Preparedness

About 31 Things You Can Do (Right Now) To Make Like the Bee Gees and ‘Stay Alive’ …  by John J.

Things you can do.

A friend of mine asked “Ok, so the US Economy looks like it may tank, what do I do?”  Well, I figured that I’d just post about it instead and share this with everyone.

Honestly, I don’t know what ‘you’ can do – I can only express what I did and am doing.  Maybe that will help.

While the world won’t end on May 21rst (yet again), being prepared for the worst is an OK endeavor.

Let me start out by saying, if you don’t have a faith in God, it’s pretty useless and futile.  Apathy and hopeless will consume you (ref. the ‘fall’ of the USSR) – so that’s crucial.  By faith, I don’t mean this Oprah Winfrey New Age stuff – but actual faith in the Creator.  Without Love, what is there?

Stated;

1) Plant a garden, keep bees, hens – get back to the earth.  Even if you fail this year, just keep your seed and start again.

2) Collect books, not Kindle pdfs. – books are really cheap right now as society is delusional about their demise and believes in this ‘all encompassing’ digital future; find books about building, solar energy, bee keeping, water filtration, animal husbandry, herbs etc.  Books are durable, most of mine have outlasted my first CD collection.

3) Have a mode of transportation ( I know, some of you think I don’t drive, but I own a 4X4 truck that’s always loaded for emergency and gassed up – surprise).  Have a second mode of transportation (get a bike, boat, know how to hike, etc.)

4) Remember Fuel & Fire.  Keep plenty of lighters, magnifying glasses. matches. dry wood, newspaper, candles, camp fuel, etc. around.

Man’s ever crucial relationship with fire. Here is the vaulted MSR Whisperlite – it works, I’ve owned mine for going on now 15 years. It works with gas, kerosene, diesel, naphtha, jet fuel and moonshine.

(Note – why camp fuel?  A year back,  I was in the woods for two months.  I postulated the notion that with half of my food, I’d be able to cook it on a fire – so I packed beans and rice (never fails, right? beans and rice?).  Well I was wrong.  It rained 2/3rds of the time I was in the forest [remember when Nashville flooded? Yeah, I was in the woods then ...]  Finding just a dry stick was short of impossible with a water saturation level that went down 6 feet into the soil.  Traditional beans and rice food take alot of fuel to cook, so don’t get wild rice, get parboiled rice and lentils instead.  I learned this the hard way.  Also remember this: have many different methods for cooking and staying warm available.  Something is always bound to fail.  My ‘camp stove’ (a Whisperlite International) saved me from having to eat cold meals and kept me warm.)

5) Keep at least 15 gallons of (potable/drinking) water on hand.

6) Stock a full medical kit – always, you may not need it, but it doesn’t mean some one else won’t.

7) Skill up.  Example: learn math, equations, measures (like a rod = 16 feet, stuff that you’d find in any child’s composition school notebook)  how to read maps, local medicinal, learn Spanish, know your food and medical plants.  Know your poisonous plants too. This kind of stuff comes in way handy.

Get out of the house and camp.  Get used to the rigors of nature, learn to love it.

9) Switch to solar and rechargeables.   Go practical, not ‘green’. Have at least one solar device that will recharge.

10) Own a solar radio and/or CB.  Communication is crucial, you need solar or rechargeables.

11) Own some gold, diamond, lead, copper or silver.  Simple, I’m glad I picked up on this years ago.

True copper pennies weigh 3.11 Grams, fake ones weigh 2.8 Grams. Some 1982 pennies were Zinc/Magnesium.

ex. For those of you that may not know, copper pennies existed in both the US and Canada before 1982, after that, they switched to magnesium/zinc pennies in the U.S around 1983 and later in 1996 for Canada.  Those pennies are worth more money than your dollar (about 3 cent), but they won’t tell you that at the bank because they are taking them out of circulation.  However, it’s a ‘poor man’s way’ you can ethically and legally get some actual money.  Base metals aren’t just real money, but tradeable, useful components.  Think of lead (Pb), it’s amazingly useful.

