James: A lot has been written warning us of what will happen when the City Dwellers find their homes are untenable and vacate [en masse as The Golden Horde] for “the country”, but I haven’t seen anything on what the make-up of these hordes will be. The generic term “city dwellers” encompasses a lot of territory. Who will they be,what kind of shape will they be in, how will they be armed…all of these need to be examined.One category needs to be examined, I feel, more closely than others. Since I have seen posts on your site lately dealing with the nitty-gritty, unpleasant aspects of prepping, I think this is a needed look into what’s out there. I’ve been a cop over 20 years, my last uniform assignment before moving to Investigator being a two year stretch of Anti-Crime patrols in the Section 8 Housing projects of my city. This put me into contact with some of the “Worst of the Worst” that will be fleeing the cities in time of trouble. Gang-bangers, common street thugs, dope dealers and users, all have a place in the hierarchy of the streets. And they will certainly be part of what preppers will be facing in times of troubles. Here’s some of what I have learned:
The bottom rung is occupied by the drug addicts and users. They exist, not live as we understand the word. They have no assets, no goals, no drive. But they do have an almost animal instinct to continue living. They will be armed with anything they can steal or lay hands on. Most will have a knife of razor box cutter, and some sort of cheap pistol, or they will not live to get out of the city. Since they have no resources or assets, they will be on the edge of starvation and desperation almost within a day of an event. With no fixed residence or place to defend, they will be hitting the road and coming towards us. They will become violent without any provocation and there will be no negotiating or bargaining with them. They don’t want to hear your story or excuses. All they want is what you have. And have no doubts: They will do anything to get what they want. And this does include catering to their most base instincts of rape, murder and mutilation. Letting someone like this even close to you and what you have is flirting with death.
In doomer fiction the western states get the big sort-of-army irregulars, usually coordinating their military derring-do with loyal units of the regular armed forces, who together defeat the evil invaders on page 360. It’s a rule. See the 1984 movie Red Dawn, or David Aikman’s 1993 novel When The Almond Tree Blossoms for instance, or more currently, Max Velocity’s Patriot Dawn, all of which assume a Resistance defending large areas and counterattacking in set piece battles. But they posit another place, an active partisan region well east, behind enemy lines on all sides, namely, Appalachia. There’s a reason. Continue reading →
I discovered The Shrugging Out Podcast a few months ago. I did not quite know what to make of it, I admit, until I went through and download several of the earlier episodes and listened to them in chronological order.
The site’s author / Podcaster Peter Farron (sp?) is extremely intelligent, sane, analytical and well thought out: The podcasts are obviously well-prepared in advance and – notwithstanding the intro music – an aesthetic pleasure to listen to.
The content of the shows centers on issues relating to self-sufficiency with a philosophical unpinning in libertarianism, and often draws premises from Ayn Rand’s writings. In his shows, however, Farron does not shy away from the less ethereal: He usually address current news issues, his own process of awakening and what he is doing about it in his dynamic transformation from ‘typical’ patriotic conservative to neo-patriotic libertarian survivalist (my half-assed and inadequate label, not his).
All in all, well worth the time and well worth spreading around to those with interests in libertarianism, survivalism and prepping, Ayn rand, current events, politics and the like.
I am through about 60 of his podcasts now, and will post a permalink to the blogroll. GE.
SHTF doesn’t generally drop by at the best of times. In fact, SHTF thrives and grows exponentially under more adverse circumstances. So, suck it up, put on your boots, and power through it – SHTF doesn’t care and neither can you!
SHTF doesn’t care about inclement weather – snow, hail, tornadoes and hurricanes all just add to the party atmosphere for SHTF.
SHTF doesn’t care that you sprained your ankle, broke your leg or are otherwise less than ambulatory. If you have to bug out without a vehicle, you have to bug out, regardless of your injury status.
SHTF doesn’t care that you decided to start prepping after the trip to Disneyworld (because that trip is expensive) Continue reading →
… Standard canned goods aren’t generally deemed age-worthy. Food technologists define shelf life not by how long it takes for food to become inedible, but how long it takes for a trained sensory panel to detect a “just noticeable difference” between newly manufactured and stored cans. There’s no consideration of whether the difference might be pleasant in its own way or even an improvement—it’s a defect by definition…
Being a Prepper in a Non-Prepping World – by BigStick, Alpha Rubicon, June 28, 2011.
