have continued to work in an almost "normal" fashion. All of my economics training is telling me this will end badly, but the one area I have to be honest about is that it is taking longer than one might have expected. We might see a "lost decade" like Japan, or a continued slow motion train wreck as we have now. But it doesn't change the need to prepare for the eventual collapse.

Our country still has about $10 or $20 trillion of non-levereged net worth to borrow against. But that will go fast. Things could collapse soon if foreign governments demand gold instead of dollars. But if not, this existing situation could go on for a few more years. For me, the acid test will be interest rates. When the Fed cannot control interest rates, and we see the trend like Greece for the 2 year bond at 48% interest, the gig is up. Just my two cents worth.

UrbanMan replies: I think you're on the mark, but I think the beginnings of the collapse occured with F.D.R.'s new deal and several Administrations since,......one of those factos being coming off the Gold standard. I also think you're spot on with the slow collapse scenario. I think we are going to see that. It may hasten with a cataclysmic event like a nuclear or cyber terrorist attack, but the odds are on a slow slide into a pre-collapse depression like era.

But the situation cannot stay at this point forever. The question is just how long will this be until chaos and anarchy takes over,...SHTF,...which will be a natural result when this nation of people, the majority of which are used to a decent life, have to struggle to survive?

I think we'll be very much like Greece, and maybe very soon. I'm hoping to be able to move (no, not to the Great American Redoubt) and get better prepared to live it out,..but I feel the great weight of the debt, inflation, inept Federal Government response, dwindling resources, societal issues, and disenfranchised masses making it come sooner rather than later.

The Government cannot do much. Their Courses of Action remain: 1 - trying to control the people who have nothing and nothing to lose,...read "military control", or, 2 - Over taxation and confiscation of wealth and assets,...read "Socialist State".

What other choices does the government have? The vast entitlement society has got to be coming to an end. With 43 to 45 million people dependant upon the government now depending upon their wits, what will the ground truth be then?

SHTF Handguns: Another Reader Question

2011-08-28T06:23:00.000-07:00

I received an e-mail question about handguns for personal protection in a survival or collapse environment. "Urbanman, I am in a loose knit group, I guess you can call us a survival band. There are four of us couples. Between us all we have a couple deer rifles and shotguns, but discussed the need to have some handguns and everyone is on board with buying the same one for ammunition and magazine compatibility. We can all agree on the Beretta military handgun in 9mm, but I recently was told by a neighbor, a retired Army guy, that the Army is getting rid of the Berettas. Is this true? Are we making a bad choice with the Beretta?"

UrbanMan replies: Yes, it is true the Army is looking at replacing the Beretta M9, 9mm handgun. Not necessarily because it is a bad design, the guns in the service have reached the limit of their life cycle. They have been in service since around 1986. On occasion I have carried the Beretta M9 or 92SF as well as a Beretta 96D in .40 caliber S&W.

Since 1986 alot of improvements have come of the handgun industry,..to name a few:
1. Better ergo-metrics with interchangeable grip inserts to make the gun fit the end users hand better.
2. Integral picatinny rail underneath the frame in order to mount a handgun light and or laser.

The Beretta can be learned to well enough. Is reliable and uses metal magazines with a metal magazine catch. Magazines are plentiful and available either in 9mm or .40 S&W, both of which I would not feel inadequately armed with, albeit a handgun is primarily a defensive weapons. I think you are on the right track in selecting a common handgun and each survival group members should have a long gun and a handgun.

There are many other good handguns out there, among them the Glock series pistols; Smith and Wesson M&P series semi-automatics; Sig-Sauers; Heckler and Koch. You are going to find all different makes and models, and calibers, of handguns across this country accepted for agency use.

Ruger also makes good, and cheaper priced, pistols as well. The advantage with the 9mm is usually a extra round or two in the magazines and a little bit cheaper ammunition.