12) Firearms.   Own one, if you can’t own one, know how to use one.  Get ammo for it.  If this causes you problems, know how to shoot a bow, slingshot or etc.  If you are still having trouble with this – learn how to trap.  Also remember, firearms are good for alot of things, they are a tool, said:

13) Own some tools.  Yeah, this is crucial (like an axe, shovel, fixed blade knife) & make sure that your electric tools are also rechargeable or have an alternative source of power. Stated;

14) Build a solar generator or own a multi-fuel one.  Own drop chords. Have at least 1  to 3 12 Volt batteries around.

15) Know your area, get paper maps.  Know the area you live in like the back of your hand, where’s water, etc.

16) Stay informed.  Know the weather (example), don’t fall to the classic notion ‘it can’t happen to me’.

17) Spend time outside.  The most crucial thing I learned about the weather when living outdoors was knowing when the rain was about to fall, even without clouds in the sky.

18) Own a tent, tarps, 6 mil plastic, duct tape, chord, rope or know how to build a lean-to.  Crucial, just know this stuff

Also, you need to understand how to set up a rainfly, where not to camp and etc.

19) Get outdoor stuff.  Own sleeping bags (non-Walmart), sleeping mats, backpacks, Gortex, wool socks

20) Have at least one good pair of shoes that can handle anything, own extra non-cotton socks (get it again?)

21) Get a water filtration system, get a purification process or know how to build a solar still

22) Get a compass.  Forget your cell phone or GPS, that stuff fails, mine did, but my compass didn’t

23) Buy food.  Get staples.  Rice, dried eggs, honey, dried milk, beans, sugar, salt, spices, canned goods, hi-calorie* etc.

*Vitamins: Vitamins, while crucial, are not food, they can make you sick when taken on an empty stomach , so put them and protein shakes in with the medical stuff and take them as needed (and on a full stomach). (Vitamin C itself is good for water purification, but it is also a diuretic when taken in quantity and can make you lose water) .

24) Don’t assume anything.  Don’t believe the police will be there, don’t assume what you learned in boyscouts is still accurate and don’t think it’s going to be all roses, stated;

25) Practice what you know: practice, practice and practice <- most important- TEST IT

Get out.  Learn your craft. Find out what does and doesn’t work through application

26) Help others.  The elderly, bed ridden, children and mental impaired folks are not liabilities, keep them in mind.  Never discount what these folks can do in any crisis.

27) Be a Missourian.  ‘Show me’ it works. Don’t believe everything on face value just because you think it works, test it out – including this list, test it.  After that, refer to (25) again and start over with each piece of knowledge, on that note;

28) Gear up your medical knowledge, and I’m not just talking drugs.  Know the plants and methods.*

Even the evil demon weed can be used during a crisis for medical purposes. So can Chamomile, Mint, Poppy (American) and Feverfew – go here:

http://webecoist.com/2008/09/30/most-powerful-potent-medicinal-medical-plants-in-nature/

*The fact that I knew what a holly leaf could do saved my life last year – had I not understood such obscure knowledge, I would have died.   Be aware that conventional ‘medical wisdom’ would have you believe that holly is ‘poisonous’ – and just leave it at that.  It can be, but it can also save your life.  Please consider this near fatal wisdom I am sharing.

29) ***Get out of the city***.  Crucial.  Leave.  If you don’t get this, you won’t ever, so I won’t argue with you why this is important.

30) Be prepared to support others.

Let’s face it, personally; While I can survive anywhere in the world I choose; I’ve lived on the side of mountains, on river systems, in urban holes, swamps and even slept out on islands in the West Indies  – however, without people, my life is meaningless (even as a loner,  I need people.)  That stated, be prepared to support others – they are going to be confused.  Most won’t prepare – and they really don’t know what true ‘shock’ is until it hits them, things will be difficult.  However, by helping humanity, we do actually help each other.  People make life worth living.

31) Lastly, strengthen your will.   Will is the ability to meet God half way – I’ll leave it at that.

That’s not everything, but it’s a good list of stuff you can do to get started.  And remember, you don’t know what you don’t know.  Also, remember, most of the American populace are unlike our predecessors, turn the power off and they’ll fold.  It’s been said that if an American city goes without power for more than a few days, half the population will die.  That’s true, but I think it’s higher than that.

Complacency kills.

