Survival Chronicles of Jim – Chapter 11

With the passing of the Health Care Bill, passing this nation towards Socialism and more Federal Government Controls and the case towards the Country heading towards Hyper-Inflation I thought this was a good time to take stock of where I am in my Urban Survival Preparation status, both in Survival Planning and procurement of Survival Gear and Equipment.

I have bought into the need to be prepared for a Survival Scenario be it a collapse of our economy, Hyper-Inflation, Collapse of our economy and infrastructure, Terrorist Attacks or whatever, the results may be the same: lack of security – increasing crime and maybe even roaming gangs; lack of utilities (no electrical power); lack of commodities (food, staples, common items, etc).

When this happens this is not the time to start getting prepared – you have to prepared first, both only with Survival gear and Equipment, a means to protect yourself, but also a Survival Plan.

I bought and now own guns for the first time in my life. A .22 pistol and a 12 gauge shotgun. May be minimal compared to some people fully outfitted with the latest Survival rifles and such, but the first rule in a gun fight is to have a gun.

I have prepare a Survival Bug Out. Procured enough Urban and Wildnerness Survival Gear and Equipment to outfit a Survival Bug Out Bag. I have planned for a Safe Location and multiple routes from my Urban location to this rural and remote location. I have actually rehearsed the route as well as try out navigating on foot which obvious is going to require much more practice.

I have emplaced caches, although with minimal items, near this Safe Location. I have read a friend (Neomi) and my son into this plan. I have somewhat prepared my vehicle for a trip – extra full up spare, camouflage items in case I have to sit it out or leave the vehicle someplace in the woods.

I have just ordered some radios, two for now, two more later. I bought the Motorola MR350 FRS/GMRS radios through the Urban Survival Store. I have read the book “One Second After”.

Now to take stock of what I need to do:

Buy some more food that can be stored for years. Will be buying a case a month from EarthWaveLiving and Honeyville Grain.

Need to start buying a little Silver bullion in the form of 1 ounce Silver rounds. Just a couple per month to start and see what I can afford. Need to start keeping $1000 cash with me or hidden in the house. I too believe that cash will only be good for the first few days of a collapse, then silver-gold may be accepted, then it’ll go to a straight barter society.

Need to order some lightweight sleeping bags, camping lanterns using AAA or AA batteries so my Energizer 12V re-charger will work with rechargeable batteries.

Need to look into bulk storage of stuff like rice, beans, sugar and salt.

Need to buy and read the book “Patriots” and download the book “Lights Out” from the web.

I also need to keep procuring a little bit of ammunition each month and think about buying a rifle also. My son is going to need his own set of Survival Firearms. Neomi will be bringing her own.

This is Jim, going back into Survival Preparation and Gear-Equipment procurement mode. Be Safe – Stay Prepared.

Survival Chronicles of Jim – Chapter 8

This morning I woke up to a text message from Neomi to call her when I could.
I called Neomi 45 minutes later. She wanted to stop by and show me something on her way to work. So I frantically shaved my sand paper rough face, got dressed and awaited her arrival.

Neomi pulls up, parks her car, which is Mazda Miata – hardly suited for bugging out of the city on dirt roads nor packing a lot of gear. Anyway, Neomi comes into the house toting this big sports gym type shoulder bag. She was excited and wants to show me her Survival Bug Out bag. I was happy to see her dressed in her business attire as I did not need to see the hot looking and scantily dressed Neomi this early in the morning. But I digress,…….

I told Neomi that a backpack style pack or Camel-Bak type unit, such as Camel-Bak BFM or Mother Lode style packs, or, the Spec Ops Brand T.H.E. PACK, would work much better as a Survival Bug Out Bag, but was glad to see she has taking Urban Survival and the Bug Out preparation seriously. Note: As you may remember I bought a Camel Bak Talon pack for my Bug Out Bag. Anyway, she said she would look around and buy one soon.

She shows me the contents of her Bug Out Bag which include:

Rollup Gortex jogging style tan colored rain suit;

Extra socks, underwear, t-shirts, a sweat shirt and a pair of jeans;

Two Nalgene bottles which she tells me are her “canteens”;

Two boxes of granola bars;

3 packs of 4 each “AA” batteries – but the non-rechargeable type;

Garmin Etrex GPS;

One twenty round box of .30-06 ammunition and one box (50 rounds) of .38 Special;

Plastic zip lock bag containing a box of wooden matches and a couple fistfuls of dyer lint which she tells me her ex-boyfriend taught her are good for fire starting;

First aid kit with 3x3 inch gauze pads, anti-biotic cream, medical tape, band aids, an eye patch and three small bottles, one each of , Aspirin, Tylenol and Motrin;

AA Battery powered Flashlight;

Seeing her First Aid made me remember that I did not plan for a first aid kit for my Survival caches near the cabin, so I quickly jotted down a list: Bottle of Rubbing Alcohol and Hydrogen Peroxide, 3x3 inch gauze pads, self adhesive ace bandage type wraps, medical tape, assorted bandages, Neosporin anti-biotic ointment, and some bottles of Aspirin, Tylenol and Motrin. Which I’ll buy and put into the ammunition boxes I plan on caching this weekend.

I suggested that she buy a lightweight earth tone color tarp, maybe 5 feet x 7 feet, as well as a Survival Water Filter. She also needs a decent knife – so I directed her to the Urban Survival Skills posts on folding knives.

