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As Preppers we take steps to plan for disasters that could force us out of the comfort and safety of our homes. These threats could range from regional weather incidents like Tornadoes, Earthquakes or Hurricanes to longer term disasters that might not be caused by Mother Nature. Even these relatively common regional weather events can cause massive damage in some places, but shelter and safety is usually within a short drive or walk from your home. To reach safety, it may be necessary to throw your Bug Out Bag into the car or on your back and get the hell out of dodge as quickly as possible before the roads are clogged or leaving is no longer possible. The hope is that you will be able to come back home as soon as the disaster has passed and conditions are safe for your return.

When you are preparing to Bug Out, there’s a lot of advice on various aspects of preparing like how to select the right bug out bag, or how to load your bug out bag. We can give you lists of supplies to actually pack in your bug out bag but in some cases, you simply won’t be able to carry everything you will ever need to in one pack.

The perfect bug out bag will give you basic supplies, food and shelter to live for at least 72 hours, hopefully longer without being so heavy that it will kill you. A bug out bag is designed to give you what you need to survive without the benefit of your home and all its supplies but it is only a short-term solution because it will be impossible to carry every single thing you would ever need for any potential scenario. What if the disaster is longer than 72 hours? What if you aren’t able to come back home ever again for some reason? What if the grid goes down and you can’t get to your money any more due to bank holidays, power outages or some currency crisis?

How can you protect your money?

There are a lot of things that we put in our bug out bag but a supply of money is one of those at the very top of the list when we start to consider what we might need in order to survive. I am not talking about lost in the woods survival here but surviving in a society that still operates in cash. Until we have some TEOTWAWKI event, money still has purchasing power so having some extra cash on hand is wise. You might not be able to access the money you have in the bank anymore like the people in Cyprus, so I recommend keeping a relatively large amount of cash hidden somewhere that nobody can find it outside of your bank. Having all of your money in the bank makes this a single point of failure so having a decent amount of cash on hand, as long as you take precautions could save your rear if the banks decide they can’t or don’t have to give it back. How much should you keep out of the bank? That’s up to you but I try to keep as much as possible outside those doors that can lock me out.

Zimbabwe Dollars ranging from 10 to 100 billion printed within a one year period. The magnitude of the currency scalars signifies the extent of the hyperinflation.

Maybe your money will still be accessible, but with inflation it simply won’t buy you anything at some point in the future. This isn’t without precedent as it has happened in the Weimar Republic after WWI and also in Zimbabwe. As a hedge against actions beyond our control; some people are storing precious metals for long-term protection against inflation. Holding physical gold and silver could be crucial to your family’s survival if the currency collapses so many preppers are acquiring silver and gold coins should the Dollar fail someday or the banks prevent you from accessing the money in your accounts.

While those beautiful shiny coins could save your life financially speaking if the fiat money you have ends up being worthless, they also have their disadvantages. When it comes to bugging out, you have to consider the weight. If you have been quietly purchasing precious metals for years in anticipation of an economic collapse, have you given thoughts to how you will take all of that with you?

There are a lot of options when it comes to precious metals. Some people like James Wesley Rawles advocate using pre-1965 US coins because of their silver content. Smaller denominations, in easy to understand measurements would be easier to barter with other individuals he reasons and I agree with that theory. Instead of spending my weekends sorting rolls of quarters from the bank though; I have settled on 1 ounce Silver coins as my precious metal of choice. I chose silver coins because they were more affordable than gold and I could see paying someone with a silver coin being much easier than chiseling off a piece of my gold coin. Gold coins because of their worth are easier to carry, but harder to make change for. I could carry one gold coin or 70 silver coins. When you are bugging out that weight will start to add up.

Let’s say it was the end of the world and you had to bug out with only the items in your bug out bag, your trusty AR15 or preferred end of the world firearm and all of the money you have. If you had one gold coin you could easily carry that around practically anywhere, but the problem comes in when you wanted to purchase something with it. You couldn’t go to a restaurant and pay for a meal with a fraction of your gold coin. You would want some smaller bills (coins) so to speak.

So, instead of gold you chose silver and now all of your silver is loaded in your bug out bag. Just 200 silver coins will weigh over 14 pounds. What if you had more silver? What if you had cashed in your 401K and have 1000 silver coins? That would be over 60 pounds and I don’t care who you are, adding that much weight to your bug out bag will hurt you sooner or later. Not to mention, if you lose your bag or someone steals it, all of your money is gone.

A bug out plan with Precious Metals

So what is a good prepper supposed to do? I still recommend having some precious metals because I don’t have faith the long term health of our monetary system. Does that mean I am right? You have to investigate that for yourself and make up your own mind. If you do plan to purchase some precious metals how can you plan to bug out on foot with all that coin?

You can’t.

What? Is that your great advice? Well, not exactly but you have to plan on this happening. I have some silver and this works for my me and my family, but I would not load it all into my Bug Out Bag. I also might not load it all in my vehicle if I was bugging out either. So what would I do?

I would bury it. Yes, I would bury my precious metals in containers I could dig up later. This poses a couple of problems too though. What if I can’t make it back to my buried treasure? What if I couldn’t find it after it was buried? These are the realities of storing all of your money outside of a central location but they can easily be mitigated. If I had a bug out location, I would bury some, probably most of my silver there. I probably wouldn’t bury much more than a handful of coins if any along the route. I would also bury a lot at my current location. If I was planning to bug out and had time I would dig it up and take it with me, but if the plan was to bug out on foot, I would only take a small amount with me in my BOB and leave the rest buried.

How much would I take? For a bug out scenario I would probably take 20 silver coins and several hundred dollars. All of this money would be divided into different hiding places and probably with different people. This way if one person gets robbed or lost you don’t lose all your money.

You may be asking what the point of buying silver is if it is going to be so hard to carry. You may be saying the same thing about bugging out. This article may be bringing up more problems than solutions but these are things to consider if you plan on bugging out. Having to bury your money in the ground isn’t ideal but neither is losing all of your money when the banks need a bail-in. Having to bug out isn’t ideal either and it helps to plan for how you are going to take your money with you or keep it safe until you can get back.

As Preppers we take steps to plan for disasters that could force us out of the comfort and safety of our homes. These threats could range from regional weather incidents

Prepping is all about giving yourself a chance to survive. By preparing for disasters, you are proactively taking steps that give you higher odds of making it through or out of whatever circumstances you are faced with. If you have stored up emergency food, you will be less likely to go hungry if there are food shortages. If you have backup power, then you will not feel the same effects as your neighbors if the electricity goes out. These are actions you have to take in consideration of your family well in advance of bad times. FEMA or your local government doesn’t have your best interests at heart, only you do and the responsibility to be prepared for emergencies is yours.

We talk about Prepping or preparedness almost every day on Final Prepper and there are so many facets, so many needs we all have. There are no shortages of disasters that happen every day to prepare for and as preppers, we strive to act now so that we will have the advantage of tools, resources and skills needed for an emergency. We discuss storing water so that everyone in your family will have at least 1 gallon a day to last for some extended period of time. We talk about stocking your pantry with food that your family will eat should the grocery stores be out of food, or become unreachable because the roads are closed due to weather. We talk about all manner of preparing both from the standpoint of purchasing or setting aside supplies as well as becoming more self-sufficient so that you don’t rely on the stores for your food, the electric company for your power and even the police department for your safety.

Most of the topics of prepping are simple common sense (at least to me) and they usually fall into the buckets of having stored provisions for times of trouble and working towards backups when those stores run out. You have several months’ worth of food stored as well as a garden to supply additional food when the pantry is bare. The security aspect we discuss as preppers is different though. Security must be considered in some ways the same as food or water because without sustenance, you will die. Likewise, if you are defenseless you could fall prey to people who want to do you harm.

When it comes to security, I make no qualms about saying that I believe every responsible adult who is legally able should own a firearm. When it comes to firearms there is a whole world of different models to choose from, equipment that will augment these firearms and additional supplies you could purchase. It isn’t hard to start spending too much time, money and your focus on the latest gear or the proper outfit and instead of prepping we find ourselves falling into the Tacticool trap.

By tacticool, I mean that instead of focusing first on what you need for your families’ safety you focus on looking cool. I think some of this is simply part of being a man in that we want on some level to live out our Navy Seal fantasies while we are living our Homer Simpson reality. One simple example of this concept are these two hilarious videos below from Highjak86 who roast the tacticool crowd in a brilliant and funny way . These two videos illustrate the absurdity of some people’s focus on gear without any logic.

The first video is titled the “Most tactical AR15… Ever!!!”

The second video is titled the “Most Tactical Loadout….Ever!!!”

Is tactical gear necessary?

That is a great question and one that I have to ask myself anytime I want to purchase something new because none of this gear you see people running around in comes cheap. To answer the question though, it really depends on what you are preparing for and when it comes to self-defense what type of situation you foresee. Tactical gear intentionally mimics the gear soldiers wear into war. Actually, a lot of the suppliers to the military sell to the civilian market as well so you are able to purchase equipment that our soldiers actually use in conflicts.

Preppers see the usefulness in purchasing gear like this because over time the gear our soldiers wear has been tested. We know what works and what doesn’t and there aren’t many better options for their intended use. Now, the next question is what was it designed to be used for? That is simple. Tactical gear is designed to accompany a person into combat and carry the supplies you need to function as highly as possible so that you will have a better chance of coming out of combat alive.