Bottom line is that any quality handgun will do,...you ought to be more concerned with training everyone in your group on whatever handgun you select. Good luck to you and the development of your Survival Group,...hope you never have to see SHTF, but it is nice knowing you are beginning to get ready. Don't forget about your long guns as they are your primary survival firearms for personal protection during the collapse.

Earthquakes, Hurricanes and other Natural Disasters - whats your SHTF Communications Plan?

2011-08-26T06:09:00.000-07:00

Within the past week we have seen Earthquakes on the Colorado-New Mexico border and in the Larger Washington D.C. area. In the case of the District of Columbia, people reported their voice cellular communications affected. Oddly enough texting was not as affected for the people I called to look into this, however most reported their phones out of service for both for some of the time.

We have Scientists predicting a large earthquake in the Memphis, Tennessee area. More floods are forecasted for the Missouri and Mississippi rivers regions. And then you have California.......with predictions to a giant earthquake coming with hundreds of thousands of casualties to even the dire prediction of the California coast sliding off into the Pacific.

Now we have Hurricane Irene barreling down on the East coast. Then to top it off, my cellular carrier has a tower gone so as my phone jumps around to connect to a tower, I drop calls all the time. All of this got me to thinking about most of the people out there unprepared to react to a communications shutdown and live within a broader communications bare environment.

I have a no-communications plan not only with my family but the people who will be part of my survival group. We have planned routes of travel to our planned primary survival holeup (my house) and to our secondary holeup as well. The first people at either location, as most of us work during the day, will monitor our emergency radio and establish a base station net control.

We have emergency linkup points selected in case of no-shows. We have this backed up by Push to Talk Family Radio System Walk-About type radios with pre-selected primary, alternate, contingency and emergency channels and brevity codes.

I have some higher end VHF radios, but no enough to go around to all survival group members and to valuable to field now. They will be in use once the survival group co-locates.

We have rehearsed this with most of our moving parts (survival group members) at a pre-arranged time to denote a notional national emergency. Doesn't have to be a natural disaster. It could be a pandemic outbreak alert, a nuclear or EMP attack, a market collapse or other government announcement sending people and society into chaos.

SO, I just wanted to remind everyone to imagine an event creating chaos with our normal landline and cellular communications systems. What would you do? Do you know what your family, friends and survival team members would do?

Reader Questions of Collapse Factors

2011-08-24T06:02:00.000-07:00

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com received two e-mail questions and we're going to respond to in a single post.

Wayne asked: "Sovereign Man said that two things – economic deterioration and the increasingly heavy hand of Big Brother– are the essential ingredients in revolution.   When combined, widespread social upheaval is nearly a foregone conclusion. Then he went on to state that thinking people need to recognize the risks and consequences at stake, and formulate a plan to prepare for them. My ultimate recommendation is to set up a safe haven location outside of your home country– a crash pad in a stable place where you can feel secure in your family’s safety and watch the turmoil on television instead of from your front porch. (p.s. these are almost verbatim). What do you think of this and is there any relation to the riots you wrote about last week?"

UrbanMan replies: I have not read Sovereign Man for awhile, but he is dead on the mark. Excessive government regulation which tends to take freedoms away from people as well as destroy the economy, and the economy tanking making it harder for people to make ends meet will set the stage for riots,....be it food riots, riots against authority,...anything excuse or reason will do to serve as a catalyst for the people's frustrations.   And I think we are seeing the leading edge of riots in this country that have plagued Europe. It will get worse as this country runs out of money to pay entitlements. The "entitled" will think they are getting the short end of the stick and these groups are largely in urban densities.   Can anyone say "Detroit"?

As far as Sovereign Man's recommendation to set up a safe haven outside of your home country?   Where the hell is that going to be? Costa Rica or some other Central American country where the military rules and gringos have second class rights?   No thanks, I'm sticking to the good ole U.S. The more of us are prepared, the better off this country and also better the chances of rebuilding something worthwhile.......and preparation be it for natural disasters, economic depression or a total SHTF scenario, are becoming much more mainstream.

