Here is a quick barrage of sometimes unconventional survival tips for when the worst happens in just a few fast minutes of video.
Some are useful supplies to bring along, others are simple tips you need to learn and practice before the situation gets real.
These ideas may help you stay alive, avoid losing heat and sweating, stay hydrated and establish shelter, fire and food:
Would you carry your bug out bag supplies in a guitar case to throw off suspicion, or remember aluminum foil as a simple fire starting barrier to moist or wet ground? Remember how to foster sparks when you need to start a fire without wasting too much valuable time?
What about homemade ballistic protection? Or a hobo fishing kit and toothpaste for bug bites? Glow sticks to attract rescue crews? Don’t forget first aid basics and cigarettes for barter, or alternately, bug repellent.
Most know the basics of water treatment, but carrying bleach, charcoal and/or tablets is a must for your bug out bag. This video remind you not to wash wounds or broken skin in questionable or untreated water, as infection could result.
Add a foil blanket inside a tarp or tent structure, and amplify the heat generated and kept in the temporary shelter – now a “super” shelter. Ponchos can turn into a shelter, block rain, or collect rain water for additional drinking sources.
There are many other simple tips and supplies you’ll want to think about ahead of time – consider these factors, and use them to upgrade and refine your preps and plans. Think ahead, practice and train – well before the SHTF.
Have some tips that weren’t covered in the video, or have it beat? Please share and discuss below.
Read more:
The Prepper’s Blueprint: The Step-by-Step Guide to Prepare You For Any Disaster
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This article was originally published by Michael Snyder at The End of the American Dream under the...
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Way to purify water
Good knife
Way to start fire
Ponchos
WOW, great article with lots of good information and reminders. Thanks Mac!!!!
times 2, mac! i would give you two thumbs UP…if we still had ’em!
you could carry that 100 pound bugout bag damn near ANYwhere with a joggin’ stroller!
The pic shows a pellet gun? I would have a .22 with a water bottle silencer.
Hey Genius, have you ever tried the Poor Man’s Grease Pack? (In short it’s just a ‘green scrunge’ (scouring pad that’s more air than product). Just take the scrunge and ‘pack’ as much grease as you can into her …’roll’ it around (length-wise) the end of the muzzle (as many wraps as you can make keeping about 3 inches on the barrel (you can use whatever to keep it in place:(ie; elastics, ‘ties’, or just the grease keeps a good hold. With an LR-308 (DPMS) chambered for both 7.62’s or .308s I can get (on average) three rounds fired before it needs more ‘goop’. *AND —> these suckers are VERY quiet. I’ve never tried it (yet), but I have little doubt these work on ANY muzzle or caliber (use common sense and NEVER allow ANY of that grease into your muzzle (looks like an exploded cigar, sorta). *Once in a blue moon that ‘fresh scrunge’ will ‘fly away’ with your first shot. It won’t make any sound that would breach your position …but they usually go against gravity and stick-like-glue far above you …in the trees. lol… It is far better to just spend the bucks for a ‘silencer/suppressor’ yet in a pinch these ‘greasepacks’ WORK …(a good ‘smith’ is able to make one superior to those on the after-market). For much larger calibers considering using Freightliner “smoke-stack” mufflers, culverts… lol….
Don’t forget golf bag caddy carts. If you have a course on your route out of Dodge, there are enough caddys for your family and immediate neighbours.
Opposable thumbs separated us from the monkeys. Uh-oh…
New studies show that estrogen-mimicking chemicals also decrease the female sex drive.
Remember when you first got married and your wife actually wasn’t fat and knew how to fuck?
Those days are long behind you.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA ACID ETCH
Acid, No they aren’t.
How fat is your boyfriend?
BWAHAHA……
Ketchup
there are massive amounts of endocrine disrupters in our environment that cause male sterility and male feminization, also known as pesticides. I read about them b/c I am a gardener and plant science major. They are also in rocket fuel and plastics, which I have not read much about. Monsanto, Syngenta, Dow are the main purveyors. You boys blame women and call us feminazis instead of blaming Monsanto. Sheesh.
note also that endocrine disrupters cause thyroid problems and blood sugar problems, alzheimers, ADHD, and our most common health problems. My guess is that a lot of male sex change operations are directly caused by these chemicals that have been dropped on us in the trillions of pounds and are in our food.
Corn may be the worst, Atrazine is on 85 percent of US corn and it does not degrade in the environment even after 20 years. Corn is being added to nearly every packaged food now. Russia is only the most recent country to ban US corn and soybeans.
Grow a garden, folks.
Never grow hybrid seed, they have cytoplasmic male sterility built in, and it is passed down through the female line.
sorry, rant over
Keep the rants coming! Your posts are informative and I look forward to them!
It’s very difficult to grow corn here; creatures pour out of the forest and go for the corn like sailors heading into a strip club. Raccoons especially are clever, persistent, and can get into almost any enclosure. I have yet to figure out how to grow corn and get more than 10% of it for myself.
Karl V.
I had a raccoon living under my deck once upon a time ago but he didn’t get in my garden. I had two cute but worthless dogs and he got fat eating dog food and drinking from their bowl. What I have done here is increase the food supply in the forest by seeding out wildflowers and fruiting bushes. Raccoons are harder because they are omnivores like we are. A large dog is a deterrent but raccoon is a nasty fighter. A good old boy from this area told me to hang Christmas bells on stuff, wild animals like stealth and it wakes up the dogs. I’ll try it this year and let you know.