Can you wear camouflage out hunting? Of course. Can you take a IFAK with you as part of your car survival kit? Absolutely. Would you ever take a bulletproof plate carrier with 6 AR magazines, 3 pistol magazines, a dump pouch, radio pouch and your IFAK to the grocery store? Probably not. Not unless you were picking up groceries during a Walking Dead zombie apocalypse.

What gear makes sense?

There is a lot of gear that the average prepper can purchase that makes total sense when you are purchasing it with the idea of possibly going into combat. By combat, I don’t mean you are part of the military, enlisted for 4 years and shipping out overseas for a tour of Afghanistan. Have you ever seen riots? Have you watched the news of ethnic cleansing in Africa? Have you seen the footage of people being shot in the street or having their heads chopped off for believing in the wrong religion?

Combat isn’t reserved in all cases for our armed forces and bloodshed and chaos can visit you on your street as history has proven time and time again. All things in moderation though, right?

I think that there are those who genuinely love gear and I fall into this camp sometimes. I think there are a lot of cases where purchases of tactical gear are perfectly valid and I’ll even cover some of my purchases and recommendations in upcoming articles so you can make your own decisions. There are some people who just love to buy things and when something catches your eye, you reach for your wallet. This is when the prepper can get into trouble.

When does it go too far?

Prepping needs to be viewed across a wide spectrum of needs spread out over your available resources. For me the most important things a prepper needs to worry about are additional food, water and shelter. This is what is the easiest to acquire and what is most likely you will need in the highest percentage of cases. You are probably a thousand times more likely to go through a natural disaster or even a relatively minor weather event that disrupts your town than you are to go through a civil war. You are more likely to lose power than to have the government collapse and your family is much more likely to need food than they are to need you standing in the front yard in all your tactical gear shooting zombies as the shuffle toward you.

Prepping should be a balance of priorities and your first priorities should be food, water and shelter. Security follows that, but before you go and spend $2500 on a high-tech sniper scope I would spend $2500 on long term emergency food. I am not saying don’t spend anything on security, but don’t become tacticool at the expense of feeding your family. Don’t look like Rambo if you don’t even know how to shoot that rifle. Don’t invest in a high-dollar night vision scope, if you can’t last the winter without heat.

There is nothing wrong with wanting gear as long as you are training with that gear and purchases are balanced with your other needs. Let your wife see you are thinking about her and the children by taking care of the needs they feel are important and think long and hard about your tactical purchases. I still think they have a place for those who can see a potential use, but judgment and moderation will make your choices wiser.

Prepping is all about giving yourself a chance to survive. By preparing for disasters, you are proactively taking steps that give you higher odds of making it through or out

I have heard it stated somewhere “intent plus capability equals threat”. I believe it is an old formula used by people smarter than me when they are planning how to distribute defensive resources. I actually heard that phrase again recently while listening to the radio and it caused me to consider this formula as a basis for planning your response to different potential threats.

As a prepper, I believe it is vital to have a plan for security.  The world can be an ugly place in times of crisis and depending on the situation, once reasonable, kind and rational people can become killers. Even if they don’t become killers, you could face a threat from incredibly desperate people who while not wanting to hurt you would do anything to protect or provide for their own loved ones. It is times like this that you could have to depend on a firearm to save your life.

On Final Prepper I advocate that everyone become prepared to handle the disruptions in life that we see every day on the news. There are earthquakes that disrupt entire communities, hurricanes that destroy the homes of thousands, tsunamis that impact entire regions, nuclear meltdowns that threaten everyone, virus outbreaks that are flown around the globe, chemical spills that poison the water and on and on. These are normal events that happen in our lives. These aren’t crazy conspiracy theories, they are real and my mission has been to wake people up to the potential for events like this coming to your town. Because if you take some simple steps now you can begin to prepare for these “disruptions” in your life. With planning you can become more self-reliant in the face of disaster.

There are some threats though that can’t be avoided by having a good food storage plan. There are some troubles you could face that aren’t washed away with gallons of stored water. Sometimes, you can’t plan for all contingencies or you may be faced with something you haven’t considered before. I believe that there are levels that we need to prepare for and obviously how affected we are by the disasters makes all the difference in the world. It doesn’t matter initially if your town experienced an earthquake if your home, neighborhood and family are fine. If the stores down the street are still working as normal, your preps aren’t going to be needed as much as in other situations. Like I said last week, everything depends on the disaster.

But as I frequently do, lets take a hypothetical disaster for the purposes of discussion. We have used the threat of EMP too much lately so I will use something like an Ebola pandemic. The scenario is an Ebola pandemic has ravaged the country and decimated 50% of the population. Everyone has been ordered into their homes for over two months now and you are still holding out. Your supplies have dwindled but your family is healthy and you can last a few more months. The power is intermittent due to personnel shortages, many have died, so you do face some days without power. The water is still on, but rumors are spreading that it isn’t safe to drink.

OK, so that is our hypothetical and during an event like that I could easily see many situations where your security could be threatened. I say all of this as an introduction to a question a reader sent me a couple of weeks back.

A reader of Final Prepper; Jeremy sent me the following:

In reading the book Facing Violence: Preparing for the Unexpected (One I would recommend HIGHLY as a preparation for the realities of everyday life, let alone for what people very well could and would be like following a major disaster/period of civil decay) the author is speaking about determining our capacity for dealing with violence and, in turn, inflicting violence on others to protect ourselves/the ones we love. He speaks of determining, ahead of time, your capability vs. your capacity. The example he uses is that of a person coming at you with a butcher’s knife. They have the intent, means and opportunity to kill you. You have nowhere to retreat, but are armed. This is a shoot/no shoot scenario. The question is do you shoot? Are you OK with shooting the person and killing them?

I have not read this book but the question he posed was interesting. Judging by the question so far, it seems pretty simple doesn’t it? It may not be that cut and dry for everyone, but I would like to think I would be able to pull the trigger to defend my life or the lives of people I love. The person coming at me would be a threat because they would be walking towards me (intent) and they would be holding a butcher knife (capacity) regardless of the specifics of castle doctrine or duty to retreat (he says you have nowhere to retreat) I would feel justified in shooting the person who I viewed in this example as a threat to my life.

But I am no lawyer. I have also never shot and killed anyone so take what I say I would do with a grain of salt.

Then he says the following –

“Now change an element. The Threat is twelve years old. Do you still shoot? Kill? Are you okay with that? If the Threat were six years old? Four? A woman? A pregnant woman? A mentally disabled person who can’t realize what they are doing? Your own spouse? Your own child? What if the Threat’s toddler children are watching? What if cameras are rolling? The threat is the same—even a four-year-old with a big knife can kill and there are no degrees of dead. Do you feel the same about all of those scenarios? I don’t. Even knowing full well how dangerous a knife is and how many people die from overconfidence I would have a hard time shooting a child. I might feel differently about the other scenarios but would act the same—I would just feel worse about it later. Think about this. Explore it. Listen to your gut feelings before you try to logic it out. When you do try to logic it out, pay special attention to when you are rationalizing—when your logic is serving not to make the best decision but to justify the decision that your gut wants.”

 Miller, Rory (2011-04-01). Facing Violence: Preparing for the Unexpected (Kindle Locations 339-352). YMAA Publication Center. Kindle Edition.

Now, that is an interesting turn of events or elements as the writer states. Have you thought about what you would do? Would you be willing to shoot someone? If the answer is yes to that question I think the writer’s larger point may be that you probably have a vision of who this hypothetical bad guy is. I know I did. In my mind the threat was a menacing looking man in my home and my children and wife were behind me. I can see the knife in his hand right now and can feel my firearm in mine. I don’t have much hesitation when the question becomes do you shoot. In my mind that is.

But, the author does give us a challenge and the first is to change the element to a child. Being the father of children I have to give this one a little extra consideration. Then he says “what if the child is four”. I know I could disarm a four-year old. I could disarm a 6 or 12-year-old while we are at it so I don’t think I would view a child, under some reasonable age as a threat if they were holding a big knife. Is there a chance I would be cut, most likely if I didn’t do something right, but I still wouldn’t shoot someone who I feel I could overpower. In this case I discount that one aspect of the hypothetical, but the overall message is still one that is compelling to consider.

What if the bad guy isn’t your imaginary bad guy?

What if this person were your neighbor who was retired and had always been the best neighbor in the world to you? What if this was his wife? What if it was another neighbor’s child? In this case, not 4 or 6 but 18? Would you shoot him or her? What if it was a pregnant woman? What if it was someone you worked with who knew about your preps because you didn’t practice good OPSEC and had come to your home because her husband was sick and starving to death? What if she was holding a gun and her daughter was right beside her? Would you shoot first or let her shoot you?

I know most of the arguments for charity and setting aside food to give away and all of the rational approaches to dealing with family members before SHTF. I don’t have the answers to all my hypothetical scenarios, but I do think the exercise of thinking about this ahead of time is valid. It may be that none of us can even think about what we would do in a situation like that. Honestly I don’t know what I would do and I can’t even tell you how I would deal with that scenario. Maybe I would freeze?

We deal with topics of security all the time and there are simple baselines I believe in like having the ability, the training and the resolve to defend your home. Admittedly this defense is always from my imaginary bad guy, but reality always gets a vote. Thinking about these unthinkable scenarios could give you some ideas with respect to how you are prepping. If nothing else, it might change how you view security and what you are willing to do.