Anonymous wrote: "There is an article in the New York Times talking about a severe shortage of drugs especially for infections. The article also stated that since supplies were so low, people were paying sometimes 20 times, yes 20 times!!!!! the regular price.   This scares the shit out of me as my wife and son are pretty prone to getting infections and going on antibiotics. Is this something that is going to get better or worse and will it cause a pandemic?

UrbanMan replies: Yes, I have been keeping on top of this. A couple friends of mine reported that their hospitals reported they "don't stock" a certain medication,...probably a political correct way of saying "we can't get it".   Viral infections can be spread causing a pandemic in the worst case, and I believe it is harder for bacterial infections to spread. My base preparations for the increasing chances of sickness and disease is to use good hygiene; be prepared to quarantine any people you take in during a collapse; and maximum use of nutrition and supplements to build our immune systems as a prophylaxis (preventative measure) to sickness and disease.   My base thinking is that this will not get any better unless the economy rebounds and costs of medical treatment are reduced.

Rabbi Talks About the Growing Survival Threat

2011-08-22T04:53:00.000-07:00

Incredible Government mismanagement of taxpayers money and the base economy; Riots in London where widespread robberies, destruction, looting and assault taking place. Forty Three million Americans on food stamps; Another round (QE3) of printing Money to deflate the value of the existing money supply; crop failures, natural disasters and more government regulation decreasing the ability of this country to produce food;

All this and some people are actually saying it will get worse! Glenn Beck is predicting race riots over the failed economy and coming collapse. Some very main stream people are actually saying, whispering mind you, but nevertheless saying the SHTF is going to happen and happen within two years. Other are quietly preparing for the collapse and preparing first to protect who and what is theirs.

A friend of ours sent us the following letter from Rabbi Bendory talking about the growing danger. The highlights of which are posted below:

An Open Letter To All Urban Residents –
And Especially Jews.

by Rabbi Dovid Bendory, Rabbinic Director,Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, and certified NRA Instructor.

Times have changed rapidly, and ominously so. In Wisconsin – home to JPFO’s office – “Witnesses' accounts claim everything from dozens to hundreds of young black people beating white people as they left State Fair Thursday night.”

In Philadelphia, the “mayor talks tough to black teenagers after ‘flash mobs’ … attack people at random on the streets of the city’s tourist and fashionable shopping districts.” The mayor has now imposed a curfew on the City.

“In Chicago on Memorial Day weekend, roving teens flashed gang signs, knocked cyclists off their bikes and harassed picnickers.”

We’ve seen similar events in Peoria, IL; Atlanta, GA; Las Vegas, NV; and – close to home for me personally – South Orange, NJ.

And while you won’t see it in the Main Stream Media, you can find plenty of blogs that highlight the racial undertones – and overtones – of these flash mobs. Here’s an account of a Peoria eye-witness who says the mob chanted “kill all the white people.”

As most decent people are watching the stock market gyrations and following our federal government’s mismanagement of both monetary and fiscal policy, our nation is entering an unpredictable phase. I’m sorry to say that, based on history, things are going to get worse. Just look at London, England, where four nights of rioting hooligans have resulted in the deployment of an extra 16,000 police officers in an attempt to stop the looting, vandalism, destruction, assaults, and robbery.

GET A GUN.

Get a gun, and learn how to shoot it accurately, under pressure. If you find yourself in a “flash mob,” the police will NOT show up in time to do you a bit of good. These mobs gather in minutes and disburse just as quickly when the first police car arrives. Or worse, they attack the first police officers until backup arrives.

What kind of gun should you get? Start with a quality semi-automatic pistol. A standard magazine of 12 or 15 rounds will come with it, and you can purchase and carry one or two backup magazines on your person or in your car. If your state laws allow it, a loaded shotgun in your car wouldn’t be a bad idea either.