As the world changes around us, sometimes it seems like things are just going from bad to worse. Floods, war, famine, gas prices… more and more items seem to fill the evening news and the Net with dire predictions of what is to come. And yet, in the face of all that, I continue to see articles in the media and online that poke fun at people who are trying to prepare in case of disaster. People who grow their own food, or keep more than the average 1-2 days of canned food in their pantry. City dwellers who are planting gardens of food instead of flowers, and people getting back into canning. People who choose to “Prep” as a form of “Lifestyle Insurance” in case of sudden unemployment, natural disaster or other unforeseen situations that would otherwise have a dramatic negative impact on their families. Since when did preparing for likely personal and natural disasters qualify us as “Kooks” or “Survivalists”?
What I can do:
I can do what my heart and my head tell me are the right things to do.
I can listen to my inner voice, because that is the one I need to listen to, and not be susceptible to the NIOPs (Negative Influence of Other People).
I can choose a path and continue down that path no matter what; no matter if I have to travel that path ALONE; as long as it is legal, ethical, and moral.
I can let go of that nagging voice in my head that society has trained my subconscious to listen to in EVERY situation: that voice that compares my INSIDES to everyone else’s OUTSIDES… and always finds me lacking.
I can take care of myself first, my household second and THEN anyone I choose to care for; but only after the first two are cared for.
What I cannot do:
I cannot change another person’s thoughts, beliefs or actions, no matter how right I am or think I am.
I cannot make the horse drink, I can only lead him to the water.
I cannot get someone to see the need for proactive preparations if they have never experienced REAL want: real cold, real hunger, real poverty, real pain. The farther from one or more of these experiences someone in my life is, the harder they will fight to stay a grasshopper.
I cannot prep for my family expecting ANYTHING in return: not thanks, not understanding, not appreciation, not respect. The fact that it is the right thing to do must be reward enough – anything above and beyond that is a bonus.
I cannot afford to set parameters and then not support them with action. When I say, “This I will do and no more,” and then I do more when confronted with a sheeple I care for, I am letting myself down more than I am helping them.
I cannot, cannot, CANNOT want something more for someone else than they want it for themselves; no matter how much I love them. That way madness lies.
Regardless of how many wars on poverty are declared and how often calls are issued to make the rich pay their fair share, neither the rich nor the poor will be going anywhere anytime soon. The question is what forces will keep the poor impoverished and where the rich will derive their wealth from.
The founder of Subway recently said that he could not have started up his company today. Similar messages have come from the founders and heads of other major companies. That isn’t to say that companies will cease to exist. What we think of as business has been changing for some time.
In most countries, starting a business does not begin with a great idea. It begins with connections. Knowing the right people is still important, but in most places it’s the most important thing. Continue reading →
…Our nation has entered into the last stages of fascism. Both parties have supported this path since Hoover and FDR of the 1930s, both parties are guilty. The only way to avoid a repeat of Germany 1933-45 is to go all out to defeat fascism here in America by any means necessary.
That means renouncing the programs that transfer power to the federal government such as social security, Medicare, education, transportation, and banking regulations, everything that allows centralized planning needs to be opposed. This means conservatives have to stop giving capitalism lip service and embrace the free enterprise system.
We need to understand government produces nothing; they can only create poverty, death, and destruction…. Continue reading →
The grey man directive, some say, cannot be learned. Some insist that being a grey man is just something you are–or you’re not. In this article and companion video, we take you inside the mind of a grey man, a man that understands the importance of blending in, careful to exist in the fringes between the pendulum swings of social paradigms. In most urban survival situations we will likely face at home, being grey is your best course of action to avoid kinetic confrontation. There is no complete manual on how to be grey; no written instruction to guide you. It’s instinctual, environmental, and situational dependent.