Remember this more than anything, doing something (intelligently) towards preparedness is way better than sitting on butt – which is not good in the end, no pun intended (well …).  If you are going to sit on butt, at least read and explore what you can find out on the internet, turn off the TV and ditch the gaming – please.

Also, have no addictions.

Do not be addicted to any drug or even alcohol, this would include coffee.   If your can’t reasonable grow it (lets say coffee beans because this is Facebook and I know the Feds watch it like a hawk), don’t be enslaved to it. Addictions drive our motivations.  In Meth addicted communities in the Ozarks, people literally starve to death while trying to feed their addictions. Remember this …  an addiction is an addiction. Coffee addictions are no different than heroin addictions, they just vary in scale of perceivable effect and social acceptance.  Plus, your body will not be able to handle the stress of an emergency and an active addiction at the same time.

My belief is that most of the American public will not survive any type of national crisis due to the fact that we have so separated ourselves from God’s green earth that we would not know what to do if the moment struck.   Point in case, when I told someone from New York City (while in New York City) I was going to go back out in the woods for a while, they stated, “Aren’t you scared? Doesn’t bad stuff happen out there?”  I blinked.  Maybe I personally missed all the urban propaganda, wood based horror movies and socialization through education that these folks go through (thankfully), but most of America didn’t unfortunately.

A city is an unnatural occurrence, people aren’t bees – no matter how much New Agers, Dawkinites or Socialists want us to believe this is true. Without farms and ships feeding them, cities fail, shrivel and die. The most famous ‘first city’ was Hamoukar, out of which rose Babylon – and that worked out pretty well in the end didn’t it?

I forced myself to realize this fact years ago, but not everyone grew up ‘country’.  Now I know most of friend’s list grew up rural in either the Appalachian or Piedmont areas of the United States – you have no idea how much of advantage you have in terms of ‘survivability’, but I can tell you, you still have allot to do in order to get ready for what’s about to come down the pipe.  Just count your lucky stars that you at least have a fighting chance – most of America won’t and I’m not trying to be mean or callous.

About me, these topics mentioned above and my own personal faith;

I’m the walking example of Ecclesiastes 4:7-12.  My heart hurts each time I read that passage because I feel Solomon personally had me in mind.  I live by myself, so in retrospection, I have no other path than to practice what I preach – none.  Failure to follow my own advice can / would be tragic at times.  Just in these past few months, the power’s gone out due to the storms, snow & tornadoes, the well shut down due to age, I’ve been snowed and iced in and etc.  No one comes to my rescue when stuff goes bad and no one picks me up when I fall – save for God.  I have to live this way – but I also choose to do so.   What I’ve gained through my life is experience and knowledge about how to live independently – but I’ve also come to understand that most people like to follow and do not desire to live independent of a larger support system.  That’s fine too, but it’s not for me (and it may not be for you).   I just would rather put up with the hardships of not having access to a grocery store all the time – call it training to standard if you want.  People unrealistically romanticize this lifestyle too, it can be dangerous and no fun at times.  So know – also – that even independence and freedom, respectfully, have their own price.   Be willing to pay it.

If you can convince your spouse or significant other to prepare with you, you are the most blessed of all people on this planet.   Most folks don’t have that option – on any point of the spectrum.  I hear survival instructors talk about this issue at length.  Two are better than one.

Enough of me jabbering …

What I’ve laid out above are just basics, stuff off the top of my head – I could think of more, but that’s a good solid frame work and would help out anyone that wanted to take a step towards independence & move away from dependence on this crazy and often psychopathic society that we live in today.  Especially during a crisis of national or global proportions.

But really it’s all about how you think and act to get started …

Other than faith, separate your mind from popular media and reconnect with the outdoors.  You don’t have to give up the Internet to do this – but you have to be willing to turn off tube, ditch the cell phone and just be outside once in a while.

Thank you for reading this ..

“All is vanity under the sun ” – Ecclesiastes

“You can’t be passive … gotta be active, can’t go with what looks attractive” – Arrested Development’s ‘Give a Man a Fish‘

“Live the life you love, love the life you live” – Bob Marley

“A free man must not be told how to think, either by the government or by social activists. He may certainly be shown the right way, but he must not accept being forced into it.” – Jeff Cooper