With unpredecented rises in food prices many people, including urban dwellers, are trying to reduce costs by growing their own food and bartering services or goods for food, and vice versa. The U.S. used to practically feed the world. Then we went from a large agricultural society to a manufacturing society now to an entitlement society, so the bits and pieces that we can see if people learning to take care of themselves, especially through these urban farming co-operatives are good news.
The simple and undeniable fact is that Long Range Survival Planning for the collapse has got to include the ability to grow your own food.
The below is from an article titled Farmscape Brings Urban Agriculture to Los Angeles
In a dry and sunny city like Los Angeles, planting grass is one of the more useless ways to use your property. It takes a lot of water to grow and it's expensive—but beyond that, what's the point when the climate supports much more interesting flora, like succulents, and delicious ones, like fruits and vegetables?
A company called Farmscape is proving that there's enough of an appetite for farming on residential land to turn the proposition into a high-growth business. The less-than-four-year-old company has 12 full-time employees—including seven farmers who receive a living wage plus healthcare—and is looking to keep growing. So far they've installed more than 300 urban farms throughout the L.A. area and maintain 150 of them weekly. Projects range from a rooftop garden on a downtown Los Angeles highrise to small plots for families.
An exciting project in the works is a three-quarter acre-sized farm for a restaurant in the West San Fernando Valley. And the diversity of the projects is echoed by the diversity of their clients. "When we first started, we expected that our clients would be of a higher income level and would be two-parent working families," says Bailin. Instead, Farmscape has been delighted to build gardens for preschool teachers, single mothers, and institutions and businesses that want employee gardens as perks.
Bailin says the challenges of farming in Los Angeles are manifold. "You have to account for spaces that haven't had life or biodiversity for decades and then you kind of have to bring it back." The company uses raised beds to avoid contaminated soil and drip irrigation systems to provide water.
And their newest challenge? Running for office. The company has thrown its hat into the ring for the office of mayor of Los Angeles in the 2013 election, running on the platform of bringing back farms into the city. Bailin says it's an ironic way of questioning the bounds of "corporate personhood," extended to a corporation's right to free speech by the Supreme Court's ruling on Citizens United in 2010. "We’re testing the limit of what it is. If corporations are already deciding our politics by giving a bunch of money and lobbying, why not see if we can take out the middleman that would be the politician and make corporations the politician?"
It's a joke, of course, and the company will presumably never make it onto the ballot, but it's a clever way to get the word out about the company while making a statement. And perhaps this corporate candidate wouldn't be so bad anyway.
A related article on Urban Gardens:
Urban agriculture is not a new idea, but it’s being resurrected in cities throughout the country (and, for that matter, the world), in part because it’s one way of fighting childhood obesity, which, along with diabetes, is a serious health concern for children of all ages. The number of urban gardens in the United States has grown dramatically in such cities as Los Angeles, Detroit, Milwaukee, and San Francisco, where local governments and residents agree that these gardens are an important way to give children and residents access to healthy food like locally grown fresh produce.
Five Innovative Urban Gardening Programs in Los Angeles with links.
Urban Farming Food Chain Project
A partnership between Green Living Technologies and Emslie Osler Architects, this organization constructs “edible” food-producing wall panels and mounts them on buildings. The people who tend these vertical gardens use them for their own purposes (meaning produce is not sold commercially), but they currently have four locations in and around downtown Los Angeles.
Silver Lake Farms
Launched in 2004, Silver Lake Farms just began a Community Supported Agriculture program offering subscribers a weekly box of fresh produce, grown locally in Silver Lake. They also hold workshops on how to start your own vegetable garden, and sponsor a volunteer program that connects urban residents with local farms, community gardens, and homesteads to help out with some of the work.
Market Makeovers
Responding to poor access to fresh fruits and vegetables in their communities, South Los Angeles’s Healthy Eating, Active Communities initiative and Public Matters have teamed up to engage young people and convert corner stores into sources of healthy foods via an online toolkit.
Urban Homestead, Pasadena
An advocacy group for self-sufficient city living via farming and homesteading, this family-owned operation was started in the mid-1980s on a one tenth of an acre backyard plot. Most of the produce is sold to local restaurants and caterers.
Urban Farming Advocates
Formed in June 2009, Urban Farming Advocates is a group of individuals, small business owners, and organizations seeking to legalize urban farming in the City of Los Angeles. Their goal is to revise outdated ordinances that restrict people's freedom to use residential land for urban agriculture.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Survival Solutions from Solutions from Science
Solutions from Science, a long time provider of robust solar power generators such as the Power Source 1800 now offers many other items for the survivalist planning on the collapse.
Survival Foods, Seeds, Solar Power Solutions, Books, DVD's, Clothing, Crisis Cookers, and other Emergency supplies are available. The book store is pretty impressive and contains all the "how to" books a prepper would need, including one I found on harvesting and saving non-hybrid seeds.
One of their most interesting books is entitled "Christian Liberty or Martial Law" which unfortunately maybe be the only choices left to us as life as we know if is rapidly disintegrating right before our eyes. Anyway, check out and book mark this site and check back from time to time.
This notion of Martial Law is not some far out, whack job theory. With close to 50 million people, about one sixth of our population on some sort of government subsistence, and that number is growing every day, it is only a matter of time until the need for subsistence out grows the Government's ability to provide that subsistence. We will most likely see food riots in huge numbers, making the Occupy Wall Street movement look like family picnics. The government's only control measure will be martial law. I hope like hell this doesn't happen, but the forecast looks good.
Survival Foods, Seeds, Solar Power Solutions, Books, DVD's, Clothing, Crisis Cookers, and other Emergency supplies are available. The book store is pretty impressive and contains all the "how to" books a prepper would need, including one I found on harvesting and saving non-hybrid seeds.
One of their most interesting books is entitled "Christian Liberty or Martial Law" which unfortunately maybe be the only choices left to us as life as we know if is rapidly disintegrating right before our eyes. Anyway, check out and book mark this site and check back from time to time.
This notion of Martial Law is not some far out, whack job theory. With close to 50 million people, about one sixth of our population on some sort of government subsistence, and that number is growing every day, it is only a matter of time until the need for subsistence out grows the Government's ability to provide that subsistence. We will most likely see food riots in huge numbers, making the Occupy Wall Street movement look like family picnics. The government's only control measure will be martial law. I hope like hell this doesn't happen, but the forecast looks good.
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Motorcycles Good for SHTF?
UrbanMan replies:There advantages and disadvantages to motorcycles in my opinion. The military uses motorcycles for scout platforms, to recon routes and such. Also to take communications gear to higher terrain that can’t be accessed with larger four wheel drive vehicles. Motorcycles in past conflicts have been used as messengers. In law enforcement, motorcycles allow for patrolling of remote or otherwise inaccessible areas, or to rapidly move to a subject(s) location.
These are what I think are the common disadvantages and advantages of motorcycles for use in the collapse.
Advantages
· High Mobility. Motorcycles because of their narrow width and high clearance are much more mobile than four wheeled vehicles including All Terrain Vehicles.
· Economic Fuel Consumption. Motorcycles are much more fuel miserly than the common four wheel car,….with the possible exception new of the VW Diesel Jetta, which a couple people have reported 50+mph miles per gallon!
· Speed. Motorcycles are very quick both in flat out speed, but agility as well. May save you butt in egressing from a threat.
Disadvantages
· Maintenance intensive. I hated owning motorcycles because of their intensive maintenance requirements. Maybe be easy for a motorhead, but not for me. When I had government maintenance workers maintain and repairing my bikes, I made sure to smooze them from time to time. When I used commercial mechanical support,…..well you paid through the nose. I include tires in this maintenance category as a disadvantage. I have treid the green slime that you pump into tires to seal punctures, and that never worked very well for us. The canned Fix-a-Flat actually worked better as it also provided air to inflat the tire.
· Noisy. Motorcycles are noisy so they are hard to hear over. This takes away one of your best threat detectors and that is your hearing.
· Substantial Skills Required. Not everyone can ride a motorcycle. Most people can be trained, but how much time and fuel are you going to have for that.
· Can’t Fight very well from the Motorcycle when moving. You generally have to have both hands on the machine when you are moving. You may be able to operate the motorcycle for short periods of time with one hand if you can shoot a handgun or operate a radio with the left hand, as most throttles are on the right hand side of the handlebars, but when maneuvering in rough terrain this would be very tough.
In closing Mikali, I choose not to procure or maintain motorcycles for SHTF. A couple of the guy on my team have ATV’s which we may use for specialty purposes. We can more easily carry two people on an ATV with the possibility of the passenger engaging threats, at least with a handgun.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Survival Bug Out Houses for the Collapse
I have a service which searches for and forwards to me links to specific real estate articles with key words. This is one of the collapse indicators I use for planning. However imagine my surprise when I was sent a link to an article about houses built for specific extreme temperatures. One of the factors in planning your secure Bug Out location is how you are going to heat and cool your living areas after the collapse of infrastructure.
As good as some solar panels are for recharging batteries and the fact that solar panels should be in everyone's survival equipment load list, they cannot power, by themselves, conventional HVAC systems. That largely leaves housing construction design and materials to bridge the gap. Anyway a Yahoo article you can use.
Unrelenting winter nights and endless summer days. Temperatures that can plummet to 120 below or more. Snow, ice, and rock. There are few environments on earth more hostile than the frozen Antarctic wastelands. But even with winds of up to nearly 200 mph, it’s not impossible for people to survive in the coldest place on the planet. In fact, humans are able to live in almost every world climate, driest deserts and densest jungles included—and it helps if you’ve got the right kind of shelter.
With permanent bases from countries all over the world, there are a number of approaches to building design in the harsh Antarctic region. Construction company Misawa Homes, which built most of the Antarctic facilities for the Japanese government’s Showa Station, opted for single-shell housing technology — useful when trying to keep out some of the coldest temperatures on earth. On the other end of the climate spectrum, rainforests demand a much different approach to adaptive construction. One house in the outskirts of São Paulo, Brazil, is specially built to its jungle environment. The Iporanga “tree house” stands three stories tall, is partially wrapped in glass walls, and is tightly nestled into the forest, with the trees all but scraping the windows. The house, with its modest use of concrete and steel, plays chameleon by blending into the leaves which surround it. Read on for more about these and other homes built for extreme climates:
Frozen Wasteland Cocoons East Ongul Island, Antarctica Outdoors.
The thermometer reads 80 below and the winds whirl at 120 mph. Indoors, it’s toasty warm. The ultimate in form following way behind function, these Antarctic boxes are also wrapped in a “single shell,” with features to withstand the most unforgiving climactic conditions on the planet. With a design based on the company’s wooden-panel adhesion system, the polar dwellings are built to take an estimated 100 years of Antarctic punishment.
Iporanga Jungle Tree House Near São Paulo, Brazil.
