Survival Preparation - Power Solutions for Bug Out Site

Received this e-mail question: "My brother and I are preparing our old abandoned farmhouse as a Bug Out location for his family and mine. We're doing all the things that everyone else is doing. We have an advantage is that we are both woodsmen and hunters and have plenty of guns. Both our wives can garden goods. We already cleared two areas, one 3 acres and the other almost an acre for our garden. We don't buy any of that prepared food but we buy alot of dry goods and canned food. We plan on continuing to work on the farm, but live in town about 3 hours away as we needs our jobs. Our farm house has a well that water is brought up by hand (no pump). We also have a stream about

1/2 mile away that has no fish but runs full year. We are planning on buying a couple water pumps and above ground storage tanks but cannot decide on either a fuel generator or a solar generator. What should we be considering? It will primarily be used for the well and to recharge our batteries for the lanterns."

UrbanMan’s reply: Sounds like you have a great Bug Out location depending how far from the nearest population center you are; any nearby prisons; and possible evacuation and refugee routes.

I would really have a hard time making either my primary or sole power source being a fuel generator. Just too dependant upon fuel and will have maintenance issues with too much use, or too little use and oxidation from the fuel. I would look at solar and look at establishing a depth of solar capabilities from charging small systems to as large as you can afford.

A larger solar charging system such as the PowerSource 1800 Solar Generator which is probably the largest and high performing portable solar power system available. Technology is always changing so it pays to looks around.

A friend of mine bought a PowerSource 1800 to power his well pump to fill his holding tanks. He has two 400 gallon tanks outside of his cabin which are gravity fed into the cabin. He also powers a set of lights in his cabin as well as a small refrigerator. He, like me, also has some smaller wattage and cheaper solar systems, bought from wholesale hardware stores, to power re-chargers for his batteries. We both have several battery recharging stations for AA and AAA batteries for our radios, lanterns and flashlights.

Urban Survival Preparation - Be Prepared to Fight Zombies

Among the possible collapse scenarios and subsequent threats is a biological catastrophe that mutates previous dead people into flesh eating Zombies. You know it's true or otherwise Hollywood would not have made so many movies with Zombies. Enter the U.S. Army,..not necessarily known for their flexibility, but eventually someone "gets with the program" and now the U.S. Army have developed doctrine on how to fight the Zombie threat.

FM 999-3, Counter Zombie Operations at the Fire Team Level, is the primary doctrinal reference on conducting fire team sized infantry operations in a Zombie infested environment in the United States. The term “Zombie” refers to a previously living biological organism which continues to move with purpose while showing no other sign of life (negative pulse, blood circulation, cognitive function etc).

This manual is divided into five chapters:

Chapter 1, The Zombie.
This chapter discusses the most current intelligence on the Zombie’s combat capabilities.

Chapter 2, Zombie Fighting Equipment.
This chapter will explain what equipment is required to fight in a Zombie infested environment. Note that some of the equipment is not standard issue, but can be made with readily available materials and with readily available tools.

Chapter 3, The Fireteam in a Zombie infested environment.
Basic formations, soldier tasks and fireteam tactics in a four man fire team in counter-Zombie operations.

Chapter 4, Terrain and Weather.
This chapter will cover what terrain and weather conditions are favorable and which are not when conducting counter-Zombie operations.

Chapter 5, Civilian Considerations.
This chapter addresses proper procedures involving armed and unarmed civilians. These situations vary from a hostile civilian force engaging in armed conflict against the United States Military to civilians requesting protection.

In a Zombie infested environment, the Zombies are not the only threat to achieving tactical, operational and strategic objectives. Understanding of other field manuals, notably FM 19-15 Civil Disturbances, FM 3-4 NBC Protection and FM 7-8 Infantry Rifle Platoon and Squad is highly recommended to achieve maximum effectiveness in a Zombie infested environment. Where there is conflicting information between FM 999-3 and other field manuals, information on FM 999-3 takes
precedence in a Zombie infested environment.

The smart survivalist would procure a copy and place in their Survival-Collapse library,...for those just in case scenarios.

