Guns

I realize now that I have yet to discus weapons; specifically guns.

Living in California makes it particularly difficult to buy or own guns. And I won't even go into concealed carry or automatic weapons.

The basic list, in my opinion, of fire arms ownership is as follows:
Pistol
Shotgun
.22lr Rifle
Heavy caliber rifle (.556m/.223cal or higher)

And you should probably buy them in that order, although pistol and shotgun can be swapped I think, depending on you situation and need.

Please note that I WILL NOT discuss here what brand, type or caliber of fire arm you should purchase. I can't. Those decisions will always depend on you. I will give you some things to think about before purchase.

The way to think about what to get would be similar to when buying a car or computer: How much are you willing to spend? What are you going to be using it for (hunting/property protection/personal protection)? How easy it is to repair and availability of parts? And for guns, can you handle that one? With most fire arms you can often go to a firing range and rent them to find out if it something you are comfortable with.

Pistols
Something to think of for women is, smaller is not necessarily better, bigger frames means more mass to control recoil when you fire. Women also seem to be more comfortable with and better shots than men with revolvers.

Question to ask yourself: Are you going to carry concealed? Then is that pistol too big? Should you carry extra ammo? How much? Where?

My suggestion if it's only for home defense and you are not going to carry it would be the biggest damn gun you can find. The .50cal Desert Eagle is stupid huge, but it is the only handgun in the world that comes with it's own special effects! And believe it or not it doesn't kick as hard as you think.

Shotguns
Hunting, property/personal protection
Yes, you can do all three with this firearm, but, you will need a variety of shells to handle your different needs. On the plus side, because of so many different loads available you can do a lot with just this one firearm. You  have many choices of models and prices so you should do your homework about what you are going to need it for to better decide which one to get. Shotguns may be the most modifiable firearm available (depending on make and model) For size length, capacity, options, color, whatever.

.22's
This is basically for hunting small game or rodents.
It is a very small bullet and won't kill anything much bigger that a medium sized dog at best. I personally would go with a .22 rifle over a .22 pistol, simply because I aim better with a rifle, and if I'm hunting the shot must count. Your millage may vary.

Rifles
Hunting, property/personal protection
This one you should consider very carefully as they are expensive and fit a tight niche. On most survival blogs and sites you will hear a debate between .223 and .308 (which happens to be NATO standard military calibers and therefor assumed to be plentiful in case of SHTF {Shit Hits The Fan}) I originally had a .308 until my Ex stole it, but as the years wear on that this was getting heavy! What with rifle and ammo (In the rifle plus extra mags to carry on me) was weighing in at around 30-35lbs. It doesn't sound like much until you have to cary it in your arms hour after hour, day after day. Plus, my kids would not be able to shoot it for at lest 10-15 years until they get big enough to handle it.

One last thing to consider; If you are going to be with a group, or even just your family and they are all (or most) going to be armed, then everyone should have the same basic tools, so that the parts and ammo are interchangeable.

The Kids are Alright

The other day I was watching some cartoons with my kids, when my oldest pointed out something that the media has been slipping in for years. She said; "Daddy, girls always win, and boys always loose. That's not fair is it?"

I love it when children can see the obvious and make moral decisions based on that. All I was there for was to confirm that "Yes, it's not fair, but it's just a cartoon, in real life everyone can win or loose as long as they try their hardest."

Homemade Laundry Cleaner

This recipe was taken from The Survival Podcast, and I fully intend to implement it as I am soooo broke, I need every edge I can get.

Here is the direct link to the pdf
http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/docs/deb-pdfs/01-dryhomemadelaundrymix.pdf

This is the text of it:


Here is my dry homemade laundry mix – and I have been told you can use it in HE and frontload machines, because there is no sudsing agent in it I just started making my own laundry soap this year, and I LOVE it!

I use 1/2 a box of Borax, and entire box of washing soda, and 1/4 of a bar of Fels-Naptha soap grated. It is a dry recipe, but I store it in a water pitcher type container – with a handle and a tight lid, and I shake it up sometimes before I use it, just because it seems that the soap is heavier and settles down from the top.

It only takes one tablespoon per load (sometimes I use 2 for really dirty stuff).

I found all the ingredients at my local associated foods store – the box of borax cost $3.36 at Walmart, and $4.79 at the local store. The box of washing soda cost $2.99. The Fels-Naptha was $1.19 -and I only used 1/4 of it- so for the recipe it costs about $.30. This recipe can also use a whole bar of Kirks Castile soap instead of Fels-Naptha (it has more natural ingredients and has a different scent to it) and it costs $1.39.