Chimps have got it figured out: if you’re going to live in a rainforest, it’s better to be perched up in the trees. Brazilian architecture company Nitsche Arquitetos Associados designed this home in the thick forest outside São Paulo in 2006. Five bedrooms on the top level of this three-story home provide both a high lookout from which to survey the surrounding jungle and privacy due to the height. But the main level is unquestionably the main attraction of the home, with a hyper-modern living room, dining room and kitchen. Structural elements, such as I-beams, are as exposed as the residents within. Though much of the home is made of steel, glass and concrete, the house never feels out of place, thanks to the way in which outside foliage plays a central role in the design scheme.
Rondolino Residence Near Scotty's Junction, Nevada.
Nottoscale, a San Francisco-based architectural company, used its own prefab building system to put together this one-bedroom, 1,200-square-foot desert house. Situated on a 40-acre lot, the home is completely dwarfed by its surroundings and looks every bit like the prefab home (with a modern sensibility) that it is. But the home isn’t the point – the location is. “Isolation is much of the beauty of the property,” says the firm’s website. Another beautiful aspect? Its environmental efficiency. The desert dwelling is heated with a hydronic radiant system and features high-performance insulation. The home’s minimalist approach includes a simple 900-square-foot deck.
Hof House Skakafjördur Fjord, Iceland.
Located 60 miles south of the Arctic Circle, this sturdy home efficiently protects its residents from outside elements. Built on an estate that includes a church, barn and a cowshed, the home is built with natural and recycled construction materials such as cedar and concrete walls designed to visibly age according to the weather. Geothermal and solar sources heat the entirety of the home. The grass turf on the roof, which was salvaged from some of the ground on which the home was built, isn’t the only material the architects reused: stone from the old house was cut to pave ground surfaces outside the new one, and old telegraph poles were used for building windows. The home was designed by Icelandic architectural firm Studio Granda.
Aleutian Island Geothermal Bunker Atka, Alaska.
This eco-smart bunker is built to withstand the harsh Aleutian Island environment while using as much energy and water as it produces. Though the home doesn’t actually exist yet (it's still in the design phase) its ingenious design won the Living Aleutian Design Competition, which asked architects to design a home that was net-zero water and energy usage and made use of locally sourced materials. In an environment that brings frequent 100 mph winds and punishing rains, the concept home would hunker down against the elements, drawing heat from geothermal sources below, and energy from wind turbines that harness the elements. Architecture collective Taller Abierto won the contest in May, and along with it $35,000 plus the opportunity to follow up and actually build a home in Atka, Alaska.
As good as some solar panels are for recharging batteries and the fact that solar panels should be in everyone's survival equipment load list, they cannot power, by themselves, conventional HVAC systems. That largely leaves housing construction design and materials to bridge the gap. Anyway a Yahoo article you can use.
With permanent bases from countries all over the world, there are a number of approaches to building design in the harsh Antarctic region. Construction company Misawa Homes, which built most of the Antarctic facilities for the Japanese government’s Showa Station, opted for single-shell housing technology — useful when trying to keep out some of the coldest temperatures on earth. On the other end of the climate spectrum, rainforests demand a much different approach to adaptive construction. One house in the outskirts of São Paulo, Brazil, is specially built to its jungle environment. The Iporanga “tree house” stands three stories tall, is partially wrapped in glass walls, and is tightly nestled into the forest, with the trees all but scraping the windows. The house, with its modest use of concrete and steel, plays chameleon by blending into the leaves which surround it. Read on for more about these and other homes built for extreme climates:
Frozen Wasteland Cocoons East Ongul Island, Antarctica Outdoors.
The thermometer reads 80 below and the winds whirl at 120 mph. Indoors, it’s toasty warm. The ultimate in form following way behind function, these Antarctic boxes are also wrapped in a “single shell,” with features to withstand the most unforgiving climactic conditions on the planet. With a design based on the company’s wooden-panel adhesion system, the polar dwellings are built to take an estimated 100 years of Antarctic punishment.
Iporanga Jungle Tree House Near São Paulo, Brazil.
Chimps have got it figured out: if you’re going to live in a rainforest, it’s better to be perched up in the trees. Brazilian architecture company Nitsche Arquitetos Associados designed this home in the thick forest outside São Paulo in 2006. Five bedrooms on the top level of this three-story home provide both a high lookout from which to survey the surrounding jungle and privacy due to the height. But the main level is unquestionably the main attraction of the home, with a hyper-modern living room, dining room and kitchen. Structural elements, such as I-beams, are as exposed as the residents within. Though much of the home is made of steel, glass and concrete, the house never feels out of place, thanks to the way in which outside foliage plays a central role in the design scheme.
Rondolino Residence Near Scotty's Junction, Nevada.
Nottoscale, a San Francisco-based architectural company, used its own prefab building system to put together this one-bedroom, 1,200-square-foot desert house. Situated on a 40-acre lot, the home is completely dwarfed by its surroundings and looks every bit like the prefab home (with a modern sensibility) that it is. But the home isn’t the point – the location is. “Isolation is much of the beauty of the property,” says the firm’s website. Another beautiful aspect? Its environmental efficiency. The desert dwelling is heated with a hydronic radiant system and features high-performance insulation. The home’s minimalist approach includes a simple 900-square-foot deck.
Hof House Skakafjördur Fjord, Iceland.
Located 60 miles south of the Arctic Circle, this sturdy home efficiently protects its residents from outside elements. Built on an estate that includes a church, barn and a cowshed, the home is built with natural and recycled construction materials such as cedar and concrete walls designed to visibly age according to the weather. Geothermal and solar sources heat the entirety of the home. The grass turf on the roof, which was salvaged from some of the ground on which the home was built, isn’t the only material the architects reused: stone from the old house was cut to pave ground surfaces outside the new one, and old telegraph poles were used for building windows. The home was designed by Icelandic architectural firm Studio Granda.
Aleutian Island Geothermal Bunker Atka, Alaska.
This eco-smart bunker is built to withstand the harsh Aleutian Island environment while using as much energy and water as it produces. Though the home doesn’t actually exist yet (it's still in the design phase) its ingenious design won the Living Aleutian Design Competition, which asked architects to design a home that was net-zero water and energy usage and made use of locally sourced materials. In an environment that brings frequent 100 mph winds and punishing rains, the concept home would hunker down against the elements, drawing heat from geothermal sources below, and energy from wind turbines that harness the elements. Architecture collective Taller Abierto won the contest in May, and along with it $35,000 plus the opportunity to follow up and actually build a home in Atka, Alaska.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Evaluating a Reader's SHTF Preps
I recently received this via e-mail: "Urbanman, please give me some feedback on my preps: For firearms I have: a Colt 5 shot 38 special snubnose and 400 rounds of ammunition; a Woodsman 22 LR with 4 magazines and two bricks of ammunition which is 1,000 rounds; a 12 gauge ITHACA riot slide action shotgun with 150 rounds of mixed buckshot and slug; a 1903 Springfield rifle and 120 rounds of .30-06 ammunition; a Mini-14 rifle with four magazines and over 400 rounds of ammunition. I have a extra custom gastank in my truck bed so I can carry an extra 40 gallons. I have enough canned goods to easily last 30 days plus I have enough survival food in dehyrdated packs to last six months. I have a good tent and some sleeping bags but my main plan is to head to my wife's uncle's farm is about 340 miles away if the chaos is bad enough. What do you think?"
UrbanMan's comments: HTM, I am posting your e-mail and using it to push the agenda that equipment and material does not readiness to survive SHTF make. It takes more than equipment, guns and food. It takes long range planning, and contingencies in case those plans are not executable. While you have a good start on a Survival battery of firearms, taken the initiative to make your vehicle capable of longer road time, are on the way to a decent amount of stored food, and have a Bug Out location (Uncle's farm) which is probably a rural area reducing threats from a population gone mad, I don't have enough information to render a good opinion. Not do I want to know more and you should protect information (practice OPSEC) about your capabilities, preps and planning.
However, I would ask these questions to provoke thought on your end:
How many routes do you have to the farm? Have you thought about mechanical or other failures on your truck which would force you on foot? If so, could you get to the farm via other means? Have you thought about caching some supplies along the route and at the farm? Can you get everything you need into/onto your truck (in a hurry) to take with you?
Who else would show up at the farm? Is the Uncle and wife's family also prepping? Are they as prepared as you?
Is there a full year water source at the farm? Can you grow crops there? If so, do you have a stockpile of non-hybrid seeds? Can you build a greenhouse and grow some crops during cold weather months? Have you considered how you would store your harvest, such as canning?
What about your stocks of first aids items,..bandages, disinfectants, anti-infection creams, medical tape or cobain wrap, etc.
Is there sufficient hand tools at the farm? What about common tool sets and a decent supply of nails, screws and bolts?
Do you have a power supply at the farm? Such as solar or wind generated power for small power needs like re-charging batteries, running low wattage lights?
Do you keep any cash on hand for immediate purchases before the U.S. dollar is no longer acceptable? Do you have any precious metals such as silver or gold?
Concerning the firearms,....I would get a few more Mini-14 mags,...I would have much more ammunition on hand, especially for the Mini-14. Neither handgun you have are really suitable as a defensive handgun, but the first rule of a gunfight is to have a gun.
Don't take offense to my questions as they are given to create thought,.....we can all get better and to continue getting more prepared is the name of the game. Good luck.
UrbanMan's comments: HTM, I am posting your e-mail and using it to push the agenda that equipment and material does not readiness to survive SHTF make. It takes more than equipment, guns and food. It takes long range planning, and contingencies in case those plans are not executable. While you have a good start on a Survival battery of firearms, taken the initiative to make your vehicle capable of longer road time, are on the way to a decent amount of stored food, and have a Bug Out location (Uncle's farm) which is probably a rural area reducing threats from a population gone mad, I don't have enough information to render a good opinion. Not do I want to know more and you should protect information (practice OPSEC) about your capabilities, preps and planning.
However, I would ask these questions to provoke thought on your end:
How many routes do you have to the farm? Have you thought about mechanical or other failures on your truck which would force you on foot? If so, could you get to the farm via other means? Have you thought about caching some supplies along the route and at the farm? Can you get everything you need into/onto your truck (in a hurry) to take with you?
Who else would show up at the farm? Is the Uncle and wife's family also prepping? Are they as prepared as you?
Is there a full year water source at the farm? Can you grow crops there? If so, do you have a stockpile of non-hybrid seeds? Can you build a greenhouse and grow some crops during cold weather months? Have you considered how you would store your harvest, such as canning?
What about your stocks of first aids items,..bandages, disinfectants, anti-infection creams, medical tape or cobain wrap, etc.
Is there sufficient hand tools at the farm? What about common tool sets and a decent supply of nails, screws and bolts?
Do you have a power supply at the farm? Such as solar or wind generated power for small power needs like re-charging batteries, running low wattage lights?
Do you keep any cash on hand for immediate purchases before the U.S. dollar is no longer acceptable? Do you have any precious metals such as silver or gold?
Concerning the firearms,....I would get a few more Mini-14 mags,...I would have much more ammunition on hand, especially for the Mini-14. Neither handgun you have are really suitable as a defensive handgun, but the first rule of a gunfight is to have a gun.