The previous Woodpile Report looked at the “Official Crowd” because it’s proactive and well positioned to dominate at the outset of the final collapse. Remus said Federal and state officialdom will work against you, especially the DHS, a stumblebum Frankenstein stitched from 40 existing agencies that’s been shambling from pratfall to pratfall since 2003. DHS is a creepy outfit that sees intimidating the populace and violating the innocent as a duty. Continue reading →
The survivalist knows things could go on like they are for the rest of his life, after all, ships get scrapped with their full compliment of life boats all the time. They zigged when Murphy’s Law zagged and good on them. But if you’re reading this you’ve already fled the “everything’s going to be okay” crowd. Next up will be the “everything’s going to be okay in six to eight weeks” crowd. They’ll matter even less then than now, come a real catastrophe there are more dangerous crowds to stay away from. Chief among them is the “Official crowd“. More crowds to avoid are upcoming but this crowd is well positioned to dominate at the outset so it deserves the first look. Continue reading →
… none of our “experts” really know what they are doing, and they are definitely not looking out for our best interests. The blind are leading the blind and we all need to finally admit that the emperor is not wearing any clothes. Unfortunately, most Americans will repeat the mantra of “if that was true I would have heard about it on the news” until it is way too late. Most people are waiting for the “authorities” to tell them what to do instead of thinking for themselves… via SHTFPlan.
and here too:
… Once people understand that the economy has been collapsing and will continue to collapse, then the next step for most of them is that they want to get prepared for the storm that is coming. So where should someone get started? Well, the truth is that no two people are facing the exact same set of circumstances, so preparation is going to look different for each individual. But there are certain core principles that we can all benefit from… via Economic Collapse Blog
Water from open sources must always be treated before use. The lack of proper attention to water quality can be life threatening. By a review of the literature there appears to be no one way to treat water to make it safe. As I went through the Blog I found numerous authoritative sounding articles that contradicted other equally authorities articles. Unless we can get EPA experts or similar authorities to talk about water quality in WTSHTF conditions and not 4 acre treatment facilities you have to pick your experts and go with them, understanding that none of us have ever been there. Continue reading →
As readers of this blog may have figured out, I don’t go in much for open-ended-autocorrelative-conspiracy-theories presented as fact. At best these sorts of things are allegations, hypotheses or possibilities. That said, David Chase Taylor deserves to be parroted if for no other reason than for the work he has done in piecing together a hypothesis of false-flag / nuclear terrorism – something I DO believe we are likely to see in the near future. GE.
On February 1, 2011, Julian Assange of Wikileaks revealed to the world via leaked classified diplomatic documents that Al-Qaida was on the brink of using a nuclear bomb and that the West was on the verge of a “Nuclear 9/11”. What the diplomatic documents failed to mention was actual target, date and location of the upcoming nuclear terror attack… gohereand bring a cup of coffee and an open mind
Collapse is an overused word, a telescoping of events better described as a decline. The buggy industry didn’t “collapse” when the first automobile dealership appeared—Studebaker made both, nor did the vacuum tube disappear the day the first transistor was manufactured. The Roman and Byzantine empires didn’t collapse, they were transformed in a surprisingly orderly, if not voluntary, manner over a long period of time. No, they weren’t mere reorganizations or downsizing, and yes there were catastrophic events within those episodes, but a critical observer of the time would would rightly understand them to be something other than collapse. Continue reading →
This is a fantastic survey. There reportedly were 1800 self-selected respondents – visitors to the SHTF School website and, therefore, heavily biased toward the prepper / survivalist community. That said, I find this survey result very interesting. GREAT JOB by SHTF School! GE.
“… Over 1800 people completed our survival survey in the last two weeks. The feedback has been great and this is the first part of three in which we share the survey results with you. We started the survey with a “classic” question. How long have you been preparing / into survival? ….
If you’re a beginning prepper you may feel the need for a clear road map or checklist. If you’re currently striving to be ready for life’s curveballs, you may benefit by taking stock of your efforts with the following fundamental tips in mind
Prepping for Beginners #1: Remember, it’s a PROCESS, not a destination Continue reading →
A long and thought provoking read authored by CentOre:
” One of the most crucial decisions a ‘prepper’ will ever have to make is deciding when to stop preparing, and instead, begin surviving. This is especially difficult when the life one has still contains the last dregs of normality… ” see here at SurvivalBlog.com.