So my total was $6.65. It made approx. 131 oz. (16 cups) of detergent. Using only 1 tbsp per load – that should be about 256 loads or if I used 2 tbsp. per load it would be 128 loads. Divide $6.65 by the loads and you get .025 for 1tbsp, and .05 for 2 tbsp.

Carmageddon

All of Southern California seems to be freaking out about the 405 Freeway Closure. From what I understand that's about 10 miles of freeway, and it will be closed for one day. Everyone is acting like it's the end of the universe, and if it was even vaguely true, I would highly advise never moving there, and if you live there, get the hell out!

1 Freeway of 10 miles out of hundreds- maybe thousands in the area...
...What would happen if two of them were to close? Or a major quake shut them all down? What would the people there do? Starve? Die of thirst? Riot? Party till they were too stupid to walk? Who knows, but lets watch to see what happens and see if we can learn anything from it, like we learned from Japan, Hatti, and Katrina.

For instance, what if something happened to the 99 or 120 here? Or a major freeway where you live? Do you have alternatives? Now, do you have an alternative that everyone else doesn't know about? And, an alternative to where? Do you have a destination to head for if you had to leave?

Also, something to think about; Is your vehicle prepared for an instant bug out? Tuned up, half tank or more of gas, vehicle emergency kit, food and water, maps for those secret roads we just talked about?

Although, admittably this would be the perfect situation for bugging in. You can't get out, nothing dangerous is going on where you are, so hunker down, crank up the BBQ, pop in a movie and relax...

... Uhh you do have a generator or solar back up for the movie, right? right? Beuller?

The Lessons ARE Being Learned (Continued)

It's amazing; My kids have latched onto the idea of water filtration and wont let go. They have tried repeatedly, since the last post, to find some way to clean and filter water. I finaly put a stop to their experimentation when they insisted that I tape two Q-tips together so that they could scoop water with them from one cup to another.

At that point I realized how serious they were so I had them pull out a couple of empty plastic bottles and showed them how to make a sand filter. It actually worked amazingly well considering how little filtering material there was in the upper bottle.

I made sure that they did as much work as possible collecting pebbles and larger rocks. I had to find a source of sand. Fortunately there was a small trickle by some plants near my apartment. After all of the parts were collected I washed them out in the sink, and explained to my daughters that we had to wash out the dirt, because" dirt and water make what?" "Mud!" they replied. And with that they understood that they didn't want to drink mud. So, I washed down the pebbles and sand to get the dirt out, then poured the sand into a coffee filter and set it into the first bottle, which I had already poked holes in the bottom and cut the top off. Then I poured the pebble on top. This collapsed the coffee filter into an envelope shape which is not what I wanted, but it worked out pretty well anyway. Remember; You can do the same thing for real with two large buckets.

Next, I took the whole contraption outside and poured water into the top for my kids to watch it work. It took a couple of rounds for it to run completely clear, but after that it seemed to run fine. I let my kids go with it and didn't see them again for an hour (please remember it been in the upper 90s to low hundreds the last week).

Science, Survivalism, and Raising Kids - Good Times :-)

The Lessons ARE Being Learned

A couple of days ago, I had my kids, and the weather decided to turn wet. It was latter in the evening so we didn't loose out on any outdoor activities, but what amazed me we that my oldest daughter (5 years old) grabbed a plastic pumpkin that held old Halloween candy and ran out back with it. I followed behind, curious as to what she was going to do with it.

She put it down in the rain to collect water as it ran off the roof, as I suspected, but what was amazing, was her reason; She wanted to help the family to not buy water in a store, so she was collecting it for us to drink so that we could save money.

I couldn't begin to tell her how proud I was of her for coming up with that all by her self. Not to be left out my youngest followed suit and found her own pumpkin.

We spent the rest of the night figuring out how to filter the water that they collected. As it came off the roof it had leaves, tar pebbles and other junk in it and was orange in color. I showed them a couple of methods to rough filter the big chunks out, but we couldn't get rid of the color by bed time. I explained that even if we can't make it drinkable (If it ain't crystal clear and properly filtered, I not going to let my kids drink it unless it's a real emergency) We could still use it in the garden, for watering plants.

I did have a couple of real filters available and could have used them at any time, but I think they learned more, and certainly had more fun, doing it the hard way.

Been a While

Sorry I haven't writen anything in a while, but I had a job that I really enjoyed, and I put a lot of time into it. Unfortunatly that has ended, so I am once again looking for work, but have time to write here.

A nice thing I got to do was stock up some on bulk buys, which worked out because now I'm eating them while looking for work. Wish I had more to say, but i need to get back on the horse with my writing.