Don't take offense to my questions as they are given to create thought,.....we can all get better and to continue getting more prepared is the name of the game. Good luck.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Should I Buy Gold for SHTF?
I recently had a friend of mine, not in my immediate survival group, but a prepper none the less, ask me if he should buy some Gold, and if so, should he buy one ounce rounds, or smaller weights. He had around $6,000 to spend. Part of his question was should he wait awhile as Gold and Silver prices seemed to be going down.
I told him that trying to time the market now would require some constant observation and some luck. Sure, Gold and Silver may yet go down more, in light of some good economic news the last few weeks, but that "good" economic news was really just "not as bad of news as usual".
I told him that while the Greece, Italy and Spain economic problems seemed to have leveled off, we will certainly see more bad economic news in the very near future. I told him to watch for more banks defaulting, instability in the U.S. and Foreign exchanges, higher U.S. deficit and national debt, worsening unemployment, lower oil imports, higher oil prices, higher inflation and downward spiral of the housing market all would be factors signaling a rise in precious metals.
This conversation was about two weeks ago and now we are seeing the following headlines:
World stocks fall amid economic reports from the largest economies forecasting a global downturn.
Job growth much lower than expected and fears of heightening unemployment amid reports that applications for unemployment benefits jumped to the highest level in nine months.
Housing gloom ahead as sales of previously owned homes fell 1.5 percent in May and are forecsted to be even lower in June and July.
Eurpoean leaders are trying to work out a solution to a spreading financial crisis across the European Union and global lessening confidence in a solution and the value of the Euro.
Major banks being downgraded. Moody's lowered the credit ratings of 15 major banks, including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, saying their long-term prospects for profitability and growth are shrinking.
So yes, the time is right to buy Precious Metals. However I would not put all of the $6,000 into Gold. I would spread it out with Silver bullion and maybe some junk silver as well. All this would depend upon how much precious metals I already had and any other holes or lack of essential equipment, material and supplies in my Collapse Preparation Plan.
Maybe one ounce of Gold, 4 one-quarter Gold rounds, $1,000 into Silver rounds and the rest in long term food maybe a good choice for my friend as I know he primarily focusing on survival guns and gear for SHTF and is well preparaed in that aspect.
Him having some viable precious metals for bartering and some long term food would also possibly benefit me as he is one of the families on a short list my survival group keeps of possible recruits or straphangers we would accept into our group as his ethics, morals and skills are known to us. Anyway, if you don't have very much or any precious metals at all, then what are you waiting for? An invitation? Okay, consider this an invitation.
I told him that trying to time the market now would require some constant observation and some luck. Sure, Gold and Silver may yet go down more, in light of some good economic news the last few weeks, but that "good" economic news was really just "not as bad of news as usual".
I told him that while the Greece, Italy and Spain economic problems seemed to have leveled off, we will certainly see more bad economic news in the very near future. I told him to watch for more banks defaulting, instability in the U.S. and Foreign exchanges, higher U.S. deficit and national debt, worsening unemployment, lower oil imports, higher oil prices, higher inflation and downward spiral of the housing market all would be factors signaling a rise in precious metals.
This conversation was about two weeks ago and now we are seeing the following headlines:
World stocks fall amid economic reports from the largest economies forecasting a global downturn.
Job growth much lower than expected and fears of heightening unemployment amid reports that applications for unemployment benefits jumped to the highest level in nine months.
Housing gloom ahead as sales of previously owned homes fell 1.5 percent in May and are forecsted to be even lower in June and July.
Eurpoean leaders are trying to work out a solution to a spreading financial crisis across the European Union and global lessening confidence in a solution and the value of the Euro.
Major banks being downgraded. Moody's lowered the credit ratings of 15 major banks, including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, saying their long-term prospects for profitability and growth are shrinking.
So yes, the time is right to buy Precious Metals. However I would not put all of the $6,000 into Gold. I would spread it out with Silver bullion and maybe some junk silver as well. All this would depend upon how much precious metals I already had and any other holes or lack of essential equipment, material and supplies in my Collapse Preparation Plan.
Maybe one ounce of Gold, 4 one-quarter Gold rounds, $1,000 into Silver rounds and the rest in long term food maybe a good choice for my friend as I know he primarily focusing on survival guns and gear for SHTF and is well preparaed in that aspect.
Him having some viable precious metals for bartering and some long term food would also possibly benefit me as he is one of the families on a short list my survival group keeps of possible recruits or straphangers we would accept into our group as his ethics, morals and skills are known to us. Anyway, if you don't have very much or any precious metals at all, then what are you waiting for? An invitation? Okay, consider this an invitation.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Prepared Society's Chicken Forum
Prepared Society, which is a emergency preparation and survival forum, asked me to notify readers about their new chicken forum for people who are keeping chickens. I am not currently keeping chickens, although two other members of my survival team are. I have enjoyed eggs from their efforts and during a collapse fresh eggs are great food as well as a barter item.
I do however have a pre-made chicken hootch still in the box as well as some other materials on hand so if I have enough time when the warning signs for the collapse are imminient, or if survival team members arrive at my site, I can house and raise the chickens.
Here is the link to Prepared Society's Chicken Forum
Friday, June 22, 2012
U.S. and World On Edge of Collapse
The bandwagon is getting more crowded week by week as financial experts joint the chorus on an
impending world and U.S. financial collapse. Paul Krugman and Chris Martenson are among
prominent analysts.
The latest is the former co-manager of the GLG Global Macro Fund, Raoul Pal, who believes that a
global banking collapse and massive defaults will bring about “the biggest economic shock the world
has ever seen” — and there’s nothing we can do to stop it.
China, for one nation is trying to make the U.S. dollar collapse. They are buying not only the world's
gold. but the gold mines as well, to prop up their currency, the Yuan. Their attempt to corner the
world's gold market is to weaken, then replace the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency. The
dollar has been weakening abruptly since 2010. And not only China is wanting the dollar to collapse,
the U.S. gives refuge to George Soros who is also actively seeking the U.S. dollar's demise. Figure out that crap?!?
If the Dollar ceases being the world's reserve currency, the demand for dollars would evaporate leaving
a glut in dollars and therefore the value or buying power would plummet resulting in high inflation
or hyper-inflation. You think food and gas prices are high now?
The Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement, funded and/or financially supported largely by
leftist/liberal groups such as Open Society Institute (now called the Open Society Foundation), Media
Matters, The Tides Foundation, Alliance for Global Justice, Adbusters Media Foundation, will be an ant
hill compared to the mountain of protests and civil unrest is the dollar collapses leaving well over a hundred million people living hand to mouth,....and being really pissed about it.
Adding to the gloom is the National debt. If countries continue dumping or accelerating the getting rid of
U.S. treasury notes then the dollar devalues and the interest payments alone on the $16 trillion dollar
debt could go from just under $500 billion annually to over $1 Trillion. If this happens, the dollar will
automatically cease being the world's reserve currency and inflation/hyper-inflation will happen. You
can bet on it. If you are reading this site, you probably already are betting on it.
impending world and U.S. financial collapse. Paul Krugman and Chris Martenson are among
prominent analysts.
The latest is the former co-manager of the GLG Global Macro Fund, Raoul Pal, who believes that a
global banking collapse and massive defaults will bring about “the biggest economic shock the world
has ever seen” — and there’s nothing we can do to stop it.
China, for one nation is trying to make the U.S. dollar collapse. They are buying not only the world's
gold. but the gold mines as well, to prop up their currency, the Yuan. Their attempt to corner the
world's gold market is to weaken, then replace the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency. The
dollar has been weakening abruptly since 2010. And not only China is wanting the dollar to collapse,
the U.S. gives refuge to George Soros who is also actively seeking the U.S. dollar's demise. Figure out that crap?!?
If the Dollar ceases being the world's reserve currency, the demand for dollars would evaporate leaving
a glut in dollars and therefore the value or buying power would plummet resulting in high inflation
or hyper-inflation. You think food and gas prices are high now?
The Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement, funded and/or financially supported largely by
leftist/liberal groups such as Open Society Institute (now called the Open Society Foundation), Media
Matters, The Tides Foundation, Alliance for Global Justice, Adbusters Media Foundation, will be an ant
hill compared to the mountain of protests and civil unrest is the dollar collapses leaving well over a hundred million people living hand to mouth,....and being really pissed about it.
Adding to the gloom is the National debt. If countries continue dumping or accelerating the getting rid of
U.S. treasury notes then the dollar devalues and the interest payments alone on the $16 trillion dollar
debt could go from just under $500 billion annually to over $1 Trillion. If this happens, the dollar will
automatically cease being the world's reserve currency and inflation/hyper-inflation will happen. You
can bet on it. If you are reading this site, you probably already are betting on it.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Is The Army To Be Used for Domestic Enforcement?
This was written by Joe Wolverton in The New American, titled "Use Army for Domestic Enforcement"
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) proposes that the U.S. Army be used to plan, command, and
carry out (with the help of civilian law enforcement) domestic police missions. So says a story appearing in the May/June issue of the influential organization’s official journal, Foreign Affairs.
The article lacks a single reference to the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits such actions. In an article penned by Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, General Raymond T. Odierno, the CFR would see the Army used to address “challenges in the United States itself” in order to keep the homeland safe from domestic disasters, including terrorist attacks.
Odierno writes:
Where appropriate we will also dedicate active-duty forces, especially those with niche skills and equipment, to provide civilian officials with a robust set of reliable and rapid response options.
That’s right. Should the sheriff suspect that a particular citizen in his county poses a threat to security and feels he doesn’t have the proper “skills and equipment” to deal with the situation, he can just call out the U.S. Army and bring a “rapid response” force that is robust enough to eliminate the problem.
These are not the musings of an unknown academic written in an obscure journal of little importance. These are the black-and-white plans for “building a flexible force” as laid out by the man in charge and published for all the world to read by the people who may have put him there.
In order to justify this new (and illegal) mission for the Army, General Odierno points to three “major changes” that have precipitated the re-tasking of the troops: First, “declining budgets due to the country’s worsened fiscal situation; second, “a shift in emphasis to the Asia-Pacific region; and third, a “broadening of focus from counterinsurgency, counterterrorism, and training of partners to shaping the strategic environment, preventing the outbreak of dangerous regional conflicts, and improving the army’s readiness to respond in force to a range of complex contingencies worldwide.”
There are so many things wrong with every one of these points that each deserves its own article focused solely on its deconstruction. Unfortunately, there is only so much space and each of these considerations has one critical flaw in common: no constitutional authority for any of it.
Start with the woeful economic state of American affairs. Odierno lists this first among his unholy trinity of reasons the army must “transition” from its traditional role to one with a wider domestic and international scope.