Have you thought about this before? Would you be willing to shoot?

I have heard it stated somewhere “intent plus capability equals threat”. I believe it is an old formula used by people smarter than me when they are planning how to

According to Wikipedia, Normalcy bias is a mental state people enter when facing a disaster. It causes people to underestimate both the possibility of a disaster and its possible effects. This may result in situations where people fail to adequately prepare for a disaster, and on a larger scale, the failure of governments to include the populace in its disaster preparations.

I had heard this term myself for what seems like years, being used to describe what we have all seen, dozens if not hundreds of times in the media, whenever some disaster struck. Images of people acting completely shocked that something horrible happened even with a fair amount of advance warning. I don’t mean something unexpected like a tragic shooting incident; I mean threats that were publicly discussed. It wouldn’t matter how many days the news of the impending hurricane was incessantly broadcast on all forms of media; once it reached land and caused it’s predictable havoc, shell-shocked looking individuals would always be filmed, sadly walking around in a daze – looking at the destruction around them, picking up a family photo lying in the wreckage and wondering why they were suddenly without power, food, water, shelter or protection. It is if they never thought for a second that everything they were being warned about could happen. It always strikes me as sad that these people are living through a real tragedy but at the same time I wonder why they didn’t do anything. Normalcy bias was the answer to that question.

As preppers we need to fight against this normalcy bias ourselves and I believe that for many practicing preppers we are doing just that. We are preparing for disaster whatever form it may come in. We do not underestimate threats out there. If anything we are more in-tune with them. We don’t look at normal events that cause destruction and say ‘that would never happen to me’, and we don’t downplay the severity of any crisis. We prepare for the worst case scenario even though we hope for the best.

A reader of the Final Prepper commented on a post a while back and posed the question: Do preppers have our own normalcy bias? It was a compelling concept and this got me to thinking. Maybe we do have our own mental state that we get into when facing a disaster that could, contrary to all of our collective thoughts on preparation, leave us more vulnerable than we think we are. Could we be missing something in our preparations that could leave us at greater risk in a disaster? Could being a prepper in some cases actually worsen the effects realized, simply because we are already thinking ahead and have made some preparations to help our family? It was an interesting thought.

Overestimating Disaster

It seems counter intuitive at first doesn’t it? How can being overly prepared for a disaster work against you? Wouldn’t having food stocked up enable you to eat longer, stay healthier and as a result, come out in better shape than someone who didn’t prepare? Wouldn’t your water storage make life so much more possible than for someone who didn’t have any stored up? How can having the basics needed to sustain life put you in danger more so than someone who has nothing?

I think it could work against us in a few ways. First, we could be seeing the worst in situations. I have been prepping for over 8 years now and I swear the feeling that something big is “just around the corner” has pretty much stayed with me the entire time. As soon as I “woke up” to the threats I saw around me I have been on guard and have placed myself in a mini race to the end. Like a lot of you I have been preparing as much as possible with the resources I have and getting ready for SHTF has been a daily thought, regardless of where I have been and what has happened in my life.

Try not to let what you think you know blind you to reality.

Has this caused me to miss out on some of the joys of life? Have I been too consumed to the point of ruining relationships with my spouse or family? I don’t think so, but that could happen if we aren’t focusing on what is important and listening. Wisdom is one of the many things I pray for and it works in all aspects of my life. I truly believe in my soul that my responsibility as a father and husband is to take proactive steps to protect my family but if I do so in a way that pushes them away from me I have failed.

It is easy to become consumed in preparing and I would say that sometimes that is perfectly fine –  even required, but you have to stick your head up out of the foxhole fairly often to make sure the reason you are prepping doesn’t hate you. Your family or the people you are prepping for are the most important thing. Don’t let your prepping alienate them or you might be left at the end of the world alone with your beans holding that family photo.

Your disaster is a forgone conclusion

I am guilty of thinking on more days than not, that our world is headed for a crash. I don’t know what that is, but my motivation isn’t for a hurricane or tornado even though a hurricane, winter storm or loss of a job is many times more likely than an economic collapse or the abuses of a tyrannical government. It is with these thoughts again in the back of my mind that I prepare, but I don’t believe that we are powerless to do anything and I am doomed.

I prepare because I want to live. I want my family to live – to survive and thrive so I will not be disappointed if nothing bad happens. Too many preppers get into this lifestyle because of an event like Y2K or the Mayan calendar, Global warming or the Yellowstone volcano. The danger of using these as motivators to start prepping is the let down or fatigue that can set in if nothing happens. How many of you know people who sold all their prepping supplies after Y2K came and it wasn’t the end of the world as we know it?

If the economy never tanks, if no winter storm ever happens that wipes out our power for weeks, I am not going to feel bad. I won’t throw away my preparations because they aren’t only intended for a specific event. They are for any event and it doesn’t matter to me if we never face disaster. Actually, I would prefer that. I think as preppers we should focus more on if something happens instead of when something we think will happen. Stepping back just that small amount will give you breathing room and perspective. Rather than throwing everyone in the bug out vehicle and heading off into the woods at the first sign of trouble, you can analyze what is happening and clearly consider the options you have. Instead of selling every piece of food or gear you purchased because some ancient tribe of people didn’t accurately predict the end of the world, relax with the knowledge that whatever happens, you will be able to better look after your family. We should be diligent in watching for threats, not disappointed if they don’t happen.

I know the predictable effects of any disaster

We have a lot of common themes we talk about when we are prepping like food shortages, power outages, rioting and widespread diseases. All of these things can definitely happen but don’t let what you think will happen blind you to reality. One area I think we might be overlooking is our neighbors when the grid goes down. Yes, I imagine that I have thought about prepping and maybe stored up more food and supplies than my neighbor, but I don’t know that. I believe that with a few exceptions, we are better situated to handle the medium duration effects of anything horrible, but I don’t want those thoughts to cloud my judgment if something does in fact happen. We think usually of hungry survivors clawing at our doors because we are the only ones with food. You don’t know that will happen.

I can easily anticipate the possible bad effects of a disaster and I don’t have any illusions that during that same disaster everything will be sunny and rosy, but we shouldn’t default to thinking the worst of people in every situation. None of us will be able to go it alone. There will always be people who are good people and some may need your help. Rather than thinking the first thing they will be doing is kicking down your door while you are imagining how you might have to shoot them; think about how you can help someone. It could be that your neighbor, even if they have zero supplies and no skills could be an extremely valuable asset. Use that wisdom I think we should all be asking for. Don’t assume you know what every situation will be. Rather than expecting the zombie horde at your doors, you might just find your own survival group. Sure, they won’t be bringing all of their own resources, but they could be a great advantage to your family.

Would you kick someone with medical skills to the curb simply because they had no food and couldn’t even spell garden? By that same token, what if your neighbor only brought his shared desire to protect his family and home? Conventional wisdom says we should show him the door because we don’t have enough for him but is that really smart in the long run? Another reader on our blog said that when it comes to looking at people for a possible survival group, they are “looking for the mindset more than the inventory”. I think that is very profound.

Instead of thinking of everyone who isn’t prepared as a threat, maybe we should be looking for partners. Any disaster is going to be different than you can plan or expect so I am trying to think of prepping in a different way. I want to make sure my normalcy bias on what could happen doesn’t put me in more danger.

What are your thoughts? Do we have our own normalcy bias?

According to Wikipedia, Normalcy bias is a mental state people enter when facing a disaster. It causes people to underestimate both the possibility of a disaster and its possible effects.

 

Practical Preparedness – Planning by Prevalence

When we jump on preparedness sites, sometimes we’re immediately struck by the enormous loads of things to buy, do, and learn. We immediately start hearing about WROL, battle rifles, ammo counts in the thousands, pressure canners, INCH/BOB bags and locations, pace count, and primitive skills. World- and nation-altering events such as nuclear war, internet-ending viruses, Nibiru, Agenda 21 and NWO, and the like pop up. They all have their places, but sometimes things get missed and it can make for a very overwhelming introduction. It can make it hard to prioritize where to spend our time and financial budgets even for those with experience and years of exposure to the prepared mindset.

To make it a little easier to prioritize, we can work in stages. We can look at what is most likely to occur in the near future and our lifetimes, and use that information to help us decide where to focus our time, efforts and resources.

Zone-Ring Systems

In permaculture, planning is based on zones. The basic premise is that you start at 0 or 1 with the self or home, and move outward through 2-4 and eventually into Zone 5. The inner rings have the most immediate contact with the resident, while the outer rings are visited less frequently. Other systems also use similar ring concepts of involvement, frequency and impact.

The same can be applied to preparedness, just like we modified a Health Wheel to fit our particular interests and needs. In this case, instead of looking at the frequency with which we’ll make contact with an area, we’ll be looking at the frequency with which things occur and impact our worlds.

Like permaculture, I’ve gone with five general categories. In this case, they are: Daily, Seasonal/Annual, 5-10 Year, Generational, & Lifetime/Eventually/Maybe. There are some examples for the average Western World resident. Later in the article there’s a few tips for planning for and around those most and least-prevalent scenarios.

Zone 1/First Ring – Daily Occurrences

A layoff can be just as devastating as a zombie invasion if you aren’t prepared.