A Friend in Trouble

Tony is a long long time friend of mine, who is having financial trouble. But, instead of looking for handouts from the government, or making excuses, he is trying to make his (and his girlfriends) way on there own. His girlfriend is a painter and apparently has a stockpile of art, so they are selling her work to earn money. That is what self sufficiency is all about! You make your own solutions in this world, not depend of the government or your parents...or your kids if you are the parents of grown kids.

I do feel sorry that my friend has these problems, but I am also proud of him for not whining about it. He's applied for jobs everywhere that he might be able to work, and in the short term to make rent, they are willing to sell off assets rather than go on the dole and collect welfare or food stamps.

Original Art
http://www.artfire.com/users/amyelyseneer

Prints
http://www.redbubble.com/people/amyelyse

Japanese Earthquake/Tsunami Disaster

Once again the Earth has grumbled, and this time Japan was the recipient of its ire. If you have been paying attention for the last couple of years the Ring of Fire has been in turmoil (basically the ring of land surrounding the pacific ocean)

Hatti, Chile, Mexico, Hawaii volcano, New Zealand, Japan, Russian volcanoes same time as Japan Quake, Indonesia volcano hours after. Something big moved, and the whole planet is adjusting for it. Approximately 90 percent of the earthquakes in the world occur along the Ring of Fire. About 75 percent of the world's volcanoes lie along the Ring of Fire.

What does it mean for Preppers? Well get caught in a tsunami is bad...But that's not really helpful. Stay out of places that suffer natural disasters...Also not really helpful. (I don't know about you, but I can't think of anyplace on the planet that doesn't have some sort of natural, and often seasonal, disasters.

Japan is a good example that shows how disaster can snowball. In this case, it went Earthquake - Tsunami - Radiation Leakage.

I think a lot of what we will learn will be in the following days. You can prepare all you like, but when all of your preps for miles around are washed away, it doesn't do you and good any longer. But post disaster is when knowledge will be most valuable. Not how to survive in the wood with a knife and duct tape, but rules of sanitation. We are hearing that millions are without water in Japan. Do you know several ways to serialize, filter, and decontaminate water? Sewage gets mixed into all water systems in floods, not to mention dead bodies, toxic waste, and anything else you can think of. (See Katrina), so you better know what to do about it, or you and your children will be dying waiting for the government to save you (See Katrina again and Hatti)

Disease is also likely. (See Hatti again) severe diarrhea, cholera, typhoid. All of these and more are common in disaster areas and war zones. Mostly it occurs because of too many people living too close together, with not enough clean water available, and poor sanitation.

If you loose everything, you may have to jerry-rig a still out of wreckage you find lying around and create a method of filtering whatever water you can find. Remember, it won't be just you, there may be thousands of people right next to you in a refugee center, so make sure you share the knowledge with everyone or you may be overwhelmed with people trying to mooch off of you, and eventually, someone will take it away or destroy your work, just because you have something they don't. Admitably that is a worst case scenario, but you can see why it would be a good idea to share knowledge as best you can.

Sanitation in a disaster cannot be understated. In Hatti disease is rampant, because no one will take charge to have human waste disposed of properly, cooking of foods is not as thorough as it should be, and nothing is being cleaned. (Clothes, bodies, dishes, I would say homes, but most everyone there is still living in ruble and make shift hovels).

So in your preps, have a quality water filter, soap (bar/shampoo/laundry), toothpaste, bleach, and any other cleaning supplies you feel useful.

Create redundancy in systems of support. In other words, have a number of ways available (Especially in your head) to get something done. That way, if one method doesn't work, you can try something else. The best prep you can have, the cheapest, and the hardest to take away or loose, is knowledge and training.

Transportation is also a serious issue. With roads broken by earthquake and washed away by tsunami it become difficult if not impossible to get help into trapped people, and just as difficult for isolated groups to get out. That is why it is imperative for everyone to know how to take care of themselves and others. Imagine you were on vacation somewhere. It doesn't even have to be very far maybe just a day trip to the big City or you took the kids to an amusement park. Then something happens. Most of your preps are at home (Hopefully you have your BOB bags in your vehicle for everyone) But you can bet no one else in that park is going to be as ready as you. Are you going to let everyone there die of dehydration? No. You show a group near you how to filter and boil pond water and have them pass it on. Eventually roads will re open and "Gumit" rescue teams will be there to get everyone out. But as I've pointed out in a previous post, you will die in about three days without water, and it is your responsibility to ensure your own survival and that of your family.

The Middle East and How it can Effect Us

If you've seen the news in the last couple of weeks, you are aware that the middle east is exploding in revolution and/or civil war. I would like to discuss how this will effect us. But first I would like to congradulate and show honor to those individules in the middle east who are standing up to tyrany, showing there faces (rare in the middle east) and willing to say "Enough!" to brutal governments.