Perhaps it has escaped General Odierno’s attention, but the decline of America’s economic fortunes may be in some significant part tied to the illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that siphon about $13 billion per month from the U.S. Treasury. Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, estimates are that Congress has approved a total of $1.283 trillion in military operations, base security, reconstruction, foreign aid, embassy costs, and veterans’ health care spread over three operations: Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) Afghanistan and other counter terror operations; Operation Noble Eagle (ONE), providing enhanced security at military bases; and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF).
There is a certain macabre irony to the claim by a military leader that his troops are forced to adapt to
stringent budget considerations partially brought about by the use of his troops as the tip of America’s
sword of empire.
General Odierno’s third “major change” is the need to use the Army to solve complex international
conflicts. Again, these conflicts and the solutions to them are made more complex by the fact that there
is not a single syllable in the Constitution that grants the President or Congress the authority to deploy
American armed forces to work out the world’s difficult dilemmas.
On this point, regarding the rules to govern the creation and governing of a federal army, the Constitution says very little. In Article I, Section 8, Congress is authorized to “raise and support Armies” and to “make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces.” That’s it.
That paucity of information has been magnified by the Council on Foreign Relations and their members in positions of power to include the use of the Army in ways and means that would seem unimaginable even to the most martial of our Founding Fathers.
One of the unconstitutional missions advocated by Odierno and the CFR is the use of the U.S. Army as
“a critical guarantor of stability in the Asia-Pacific region.” This is one of the many new “assigned missions” promoted by Odierno in his Foreign Affairs article.
This echoes the pronouncement by his Commander-in-Chief made in Australia last November:
This is the future we seek for the Asia-Pacific — security, prosperity and dignity for all. That’s what we stand for. That’s who we are. That’s the future we will pursue in partnership with allies and friends and
with every element of American power.
That is to say, General Odierno and President Obama believe that deterring aggression against our
allies in Asia and the Pacific trumps any constitutional stricture on the appropriate use of the Army.
There is nothing it seems that will stand in the way of our Army being placed at the disposal of foreign
princes and presidents, provided they appreciate their resulting status as satraps of the American
Emperor.
Not to worry; other provinces of the emerging American empire are accounted for in the Odierno/CFR
plan.
“The posture of the U.S. military in the Middle East is critical to maintaining regional stability there,” writes Odierno, again without any noticeable sense of irony.
Is the general privy to some reports of stability in the Middle East kept secret from the rest of us? There is no end to the media’s reminders of the instability in the Middle East. In fact, it is this very unsettled
foundation upon which the need for ongoing American military presence there is built.
In other words, the Middle East is stable because of the Army, the Middle East will remain stable only so long as the Army remains on permanent patrol, and if we were to completely abandon our posts, the region would devolve into outright — instability. Thus is the quality of the reasoning demonstrated by those with command and control of the armed forces of the United States.
One of the timeliest tenets of the Odierno/CFR proposal is the integration of “cyberspace capabilities into our tactical and operational units.” According to an article published last Friday in the New York Times:
From his first months in office, President Obama secretly ordered increasingly sophisticated attacks on the computer systems that run Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facilities, significantly expanding America’s first sustained use of cyberweapons, according to participants in the program.
For the CFR it seems the message from the Obama administration is ask and ye shall receive. Lest there remain any doubt as to America’s resolve, Odierno wants our nation’s enemies (foreign and domestic) to understand that we are not afraid to “compel capitulation.” Should those “potential adversaries” be American, moreover, Odierno promises that the Army will “be ready to decisively achieve American ends, whatever they may be.”
Finally, we will, Odierno declares, demonstrate “our country’s commitment to global security.” Sadly, Americans know this too well, as there are rows and rows of white headstones and flag-draped coffins already demonstrating the seriousness of that commitment.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Apocalypse Fairly Soon?
Apocalypse Fairly Soon? That is the title of an article posted on the New York Times by Paul Krugman. Krugman writes about the possible fall of Euro, beginning in Greece, then making its way through the other financially unstable countries. This impacts in the U.S. as Europe holds a alot of our debt and our banks are holding European debt as well.
Krugman’s article: Suddenly, it has become easy to see how the euro — that grand, flawed experiment in monetary union without political union — could come apart at the seams. We’re not talking about a distant prospect, either. Things could fall apart with stunning speed, in a matter of months, not years. And the costs — both economic and, arguably even more important, political — could be huge.
This doesn’t have to happen; the euro (or at least most of it) could still be saved. But this will require that European leaders, especially in Germany and at the European Central Bank, start acting very differently from the way they’ve acted these past few years. They need to stop moralizing and deal with reality; they need to stop temporizing and, for once, get ahead of the curve. I wish I could say that I was optimistic. The story so far:
When the euro came into existence, there was a great wave of optimism in Europe — and that, it turned out, was the worst thing that could have happened. Money poured into Spain and other nations, which were now seen as safe investments; this flood of capital fueled huge housing bubbles and huge trade deficits. Then, with the financial crisis of 2008, the flood dried up, causing severe slumps in the very nations that had boomed before. At that point, Europe’s lack of political union became a severe liability.
Florida and Spain both had housing bubbles, but when Florida’s bubble burst, retirees could still count on getting their Social Security and Medicare checks from Washington. Spain receives no comparable support. So the burst bubble turned into a fiscal crisis, too. Europe’s answer has been austerity: savage spending cuts in an attempt to reassure bond markets. Yet as any sensible economist could have told you (and we did, we did), these cuts deepened the depression in Europe’s troubled economies, which both further undermined investor confidence and led to growing political instability.
And now comes the moment of truth. Greece is, for the moment, the focal point. Voters who are understandably angry at policies that have produced 22 percent unemployment — more than 50 percent among the young — turned on the parties enforcing those policies. And because the entire Greek political establishment was, in effect, bullied into endorsing a doomed economic orthodoxy, the result of voter revulsion has been rising power for extremists.
Even if the polls are wrong and the governing coalition somehow ekes out a majority in the next round of voting, this game is basically up: Greece won’t, can’t pursue the policies that Germany and the European Central Bank are demanding. So now what? Right now, Greece is experiencing what’s being called a “bank jog” — a somewhat slow-motion bank run, as more and more depositors pull out their cash in anticipation of a possible Greek exit from the euro.
Europe’s central bank is, in effect, financing this bank run by lending Greece the necessary euros; if and (probably) when the central bank decides it can lend no more, Greece will be forced to abandon the euro and issue its own currency again. This demonstration that the euro is, in fact, reversible would lead, in turn, to runs on Spanish and Italian banks.
Once again the European Central Bank would have to choose whether to provide open-ended financing; if it were to say no, the euro as a whole would blow up. Yet financing isn’t enough. Italy and, in particular, Spain must be offered hope — an economic environment in which they have some reasonable prospect of emerging from austerity and depression. Realistically, the only way to provide such an environment would be for the central bank to drop its obsession with price stability, to accept and indeed encourage several years of 3 percent or 4 percent inflation in Europe (and more than that in Germany).
Both the central bankers and the Germans hate this idea, but it’s the only plausible way the euro might be saved. For the past two-and-a-half years, European leaders have responded to crisis with half-measures that buy time, yet they have made no use of that time.
Now time has run out. So will Europe finally rise to the occasion? Let’s hope so — and not just because a euro breakup would have negative ripple effects throughout the world. For the biggest costs of European policy failure would probably be political. Think of it this way: Failure of the euro would amount to a huge defeat for the broader European project, the attempt to bring peace, prosperity and democracy to a continent with a terrible history. It would also have much the same effect that the failure of austerity is having in Greece, discrediting the political mainstream and empowering extremists.
All of us, then, have a big stake in European success — yet it’s up to the Europeans themselves to deliver that success. The whole world is waiting to see whether they’re up to the task. What can U.S. preppers do to protect themselves? The same thing we have been doing. Stock food for the possibility/probability of inflated food prices and diminished supply, and, protect against inflation/hyper-inflationary prices and/or bank runs/reduced monetary supply by having some cash on hand, and ensuring that we have some precious metals (gold and silver).
Krugman’s article: Suddenly, it has become easy to see how the euro — that grand, flawed experiment in monetary union without political union — could come apart at the seams. We’re not talking about a distant prospect, either. Things could fall apart with stunning speed, in a matter of months, not years. And the costs — both economic and, arguably even more important, political — could be huge.
This doesn’t have to happen; the euro (or at least most of it) could still be saved. But this will require that European leaders, especially in Germany and at the European Central Bank, start acting very differently from the way they’ve acted these past few years. They need to stop moralizing and deal with reality; they need to stop temporizing and, for once, get ahead of the curve. I wish I could say that I was optimistic. The story so far:
When the euro came into existence, there was a great wave of optimism in Europe — and that, it turned out, was the worst thing that could have happened. Money poured into Spain and other nations, which were now seen as safe investments; this flood of capital fueled huge housing bubbles and huge trade deficits. Then, with the financial crisis of 2008, the flood dried up, causing severe slumps in the very nations that had boomed before. At that point, Europe’s lack of political union became a severe liability.
Florida and Spain both had housing bubbles, but when Florida’s bubble burst, retirees could still count on getting their Social Security and Medicare checks from Washington. Spain receives no comparable support. So the burst bubble turned into a fiscal crisis, too. Europe’s answer has been austerity: savage spending cuts in an attempt to reassure bond markets. Yet as any sensible economist could have told you (and we did, we did), these cuts deepened the depression in Europe’s troubled economies, which both further undermined investor confidence and led to growing political instability.
And now comes the moment of truth. Greece is, for the moment, the focal point. Voters who are understandably angry at policies that have produced 22 percent unemployment — more than 50 percent among the young — turned on the parties enforcing those policies. And because the entire Greek political establishment was, in effect, bullied into endorsing a doomed economic orthodoxy, the result of voter revulsion has been rising power for extremists.
Even if the polls are wrong and the governing coalition somehow ekes out a majority in the next round of voting, this game is basically up: Greece won’t, can’t pursue the policies that Germany and the European Central Bank are demanding. So now what? Right now, Greece is experiencing what’s being called a “bank jog” — a somewhat slow-motion bank run, as more and more depositors pull out their cash in anticipation of a possible Greek exit from the euro.
Europe’s central bank is, in effect, financing this bank run by lending Greece the necessary euros; if and (probably) when the central bank decides it can lend no more, Greece will be forced to abandon the euro and issue its own currency again. This demonstration that the euro is, in fact, reversible would lead, in turn, to runs on Spanish and Italian banks.
Once again the European Central Bank would have to choose whether to provide open-ended financing; if it were to say no, the euro as a whole would blow up. Yet financing isn’t enough. Italy and, in particular, Spain must be offered hope — an economic environment in which they have some reasonable prospect of emerging from austerity and depression. Realistically, the only way to provide such an environment would be for the central bank to drop its obsession with price stability, to accept and indeed encourage several years of 3 percent or 4 percent inflation in Europe (and more than that in Germany).
Both the central bankers and the Germans hate this idea, but it’s the only plausible way the euro might be saved. For the past two-and-a-half years, European leaders have responded to crisis with half-measures that buy time, yet they have made no use of that time.
