UrbanSurvivalSkills.com received the following interesting letter: "I read your site several times a week. Allow me to introduce myself and my wife, call us Jim and Maybelle. We live in the desert Southwest and although my house and plot are not fenced, and we have on open field on one side, and we are across a two lane state road from a sub-division we still call ourselves urbanites.
I am 63 years old, my wife 61. I did well enough in several business enterprises to retire early with a small pension from a 401k and now rely on rental house income, a home based business income and early social security. I am an outdoorsman and have hunted for nearly four decades including the hunt trip of a lifetime in Africa. I saw the way this country was going several years ago and started to position much of my assets for better short term control.
I like the Chapters on Jim and more recently the discussion on whether or not to have Gold and Silver. Actually it is a no brainer. All should have at least a small quantity of Silver, the easiest and cheapest to procure. A small amount bought each month can stack up fairly quickly. I did not start buying either until three years ago. I am certainly glad I did. I own a few rifles and sporting shotguns but never bought anything for "personal defense" until a couple years ago. Now my wife and I are pretty competent with Springfield XD-45 pistols and I just bought a Ruger Ranch Rifle in .223 and I am incredibly impressed by this little, lightweight gun.
I am not quite to the point where my wife and I are willing to give up our great life accessing restaurants, close friends, the local gym and swimming pool but understand very well that where we are at may be an untenable place to live due to close proximity to a large population who will surely be "have nots". Thanks for the constant reminders about building a survival team but for many people this is not feasible. I have a private joke about building a survival squad of geriatrics! I did however buy a Range Rover and am getting better prepared all the time to "Bug Out" as you call it. Also have started a garden which is the first time we have grown anything at all besides flowers.
If you can manage it, how about writing something on vehicle preparedness, tools, maybe some common supplies to keep vehicles running during a collapse where maintenance providers will not be available? Thanks for all the information so far!"
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
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.
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.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Urban Survival Preparation - Be Prepared to Fight Zombies
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.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
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.
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.
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