Survival Planning - Reader Comment on Jericho

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com received this comment from Anonymous: " just this week I started watching a tv show called Jericho - it is available on netflix streaming for those who have it. maybe on other on demand services or via dvd etc.  I never saw this show before but I do remember it being talked about when it was on during 2006-2008 seasons.  So far very interesting - and quite realistic so far in most situations, reactions etc... barter is being done episode 7-8 with household goods or anything of value etc... not everybody has gold etc... nearly everybody was unprepared for any event (just like in real life).  I recommend it, it sort of reminds me of a television series based on the book One Second After (at least so far it does) I can't wait to see how the show ends....."

UrbanMan's comments:  Some one gave me the DVD series on Jericho.  Pretty entertaining but you can't help but cringe on all the mistakes they make.  I watched it over a year ago, but let's see if I can remember those mistakes.  

During the first couple of episodes,  the town seemed to be waiting for the power to come back on,....pretty realistic, but a more prudent approach would have been to do some parallel planning and preparation just in case the power did not come back on, or, to get ready for things to get worse....and they did.

The two biggest mistakes up front was the lack of organization for security and a more complete attempt to ensure a food supply through the immediate development of gardens and food conservation/rationing efforts....and this is rural Kansas!  Where growing food is a way of life.   This was the same mistake the survivors in "One Second After" made.  Wintertime is no excuse.  In both scenarios these people should have built some green houses and planted crops.  Sure it would take months to get any produce, but they did have some food in the beginning, especially when that kid found the train in Jericho. 

A food rationing and distribution program where people worked for the community and were fed from community stocks has got to be one of the solutions on the table.  With everyone for themselves, anarchy reins. 

As I remember it took a few episodes for the town of Jericho to organize a security group, what they called the "rangers".   I think picking a few of the best men (and women) in town, conducting some training and building the police force a little larger would have been a prudent measures, especially when Jericho lost a couple of lawmen  earlier on.  A separate police force and security force, who work together but have distinct basic tasks may work best.   Plus it helps spread the power a little.   

I won't ruin the show for you by writing about the last few episodes where a form of national government(s) come into play.   But at the local level in Jericho, I would have tried to create an advisory board to back stop the Mayor's decisions and this would also create an atmosphere where there is better representation and better planning.

Survival Planning - More Debate on Having or Not Having Precious Metals

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post Survival Planning - The Argument Against Precious Metals: "Let me explain why "profit" entered into the discussion of buying silver or gold. I held a substantial amount of gold and silver for about 22 years. I did finally sell it at a profit and I'm happy I did. Had I invested it during those "go-go" years I would have about four times as much money from that investment. I don't care if you are rich or poor having four times as much money to prepare for bad times is, well it's four times better then what ever you have. Until you have held your gold and silver for 22 years with no chance to sell it at a profit or even break even then you do not know about the second thoughts and self doubts.”

“During the entire time I held that gold and silver I NEVER had a year’s supply of food. Today I have a lot of food and a lot of other preps but no gold and silver. Ask me if I believe I am better prepared today or when I had 150 pounds of precious metal in safe deposit boxes!!! Now, I believe in PM's and if things get really bad I am willing to trade some food for junk silver, silver rounds and gold. I am not willing to buy another 150 lbs of PMs and wait another 22 years to get my money back. At some point in the future things will get better (I hope! They could get so bad we are all dead). But if things get better it is likely all of you who invested in PMs will get the opportunity I had and that is to hold your PMs for years and years without any hope of ever getting all your money back.”

UrbanMan replies: Okay “Mr. Anonymous I don’t believe in PM’s”, your point is taken and certainly valid. My plan is to have PM’s pre-need, meaning I am holding mostly Silver, junk and bullion, in case the dollar collapses and I need to buy something when fiat currency is not accepted.

I am not holding such a vast amount as to put a burden on me if I have to execute an emergency Bug Out.

At some point we preppers prioritize our procurement and readiness, however I am comfortable with the amount and types of food I have put away; the type of firearms and amounts of ammunition I own; and the general other preps I have undertaken.

I just think we are looking at PM’s from different perspectives: You - as a valid or invalid investment; and me - as a small part, but a necessary component of an overall SHTF insurance plan. I hope this is all for nothing,...I hope to pass my silver bullion, silver coins I have compiled for silver melt value and the tiny amount of gold I have onto my family decades from now.