Now time has run out. So will Europe finally rise to the occasion? Let’s hope so — and not just because a euro breakup would have negative ripple effects throughout the world. For the biggest costs of European policy failure would probably be political. Think of it this way: Failure of the euro would amount to a huge defeat for the broader European project, the attempt to bring peace, prosperity and democracy to a continent with a terrible history. It would also have much the same effect that the failure of austerity is having in Greece, discrediting the political mainstream and empowering extremists.
All of us, then, have a big stake in European success — yet it’s up to the Europeans themselves to deliver that success. The whole world is waiting to see whether they’re up to the task. What can U.S. preppers do to protect themselves? The same thing we have been doing. Stock food for the possibility/probability of inflated food prices and diminished supply, and, protect against inflation/hyper-inflationary prices and/or bank runs/reduced monetary supply by having some cash on hand, and ensuring that we have some precious metals (gold and silver).
Thursday, June 14, 2012
The Apocalypse Survival Bag
Glenn Beck has long been advocating the stocking or food and the buying of gold to help a family get through a economic collapse or greater collapse of society. The risks or the problem with advice from the wealthy is that their preps are often "top shelf" and their general advice is coming from a lack of experience.
However, I welcome any and all people getting into the "advocating preps" arean as this can only make the possibility of a rebound after a collapse better. From an article on the Blaze, titled "Survive and Thrive": You Won‘t Believe What’s in this Apocalypse Survival Bag, author Liz Klimas covers a Bug Out bag from Uncrate.
The Article
Uncrate, a magazine “for guys who love stuff,” has quite the all-in-one survival kit that it says has everything you may need to not only “survive” but “thrive.” But is it really the motherload of survival kits?
Some have thoughts for modifying it. First, here’s all it lists:
Okuma Voyager Spinning Travel Kit ($40).
Ontario SP16 SPAX Firefighter Axe ($60).
Steripen Adventurer Opti UV Water Purifier with Solar Charging Case ($120).
Leatherman New Wave Multi-Tool ($60).
MSR MiniWorks Microfilter ($90).
Survival Seed Vault ($38).
Adventure Medical Fundamentals Kit ($110).
MSR Packtowl UltraLite($10 – $30).
Snow Peak Titanium Spork ($9).
Paisley Cotton Bandanas ($6).
Mountain House 72-Hour Emergency Meal Kit ($49).
McNett Gear Aid Tenacious Tape ($1 – $15).
PROKNOT Outdoor Knots ($5).
DMM ALPHA Quickdraw Holster ($28).
Suunto Global Compass($63).
MSR Titan Pot ($112).
Sierra Designs Tent Stakes ($10).
Guyot Designs Bowl and Cup Set ($13 – $20).
Petzl Tikka Headlamp ($53).
Swedish Firesteel Scout Model ($6 – $20).
COGHLANS Emergency Tinder Kit ($5).
American Silver Eagle Coin in Air-Tite Capsule ($39).
Cold Kukri Machete ($30).
BIC Disposable Classic Lighter ($7).
UTG Elite Tactical Leg Holster ($11).
Smith Abrasives Diamond Combination Thumb Guard Micro Tool ($29).
Type III Paracord ($12).
Gregory Mountain Products Tarne Backpack ($140).
Mammut Supernova Climbing Rope ($150).
iOSAT Potassium Iodide Tablets ($8).
Gregory Accessories Raincover ($30).
Etón SCORPION Solar Powered Weather Radio ($50).
Mossberg 500 Pump-Action Shotgun ($500).
Hennessy Explorer Deluxe A-Symmetrical Hammock ($177).
MTM Survivor Dry Box ($15).
Mountain Hardwear Phantom Sleeping Bag ($290 – $365).
Sea to Summit Reactor Extreme Thermolite Liner($59).
HK P2000 Pistol ($941). Hydrocodone ($TBD).
Ciprofloxacin ($TBD).
Atovaquone($TBD).
Shotgun Shells ($TBD).
9mm Bullets ($TBD).
Given an average cost for the items priced "TBD", the entire Bug Out Bag comes to at least $3,500. Comments from my 5 minute analysis comments: Add some Aspirin; Get rid of the Hammock; Who would pay $941 for an H&K P2000? - save $400 and buy a Glock;
Not much food - add some Main Stay Bars, some dehydrated soup, bullion cubes and salt; Do you really need the climbing rope? For $7 you be able to buy a handful of Bic lighters; I would reduce the size and expense of the fishing equipment; the Ontario Axe or the Kukri - not both;
Add a short fixed bladed knife and a folder; $500 is excessive for a Mossberg Shotgun; Ditch the Thermolite liner and add a couple of military surplus ponchos;
The author says that although this “Apocalypse PAK” or “Bug-Out Bag” is well-equipped, fans of Uncrate’s Facebook had some thoughts on the bag. For one, they are upset that even though its website uses the words “stuffed into one bag,” there doesn’t appear to be a way to actually purchase it all together in the manner it is advertised — at least not yet.
Others have said it has too many duplicate or unnecessary items that would add up to too much weight. Even with some suggestions of what the pack should get rid of or add, it still has more than 130 likes in less than 24 hours.
Earlier this year, author Brad Thor and Barrett Moore were on GBTV to discuss how to protect your identity and what you need to “prepare for a collapse.” Check out the clip. I like the quote: "We live in a 7-11 syndrome,...that is two generations of people who have only ever known 7-11 to be open 24/7 and the shelves stocked 24/7......"
However, I welcome any and all people getting into the "advocating preps" arean as this can only make the possibility of a rebound after a collapse better. From an article on the Blaze, titled "Survive and Thrive": You Won‘t Believe What’s in this Apocalypse Survival Bag, author Liz Klimas covers a Bug Out bag from Uncrate.
The Article
Uncrate, a magazine “for guys who love stuff,” has quite the all-in-one survival kit that it says has everything you may need to not only “survive” but “thrive.” But is it really the motherload of survival kits?
Some have thoughts for modifying it. First, here’s all it lists:
Okuma Voyager Spinning Travel Kit ($40).
Ontario SP16 SPAX Firefighter Axe ($60).
Steripen Adventurer Opti UV Water Purifier with Solar Charging Case ($120).
Leatherman New Wave Multi-Tool ($60).
MSR MiniWorks Microfilter ($90).
Survival Seed Vault ($38).
Adventure Medical Fundamentals Kit ($110).
MSR Packtowl UltraLite($10 – $30).
Snow Peak Titanium Spork ($9).
Paisley Cotton Bandanas ($6).
Mountain House 72-Hour Emergency Meal Kit ($49).
McNett Gear Aid Tenacious Tape ($1 – $15).
PROKNOT Outdoor Knots ($5).
DMM ALPHA Quickdraw Holster ($28).
Suunto Global Compass($63).
MSR Titan Pot ($112).
Sierra Designs Tent Stakes ($10).
Guyot Designs Bowl and Cup Set ($13 – $20).
Petzl Tikka Headlamp ($53).
Swedish Firesteel Scout Model ($6 – $20).
COGHLANS Emergency Tinder Kit ($5).
American Silver Eagle Coin in Air-Tite Capsule ($39).
Cold Kukri Machete ($30).
BIC Disposable Classic Lighter ($7).
UTG Elite Tactical Leg Holster ($11).
Smith Abrasives Diamond Combination Thumb Guard Micro Tool ($29).
Type III Paracord ($12).
Gregory Mountain Products Tarne Backpack ($140).
Mammut Supernova Climbing Rope ($150).
iOSAT Potassium Iodide Tablets ($8).
Gregory Accessories Raincover ($30).
Etón SCORPION Solar Powered Weather Radio ($50).
Mossberg 500 Pump-Action Shotgun ($500).
Hennessy Explorer Deluxe A-Symmetrical Hammock ($177).
MTM Survivor Dry Box ($15).
Mountain Hardwear Phantom Sleeping Bag ($290 – $365).
Sea to Summit Reactor Extreme Thermolite Liner($59).
HK P2000 Pistol ($941). Hydrocodone ($TBD).
Ciprofloxacin ($TBD).
Atovaquone($TBD).
Shotgun Shells ($TBD).
9mm Bullets ($TBD).
Given an average cost for the items priced "TBD", the entire Bug Out Bag comes to at least $3,500. Comments from my 5 minute analysis comments: Add some Aspirin; Get rid of the Hammock; Who would pay $941 for an H&K P2000? - save $400 and buy a Glock;
Not much food - add some Main Stay Bars, some dehydrated soup, bullion cubes and salt; Do you really need the climbing rope? For $7 you be able to buy a handful of Bic lighters; I would reduce the size and expense of the fishing equipment; the Ontario Axe or the Kukri - not both;
Add a short fixed bladed knife and a folder; $500 is excessive for a Mossberg Shotgun; Ditch the Thermolite liner and add a couple of military surplus ponchos;
The author says that although this “Apocalypse PAK” or “Bug-Out Bag” is well-equipped, fans of Uncrate’s Facebook had some thoughts on the bag. For one, they are upset that even though its website uses the words “stuffed into one bag,” there doesn’t appear to be a way to actually purchase it all together in the manner it is advertised — at least not yet.
Others have said it has too many duplicate or unnecessary items that would add up to too much weight. Even with some suggestions of what the pack should get rid of or add, it still has more than 130 likes in less than 24 hours.
Earlier this year, author Brad Thor and Barrett Moore were on GBTV to discuss how to protect your identity and what you need to “prepare for a collapse.” Check out the clip. I like the quote: "We live in a 7-11 syndrome,...that is two generations of people who have only ever known 7-11 to be open 24/7 and the shelves stocked 24/7......"
Monday, June 11, 2012
The Day the Economic Collapse Started
A well put together 7 minute video on You Tube titled "The Day The Dollar Died", offers fictional but realistic look at what we could see shortly. All the pieces of the puzzle are in place and we are moving towards what the video describes.
I would have liked to see the video expand a bit on the food shortages and civil unrest that will be a result of the Death of the Dollar, but again this video is only Day One of the Dollar Collapse. The video explain how the Oil and Petroleum Export Countries (OPEC) will stop trading Oil in U.S> Dollars furthering the economic collapse that we will see in this country.
Perhaps one of the best lines in the video below is: "Educate yourself before time runs out." Go to http://inflation.us/ and sign up for thier newsletter as one way to edcuate and help prepare yourself. Good luck everyone,.....we are going to need it,...but as Vince Lombardi said "Luck is when preparation meets opportunity".
I would have liked to see the video expand a bit on the food shortages and civil unrest that will be a result of the Death of the Dollar, but again this video is only Day One of the Dollar Collapse. The video explain how the Oil and Petroleum Export Countries (OPEC) will stop trading Oil in U.S> Dollars furthering the economic collapse that we will see in this country.
Perhaps one of the best lines in the video below is: "Educate yourself before time runs out." Go to http://inflation.us/ and sign up for thier newsletter as one way to edcuate and help prepare yourself. Good luck everyone,.....we are going to need it,...but as Vince Lombardi said "Luck is when preparation meets opportunity".