And in London, all guns are outlawed. Thank God, in America, we still have the Second Amendment.

Read the entire article here, Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership:

Long Stay Foods for SHTF

2011-08-20T06:32:00.000-07:00

So if you're looking for groceries to buy in bulk and store in your pantry, these products are your best bet. Urban Survival Skills advocates considering many types of foods to stock for SHTF, among them:

Canned and dry pantry items, which would be probably the first items consumed.

Vaccuum packed bulk food items, like pasta, rice, beans, and dry meals like the rice dishes and hamburger helper, etc.

Commercial survival foods like the Mainstay Bars; and, commercial rations like the Military Ready to Eat (MRE) meals.

And it seems like it has become (almost) mainstream in America to advocate everyone stocking up food for "bad times".
My preps has changed slightly over the past few months with a bigger emphasis on bulk canned and packaged items. What I have bought mostly in the past two months is canned soup and stews, packaged pasta, and all sorts of nuts.

The following article came off a internet mainstream news site about buying groceries in bulk for long term storage. Maybe some people are stocking food and supplies as a hedge against rising prices and others asa hedge against SHTF,...kinda same result which is being prepared.

Canned Beans and Vegetables. Canned food, by definition, lasts longer than most products in the grocery store because it has been specially processed in air-tight cans. In general, canned items can stay good for 12-18 months, according to Gans, but some last even longer. Canned products like beans and vegetables, which are low in acid, can actually last for as long as two to five years. The only exception is if the can is dented or rusty, as that indicates the can has been punctured at some point, which speeds up the spoilage process.

Cereal and Crackers. You might as well start stocking up on crackers and cereal for the winter. According to Heslin, these products are essentially just "edible cardboard" that don't have enough moisture to grow bacteria or mold, so they can last for a very long time. Cereals like Cheerios and Puff Wheat, which have little to no sugar, can last for 18-24 months if unopened, while crackers like saltines can generally last for about two years.

The safety and nutrient quality of these products doesn't change, but the taste and texture might deteriorate somewhat. In other words, your body will be fine eating these things after more than a year, but you may find them a bit too stale to make it worthwhile.

Dried Pasta and White Rice. Just as with cereal and crackers, dried pasta and white rice do not contain enough moisture to spoil, and can therefore last for at least two years unopened. Consumers should be mindful though of what kind of pasta and rice they intend to store, though. Brown rice and whole wheat pasta may seem the same, but in reality each of these products contains more oil than their traditional counterparts, and can therefore go rancid much quicker.

Honey. Honey can take years to expire, but according to Gans, one can conservatively hold onto it for about a year before its consistency begins to change, hardening and losing its sweet taste. Interestingly, Gans says that honey stays good for 12 months whether it's opened or unopened, making it one of the only foods where that is the case.

Spices. You may want to think twice before replacing the containers in your spice rack. In general, most common spices like salt, pepper and oregano don't actually expire in the traditional sense, they just become less and less flavorful. Salt occurs naturally in nature, it has no expiration date. There is no difference in 10-year-old salt at all, as long as it hasn't been exposed to moisture.

One Step Closer to Gold Confiscation

2011-08-18T06:20:00.000-07:00

Received this from TownHall:
Over The Counter (OTC) Bullion trading is now Illegal for all U.S. Residents. Again, OTC Bullion trading is now illegal but purchasing Gold & Silver and taking personal delivery or having it delivered to a Depository is Exempt from this New Ban thanks to lobbying efforts by several companies who mine and coin Gold.

What this means to us the Preparing Survivalist is that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) now has a foot hold on the physical bullion market. A feat this Government Agency has tried to achieve since its 1974 inception. Which of course is a step closer to Gold (and Silver) confiscation. And as you remember your history lesson, from 1933 through 1974 bullion was illegal to own until then President Gerald Ford gave back the rights of Americans to own bullion.