Unfortunately, there is fall out that we must be concerned with. While different countries import and export different things with us, the middle east is known for one thing primarily; Oil. And when oil is even imagined to be threatened, oil prices rise. Now I haven't heared any threats to the oil field yet, but my local gas station price has risen .20 cents in a couple of days to $3.45 a gallon, and I don't think it's going to come down again soon.

Now I'm sure some of you are saying that yeas this is bad, but that price, or even a little higher is survivable. But, have you considered all of the other things whose priced will be skyrocketing at the same time?

Like food. clothes. Anything that has to be transported will now cost more. Think about it;
Food is grown and harvested-Tractors need gas
Then it is sent to say granaries - trucks need gas to get it there
It may or may not be proccesed there - more gas used
then shipped to canning/bottling plant - Even if by rail, oil must be used
Shipped to packaging/shipping center- lots of gas, plus gas or propane used in these plants to move the forklifts around
Shipping by rail to local distributors - oil
Trucked to local stores - gas
You drive to store and home - gas

Can you begin to see how much oil is used in getting everything you buy to you, and ordering online only stops you from driving, the UPS guy is doing it for you instead.

So, as preppers, what do we do?
My answer:
Keep as much gas in your vehicle as possible and drive as little as possible so that you use is minimized, and that you can stretch out the time between fill ups to give you the best opportunity to find cheaper sources.

Buy bulk food items now, before the price goes through the roof. I was comparing the price for honey, when all of a sudden the price shot up $4 a bottle. I should have bought anything before that point as all prices were cheaper than the cheapest I can find now.

If you were planning on making a major purchase soon, you better get off you butt and do it, before the price goes beyond what you were planning on being able to afford.

If you have disposable income, I would recommend investing in precious metals or oil if you can keep track of the market.

If you don't have a gun yet, get one. Start with a hand gun or shotgun. And get it quick, their prices are rising as well. (Oh, don't forget the ammo)

Band together if you can to buy in bulk to help keep the cost down, as most places give volume discounts.

See if you can come up with alternate energy sources. If you can heat your home without using the heated you will save money, cooking is probably not a big deal, but its good to know how to cook without a stove anyway. Electricity prices will be going ups as well, so try to use as little as possible. And for your info Refrigerators, microwaves, and space heaters are the high energy users not light bulbs.

Diversify

Today I would like to talk about economic diversification.
As many of you know I recently got a job. As you being here, you should know that I've also started my own Preparation Consulting business. I've also got my own graphic arts business.

Now what do all three of these things have in common? Answer: each one only makes me money when I work on it.

Diversification means that I need to shift some of my money making ability in things that don't require my direct participation. I am considering precious metals, and would definitely love to own land, but that's in the far future.

Another option that I would like to try would be to open some internet businesses, but I need to learn more about how to make those work. obviously I know nothing, as you well know from my inability to get my website up and running.

But the important thing to keep uppermost in your mind is to do as little of the work as possible.

Say Yes!

I Just saw the movie Yes Man starting Jim Carrey. It was about a man who was retreating from the world until he went to a seminar, where the guru made him promise to say yes to everything that came along.

Obviously this was a comedy, but the underlying premise is a good one. Say yes to things you ordinarily wouldn't. Say yes to trying things you never have before. Say yes to meeting people you ordinarily don't.

If you don't step outside your comfort zone, you are likely to end up closing into a shell, and becoming a hermit in your home and missing out on life.

Fortunately as preppers we have opportunities that many may not consider. Many of you have gone camping and shooting, but how many know how to ride a motorcycle? Have you ever gone rock climbing? How about taking a class to learn home ec(?) style things (sewing, canning, gardening, cooking, etc) or maybe just learning how to dance a style you don't know?

If someone asks for help, do you give it? Even the pan handler on the street? You don't have to give money, you can buy the person a sandwich or give them a used jacket in this weather.

Or maybe even just give someone a ride somewhere even if it's out of your way.

You never know where something like this could lead. You might make new friends, learn something new, inspire you to do something in your life that you hadn't even considered before.

So, next time something unique comes up, just say YES!

New Year Resolutions

Personally I don't go in for New Years resolutions. I don't like the idea of making promises due to an event or driven by public acclaim. But, if you like to come up with annual goals, then this year you should add something about your prepping lifestyle to improve upon.

I'm a little blank right now and can't seem to come up with any decent suggestions for potential resolutions to suggest, but, if it were me, I would try for something obtainable. Maybe setting up a garden patch, or filling out (and maintaining) your Emergency Binder.