Friday, June 8, 2012
Know Your Survival Threat- Racists Skinheads
suburbs. One of the larger threats are already organized groups, usually criminal in nature, and
based on their organization along racial lines are well organized and well armed.
I have previously written about street gangs, which may be part of national organizations, they are
regionally or locally bound.
Another group to be aware of are the Racist Skinheads. Organizing since the mid 1980's, the Racists Skinheads and alike groups such as the Aryan Nation have been rising in membership for 10 years and now have over 133 separate skinheads chapters across the country.
Somewhat simlar to Outlaw Motorycle Gangs, Racist Skinheads represent a big threat not just to
miniorities but to all groups that are weaker than them especially in a SHTF where normal security
mechanism such as local and federal law enforcement are over whelmed or not effective.
Location, physical defenses, well equipped survival team, and good tacticial SOP's are your counter -measure for highly mobile and violent groups like the Racist Skinheads. But first it starts with being able to recognize their members and know their tactics.
For an education in Racist Skinheads, watch the short video below.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Wargaming a Good Tool
I received this e-mail from "John": "Urbanman, like your info. me and my friends discuss prepping all the time. We have five of us in our hunting and survival group, but of course we expect to have all sorts of relatives bust our group when the time comes. That's cool, because we're ready for it. We have a farmhouse belonging to one of guy's grandmas about a mile and half out of town. That's our meeting point and security point. We plan on staying here as long as we can maybe forever because we have woods and two water ponds. After we hunt or shoot we have a practice of dicussing scenarios. The last one was two weeks after SHTF. If we go into town to see what is going on, or maybe look at a couple of spots where solar panels. It's a no brainer if we have cell phone service, but may not so we may have to go into town to look around and see what's available plus the solar panels would come in handy. What do you think? Call me John if you write this."
UrbanMan replies: John, thanks for writing. It's a good routine to get into talking about scenarios with your group. It can help identify areas where you disagree and need to come to a resolution about plans and protocols. It can also help identify equipment, material and even skill sets gaps that can be fixed before you are doing it for real.
This game of "what if'ing" is called wargamming. If you were leaving your secure site to conduct a patrol into town, you would need to have clear cut objectives,...a mission if you will. Such as making contact with selected town residents to get an situational update; procure any needed items, especially food and fuel. And even if you are only going 1.5 miles, you need to plan at least the primary route using the terrain to your advantage for cover and concealment.
Some principles from which to plan your patrols, be it the scenario into town or a longer security or forage type patrols:
Control. Sometimes simplicity is the key to controlling a patrol and the actions. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for patrolling, arm and hand signals, reaction drills, crossing danger areas, and more, helps the patrol operate as one team and make control easier.
Security. During a patrol, security is achieved through choosing routes that provide the least chance of contact with bad guys, as well as give you cover and concealment, especially on approach to the target or the tentative observation/ listening post. Good employment of light, noise and litter discipline also helps the patrol stay undetected.
Communications. This covers radio communications to visual signals. Consider recongition signals and distress or duress signals, and code words. Use brvity codes for radio communications. Have scheduled communications contacts or windows, however even at only a mile and a half, FRS/GMRS type radios will not have the range.
Planning. Contingencies,......contingencies,........contingencies,......use PACE planning. Ensure everyone, even the guys remaining, know all contingency plans,...situations like if the patrol is ambushed or the secure site is attacked.....where you emergency rally point is,.......this list is endless but needs to be considered so the patrol operates with backup plans. As far as the solar panels. I am not advocating conspiracy to commit theft, but in a very decayed world without law enforcement or order of any type, I too would consider "requisitioning" available solar panels to hook into my home power grid.
UrbanMan replies: John, thanks for writing. It's a good routine to get into talking about scenarios with your group. It can help identify areas where you disagree and need to come to a resolution about plans and protocols. It can also help identify equipment, material and even skill sets gaps that can be fixed before you are doing it for real.
This game of "what if'ing" is called wargamming. If you were leaving your secure site to conduct a patrol into town, you would need to have clear cut objectives,...a mission if you will. Such as making contact with selected town residents to get an situational update; procure any needed items, especially food and fuel. And even if you are only going 1.5 miles, you need to plan at least the primary route using the terrain to your advantage for cover and concealment.
Some principles from which to plan your patrols, be it the scenario into town or a longer security or forage type patrols:
Control. Sometimes simplicity is the key to controlling a patrol and the actions. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for patrolling, arm and hand signals, reaction drills, crossing danger areas, and more, helps the patrol operate as one team and make control easier.
Security. During a patrol, security is achieved through choosing routes that provide the least chance of contact with bad guys, as well as give you cover and concealment, especially on approach to the target or the tentative observation/ listening post. Good employment of light, noise and litter discipline also helps the patrol stay undetected.
Communications. This covers radio communications to visual signals. Consider recongition signals and distress or duress signals, and code words. Use brvity codes for radio communications. Have scheduled communications contacts or windows, however even at only a mile and a half, FRS/GMRS type radios will not have the range.
Planning. Contingencies,......contingencies,........contingencies,......use PACE planning. Ensure everyone, even the guys remaining, know all contingency plans,...situations like if the patrol is ambushed or the secure site is attacked.....where you emergency rally point is,.......this list is endless but needs to be considered so the patrol operates with backup plans. As far as the solar panels. I am not advocating conspiracy to commit theft, but in a very decayed world without law enforcement or order of any type, I too would consider "requisitioning" available solar panels to hook into my home power grid.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Martial Law in America?
Will Obama stage a 'Reichstag' type Event as trigger for Martial Law? The Obama agents, through the DHS and other assorted colluders, are plotting a major 'Reichstag' event to generate racial riots and produce the justification for martial law, delaying the November 2012 elections, possibly indefinitely, a DHS histleblower informed the Canada Free Press on Tuesday. The 'Reichstag Event' would take the form of a staged assassination attempt against Barack Obama, "carefully choreographed" and manufactured by Obama operatives. It would subsequently be blamed on "white supremacists" and used to enrage the black community to rioting and looting, the DHS source warned.
The Obama administration would then use the violence and chaos they created as justification for the imposition of martial law in major urban cities in America, the creation of DHS checkpoints, restriction of travel, and the indefinite delay of the November 2012 elections.
UrbanMan: I just don't see it happening, even though it seems there is much to do about "class warfare" and the separation of economic groups with the increased poverty status in this country.
The "Reichstag" event refers to a fire started during Hitler's rise to power. The fire allowed him to grab emergency powers and murder his opposition. Historians have long believed that Hitler started the fire himself, while he blamed it on the Communists We know the DHS has ordered 450 million rounds of 40 caliber hollow point ammo which cannot be used anywhere except in America because it is banned by the UN. i.e. - It can only be used on American citizens. DHS has also ordered up to 175 million rounds of 223 ammo for assault rifles in an open bid.
The Contact
It was not the proverbial 3:00 a.m. phone call, but close enough. And it was not made to the White House, but to my house, which is not white, nor is it in DC. It was about 2:30 a.m. on 25 April 2012, and the call itself was somewhat unexpected. I had anticipated the telephone call from my DHS insider much earlier the previous day, but our schedules didn’t synch up. I was traveling on an investigative assignment, while my source was in meetings all day. I had just fallen asleep, and was slumbering no more than 20 minutes when the phone rang. In most households, a ringing phone at that time of night causes concern for everyone who hears it. In my household, it seems to surprise only my surly, 140 pound light-sleeping German Shepherd. He let out an objective grunt as I stepped over him to take the call in another room. It was “Rosebud,” the code name given my insider source.
About Rosebud
Just a little bit here about my source and his “super-secret code name.” I’ve known this government insider since 1979, when he first became a municipal patrol officer. He took a job in a bigger city and had a very successful run as a cop. Before retirement and after the events of 9/11, he was tapped by the feds, where he worked in various capacities under the umbrella of DHS. He worked his way up, and suddenly found himself in what he terms the inner sanctum of the “TEC” building. TEC, he explains, is an acronym for what he calls “The Estrogen Challenged,” which houses the upper echelon of the Department of Homeland Security. I’ll leave it at that. As far as his code name, it originates from an incident that occurred at the end of the disco era. It is something that we both privately laugh about, but rarely ever talk about. His “code name” is known to him, me, and at the time, a young woman who has since vanished amid the glitter of disco balls and constant replays of the Bee Gees in a dark nightclub some 32 years ago, and has no “cloak and dagger” origins. But he is real, his position serious, and his knowledge vast. Unfortunately, that’s what makes the whole situation frightening and deadly serious.
The Information
It began on Wednesday, 2 May 2012 with a 45-minute interview on TruNews with Rick Wiles when I first disclosed the information I received the previous week from my source. The information I relayed “went viral,” as they say, across the internet. To support the statements I made during that interview, I am showing my handwritten notes taken contemporaneously during our conversation. My notes consist of two pages and are, at various points, admittedly difficult to decipher. I ask that points not be deducted for my penmanship given the time of the morning which they were taken.
According to my source, there is talk among the highest levels of the uppermost echelon of the Department of Homeland Security, which he describes as effectively under the control of Barack Hussein Obama. During this call, he said that the DHS is actively preparing for massive social unrest inside the United States. He then corrected himself, stating that “a civil war” is the more appropriate term. Certain elements of the government are not only expecting and preparing for it, they are actually facilitating it,” stated my source. “The DHS takes their marching orders from the Obama administration, from Obama himself, but mostly from his unappointed czars. And Jarrett, especially Valerie Jarrett.
Don’t think for a minute that the administration is doing anything to stabilize events in the U.S. They are revolutionaries, and revolutionaries thrive on chaos,” he added. My source stated that he has not seen things this bad since he began working within DHS. “It’s like they [DHS agency heads] don’t care about what the American people see or feel about what the DHS agencies are doing. They figure that if the average American will put up with being “sexually groped and nuked” just to fly, they’ll accept almost anything. “That’s why their actions are becoming more overt. “It’s in your face and the brass actually chuckle about it” said my source.
New Information
Astounded by the information my source provided “going viral,” I spoke to him again early Sunday morning. This was a scheduled telephone call (as noted on page 2 of my notes) based on a high level meeting of DHS personnel that was scheduled for and took place in Chantilly, Virginia, on Saturday, 5 May 2012. He hoped to provide me with more information to supplement that which he already given. Although he was not personally present, his source was.
While he would not say who was at the meeting on Saturday or give its precise location, he said that the many of the names would be recognizable. He spoke to his source late Saturday night. I contacted him on his cellular phone early Sunday morning to get the promised update. “Geez, nice job on getting the word out about what’s really going on at DHS and in this administration,” were the first words out of his mouth, followed by “thanks a lot.” I asked him why he would be thanking me. “I just wanna’ tell you that I’m going to have to hire someone to start my car, and I’m surely not going for any rides in small planes in the immediate future,” he said with a bit of nervous laughter. “I hope no one finds out who I am or it’s going to be more than my pension I’ll have to worry about.” “I can tell you word is getting out that people are starting to wake up, which is causing a lot of ‘pissed off brass.’ I can’t tell if they are more desperate or upset about the exposure, but the tone is starting to become a lot more tense. I hope that we’re having something to do with that,” he added.