Daily emergencies are those that strike somebody somewhere every single day in our English-reading modern life. While some affect larger groups, these tend to be personal or family related items. They’re the kinds of things the neighbors might not even notice. Some examples are:

  • Layoff, cut hours, cut wages
  • Major bills (roof, medical, HVAC, veterinary)
  • House fire
  • Major injury/developing disability
  • Theft, burglary, mugging
  • Vehicular accident & malfunction (temporarily removing transportation)
  • Temporary power outages (hours to 1-3 days)
  • Personal physical altercation (mugging, home invasion, the drunk at a bar, date rape)
  • Missing person(s), family death

When considering the financial aspects of preparedness, also consider the things that might not affect jobs, but do affect our income and-or our ability to offset daily costs. For instance, an injury that prevents gardening and picking up overtime or a second job as a stocker, pipe-fitter, or forklift driver, or a developing disability that renders an arm/hand weak or unusable and prevents needlepoint, canine grooming, or weaving.

Zone 2/Second Ring – Seasonal/Annual Occurrences

These are the things we can consult our Almanacs and insurance companies to consider. They regularly tend to affect a larger number of people. It might be a block or a street in some cases, parts of a town or county, or might impact a whole state if not a region. They’d be things like…

River ice jam flooding

 

  • Busted water mains
  • Boil/No-Boil water orders
  • Hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes
  • Wind & thunderstorms
  • Wildfire
  • Significant or extreme snowfall
  • Summer drought
  • Temporary outages (2-5 days)
  • River ice lockups and floods
  • Active shooter or bomb threat, terrorist events

Let’s hope that last stays firmly in the “annual” category or shifts back to the third prevalence ring for most of us. Let’s also acknowledge that in some places and nations, it’s already more common to be caught in crossfire of some sort than it is to live peaceful lives, and for some of them, it’s as or almost as common as paying monthly bills or going out to eat.

Zone 3/Third Ring – 5-10 Year Occurrences

These are the things that happen regularly, but infrequently. Some occur on cycles. Some, as with the natural disasters above, are a nearly predictable cycle. Some aren’t really predictable, per se, but as with tornadoes in one of the nations’ tornado alley or hurricane-prone areas, you learn to expect them. We can expect them to affect a larger area or more people in many cases.

  • Natural Disasters from above
  • Mudslides
  • Major industrial or business closures/layoffs
  • Drought (personal & widespread impacts)
  • Widespread livestock illnesses (such as the avian diseases that pop up regularly)
  • Temporary outages (3-14 days)
  • Changing life phases (child-birth & toddlers, school-age kids, driving-age youths, empty nests, retirements)
  • Fuel cost cycles

Zone 4/Fourth Ring – Generational Occurrences

The span covered by the term “generation” tends to change if you use the strictest definitions. Most account for a generation to cover about 20-30 years. Some examples of things that very much tend to be generational include:

  • Major wars (mental & physical disabilities, income effects good & bad)
  • Recessions, depressions
  • Fuel cost cycles (more extreme)
  • Serious multi-year “weird” weather (droughts, floods, late or early springs)
  • 25- & 50-year flood levels
  • Some diseases

Zone 5/Fifth Ring – Lifetime/Eventual/Possible Occurrences

A lot of these are going to affect not just a region, not just one nation, but many. In some nations and regions, they may fall under the fourth ring of prevalence instead of the fifth. Some of these are also the big-fear “gotcha’s” or clickbait types that seem to draw folks in. Some are truly believed in, and I try not to judge people on what they believe. Poles have shifted in the past, Yellowstone has erupted, we’ve had serious solar effects on power, and asteroids have struck our earth. Will they happen again in our lifetime or eventually? Some almost certainly. Some are a firm “maybe”. Some are … possible.

  • Great Depression
  • Devastating Midwest seismic activity
  • National or global pandemics in the Western world
  • Major Ring of Fire activity
  • Significant volcanic eruptions (the atmosphere-blocking ash type)
  • Major global climate change (for the hotter or colder)
  • EMP, devastating solar activity
  • Nation-crippling electronic-based virus(es)

Alternative Scale Systems

Like permacuture’s zoning, the business world can also give us some scale systems to apply. High-probability, high-reward, urgent-response items are given priority, while lower-chance and less-likely risks are tended to later. We can create the same for our preparedness.

Another way to look at the five rings would be to apply a timespan for event duration. Perhaps 3-7 days, then 3-6 weeks, 3 months, 6-12 months, and 18-months+.

Like using prevalence, using time spans creates a measurable scale that works off a “most likely” basis. Most of us, at some point inside 1-5 years, will have some sort of financial upheaval or power outage that makes the supplies in the first few rings useful.

Ensuring we have everything we need to cook, clean, stay warm (or cool), and pay bills for those periods will keep us more balanced in our preparedness, and make us better prepared for the things that are MOST likely to occur in our near future and our lifetimes.

Applying Prevalence Rings

It’s inarguable that if you’re ready for the New World Order to freeze the planet and then send out FLIR drones to drop nuclear bombs in the midst of a planned or unplanned foreign-nation bank account hack while satellites are inaccessible due to solar storms’ interference, you’re pretty much good.

That’s not a particularly practical place to start and it might not be the best plan for resource allocation unless everything else really is covered.

There are a world’s worth of things that occur on a small-scale, inside homes and towns, that happen a lot more frequently than the dinosaurs and mega-mammals die out.

I see an awful lot of people hyped on one thing that can go wrong and might one day go wrong, but they exclude all kinds of things that do actually happen.

They forget that we sometimes have disasters that mean daily life is taking place all around us, or in the rest of the county, state, nation and world. They neglect fire extinguishers and smoke detectors for the sexy-cool aspects of preparedness like the rifles and Rambo knives.

Fact is, most of us will experience something from the first tier or two in our lives at least once, and for some of us, they’re regular parts of life.

In many cases of upheaval and crisis, we’re still going to want electricity, most likely.

We will still have a job or need to find a new one, will still be expected to present ourselves showered and with money to receive services, will still have doctor’s appointments, hunting and squatting in county-state-national parks will still be frowned on, and combat gear in the streets will still be the exception rather than the rule.

In some cases, the duration of our life-altering events might only be a few hours or days. However, in many parts of the world, those hours or days can be seriously inconvenient if not downright deadly. The ability to keep a CPAP machine running, repair a down or wrecked vehicle, and continue on with life after a squirrel invasion or a tree comes down is just as important as defending the home from looters and making beeswax candles.

Being able to repel the zombie horde does me little good if my vehicle is in poor repair on a daily basis and leaves me stranded on my way to work. 5K-10K rounds of ammo times my 7 platforms sounds nice, unless I don’t keep oil, coolant, jumper cables and fix-a-flat or a mini air compressor in my vehicle so I can limp my way home to them safely – on a daily basis.

Prioritizing instead of jumping willy-nilly – and tracking instead of continuing to add to whatever my favorite prep stash is – can help prevent daily disasters from truly causing upheaval.

Overlap Between Rings

The nice thing about seriously assessing what is likely to go wrong based on prevalence in the past is that we can sometimes make just little twitches.

We don’t have to be ready for all-out neighborhood wars over food, grazing rights, and tickets to the Earth Arks to create that overlap.

A bug-out bag serves as a shelter-in-place kit as well as a “standard” wildfire or hurricane evac kit. Having a month or two of food (or far more) means we can also weather a big bill because we can skip buying groceries.

Image: How’s your insurance coverage?

Preparing by Prevalence

Resources like the Ready.gov site and our insurance carriers can help us determine what goes wrong in our area. We might be well served making maps using the information they give us about regular, fifty-year and hundred-year floods, wind storms, and snow/hurricane routes to apply to our walk-out and drive-out plans.

We can also use their information – like, what is the number-one thing that causes job-loss or vehicle and home damage in our area – to make sure we’re buffered against it.

  Practical Preparedness – Planning by Prevalence When we jump on preparedness sites, sometimes we’re immediately struck by the enormous loads of things to buy, do, and learn. We immediately start hearing

Although some are quick to write off  an air rifle as a weapon of choice, there are many advantages to carrying an air rifle versus a crossbow or center-fire rifle. There are a wide range of air rifle offerings that extend well beyond the traditional BB gun that you may have used as a kid to ward off crows or prairie dogs. They can be used for hunting, training for self-defense and for effective target practice.

Lewis and Clark carried them when they journeyed across the United States and brought them to the Native Americans. The caliber offerings range from a .177 to .50, and gun enthusiasts can choose from air-compressed, single-pump or multi-pump action. Choosing the right air rifle or pistol for your needs depends on the amount of firing power and use you require from a weapon.

Pistol Uses

Not all air pistols are recommended for self-defense. While certain varieties are ideal for hunting due to their lightweight and quiet nature, they are most useful to defend crops against birds and small animals, as well as for target practice. A lower pressure, small-caliber pellet or BB is ideal for a first time or young shooter. It allows them to become comfortable with reloading, cocking and shooting an air pistol so that it becomes seamless when they have harnessed enough experience to make the transition to a higher-powered gun.

Pellets vs. BBs

One of the great advantages of carrying an air rifle is its accompanying lightweight ammo, which is typically inexpensive. You can easily carry 2,000 rounds on your person and never notice any issue with it weighing you down. The ammo you choose is indicative of what kind of shooting you will be doing.

Smith & Wesson M&P Airgun

BBs are small, round balls that you can typically load large numbers at a time. They are best utilized for target practice and plinking, but are not ideal for causing physical harm or hunting. BBs have the risk of ricocheting off buildings or other objects and are not intended for long-range aim due to the size of the ball and its loss of velocity over long distances.