The CFTC's June 14th, meeting on The Dodds Frank Act, set forth the final rules on all Over The Counter markets, including retail commodity transactions of physical Bullion. The Over the Counter (OTC) Bullion Markets, Banned for ALL U.S. Residents and corporations as of July 15, 2011.

Many OTC Precious Metal Dealers have already begun to Unwind their Bullion Retail businesses.

Why was this put into law? Well, one is free to believe that is intended to protect consumers,.....or one can believe that it is to protecting what little value the U.S. Dollar has against Gold & Silver,......or one can simply look to history and believe that is to enable a faster transition to a government ban on ALL Gold and Silver. Remember, the last thing the despots do before a Country collapses is to loot the national treasury.

Add this into the equation: The CFTC pushed Congress to outlaw all Bullion that is NOT deliverable to Retail consumers within 48 hours. That would Shutdown 95% of All Retail Dealers....Overnight! No Matter how Large a Dealer maybe,... No Dealer sits on ENDLESS amounts of Inventory. The Dealer would eventually have to Order Inventory from Mints such as U.S. , Canada , Austria , South Africa or Directly through the Exchange. Nonetheless, delivery takes 3-14 days. Which does NOT complete the process, the product would still need to be shipped to the Retail Investor...

Therefore a 48 Hour Delivery Mandate is impossible, ultimately, making ALL Bullion transactions Illegal by default.

So is a Government ban on Gold And Silver coming? History has taught us, first comes Government control, then comes Government Ban/Confiscation!

Wilderness Survival - Boy Scout's Example

2011-08-17T05:10:00.000-07:00

With the good news being reported about the 12 year old Boy Scout from Utah being found alive after surviving in a cold wilderness environment by using his fieldcraft skills and building tree-branch shelter, I was asked my two people, what would I have done if I was lost.

First, the Boy Scout's story: The 12-year-old Boy Scout, however scared, kept his wits about himself and still knew what to do when he got lost during a Utah wilderness outing: He built a shelter made of tree branches and wood to get through a cold night and he covered himself in dirt to stay warm.

Scout Jared Ropelato's lean-to — a crude structure the Boy Scout manual advises Scouts to build if they become lost — kept him warm enough so he could sleep after the overnight low in Utah's Ashley National Forest dipped to 31 degrees in the area. The boy was wearing only jeans and a shirt, and had no food or water, when he went missing around noon Friday. He had gotten lost while on his way by himself back to camp from a nearby lake, walking a total of eight or nine miles before searchers on ATVs found him Saturday morning some four miles from where he started.

First of all, preparation is the key to survival. This comes in two forms: Knowledge and Skills about the environment and fieldcraft/survival skills; the second being Equipped. A knife, folding or fixed blade,...a lighter or waterproof matches,...and a canteen are essential to any outdoor outing or hike. If you are even better equipped then your chances (and comfort) are much better.
Having a simple Butt Pack or Day Pack with those above items, plus a flashlight, ground cloth or survival blanket, a section of parachute cord, maybe 50 feet, and, some food such as granola or survival bars would be the minimum in my book.

Knowing how to build a fire, build a shelter, procure and filter water would be key. If I was lost and looking to help people find me, a fire, then a shelter, then a ground to air signal in a nearby cleared area would be my first priorities as long as I had water. Sure you can go maybe up to 48 hours without water, but throughout that second day your mental and physical skills will start to wane. In a colder environment, such as this Boy Scout was in, you could stretch that to maybe 72 hours, and this is depending upon how hard you are working; how much sweat you have lost; if you avoid exposure to the Sun; and, if you have food to eat.

Hats off to the Boy,...other than breaking the two man rule, which is his Scoutmaster's fault, he did good.

Food Shortage Already Here

2011-08-15T04:47:00.000-07:00

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com has already written several posts about the coming food shortage, both in this Country and Worldwide. With the droughts, natural disasters, economic condition and high taxes/expenses this Country's ability to feed itself is rapidly declining. On the plus side, never before has hobby farming where regular people and even urban dwellers start their own gardens been so prevalent. Not only is a worthwhile skills, but the satisfaction you get from harvesting your own vegetables and having them for dinner just makes it all the more worthwhile.