“… catastrophic events should not be the times when humanity turns on one another; it should be a time when people stand up and do great things to help her or his fellow neighbor. Keeping your spirits high will not only encourage you to keep putting one foot in front of the other, no matter what, but it will be an attitude that will inspire those around you to continue on with the good fight. Remember, you were created for much more than merely surviving one day to the next…” via Off The Grid News
The cold hard truth is, much of our country is completely unprepared for a crisis of any considerable proportion. While the 1950’s and 1960’s held the specter of immediate full scale nuclear war, and thus a highly persuasive incentive for preparedness, the new millennium has hardly been anything to sneeze at. Economic collapse is just as destructive to a nation as an atomic bomb, if not more so. The likelihood of social unrest and the long term implosion of our financial system is greater today than it has been in any other era of American history. So much so that even our currency may evaporate along with our standard of living.
Those who prep today are acting in as much a logical fashion as those who built shelters during the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis.The knee jerk conclusion here by skeptics of the prepper lifestyle will be that the bunker owning citizens of the “red scare” days wasted their time. That obviously, there was no nuclear holocaust, and all their careful planning was for naught. Or why not bring up the media generated hysteria of Y2K, which played on the public’s utter lack of general knowledge concerning computers and U.S. infrastructure to inspire a widespread prepping panic? Did that farce not prove the absurdity of the survivalist mentality? …. The answer is no, not really…
You can never have too much ammo. It’s amazing how quickly one or two people can shoot through 100 rounds or more in a single target practice.
If you’re smart, your firearms will be common calibers. It will be easier to find ammo and easier to get replacement parts.
If you’re even smarter, you own firearms that are of popular makes and models. It will be easier to find a gunsmith capable of making repairs and customized requests.
Unless you’re at the range every day, it’s hard to get too much practice. If the range masters know you by name, that’s a good sign that you’re getting enough practice!
It’s a mistake to limit your practice to shooting at a piece of paper under optimal conditions. Take classes that will challenge your shooting skills in high-pressure scenarios. Until the adrenaline is really pumping and your brain feels scrambled, you’ll never know how you’ll respond in a life or death situation. (Note: The first time I was firing a gun under pressure, I got so rattled that I was using my non-dominant eye. I was fortunate that any shots hit my target!)
A shotgun should be at or near the top of your list when it comes to firearms for home defense. Your choices are the 12 gauge, 20 gauge and the 410. Once you’ve made your decision, get to the range and practice, practice, practice. When it comes to stopping power, a shotgun can’t be beat.
Don’t fall into the trap of buying the smallest gun at the store. Believe it or not, a larger gun will be more comfortable and accurate to shoot.
Learn how to clean your own gun. Learn how to completely dismantle it (field strip), clean each part, and put it back together.
Your safety is your responsibility. Not your husband’s, nor the police, nor your kids.
A gun isn’t the end-all when it comes to personal or home security. Think in terms of layers: situational awareness, home security systems, a watchdog, cacti along the back fence. It all adds up to more peace of mind and less dependence on any one strategy.
If a gun isn’t possible or desirable in your circumstances, come up with Plan B. One of my friends keeps a baseball bat near the front seat of her minivan. Another always has the most powerful pepper spray on the market in her purse, and yet another keeps an 18″ length of steel rebar wedged between the driver’s seat of her car and the middle console. Whatever your choice, always be aware of the location of your weapon, practice using it, and be comfortable with the thought that one day you may have to use it.
Don’t listen to celebrities and politicians who go on hysterical anti-gun rants. Remember, they can afford armed bodyguards and state-of-the-art home security systems. (Interesting that it’s okay if their bodyguards are armed but they don’t think law-abiding citizens should be able to own and carry guns.) I am my kid’s armed bodyguard.
Practice rapid firing when you’re at the range. If your life, or that of your children’s, is ever on the line, and your only choice is to draw your gun, your best tactic will be multiple, rapid shots at the bad guy(s).
Don’t assume you will only ever have to deal with a single bad guy. Just like roaches, bad guys stick together. You may very well be confronted with several all at once. Keep that in mind.
There’s a reason why experts prefer to keep their sidearms concealed. Open carry is okay if you’re trying to impress people, but it also makes you a target.
Your life should never depend on a gun you’re afraid to shoot. If the recoil is too powerful, if the trigger pull is too heavy, if firing it hurts your hand, do not plan on using that gun as a defensive weapon. Sell it. Throw it away. Give it away, but whatever you do, have a gun you are comfortable with and actually enjoy shooting. If that life or death moment should ever come, there cannot be even a moment’s hesitation due to fear of using your gun.
If you choose to carry your handgun concealed, practice drawing it from its holster or from its concealed location. And then practice another hundred times.