Pellets come in a large range of sizes and shapes and are designed for accuracy. Like firearm ammunition, there are varying nose shapes to correspond with your end goal of your shooting weapon. Using a heavier pellet in a lower powered air pistol will reduce the sound made by the weapon. One highlight of air pistols is that the ammunition is significantly lesser in cost than that of firearms, making it a more cost-effective option as a weapon.

Pre-Charged Pneumatic (PCP) Air Rifle

Benjamin BPBD3S Bulldog .357 PCP Hunting Rifle, Black

The highest powered option, the pre-charged pneumatic air gun, uses either a pump or an air compressor to “precharge” the pressure within the pistol. They tend to also be one of the higher priced air pistols on the market, ranging from $400 to $2,000. There are additional pieces of equipment that can be added to the these lightweight guns to add desired velocity and pack more punch with minimal recoil. Check out the Bulldog .357, designed specifically for hunting. One of its drawbacks is the tiny holes in which you load the pellets and the models that require a special external pump to fill the reservoir.

Break-Action Air Rifle

Gamo 611009154 Bull Whisper Extreme .177 Caliber Air Rifle

Break-actions are known for their ability to project ammo at a high velocity. This air rifle option uses a heavy-weighted spring that when cocked and released pushes a piston forward to create enough air pressure to expel the pellet. The spring produces a downfall noisy “thwang” sound that would not be advantageous for hunting. It also only holds one shot before having to reload. These guns are ideal for using as target practice before moving on to a fire rifle.

Variable Pump/Multi-Pump Air Rifle

Winchester Model 77XS Air Rifle

The variable pump/multi-pump air rifle is typically the most traditional firearm gun enthusiasts are used to thinking of when broached about the subject. This rifle, which is light in weight and compact in nature, is great to put into the hands of a first-time gun holder, as it has variable pressure levels and is intended for many uses. Reloading this gun takes a while, but provides great practice for beginning shooters. The gun, which typically runs between $75 and $100, will need to be pumped eight to 10 times after each shot to re-pressurize the reservoir. Due to its limitations, this type of gun is not favored for hunting due to the amount of movement and noise that occurs when reloading it. Instead, it’s best intended for getting rid of unwanted pests.

CO2-Operated Air Rifle

By vaporizing CO2 internally using small cartridges, CO2-operated air rifles can shoot pellets at about 600-700 feet per second. This makes this air pistol an ideal weapon for hunting small animals, such as gophers and rabbits. The rifle has a reservoir that can store enough gas to power a number of shots by only loading the projectile. In addition, CO2-operated air rifles are easy and fast to reload, with a lot less movement that a multi-pump or PCP rifle may need. And, carrying extra CO2 gas cylinders is not a setback for this rifle due to its compact and light design.

Air rifles are versatile, offering a number of ways to use them, from hunting to self-defense to target practice. They’re a great firearm shooters of all levels should have in their arsenals.

Although some are quick to write off  an air rifle as a weapon of choice, there are many advantages to carrying an air rifle versus a crossbow or center-fire rifle.

Earthquakes happen virtually anywhere which reminds us that this natural disaster is a fact of life we could reasonably expect to see at some point in our lives. There are over 15,000 earthquakes on average each year worldwide. Granted, most of these earthquakes are on the smaller side rating under a 4.0 but nevertheless, there seems to be no place that is completely safe from the potential of an earthquake happening.

In the US alone deaths from earthquakes seem to be relatively low, but it is the aftermath that you have to worry about. You may make it out of your home or office only to find that once the earthquake is over, you have no place to live and all your belongings are buried. We will never be able to stop earthquakes although there have been great strides made at predicting them, but as Preppers our job is to make sure we live through them and survive after an earthquake.  The earthquake in Chile touched off landslides that blocked roads, knocked out power for thousands, damaged an airport and started fires that destroyed several businesses. Some homes made of adobe were destroyed in Arica (Chile), another city close to the quake’s offshore epicenter. Are you prepared to deal with the effects of an earthquake if it hit your home?

So with that in mind, I wanted to pull together this earthquake safety checklist which hopefully will point out any areas in your preps that you might need to work on. You can also find more information from FEMA’s Earthquake Safety Checklist downloadable as a PDF file and all the Earthquake information you can shake a stick at (no pun intended) on the USGS Earthquake hazard site.

How to prepare for an earthquake?

  • Know where you are at all times and how to get out of the building. This is more important if you are in a strange place like a hotel in another city.
  • Select a safe place in your home for everyone to wait out the earthquake if needed
  • Practice earthquake drills with your family
  • Keep flashlights and sturdy shoes available.
  • Bolt gas appliances to walls (water heater, oven, dryers)
  • Know how to shut off the gas in your house and have the proper tools on hand if you need to do this.
  • Keep emergency supplies/bug out bags in a safe location.
  • Have a plan for power outages before you are faced with one.

What should I do during an earthquake?

If you are indoors

  • Move to your safe place as quickly as possible; make sure your head is protected from falling debris.
  • Stay away from windows and glass.
  • Stay indoors until the shaking stops.
  • Use stairs instead of an elevator in case of structural damage or power outage.

If you are outside

  • Find a clear spot away from any buildings, power lines, trees or streetlights.
  • If you are in a vehicle (and notice the shaking in the first place) pull over to a clear spot and stop. Don’t pull under an overpass or anything that could fall and trap you.
  • If any power lines are down stay away even if the power appears off. Especially if there are power lines on vehicles, do not touch the vehicle.
  • If you are in the mountains or near cliffs watch out for rock-slides or unstable features. Landslides and avalanches can be triggered by earthquakes.

What do I do after an earthquake?

  • The initial shock-waves may only be the first of many that could still cause injuries. Expect aftershocks and use the time between instances to get to a safer place. If you are anywhere near the coast Tsunamis could occur so immediately seek higher ground.
  • Check your family or group for injuries and move injured people to a safe location.
  • Make sure you are wearing appropriate clothing, footwear and protection for your hands if there is a lot of debris.
  • Make sure any fires are extinguished as quickly as possible.
  • Check radios for extent of the damage and any emergency notifications.
  • You should already have stored water, but if not and the water is still working, it may make sense to fill your bathtubs (providing your house is safe) to use the water for hygiene if the water is cut off.
  • Stay away from power lines and out of damaged buildings as much as possible.
  • Contact your loved ones if possible and let them know you are OK.
  • Go to your prearranged rally point if you are able to do this.

Earthquakes happen virtually anywhere which reminds us that this natural disaster is a fact of life we could reasonably expect to see at some point in our lives. There are

 

Security is a 24 hour requirement. If you can’t surveille, detect, and defend when the sun goes down, then you will vulnerable to the bad guys. It doesn’t matter how much food you have, if you can’t protect it, there’s a good chance you won’t be able to keep it, no matter where your location is. And, you can’t do it by yourself. There are cases made that it will take 10 to 12 adults to provide 24 hour security, gather, grow, and prepare food, tend to community hygiene and medicine, local and wide communications, power production, water sanitizing, gather fuel, and many other mundane chores necessary for continued operations after SHTF. During the early phase of SHTF, security will demand an intensive manpower effort. This article is about providing yourself with options for force. It’s just not a prudent plan to go directly to the AR-15 to solve your defense problems. A good defense plan includes options for dealing with problems at the lowest level of force up to deadly force. Redundant detection and warning are essential to a good defensive action plan.

Graduated Levels of Force

There should be a range of possibilities for security you can employ. You could take on the look of a previously ransacked position with a grey-man concept…there is nothing of any value here…it’s all gone…don’t bother even looking here. There is a lot of “hope” involved with this attitude, but may be your only defense if you are of few numbers. Or, you might employ a well thought out layered defense with graduated levels of force to be used to defend your position. This will require a formidable effort of manpower and equipment. You won’t be relying on hope to defend your group. Your position will be known and possible intruders will suspect that you have things of value they would want. You’re objective is to persuade them that it just isn’t worth the risk to get nosy.

Early Warning

At the extremes of your perimeters you could establish a warning line; a string holding paper signs in document protectors warning the intruders to “DO NOT COME CLOSER….DEADLY FORCE”. They have been warned. There very well may be legal consequences after society is reestablished, so proper levels of warning and force should be considered.

After intrusion detection, an announcement with a bullhorn from a security post could be the next level of warning. If necessary, a conversation with the intruder could be conducted from afar. Simultaneous with that, a warning would be made via walkie-talkie or whistle to the rest of the group for additional support. They would drop everything, arm themselves, and respond to their predetermined security support positions.

Pyle-Pro PMP30 Professional Megaphone/Bullhorn with Siren

Redundant Detection

Detection is a very important aspect of security. You can’t engage somebody you can’t detect. Detection should to be redundant and reliable to be effective. I have been using a Chamberlain CWA2000 Wireless Motion Alert System to detect motion with a range as far as a half mile, and they are passive in nature. One base unit can support eight sensors and everything works on battery power. Each sensor causes a unique alarm at the base unit. It’s a little pricey, however you don’t have to line you whole perimeter, just the areas of probable access. Intruders probably won’t choose to wade through obstacles. They’ll take the easiest route.

For redundancy I like GE window warning alarms used with trip wires to sound an ear-piercing alarm that can be heard from a distance. Use a mono-filament fishing line at ankle level as a trip wire to separate the magnet from the alarm. You can use several trip wires with each alarm. The batteries last a long time and a large supply is fairly cheap.