With that, he provided me with additional information to supplement that which he already given me on 25 April. For clarity purposes, I have combined the information together from both contacts. The following information includes the updated information provided to me Sunday morning.
Obama the revolutionary
Metaphorically speaking, there’s a revolution going on in the U.S., propped up by three legs. Economic chaos, chaos through racial division, and chaos through class division, all joined by one core element: Barack Hussein Obama and his stable of unelected czars. Obama is using the lessons learned in 1968 as the template for 2012, and many of those who were active in the late 1960s are now calling the shots for 2012.
“The Obama administration and many of the un-elected ‘czars,’ either directly or indirectly, are engaged in covert activities with the occupy movement, various labor protests, and other subversive activities inside the U.S.,” stated my source. Using untracked campaign funds, they are paying people to infiltrate the various movements to cause physical destruction of property and disrupt commerce. That began last year, but has increased ten-fold already this year,” stated this source. He added that they are using some lower level DHS agents to make the payments under the context of tracking subversives, but they are the unwitting subversives.
“It’s like Fast and Furious” but in the social realm,” he added. “Obama is using some high profile people as pawns to foment the revolution. I heard several times through very credible sources that [Louis] Farrakhan is on the CIA payroll. Other have been named as well, but I’m not prepared to identify them yet. Farrakhan is to coordinate the Blacks and the Muslims to prepare for riots this summer, using any means necessary.”
“Mentioned at the meeting Saturday were methods to use pawns to simulate the rioting in the Arab Spring countries, but to the benefit of this administration. A controlled chaos thing,” stated my source. They envision rioting starting in the urban areas first, such as New York and other major cities, followed by a disruption of business and commerce. This will allow the DHS to mobilize their various teams into the streets of America without objection of the people,” stated my source. “They want to restrict travel, if not through high energy prices, then by checkpoints and curfews mandated by rioting and unrest. They understand we are the most well-armed nation in the world, yet they are aware of our vulnerabilities and intend to fully exploit them,” he added.
The whole purpose is to keep Obama in office for another term, no matter how unpopular he is, as he is not finished changing our country from a Constitutional Republic. This is the run-up to the 2012 elections, or perhaps causing enough chaos to delay them - indefinitely.” One statement that rattled me more than anything was that a great number of those already in power, whether in appointed or elected positions, actually want to see Obama stay in power, according to this source. “This is what we’ve been working toward and we’re closer now than we’ve ever been. If we lose now, we might not have another chance.”
This chilling common goal also explains the lack of interest in the Constitutional legitimacy of Obama. It is common knowledge that Obama is not an American, and neither is his agenda. Of course, criticism of his bona-fides feeds into the cries of racism, despite the massive fraud perpetrated on the American people. Party lines are meaningless when the common objective is the revolutionary overtaking of America.
Obama, the professor of Keynesian economics
The Obama administration is working closely with Bernanke, Geithner and others not to save our economy, but to outright destroy it. He is not the first or only one to try this, but the most effective and most vetted for that purpose. Do you actually think that the fact that Timothy Geithner’s father worked with Obama’s mother in Indonesia was coincidental,” stated my source rhetorically. “What we’re seeing now is the fourth quarter of a game that started long ago, which also currently involves the Clintons.
Obama would not be where he is if it were not for the Clintons, and to a lesser extent, Bush, but that’s for other reasons. Don’t be fooled, the Clintons never left or lost power,” he added. “There are file drawers full of papers, heavily guarded papers at the ‘TEC building’ so I can only imagine what’s in them, about international financial dealings going back decades. I do know, or at least I was told, that they involve organizations that are the so-called conspiracy fringe groups, such as the Bilderberg group, the Trilateral Commission, and people including George Soros, Henry Kissinger, and current leaders of big industry. Some are fossils. They’ve been around a long time. Others are up-and-coming. They’ve got one thing in common, though, and that is to put in place a global system of governance, including a common currency.
Economics is a huge part of this revolution, and they want to replace the dollar, to see it collapse. They expect, that is, they are working toward this very goal, and when this happens, it will cause chaos like never seen before in the history of this country.” “Why do you think Jon Corzine is not only walking around, but heavily involved in Obama fundraising? They know it’s just a matter of time that Europe will implode economically, and when it does, start counting the days before we see massive hyperinflation and the ultimate collapse of the U.S. dollar,” stated this insider. “What will it look like in the streets of America when the general population realizes that there is no money? That’s right, chaos.”
Obama and the planned racial divide
According to this insider, the Trayvon Martin case is just the tip of the iceberg. “You certainly don’t have to be a genius to understand how Obama and his team played the public on this issue, and it’s far from over. But that’s not the sole element of what we’ll see this summer.” “Remember the shots fired at the White House not too long ago?” asked my source. There was an element of outrage that was squandered, according to ‘team Obama.’ In fact, Obama and some of his closest advisors, especially [Valerie] Jarrett were incredibly angered that the outrage was seemingly tempered.
It should have been an opportunity to use our force against the Tea Parties, the gun clingers, the Constitutionalists, and everyone who has complained about Obama. DHS should have stepped in right then, and used that event to start the clampdown,” this source stated about White House comments. This source stated that from that point on, the DHS must become more responsive and aggressive. Watch for a false flag event against Obama or his family, something that will outrage ‘black America.’ It will be carefully choreographed, but executed in a manner that will evoke the ugliest of reactions and create racial chaos in this country that will make the Watts riots, 1968 and the Rodney King riots pale in comparison.
That’s the third leg in this.” The planned end-game Does Obama look worried about the upcoming elections? Look at his lavish vacations, his limited work schedule, and those with whom he is working. This is a very dangerous man who has, as his closest advisors, people who have orchestrated the revolutions of the 1960s. They know the “trigger points” in America.
The Obama administration, including his czars and along with his closets Progressive supporters, are planning a manufactured insurgency against America. He is using the media to his advantage to garner both sympathy and support for his unfinished goals. He is desperately seeking a way to remain in office, even if it means the surreal prospect of an indefinite postponement of elections - if it can be pulled off. So far, he’s got the support of the majority of the DHS “brass” behind him, according to my source. “They’re power hungry, and they want to remain in charge,” stated this source. The “surreal” aspect of suspended elections won’t look so surreal when you see any or all of the “trigger points” take place in the not-so-distant future. “The end-game plan for America is its destruction as a Constitutional Republic, with the assistance of the agencies under the umbrella of the DHS.”
My sourced stated one more thing that seemed to tie things together. He urged me to recall the quote by Henry Kissinger who was speaking at a Bilderberg meeting at Evian, France, on 21 May 1992: Today Americans would be outraged if U.N. troops entered Los Angeles to restore order; tomorrow they will be grateful. This is especially true if they were told there was an outside threat from beyond, whether real or promulgated, that threatened our very existence. It is then that all peoples of the world will plead with world leaders to deliver them from this evil.
The one thing every man fears is the unknown. When presented with this scenario, individual rights will be willingly relinquished for the guarantee of their well being granted to them by their world government. That threat need not be from beyond. All it might take is a world of starving, broke and desperate people. Note: My source promised more information at a later time. Stay tuned.
UrbanMan: Wow! Almost lost me at the point where the claim about Farrahkan being a CIA plant - pretty damn far fetched. But each reader will have work to do to separate possible political agendas and simple mud slinging. But the scary part is that we all work to prepare against many different threats,..food famine, economic collapse, peak oil, terrorist attack, natural disasters,...we often over look any possible, no mater how remote, about internal chaos such as what would be created by any events described above.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
The Coming Zombie Apocalypse, or, Police Shoot Zombie in Florida
The officer called for the man to back away but he ignored the order and the policeman responded by shooting him once, the Herald said. The man continued his attack after being shot, leading the officer to fire several more shots, the Herald said, citing police sources. A Miami police spokesperson could not be immediately reached for comment. Several witnesses recounted details of the incident to local television stations. The man who was attacked was in intensive care on Sunday at a Miami hospital, the Herald reported.
Now here comes the good part. The guy eating the face off the homeless guy was shot several times, and only stopped after he received a bullet in the head. The homeless guy was taken to the morgue where it was determined he was not dead after all as he sat up and attack one of the Medical Examiner's staff, forcing one of the morgue technicans to stab the homeless man in the head with a pair of foreceps putting him down for good. Who say's Zombies are not real?.......Okay, okay, I made up this last part, but the actual face eating attack took place and the attacker took several bullets until he was put down for good.
Monday, May 28, 2012
Full Automatic Weapons for Survival?
I actually had to look this up as I had never heard of the "Bump Stock" or "Bump Firing". Although this stock does not turn a semi-automatic firearm into an automatic weapon, it allows the shooter full automatic like control and capability.
So for GB, my answer is "Yes, I now have an opinion and No, I will not be adding a Bump Stock or Bump Fire Stock to my equipment load list, for several reasons:
1 - God forbid I ever have to use any of M-4's or other semi-automatics when a life is on the line, I want to be as accurate as possible - I don't need a stock moving around to become another factor to overcome or master.
2 - A couple of those would eat up my ammunition reserves in short order.
Automatic weapons can be useful for certain situations. Walking at night on patrol and having a chance contact with a large group of armed bandits,.......using a high volume of supressing fire to allow the rest of your team to manuever,.....useful as a final protective fire and breaking the back of an assault on your property or defensive position,...... but in a midst of a collapse where the availability of ammunition would probably be finite and therefore the conservation of ammunition a critical task, I would feel just fine with semi-autos only.
I would not pass up a great deal on a old Belgian MAG-58 with 20 cases of linked 7.62, but I ain't going to put it at the top of my priority list either.
GB,...I would rather spend $300+ on an additional 800 rounds of ammunition or practically anything else. I am not bad mouthing the creators of the Bump Fire type products,...they evidentally have plenty of business,....they just aren't going to get mine. However, be that as it may, here is a video on one of these
products.
Friday, May 25, 2012
Upgrading My SHTF Medical Kit
A friend of mine who is a currently serving medic on an law enforcement warrant service team gave me a couple different sizes of a Trauma Wound Dressing called The Emergency Bandage, which apparently has been in service for for a few years. This particular product is made in Israel and one distributor of this excellent product is PerSysMedical, 5310 Elm Street Houston, Texas 77081, phone 713.723.6000, or e-mail at info@ps-med.com http://ps-med.com/index.php
They are cheap enough that everyone can afford several for their Individual First Aid Kit (IFAK), vehicle Medical Kit and/or to support their Fixed Site Medical-Trauma Kit. Much like the photo above left, I have two different versions (sizes) of this trauma dressing. The version that has a mobile secondary pad is a great idea for 'through and through' GSW's. All of these Emergency Bandages have the ability to use as a pressure dressing, and/or a tourniquet.