A reader sent me this article entitled What Produce Drought Isn't Killing, People Are Stealing: Killing Drought in Arkansas

By Ron Klinefelter, owner of Spring Valley Organic Growers, 10 August 2011:

This is now our 77th consecutive day (Aug. 7) of this heat and drought. Temperatures all week were over 100. One day it was 104, one it was 107! We also broke 2 new all time heat records this week….108, and 112, and of course, no rain.

Several more things bit the dust this week. One, a patch of a beautiful heirloom grinding corn, that usually produces 2 ears, many a foot long. Even with every other day watering, they just couldn’t produce even one ear, and are now just curling up and dying.

Attention…..NO SEED for next year!

I was walking in one of the gardens yesterday, and the big elderberry bushes have so dried up that their big dinner plate sized clusters of fruit, which have just sat there green for weeks, instead of ripening, have begun to mummify, like they had been placed in a dehydrator. Also, the armadillo damage is so great now that they are ravaging whole beds. In the morning, it looks like a roto-tiller has gone thru there.

I have natural food stores calling me, asking for any produce, especially tomatoes. When I was in one of them last week, they were selling organic tomatoes FROM MEXICO! In talking to the manager/produce buyer of Prairie Markets last week, she told me that virtually everyone had “given up”, and there wasn’t even a viable farmers market in town now.

One more little problem. I was talking to someone in an adjoining county that was fortunate to get SOME rain. They had a pretty good bunch of tomatoes that they had been letting ripen on the vine. They were going to pick them one evening, but it was just too miserably hot. They decided to wait until morning to pick them for canning, when it was a little “cooler”. This is a relative term, as it is well after dark.9:00p.m., and it’s still 92 degrees. When they went out to pick them the next morning, someone(s) had snuck in, in the night and stolen EVERY SINGLE TOMATO! Not a one was left!

I have so much water and time invested in the gardens now, that I don’t hardly dare to stop now, but even if it were to start raining for days now, there probably wouldn’t be time enough before frost to bring another crop off. This will most likely be my last year of commercial growing. I am a vanishing species.

Seeing what I see, and reading what I’m reading from all around the country (and world), I find it almost impossible to believe that food shortages and possibly famine are not dead ahead. One would be a fool to not be putting up food like crazy, while you can get it. To NOT be doing that, I believe, is a very dangerous and foolhardy move – act now!

Read it yourself here: Produce Killing Drought

Survival Rifle for 15 Year Old

2011-08-13T10:03:00.000-07:00

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com received an e-mail question concerning Sniper Rifles……”This is about the sniper issue. I am a Marine and have a 15 year old brother who is an excellent shot but not up to (handling) large loads and I don't like the idea of missing him (him being messed up) up in close-quarter combat. I have plenty of buddy's to cover that. I want a lightweight and long-range take-down weapon. I disagree with .22LR due to its lack of take-down and versatility. I mean there maybe other groups with a heavy military center to these groups which would include body armor. Just wanted some choices for SHTF that you might suggest. I was thinking along the M40A1.”

UrbanMan replies:: Thank you for your service, Marine. A .308 caliber battle rifle like the venerable M14 or M1A1 or in the AR platform such as the excellent LWRC’s (shown to the left) and the LaRue piston driven AR platforms in .308 may be too much to handle due to weight and felt recoil for a 15 year old boy, although I saw 10 year old boys carrying FN/FALS and G3 rifles in Africa, but they weren’t proficient in their use nor even safe. If you want something light, then the M40A1 rifle, which sniper platforms are built on, really isn’t it. Plus you would have to add a scope then training for a 15 year old. I sure it can be done but I would choose a different solution.