Escalating the Force

Back to the increasing levels of force; wasp and hornet spray killer can accurately spray up to 25 feet. Maybe that will turn them around when you hit them in their face. You might not want to allow the intruders to be that close to you. This is just an option under unique circumstances. If you allow them to be close, a 26 Inch-Self Defense Stick may offer a viable option in your inventory short of going lethal.

If the intruders are still coming, it’s time to escalate the force. Here are some options in order of use. A 12 ga. Super-Sock Bean Bag Impact Round. It’s an attention getter and can reach out and touch someone without permanent damage. For graduated levels of force, I would load a shotgun with one or two rounds of these first, followed by some #7 bird-shot, followed by 00 buck shot. Yes, you need a magazine extension kit for your shotguns.

Are the intruders still around after the bean bags? How about a BB gun, followed by pellet gun, followed by a .22, followed by #7 bird-shot? These are escalations of force options as appropriate. You just can’t go straight to the AR-15 to solve your problem. Your threats maybe anything from an unarmed mother with two kids to a mob of 25 armed animals. You need to be able to respond accordingly.

Security at Night?

Mr Beams MB393 300-Lumen Weatherproof Wireless Battery Powered LED Ultra Bright Spotlight with Motion Sensor, Brown, 3-Pack

Night operations are much more complicated and sometimes expensive, but if you can’t provide security 24 hours a day, then you don’t have security. It’s a must. Bad guys are hungry at night as much as in the day.

I can’t afford generation 3, Night Vision Goggles for three security posts for night ops. That would be $10,000 plus. So, here’s what I’ve got lined up. In addition to the motion sensors and trip-wired window alarms, I’ll use Mr Beams MB393 300-Lumen Weatherproof Wireless Battery Powered LED Ultra Bright Spotlight with Motion Sensor. They are easily mounted to trees, eaves, posts, etc. The four D cell batteries will last six months to a year. I’ll locate these on avenues of approach and areas that are hard to detect intruders. The best place for these is as the next layer after the motion sensors and window alarms. After that line I think a light that the security position can remotely turn on like: Mr. Beams MB371 Remote Controlled Battery-Powered Motion-Sensing LED Outdoor Security Spotlight.

Each weapon needs to be able to light up the intruder. I like the u-Box 2000LM C8 CREE XM-L T6 LED 5-Mod Flashlight Torch Lamp with Remote Switch Pressure Tail Switch Wire Extended Switch and Flashlight & Laser mount for Gun/Rifle/Shotgun plus 1x 18650 Rechargeable Batteries and AC Charger Complete Set. Yes, it’ll give your position away, but it is more important to detect the bad guys than flounder around and bump into them. This is a 2,000 lumen light. It’s bright and can blind and disorient the intruders.

Got more money? I’ve looked at these for increasing my night capabilities:

Equinox Z Digital
Bushnell Equinox Z Digital Night Vision Monocular $276.77

12X X-Sight
ATN DGWSXS312A 3-12X X-Sight Night Vision Rifle $449.99

 

As I said previously, your main goal is to just make the intruders think there is just nothing in your position that is worth dying for.

Sometimes you might be able to get more bang for your buck with something that might cause the intruder caution or reconsideration. I like this UniquExceptional UDC4 silver Fake Security Camera with 30 Illuminating LEDs. For $9.36 each this fake camera shows infrared capabilities which could cause intruders to take a second thought on their safety.

Maybe just sticking some utility easement flags at various locations would cause concern with the intruders. It’ll make them wonder what they are for and do I want to take a chance finding out.

During SHTF there will be a lot of good people doing bad things. Have options for a full range of force levels and detection that has backup in all conditions, day or night.

If you can’t protect it, you won’t be able to keep it.

  Security is a 24 hour requirement. If you can’t surveille, detect, and defend when the sun goes down, then you will vulnerable to the bad guys. It doesn’t matter how

 

Let’s start at the very beginning. Why do you need a small business disaster recovery plan? The answer is simple. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), nearly 40 percent of small businesses never reopen after a disaster. An even greater number fail within 1 to 3 years, due to insurmountable losses.

While the recent devastation from Hurricane Matthew may lead some to believe that business emergency preparedness applies only to large storms or natural disasters, the fact is that there are many emergencies you should prepare for that can interrupt operations and profitability, from localized outages to random fires, floods and more.

According to the 2014 Disaster Recovery Preparedness Benchmark Survey, over 75% of businesses have experienced the loss of at least one critical application after a power outage – leading to an estimated cost of more than $5,000 per minute. For tech reliant companies, that’s a lot to put at stake for lack of preparation.

While there are many kinds of disasters that can strike and many reasons that businesses may fail afterward, doing your business disaster planning ahead of time is an essential step to being able to recover, reopen and recoup your losses in the event of any emergency. It’s crucial not only to have the correct insurance plans in place to protect your physical assets, but also to have strong business continuity and emergency preparedness plans so during a crisis situation at work, you can put your company in position to survive.

How Do Disasters Impact Small Businesses?

Beyond the immediate economic impact of a shutdown, business disruption due to floods and hurricanes, fires, outages and other emergencies can impact your company’s chances of survival in many ways.

Physical Damage

The first way that your business could be impacted is though physical damage to the premises and facility, including the building itself, pipes, ventilation systems and more. Consider what emergencies have happened in your area before and how they’ve impacted the businesses around you. What would the cost of not doing business for an hour, day, week or even longer be? It’s time to consider how to mitigate those losses. Review your insurance policies now – the cost to rebuild is often what results in closed doors.

1994, Los Angeles, California, USA – Image by © David Butow/Corbis

Staffing and Clients

The second way a business will be impacted during an emergency is in staffing and customer retention. Employees may be evacuated or otherwise unable to come to work during the disaster, while significant damage to the area may impact both your staff and customers’ ability to return to their homes, jobs and consumer behaviors. What plans do you have in place to prepare for a change in your staffing or client base? Consider having a remote operations plan to ensure essential services continue in the event of on-site interference.

Business Disaster Planning: Be Prepared in Advance

The basics of business disaster planning have to do with effective preparation, testing, training and leadership. You have to prepare your small business continuity and recovery plans, test them regularly, train your people to perform their roles and have strong leaders in place to ensure they’re carried out when disaster strikes.

Getting Your Business Ready

Here are some of the technical things you might want to consider investing in now so you don’t regret it after a disaster:

  • Lightweight laptop that’s connected to essential business systems
  • Cell phone with mobile Wi-Fi capabilities or another sources of localized Wi-Fi connectivity
  • Cloud storage for essential documents
  • Off-premise operations hub

With cloud storage becoming more and more accessible and affordable, I highly recommend you save important business documents to a cloud storage platform, so you can still access crucial information should your on-site records be unsalvageable. It’s also important to consider where you’ll base operations if an evacuation order is issued or you’re otherwise unable to use your current facility due to damage

If you end up stranded in the office, you’ll also want to have what I call a “business BOB” on hand. Keep your bug-out bag in an area you’ll be able to access in an emergency, and stock it with essential items that can make the difference between life and death when you’re stranded at work.

Your business BOB should include enough supplies to support the people in your office for at least 72 hours:

  • Nonperishable foods and a way to prepare them – consider what you’ll do if there’s no power
  • Water, and plenty of it
  • A first aid kit, medical supplies and basic toiletries including soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste, deodorant, feminine products, baby wipes, toilet paper, hand sanitizer, etc.
  • Flashlights/Headlamp
  • Blankets
  • A toolkit including a compass, flashlights, duct tape, lighters, and other common tools

You may also want to consider having backup systems of defense should your alarm systems go out – especially if your facility is at high-risk for looting or other forms of opportunism that are common during emergencies.

Getting Your People Ready

When it comes to human resources, the most important thing to consider is leadership and communication.

  • Establish leadership in advance. You should choose leaders with a high degree of trust, integrity, capability and experience.
    • Who should employees go to with questions about their work during an emergency? If you are stranded on-site, you’ll need leaders to supervise different essential areas, including food, defense, medical services and even conflict resolution.
  • Establish communications systems, buddy systems and meeting places. What will you do if wireless networks are down and you’re stranded at work?
    • Consider having a battery-operated, solar or reliable ham radio, satellite phone and other emergency communication systems on hand that can allow two-way communication and information delivery when cell phone towers and other business systems are down.
    • Sign up for alerts from the Red Cross and local authorities so you stay up-to-date on the state of the emergency.
  • Make sure every member of the team has a role and a job to do. Consider individual skill-sets – including any medical, counseling or defense training – and how they would be best put to use. Giving everyone a role not only expands the human resources you have available, but it also helps keep people calm in a crisis situation.

Long before disaster strikes, the business continuity plans you create must be shared with and practiced by employees so they know exactly what to do before panic sets in. Test your plans regularly, train employees to carry it out, assess effectiveness and always solicit for feedback. Having a plan will do nothing if it’s not tested, refined and continually refreshed.

It’s also smart to communicate your emergency and business continuity plans with any business partners who may be impacted by an interruption in your operations so they, too, know what to expect. Alerting them in advance will help them know how to stay in touch with you and help you avoid increased losses both during and after disaster.