Although Neomi wasn’t interested in doing the Survival Bug Out route rehearsal, she did say she would look to start stocking some long shelf food at her house. And she would think about the Survival Cache thing.

We talked for a few minutes of the different ways for us to linkup if we had to get out of the city then promised to have dinner within the week to discuss further.

Moving forward. Jim

Survival Chronicles of Jim – Chapter 7

Boy it seems like I just posted an update on my Urban Survival preparation, but it has actually been 13 days, so I am pretty proud of myself and what I have accomplished since my last post.

Using the US Geological Survey maps I bought at the local Bureau of Land Management Office (BLM) I have planned three routes from my house in the city to my family’s cabin. I am planning a route reconnaissance in the next few days, maybe this weekend, primarily looking at my primary route and the problem areas of my planned Alternate and Contingency routes. That will settle the PAC portion of PACE. My emergency route will overland on foot - this provides the E in PACE.

This reminds me to say that I also bought a Silva magnetic compass and was looking at buying a GPS units. During my route recon I also plan on doing some short routes on foot, plotting an azimuth and using my new compass and skills that I am trying to learn from the previous Urban Surival Skills posts on Map Reading - just to get a taste for land navigating. When TSHTF I may be taking Neomi with me therefore may have use of her GPS unit, I need to buy my own and be proficient at using it.

On this route recon I will also be emplacing a couple of caches around the cabin. I have bought an extra Aqua Mira Bottle Water filter unit, Frontier Pro Water Filter Straw, some extra water purification tabs, a pack of three butane lighters, six of the Three Day Main Stay bars, two small green ponchos on which I used sand and brown vinyl spray paint to sort of camouflage it.

I also bought a small camp hatchet, a 100 foot roll of green parachute line (small diameter rope). I will include a set of long underwear, four pair of extra socks, 25 rounds of 12 gauge buckshot and 450 rounds of .22 LR ammunition. This will fit into two military surplus ammunition cans which I’ll try and bury or otherwise hide above ground like the previously Urban Survival Skills on Caching when they talked about above ground concealment caches.

I am also going to cache two additional ammunition cans containing canned meat, Ramen noodles, beef jerky and some freeze dried items. I think this would give two people about one meal a day for 30 days. I know this is a not a long term storage solution nor a complete Survival Caches for hard times, but it will give me a interim solution until I can prepare some longer storage life food caches and get them emplaced near the cabin.

I have tentatively identified the back side of a small hill about 500 yards SOUTH of the cabin to emplace these caches. Just in case when I get to the cabin it is occupied by people maybe hostile to me, I can still retrieve my caches.

Have not talked to Neomi lately, after her initially expressed interest in a TSHTF Survival Bug Out Plan. If she wants to have a part in this Urban Survival contingency plan she was got to produce,……no, not in the way you are thinking,…… but in Survival Preparation, Survival Equipment and Gear acquisition. Until next time. This is Jim – OUT.

Survival Chronicles of Jim – Chapter 4

Man, sometimes it seems like I can’t get Survival topics of my mind. I hope I don’t turn into some paranoid freak!

Now my bug out bag is almost complete. When I went back to the gun store to buy some more gun cleaning supplies I picked up a cartridge belt so I can carry extra 12 gauge shotguns shells around my waist since I am using the shotgun as a primary long gun I’ll need access to more ammunition. The boys told me not to keep shells loaded into the leather belt and loops,…something about the oil or tannin in the leather oxidizing or corroding the shells.

I stopped by Lowe’s and bought another pack of re-chargeable “AA” batteries and a 5 x 7 foot tarp that I will put into my Survival Bug Out Bag to use as a shelter or ground cloth. The last couple of things I need are a Survival Radio for weather and emergency broadcasts and a couple small lanterns which I’ll order soon.

The boys sent me a pdf copy of the U.S. Army Survival Manual, FM 3-05.70, but told me that the SAS Survival Manual by Wiseman is an essential item. My last conversation with these guys centered around clothing items. I own some blue jeans and sweat shirts, but for the most part my wardrobe consists of casual and formal business attire. From their point of view, I need to get some heavy duty clothing like Carhart or Wrangler items in earth tone type colors,..brown, green, dark tan. The boys said that camouflage clothing may actually be better suited for moving and operating in the field, but in and around the city they’ll bring too much scrutiny. I agree. In the next couple of days I’ll buy a pair of Wrangler brown jeans and a Carhart, insulated shirt.

The coolest thing happened two days ago. I was at the local sporting goods store looking for some mini “AA” battery type lanterns to see if I could buy them locally cheaper than from ordering from Amazon – I couldn’t, but anyway, I ran into a friend of mine, Neomi. I have been helping her out with some website development for her home based business.

Neomi is hot! Several years younger than me, used to dating athlete type guys and such, Neomi calls me regularly to complain about how some guy treated her bad, etc. Did I say she is Hot!!?? Anyway, Neomi asked me what I was doing in the Sporting Goods store. I told her I was looking for some “AA” or “AAA” powered small lanterns. She asked why and I gave her the “I just preparing a kit for emergencies,..yada yada yada.” She wanted to know more. She lives alone in a duplex about five miles from my house, but she is still well within the city. She was late for a Pilates class but wanted to know more about my "Disaster Preparedness". So I told her I would come by her house later as I had a also had an update for her web site I needed her to take a look at.