Go to the PerSysMedical website, hyperlinked above, to see what these are all about and for pricing. I have included a PerSysMedical video below so the capabilities of this Emergency Bandage can be explained much better than I can do via text.
FCP-01 (4 inch Pad) This 4" wide, all-in-one bandage consolidates multiple first-aid devices such as a primary dressing, pressure applicator, secondary dressing, and a foolproof closure bar to secure the bandage in place.
FCP-05 (w/ 6 inch Mobile Pad) This 6" wide, all-in-one bandage consolidates multiple first-aid devices such as a primary dressing, pressure applicator, secondary dressing, and a foolproof closure apparatus to secure the bandage in place. This model includes a sliding/mobile pad for coverage of entry and exit wounds.
PerSysMed Emergency Bandage (Israeli Military Bandage) Demonstrated
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Peak Oil and the Coming Collapse
Peak Oil and the Coming Collapse from the SGT Report and reprinted on the Martenson report the audio interview below with researcher and author of ‘The Crash Course’ Chris Martenson.
Chris has been following economical trends for decades now and has been one of the early guys warning of the coming collapse. Chris makes the case for "peak oil" being a fact and that because of it, our lives are about to change forever as the days of cheap liquid fuel are nearly over. Chris also covers the coming collapse and the need to continue stacking physical material goods.
There is just so much of the economy and life centered around our oil products, from basic homes energy needs,..heating, cooking and basic electrical service, to the freedoms we enjoy being able to use vehicles for personal mobility. Vehicles and fuel are vital for commerce,...from food stuffs being delivered by tractor-trailer rigs to people getting to and from work each day.
Part 1: PEAK OIL: A Fact? Life As We Know It WILL Change
Chris has been following economical trends for decades now and has been one of the early guys warning of the coming collapse. Chris makes the case for "peak oil" being a fact and that because of it, our lives are about to change forever as the days of cheap liquid fuel are nearly over. Chris also covers the coming collapse and the need to continue stacking physical material goods.
There is just so much of the economy and life centered around our oil products, from basic homes energy needs,..heating, cooking and basic electrical service, to the freedoms we enjoy being able to use vehicles for personal mobility. Vehicles and fuel are vital for commerce,...from food stuffs being delivered by tractor-trailer rigs to people getting to and from work each day.
Part 1: PEAK OIL: A Fact? Life As We Know It WILL Change
Saturday, May 19, 2012
More Predictors of the Coming Economic Collapse
#1 The percentage of Americans that own homes is dropping rapidly. According to Gallup, the current level of homeownership in the United States is the lowest that Gallup has ever measured.
#2 Home prices in the U.S. continue to fall like a rock as well. They have declined for six months in a row and are now down a total of 35 percent from the peak of the housing bubble. The last time that home prices in the United States were this low was back in 2002.
#3 Last year, an astounding 53 percent of all U.S. college graduates under the age of 25 were either unemployed or underemployed.
#4 Back in 2007, about 10 percent of all unemployed Americans had been out of work for 52 weeks or longer. Today, that number is above 30 percent.
#5 When Barack Obama first became president, the number of “long-term unemployed workers” in the United States was 2.6 million. Today, it is 5.3 million.
#6 The average duration of unemployment in the United States is about three times as long as it was back in the year 2000.
#7 Despite what the mainstream media would have us to believe, the truth is that the percentage of working age Americans that are employed is not increasing. Back in March 2010, 58.5 percent of all working age Americans were employed. In March 2011, 58.5 percent of all working age Americans were employed. In March 2012, 58.5 percent of all working age Americans were employed. So how can Barack Obama and the mainstream media claim that the employment situation in the United States is getting better? The employment rate is still essentially exactly where it was when the last recession supposedly ended.
#8 Back in 1950, more than 80 percent of all men in the United States had jobs. Today, less than 65 percent of all men in the United States have jobs.
#9 In 1962, 28 percent of all jobs in America were manufacturing jobs. In 2011, only 9 percent of all jobs in America were manufacturing jobs.
#10 In some areas of Detroit, Michigan you can buy a three bedroom home for just $500.
#11 According to one recent survey, approximately one-third of all Americans are not paying their bills on time at this point.
#12 Since Barack Obama entered the White House, the price of gasoline has risen by more than 100 percent.
#13 The student loan debt bubble continues to expand at a very frightening pace. Recently it was announced that total student loan debt in the United States has passed the one trillion dollar mark.
#14 Incredibly, one out of every four jobs in the United States pays $10 an hour or less at this point.
#15 Household incomes all over the United States continue to fall. After adjusting for inflation, median household income in America has declined by 7.8 percent since December 2007.
#16 Over the past several decades, government dependence has risen to unprecedented heights in the United States. The following is how I described the explosive growth of social welfare benefits in one recent article. Back in 1960, social welfare benefits made up approximately 10 percent of all salaries and wages. In the year 2000, social welfare benefits made up approximately 21 percent of all salaries and wages. Today, social welfare benefits make up approximately 35 percent of all salaries and wages.
#17 In November 2008, 30.8 million Americans were on food stamps. Today, more than 46 million Americans are on food stamps.
#18 Right now, more than 25 percent of all American children are on food stamps.
#19 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, today 49 percent of all Americans live in a home that receives some form of benefits from the federal government.
#20 Over the next 75 years, Medicare is facing unfunded liabilities of more than 38 trillion dollars. That comes to $328,404for each and every household in the United States.
#21 During the first quarter of 2012, U.S. public debt rose by 359.1 billion dollars. U.S. GDP only rose by 142.4 billion dollars.
#22 At this point, the U.S. national debt is rising by more than 2 million dollars every single minute.
#23 The U.S. national debt has risen by more than 5 trillion dollars since the day that Barack Obama first took office. In a little more than 3 years Obama has added more to the national debt than the first 41 presidents combined.
#24 The Federal Reserve bought up approximately 61 percent of all government debt issued by the U.S. Treasury Department during 2011.
#25 The Federal Reserve continues to systematically destroy the value of the U.S. dollar. Since 1970, the U.S. dollar has lost more than 83 percent of its value.
Can we survive this as a Nation? or will this be Survival of individuals, groups and small communities?
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Follow Up on Race War Potential as SHTF Event
Upon bad economic times, or on the brink of economic collapse as we now find ourselves, the general population gets madder and more desperate over the things they have no control over, so when something occurs that they can act against, they are generally more inclined to act out of that anger or desperation.
When the situation truly becomes desperate,….no food on the shelves or hyper inflation where your money won’t buy the necessary items to survive, ……this is when the potential for race based violence exponentially escalates.
It puts us a lot closer now when race based hate groups start spewing their hatred and rush to violence such as with the radical black militia movement, who are no worse than their white racial hate based counterparts, start calling for “getting ready for war with the whites.
It is widely reported in real news media, not the liberal press, about the New Black Panthers having a tele-conference last month to discuss the planned rally for Trayvon Martin who was mortally shot by George Zimmerman in Florida, weeks before that.
Here is a transcript from Breitbart.com through the Blaze concerning this tele-conference:
Michelle Williams, the New Black Panther’s chief of staff, and Chawn Kweli, a New Black Panther’s national spokesman, provide a incredibly hate filled call to violence which should have every Survivalists concerned because it’s not about justice, it’s about hatred not just of whites, but have the whole U.S. culture. A culture that is not perfect and a culture most of us Survivalist hope to maintain, but are prepared to survive its collapse.
Williams: “I just want to say to all the listeners on this phone call, that if you are having any doubt about getting suited, booted, and armed up for this race war that we’re in that has never ended, let me tell you somethin…the thing that’s about to happen these honkies, these crackers, these pigs, these people, these motherf***er…it has been long overdue.”
Kweli: “Ya, what she said was right– we got to suit up and boot up…and get prepared for the war that we’re in…this stuff got to boil over, and all your great’s talked about that happened to be bloodshed involved with revolution- true revolution means some bloodshed, so there‘s blood being spilled because there’s a new life that is beyond this bloodshed. There is a new reality that is built upon your original African principles and spiritualities and values and norms that is beyond this bloodshed. But we gotta go do it.”
“And as the Scripture said, you gotta to cross it. We gon’ have to cross the Red Sea….I know y’all thought it was talking about some sea in some Middle Eastern part of the world- hell no. We’re talking about some blood. You’re gonna have to cross some blood, and go through some blood and some battles.”
“And there are those who wish they could stand in this hour, to see the destruction of the devil‘s world and the devil’s society- and I‘m ain’t talking about no dude underneath the ground with a pitchfork and pantyhose. I’m talking about that blonde haired, blue-eyed, sometimes brown-eyed, Caucasian walkin around with a mindset, a demonistic mindset, and a nature to do evil and brutality.”
Williams: “I say to everyone that is on this call right now, I‘m comin’ out of the gate…my prize right now this evening is going to be the bounty, the arrest– dead or alive– for George Zimmerman. You feel me? To every brother, to every female, I am for violence if non-violence means we continue postponing a solution to the American black man’s problem just to avoid violence. You feel me? It’s time to wake up, I don’t know how else...It’s in me to fight. It’s in me to raise up soldiers. It’s in me that every time my feet touch the ground the state of Florida- these crackers- they scared.”
“I’m kinda pissed off right now that the state of Florida ain’t on fire. This could not have happened in L.A. because them brothers up there are not scared to riot. This could not have happened in St. Petersburg Florida , where the black man over there are ain’t scared to kill a cracker.”
Kweli: “This is real. We’re attacked anywhere in the world and we would defend ourselves by any means necessary…You starve capitalism, since this racism that‘s being perpetuated and this brutality that’s being perpetuated, and this murder that’s being perpetuated, is built on the table legs of capitalism, you’ve got to starve capitalism.
“An act of war has been declared on us and we have no choice but to fight…[But] we have to be trained how to fight. See the whole purpose of the maneuver that’s happening in Sanford is to train in self-defense, because many of us think we’re prepared for a battle- just like many of us think we’re prepared for a fight- but if you are not training, if you are not stocking up water, if you are not stocking up food, if you are not stocking up weapons and artillery and survival books, and gas masks, and flashlights, and canteens, and ready-to-eat meals…if you are not stocking that up I don’t know how serious we are right now.
“Absolutely, we want the complete removal of capitalism. Why? Because capitalism sets up a class structure and a class society. As I said in the beginning of the “haves” and “have nots,” [the] pivotal point is racism, it is racism that keeps them perpetuating a capitalistic motion. So yes, we want capitalism completely eradicated, especially from the minds and hearts and dealings of black people.”
Maybe now that George Zimmerman is being tried for Manslaughter, the hew and cry for racial violence may subside for a bit. But maybe not as it has even spawned racial violence, black on white in several locations. Even if it does, racial violence will continue to simmer just below the surface for decades, if not generations to come. I don't think it will ever become the reason for a collapse, just an off shoot of it as, again, those bad economic times effect everyone. And cutting off the ability to provide for your family when there are 48 million people already on foods stamps already sets up potential and massive violence.
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