Crisis at Work: Putting Your Plan into Action

If you’ve prepared well in advanced, you should be able to put your emergency business continuity and disaster recovery plans into action relatively smoothly. Of course, during a disaster, nothing is for sure, so here are a few tips to ensure you stay as safe as possible:

  • Immediately deploy your emergency communications system when disaster strikes to keep staff and customers alert, aware and ready to act.
  • Always follow evacuation orders and use the information available to get employees and personnel safely out of harm’s way before disaster strikes.
  • If you’re unable to exit the premises in an emergency, secure your location, people, supplies and equipment.
  • Remember that every member of your organization has value in an emergency. Just like managers look for employees’ best use when it comes to day-to-day operations, it’s important that you find the best way for everyone to contribute in an emergency so that no one feels helpless or alone.

That last point is probably the most important – beyond actually having a small business emergency recovery plan in place. Emotions run high in emergency situations, so you need to be ready to help people cope. Being sufficiently prepared prior to a disaster will go a long way to keeping everyone calm and collected until you make it safely to the other side.

Small Business Disaster Planning Resources

Explore FEMA’s Small Business Preparedness Toolkit, featuring a range of resources and planning documents.

Use the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Sample Emergency Preparedness Checklist to create your own disaster checklist today.

Specific disaster preparedness information and sample assessment forms for small businesses are available at PrepareMyBusiness.org.

Get more resources from the Small Business Association:

 

  Let’s start at the very beginning. Why do you need a small business disaster recovery plan? The answer is simple. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), nearly 40

One of the concerns of anyone who is preparing for a SHTF scenario if you are being honest is the dark side of human nature. You can have all of the supplies you ever need; you could have a fully stocked pantry with enough food to feed your family for 10 years, enough ammo to conduct a 21 gun salute every minute of the day for the next 5 years and it could all be taken from you in a minute by desperate individuals who care nothing for you or your family. When hard times come, the true survival instinct kicks in at some point and that is when some of the biggest evils happen and you might find yourself defending your life. When it is desperate and it’s either you or them, most people will side with themselves and do whatever is necessary to take anything you have if what you have can help them.

We discussed the concept of Marauders in a couple of posts here on the Final Prepper and while I think the shining example of an idiot used in Doomsday Preppers was not something I would be overly concerned with (the person, not the scenario) the threat itself is very real. That is one of the reasons we talk about security for your home, maintaining an active Situational Awareness and how society can break down when there is no rule of law. History is full of too many examples of good people being killed for senseless reasons, and ignoring the very real threat that this could happen to you isn’t going to make it go away.

One of our readers is from Australia and they commented on a post I wrote a while back about the top 5 guns you need to get your hands on. The comment was essentially, that since there are no guns in Australia, this person has nothing to worry about and I don’t believe that is true. If you have no guns, you have even less of a chance of protecting yourself from bad guys that do, but lets assume for a second that Australia really had no guns whatsoever. Do you really believe that the absence of firearms is going to guarantee your safety? Tell that to the people in Nigeria who were killed with Machetes. A lack of guns doesn’t mean everything is peace, love and singing. This isn’t new and it violence won’t stop no matter what law you pass or what right you take away from people. If someone wants you dead bad enough, you are dead. That is unless you can stop them.

Guns aren’t the only way to kill a person.

Now, that is one problem, not having some means of protection, but the bigger problem is that dark and sinister element I talked about in the first paragraph. No matter what happens, if society devolves to the point of desperation people will do desperate things. There will not be any negotiating with someone who is starving if they have a plan, superior numbers and firepower. There will be people coming to take what you have and you will be lucky if this happens that nothing worse than theft occurs.

No amount of planning can prevent people out there from trying to steal what they need in order to live. You can plan all of the charity in the world, but eventually it will come down to what you need to feed your family. The line will be drawn somewhere, maybe your stocked, solar-powered retreat that they want. If you have anything at all you will be a target for people like this.

One of the concerns of anyone who is preparing for a SHTF scenario if you are being honest is the dark side of human nature. You can have all of

It is quite a rare attribute to be able to write about something I love. That thing is striking, or more specifically Boxing, Muay Thai, Roman Greco and Brazilian Jujitsu. In this article I am going to break down each of these forms of striking and grappling.  I will also explain how they can be used as a form of simple exercise as well as self defense. All of these are martial arts, which is essentially what they are, although they are not seen as “traditional” due to westerners being a little bit devoid of culture these days unless someone reminds them on their Facebook feed. But alas without starting to sound negative let’s get on with it and I will try to explain some of the history as well as the application of these activities.

Boxing’s roots are engraved in History; it is thought to have begun being accepted during the Ancient Greek Olympics in BCE 688. Prize fighting began in around 16-18th century, mostly in what is now known as the UK. In the mid 19th century it once again became popular in the UK and largely in the USA. The official sport of 12 rounds is not something I would like to address in this article it is more aimed at people looking to get into shape and learn without having to feel pressure to get into the ring or spar.

My main problem with the sport of boxing when compared to the sport of MMA for instance is that pugilistic dementia and brain trauma is so prevalent because of the use of 16oz gloves. This padding causes fighters to take way to many unnecessary shots to achieve a similar result as we are able to see with a lot of boxers today who are having major problems. As an activity boxing and training in general can be invigorating. There is no stress ball or calms tablet that can match the feeling of hitting the pads for a couple of hours. If you are a beginner I would go with some simple 14oz gloves as well a heavy bag, either the free standing or hung variations which can be found locally and on the web for next to nothing. If you have a friend or partner then I would also invest in some target pads, they will improve accuracy and allow you to develop the synapse’s, signals from your brain to your hand, to fire and move in a smooth and quick manner. Feet should be placed around shoulder width apart with knee’s slightly bent, weaker arm forward. This is your jab. Twisting your hips and shoulders with your stronger hand, this is what I call (I think it’s a European thing) our straight cross. Combine these together and you have your 1-2 aka 2! I think possibly if people like this article I will expand on these in the future, although “cough” Youtube “cough” has plenty of instructional.

Roman Greco

greco

Greco-Roman Wrestling

As the name implies, the history of this sport comes from the Greek ancient civilization that surrounded the Mediterranean Sea many, many moons ago. As a Brit, we never really embraced this Greco as a sport or an activity which we now have to play catch up in MMA. Wrestlers in MMA are notoriously tough, they are experience in extremely tough physical and a mental situation as well as the strenuous and sometimes dangerous dieting that go’s on in this world. As I am still learning both forms of grappling I will keep this section brief but I cannot emphasis enough that this is a great sport for almost everyone due to the fact that you can spar 100% power without being in a dangerous physical situation like sparring, the only other activity where you can do this is Jujitsu, which I am going to mention later on.

The main body I focus on when wrestling or sparring with friends is strength and conditioning. In terms of technique wrist control is an excellent form of effective practice. As well as this you will need to understand the basics of under hooks, over hooks, single legs, double legs, trips and throws. Just by sparring you can get a feel for what is effective if you practice these and it will let you understand how people move and where they apply force when in a physical situation. Once you understand this and have some experience you can begin using and going for wrist control and under hooks to negate your opponents striking and get him or her to the ground using these techniques. People I would look to learn these techniques are George St Pierre, the recently retired MMA champ who is able to cover distance and use perfect technique in a split second. But to be honest anyone who has trained for years would be an excellent person to look to learn new techniques and polish old ones, there are so many to list it would be an article in itself.

Overall, in my opinion, this is one of the most effective martial arts in the world. If you look at MMA, wrestlers almost always prevail, if a world class striker such as James Tony hype a fight for months, then get into the cage and not be able to throw a single punch and then tap within the first round, there is no denying its effectiveness.

Muay Thai

Muay-Thai-Photos-Kaokla

Muay Thai Fighting

My favorite form of striking is Muay thai. When I began learning how to kick I actually watched Bas Rutten’s instructional, which is more of a Dutch style (Very popular and effective). The art of 8 limbs utilities hands, elbows, knees and kicks. The extreme turning over of the hips when moving and setting up leg, body or head kicks generates an extreme amount of power that is almost unmatched by any other effective form of striking. Southpaw’s facing orthodox opponents are able to utilize the liver kick. One of the most brutal places to take a full power strike that paralyses the opponent in pain when performed correctly. Ronda Rousey recently finished Silver medal Olympic wrestler Sarah Mcmann with a barrage of knee strike’s to the liver in the first round of their championship fight. Which brings me to another aspect of Thai fighting, the clinch. Often called the “Plum” both hands are placed around the back of the neck of the opponent, then the head is pulled down into knee strike aimed at the head and body. Anderson Silva used these in a championship fight against Rich Franklin, throwing him off balance and delivering brutal knee’s to win the title. Overall you will need to be looking to get some Thai pads if you want to kick with a friend as normal pads won’t be able to take the impact. I would recommend getting a heavy bag and some shin pads, just to save your ankles when learning.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

brazilian-jiu-jitsu

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

BJJ was a part Judo in Japan and brought into Brazil by Mitsuyo Maeda, who taught the then Japanese martial art to the famous Gracie family. Maeda was well known throughout his day and performed in over 2000 fights in his career. BJJ is most well known for being a martial art where strength and size can be neutralized by a good BJJ student. This is possibly by using two extremely important points that are used throughout BJJ, Leverage and good technique. Armed with these and a positive attitude, BJJ focuses on teaching youth’s especially the traditional attitude that is associated with martial arts such as respect and living by strong morals. Once of the most famous BJJ black belt is Royce Gracie, One of the slighter members of his huge family of potential killers. He attended earlier UFC event against much larger, stronger opponents (A juiced up Ken Shamrock, a freestyle Wrestler at the time) comes to mind. He was able to overcome, tied up and finish his opponents, becoming the first champion in a tournament where some of his opponents where literally 2-3 times larger than him in a competition that at that time, has very little rules.