It’s a really good idea to keep an extra loaded magazine in your purse, the glove compartment, wherever it will be safe and easily accessible.
You just might be able to easily handle a larger caliber of handgun than you think. Don’t underestimate your ability.
Nothing beats not being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Be willing to back down in a confrontation or willing to run or call for help. Your goal is to survive, not show off to the world your awesome marksmanship skills.
Every gun-nut has his/her own opinion about the best make, model, caliber, shooting stance, etc. Be willing to listen but keep in mind that they are just opinions.
Don’t get overly cocky just because you have a firearm in the house, your purse, or have a certificate from your shooting range for completing an advanced course. Law enforcement officers miss their target in a shooting confrontation about 70% of the time. Think about that.
James: A lot has been written warning us of what will happen when the City Dwellers find their homes are untenable and vacate [en masse as The Golden Horde] for “the country”, but I haven’t seen anything on what the make-up of these hordes will be. The generic term “city dwellers” encompasses a lot of territory. Who will they be,what kind of shape will they be in, how will they be armed…all of these need to be examined.One category needs to be examined, I feel, more closely than others. Since I have seen posts on your site lately dealing with the nitty-gritty, unpleasant aspects of prepping, I think this is a needed look into what’s out there. I’ve been a cop over 20 years, my last uniform assignment before moving to Investigator being a two year stretch of Anti-Crime patrols in the Section 8 Housing projects of my city. This put me into contact with some of the “Worst of the Worst” that will be fleeing the cities in time of trouble. Gang-bangers, common street thugs, dope dealers and users, all have a place in the hierarchy of the streets. And they will certainly be part of what preppers will be facing in times of troubles. Here’s some of what I have learned:
They will become violent without any provocation and there will be no negotiating or bargaining with them. They don’t want to hear your story or excuses. All they want is what you have. And have no doubts: They will do anything to get what they want. And this does include catering to their most base instincts of rape, murder and mutilation. Letting someone like this even close to you and what you have is flirting with death.
In doomer fiction the western states get the big sort-of-army irregulars, usually coordinating their military derring-do with loyal units of the regular armed forces, who together defeat the evil invaders on page 360. It’s a rule. See the 1984 movie Red Dawn, or David Aikman’s 1993 novel When The Almond Tree Blossoms for instance, or more currently, Max Velocity’s Patriot Dawn, all of which assume a Resistance defending large areas and counterattacking in set piece battles. But they posit another place, an active partisan region well east, behind enemy lines on all sides, namely, Appalachia. There’s a reason. Continue reading 
…Our nation has entered into the last stages of fascism. Both parties have supported this path since Hoover and FDR of the 1930s, both parties are guilty. The only way to avoid a repeat of Germany 1933-45 is to go all out to defeat fascism here in America by any means necessary.
The grey man directive, some say, cannot be learned. Some insist that being a grey man is just something you are–or you’re not. In this article and companion video, we take you inside the mind of a grey man, a man that understands the importance of blending in, careful to exist in the fringes between the pendulum swings of social paradigms. In most urban survival situations we will likely face at home, being grey is your best course of action to avoid kinetic confrontation. There is no complete manual on how to be grey; no written instruction to guide you. It’s instinctual, environmental, and situational dependent.
… none of our “experts” really know what they are doing, and they are definitely not looking out for our best interests. The blind are leading the blind and we all need to finally admit that the emperor is not wearing any clothes. Unfortunately, most Americans will repeat the mantra of “if that was true I would have heard about it on the news” until it is way too late. Most people are waiting for the “authorities” to tell them what to do instead of thinking for themselves… via SHTFPlan.
… Once people understand that the economy has been collapsing and will continue to collapse, then the next step for most of them is that they want to get prepared for the storm that is coming. So where should someone get started? Well, the truth is that no two people are facing the exact same set of circumstances, so preparation is going to look different for each individual. But there are certain core principles that we can all benefit from… via Economic Collapse Blog
catastrophic events should not be the times when humanity turns on one another; it should be a time when people stand up and do great things to help her or his fellow neighbor. Keeping your spirits high will not only encourage you to keep putting one foot in front of the other, no matter what, but it will be an attitude that will inspire those around you to continue on with the good fight. Remember, you were created for much more than merely surviving one day to the next…” via Off The Grid News
The Grey Enigma 