Sometimes the closer you are to the solution, the harder it is to see it. As a Marine you are familiar with the M-4 carbine in it’s variants. This is a light weight rifle, if you keep all the crap like lights, scopes, etc., off the gun. It can be broken down if necessary and purchased with a 16 inch barrel and collapsible stock for a smaller profile. Using the SS109 bullet, which is a steel core penetrator and known to you as the 62 grain green tip, is a very effective package against armed criminals wearing body armor when SHTF. And of course the 5.56mm cartridge is more accurate that most men (or boys) can use, and effective range is not an issue as it is accurate enough out to 500 meters. This weapon has been proven as an effective close quarter battle weapon for a lot of military and law enforcement units as well.

Another thing you can consider is the Kel-Tec SU-16D series carbine which is a very lightweight firearm. The weight, unloaded, is under 4 pounds. It is a gas operated much like the M16; uses the M16 bolt; uses M16 type magazines; is semi-automatic and has a cross bolt safety. If you are looking for something with some range, this is probably not it as it’s rudimentary sights probably won’t support accurate shooting past 200 yards. I think this gun best serves as a take down survival gun for Bug Out Bags, but at a retail price tag over $700 it probably is too expensive for what you get.

While I shot one several months ago and shooting off hand at 50 yards it was easy to center mass hits on an IPSC target, I just would not buy one. I don’t need another 5.56mm gun and there is something about plastic guns. But I will say it did not fail on me, nor the owner, and we eventually shot about 160 to 200 rounds that day through it. It may be an option for someone who is concerned about weight. But remember what you give up in weigh, you get back in recoil given the same caliber.

Okay, we're back to the M-4. Magazines are plentiful. Easy to handle gun for older children. Ammunition is cheap. I'd be looking to this gun.

Survival Gardens - More Comments

2011-08-11T04:58:00.000-07:00

UrbanSurvivalSkills. received the following on e-mail,....."Hey UrbanMan,really liked the article on Survival Gardening and the lessons learned. Here is what learned from my survival gardening and what helped me format my food stockpiling:.

Seeds. Quality of seeds are very important. Ensure you store them in a controlled manner.

Planting. Ensure the soil and planting location is prepped to control waste of water (important if and when the collapse hits and water sources may not be reliable). Make sure you cull the plants as they come up so you keep the strongest plant of that species otherwise they will compete with each other. Don't plant too close together. I planted my corn way too close together this year and the stalks are not growing very tall.
UrbanMan comment:. Yeah I planted too close together as well.

I also planted new vegetables every 2 to 3 weeks. I am only planting two or three plants at a time because of my limited space in my backyard.

Types of Crops.. Tomatoes, black squash not yellow, potatoes, onions and cucumbers were easy for me to grow. Corn was okay, but (again) too close together. I am know enjoying a piece of fresh vegetable almost every day! I am know buying more brown and white rice, and dried pasta so I'll always have something to make with my vegetables. Canned soup goes further when you can add a piece of fresh vegetable to it and it tastes much better!.

Container Growing. Any containers have to have the ability to drain, so consider this. A a few nail holes in the bottom of the container go along way to drainage and not rotting the roots.

I hope this helps your readers. I am so glad I planted crops this year as I have learned so much. I think people who buy those pre-made SHTF tins of seeds but have never grown anything are going to be in for a surprise and not a good surprise.

UrbanMan comment: I agree with the need to "practice" growing crops if you have never done so. I also think that the Survival Planner would probably be better of customizing his own survival seed stock or at least augmenting store bought survival seed kits by figuring out what grows best in his area and buying those non-hybrid seeds from a reputable source. Gurney's Seed and Nursery is one of the sources I like. They also offer growing information, supplies and growing aids as well as a free newsletter.

There are a lot of celebrities (radio and news) pushing the idea of stocking food; hardly any of them talk about Seeds for Survival Gardens. What are you doing to do when the food runs out?

Stay Safe All. Cheers, Urban Man.