As with wrestling, you are able to spar 100% unlike striking sports, which in my opinion is very effective as you will become better faster and be more prepared if you ever need to use your skills. Bruce Lee once said that “Punch bags don’t hit back” which is definitely something to keep in mind, but to be honest it all depends on your application. This article was meant to be an overview to let people understand some effective forms of exercise and combat in 2014. This is also not a be all and end all list of what is effective, Judo and Karate is showing its effectiveness more and more. I am sure within a couple of years we will see a change and someone will adapt and evolve their style to make it effective against the others. That is why I love MMA. It is constantly changing, improving all the time. The true champions of these arts maintain what I think is one of the most effective special move you will learn, Respect to others and being a positive outgoing person. This is emphasized over and over by the true champions, this attitude is prevalent at the peaks as well as the valley’s where skills are not used because we practice being human in this ever increasing world of anti social behavior.

I hope you have enjoyed this article, Again it was just a brief overview and I am by no means an expert in these areas, although I do train in them. It was more to just introduce new people into a world of sport and exercise that I love and will follow for years to come.

It is quite a rare attribute to be able to write about something I love. That thing is striking, or more specifically Boxing, Muay Thai, Roman Greco and Brazilian Jujitsu.

 

I am vegan and I have no intention of being vegan in SHTF. However knowing some tips and tricks about the vegan diet might help us all out when the worst happens and the shelves empty forever.

For most people likely the idea of having to eat an exclusively vegan diet is their idea of the apocalypse! No more bacon and beef burgers. Leaving aside the other valid reasons to embrace a vegan diet before SHTF this article is a none expert’s view on how to eat better if there are no more open stores and the only meat for miles is the odd rat.
Personally I plan on eating that rat in SHTF but I was recently asked to put together a how to article on how to be vegan in SHTF if meat, fish, dairy, and/or eggs are unavailable. I would argue that meat food preparation is the easiest of all if you embrace the SHTF and accept that Costco is gone forever and so is McDonalds. You should have plenty of meat sources stored and have a good idea of how to hunt and trap those local rats.

Having been vegetarian for 12 years and vegan the last 5 years I know how to eat well without animal products. I also know, and this is a critical point, that small amounts of meat and fish go a long, long way. While grabbing that tin of meat balls and eating it dumped over your white rice might work in a short-term SHTF in a long-term event what a waste! Use a tiny amount as protein is readily available from nature and using a huge intake is not necessary. More on this later.

Eating vegan means variety and eating a wide range of different vegetable sources. Eating vegan using the available produce in our modern world is easy and tasty. In SHTF this won’t be the case but nor will it be the case for anyone eating any other type of diet.

What Can Go Wrong with Being a Vegan?

Nothing much as it improves your sex life and general longevity but certain things can easily become dangerously low using a vegan diet. These pre SHTF include calcium, vitamin D, iron, vitamin B12, zinc, and omega-3 fatty acids (Read more here). The occasional rat takes care of calcium (hum, rat bones!), iron, and zinc. In fact your garden (you have plans for one and have seeds and know how to save them, right?) will almost supply everything you need.

Zinc

This needs to be taken care of as it is essential but how to get it when there is just no meat or stores anymore? Soya beans grow easily even in southern Canada so growing them and knowing how they can be used and stored is an essential skill. Green peas also are easy to grow and help with zinc. Nuts need to be found, prepared, and stored. I have acorns and black walnuts in my area. You need to know what you have in yours and how to harvest, prepare, and store these nuts. It is labor intensive and a skill.

Calcium

Spinach I hear you cry! Popeye had this as his source of strength. Yes and no. It is high in calcium but that calcium is bound to oxalate which renders it hard to absorb. For this reason use it as it is easy to grow and tasty but also grow rocket, cabbage, parsley, and kale (Bet you have been waiting for kale! Preparing tips after this this section). Use these heavily in both SHFT and now. Cow’s milk is very; very good at blocking calcium absorption which is why very few vegan females have osteoporosis.

Iron

A normal vegan diet supplies plenty of iron despite the myths. Just eat a lot of dark green vegetables. I became anemic (lack of iron) about a year and half into my badly thought out vegetarian diet and I suspect a lot of preppers will as well in a long-term SHTF. Eat those vegetables, eat them a lot, and eat them daily.

B12

This vitamin is infamous in vegans yet most vegans and almost everyone else know next to nothing about it. You will need supplements and fortified foods. However gardening in good quality soil and regular rotation of the fields will introduce some B12 into your body if you do not mechanically scrub the vegetables. This is not a reliable source so long-term you need to eat small amounts of meat. Fortified vegan foods and grains work well now but in long-term SHTF I plan to use my rat traps!

Can you fish in SHTF? Fish and the problem with a source for Omega 3 mainly goes away.

Omega 3 Fatty Acid

Black walnuts are essential in SHTF and a good long-term supply of chia seeds is helpful. You can get Omega 3 from soya beans and leafy greens but it is unreliable. Can you fish in SHTF? Fish and this issue mainly goes away. Salmon run near me and I plan on grabbing them in the Spring and dehydrating them for the year.

Vitamin D

This is of no concern in SHTF as the time in the sun throughout the year will generally give you adequate amounts. Eating the occasional egg also removes any worries about this. Know where the local birds nest and eggs are on the menu in the early Summer.

What Might Be Lacking in a Vegan diet in SHTF?

Top of my list is Vitamin C as I do not live in Florida. There’s no issue at present as trucks and trains bring me lots of oranges but in a long term SHTF I need sources found in Southern Canada.

So wild strawberries and blackberries I will have to find, harvest, and store. But what can I easily grow to cover this one? Orange trees won’t work. Have seeds and grow bell peppers, brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, and leafy greens. One of the go to foods in SHTF needs to be parsley. Easy to grow, looks like nothing worth plundering, and full of vitamin C and calcium. Most people might add a sprig for decoration or a sprinkle on their slab of meat but as a vegan I can tell you it is awesome chopped up and added to salads and rice. Eat lots of it.

Protein.

If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me “so how do you get your protein?” I would be very rich. My diet is loaded with it and yours is probably in excess if you eat meat. Protein in excess is very bad for the kidneys. Peas, beans, amaranth, millet, and dried pastas are full of it. Eat a wide variety of vegetables and this one is taken care of. I said earlier I would mention vegan ways versus business normal. Well I bet you have tins of tuna and Spam hidden away in your stock pile? Add a tin to a lot of rice and eat over 2-3 days. Before each meal chop up and throw in available greenery. Protein now is not your concern.

Time

A vegan diet without a decent blender (Vitamix or BlendTek) is nearly impossible. I do plan some solar power to use mine but without one preparing food will be a massive time commitment. Cook in bulk and add the greens each meal. Have excellent knives and have the ability to sharpen them every time you use them.

What do you need to know now about vegan diets?

Have seeds and know where you will grow them

Have seeds and know where you will grow them. For me I plan to grow a lot the first season after the first Winter post SHTF. I cannot see much point defending a garden from hungry people. Up here in Southern Canada they will die in the first Winter and afterwards trading and survivors should be friendly.

My main foods stored are vegan with long-lasting tomato sauces, pastes, etc. and pastas (fortified). I have a fair amount of tinned fish and meat as I think sticking to being a vegan in the SHTF would be deadly. Like foreign vacations the vegan diet is great for you but in SHTF won’t be available or would be dangerous. Vegans need lots of different types of intake to stay healthy and that just won’t happen easily in SHTF.

Powered greens and vegan powders are generally very expensive and I can see no use for them at all in SHTF. For me they are not a part of my planning but research them and they might be a bridge for you. I prefer actual real preserved foods than using this sort of thing. Collard, Swiss Chard, and Kale all dehydrate easily under glass in the Summer and can crush up and packed tight into a glass jar. Even without canning this source of green stuff lasts 8-12 months. Have lots of glass jars with air tight lids.

One thing you might not know is that Kale and Swiss Chard and Collard greens come in different varieties. Have a wide selection of types not just one type. Another tip is decent knives and remove the stems and only eat the leaf. Good scissors work very well in preparing leaf vegetables. The stems are very bitter. I think people hate Kale because of this basic preparing error. Kale is actually really tasty.

Amaranth

This is a seed that thinks it is a grain and a good one. It is complete protein and should be part of your pre SHTF garden. Grows tall and has colorful red leaves so put it around your place not just in the vegetable garden. It does well in drought and heat. For fun in SHTF you can pop it and have popcorn around the camp fire. Boil the seeds for a strange but okay porridge or use as a type of pasta/grain.

The leaves are a decent addition to any meal and the root can be eaten if the plant is mature though I have not tried the root. Plant it around the neighborhood as it acts like a weed and no one else will know to eat it in SHTF as red means danger!

Quinoa is a similarly useful crop and I am growing my first this year.

The obvious is the Three Sisters and history is something we all need to focus on. Again my tip is different types of squash, corn, and beans. The more variety the less chance of a crop wipe out and variety is the spice of life.

Anyhow I hope this gave you food for thought

  I am vegan and I have no intention of being vegan in SHTF. However knowing some tips and tricks about the vegan diet might help us all out when the