If all the food is focused around your house, the animals do stream in to eat it. I
am now seeding the middle third of my hill. I plant native berries “uphill” and it is
part of my food forest because I can also eat most of the fruit… and reserve the meat for future use. Crabapples are wonderful and I ordered 2 more this year. I have 5 elderberries planted away from my beds. I planted one wild cherry and wild plums uphill. I planted bear berries and Oregon grape between me and the forest and interweave the berries from my house outward. Mulberries especially will take birds away from cherries. I will seed the upper reaches from current stock. My small mammals are fat and sassy and I have
predators coming in to thin them out. I attracted quail finally, saw them last summer, first time. Good luck!
to eat them. Balance your forest ecosystem and it will help. I had less trouble last summer than the first year.
http://www.patagonia.com/us/product/mens-nano-puff-pants-for-fly-fishing?p=82140-0
https://marmot.com/products/details/windstopper-convertible-glove
http://www.patagonia.com/us/product/mens-merino-air-bottoms?p=36465-0
http://www.patagonia.com/us/product/mens-merino-air-hoody?p=36390-0
A few useful items.
Buy platypus screw cap water bottles. Theyre made in the USA and BPA free.
nice trail in that pic. In real life situations, they would be trail blazing, as in making their own path getting beat by branches and brush, tripping and clawing their way up the hill. Then come to a unpassable ledge and have to go back a few miles, leaving a string of cuss words twice as long.
Yup, personally, if i have to go off like that where im going is so thick it will be hard to do much walking with a pack,,, if its gotten to that point i dont want to be anywhere near whee other people would venture.
don’t forget the 550 cord!
50 Ways to Utilize Paracord in a Survival Situation
Bear bag
Belt
Bow drill for fire starting
Clothesline
Dental floss
Dog collar
Fish stringer
Fishing line
Hair tie
Hammock
Handcuffs
Hatband
Handle on an improvised weapon
Key fob
Lanyard
Leash
Net
Pulley system
Rappelling (Only in extreme emergency – not designed for this)
Repairing broken equipment
Repairing flip flops or sandals
Repairing torn clothing
Replacement drawstring for bags or clothing
Replacement handle for bags or totes
Replacement hardware for doors or drawers
Replacement shoelaces
Rifle sling
Rope ladder
Secure an animal by tying it to something
Secure a tent or shelter
Secure outdoor items during a windstorm
Shoelaces
Sling
Slingshot
Snare
Snowshoe assembly using branches and paracord
Stitch a wound or repair tore clothing
Stretcher for an injured or ill person
Suspenders
Tie down items to a vehicle roof rack
Tie on a splint
Tie things to your belt or belt loops
Tie up an intruder
Tourniquet
Tow rope
Travois for hauling supplies
Tripwire
Water filter
Watchband
Zipper pull
You’re really only limited by your own creativity.
don’t forget, there are 7 smaller strings INside your paracord…it can be taken apart and used for smaller jobs
With heavier BOB’s you better be wearing taller laced up boots above your ankles. You need more support with a taller boot say mid calf. Also for stability on a trail use a good pair of hiking walking sticks. They give you extra stability when crossing streams, Rocky trails and reduce the top heavyness a bulky pack causes. There are sticks that collapse and can be fastened to your outside of the bag. Break an ankle miles out and you are toast. So being a whistle or a marine airhorn to signal for help. A mirror for signaling also.
-WWTI….
military desert boots…or winter boots, can be had near military bases for very cheap…often under 20$ for new ones, and they work VERY well..soft enough to provide a comfortable walk, but hard enough to walk on pointy rocks and not feel them too bad..aint nuthin’ like waffle-stomper soles…a 40 year old design that STILL works.
Everyone’s list forgets the most important item. Don’t forget to pack some rubbers!
handcuffs, good idea. Never know what you’ll find a use for. 🙂
Semi for 100,000 rods of ammo, 3 years food for 4, 150 rolls of TP. 50 rolls of PT, cord of wood, Cal King Beauty Rest. enough clothes for the rest of my life, enough ladies shoes for 1000 years; Nah I’ll just stay home. Mans got to go sometime, what better way than at home; fighting for the lands of his fathers and the temples of his gods. I’m not very religious, but I will fight for what’s mine.
Why do all you people even think if running? If you believe in your gods and freedoms. STAND AND FIGHT Especially all of us old duffers, The hell with living off the land; live off the supplies of the people you kill on your front lawn. They will run out of people long before we do. You think it’s better shivering to death in a cave than going down surrounded by empty brass? Go ahead, but as for me and mine we will fight for the right to be free.
have you thought of a volcano erupting in yer back yard?…or a nuclear plant 20 miles upwind melts down, or a tornado flattens your town…or the water supply goes dry, or WW III sends bombs too close to your home…an asteroid hits near you….i’m SURE that’s ALL that could happen to cause ME to leave…there COULDN’T be anything ELSE to run from,….like an invading army approaching…oh, never mind.
Nobody found on your front lawn will have anything worth taking except MAYBE weapons or ammo. Those who have anything worth taking, will be hunkered down with it and ready to defend it.
Handcuffs are bulky and heavy, and with practice, someone can escape from many of the more common types.
I picked up a set of thumb-cuffs at a flea market for $4. They are just cheap China cuffs; but they are compact, weigh very little, and are pretty tough to escape simply because the confined person has lost use of his thumbs. I would not rely on them for long-term confinement but they are surprisingly effective for temporary use.
You can make them even more resistant to escape by putting a small piece of duct tape over the keyhole after locking them on the detainee.
I’m not going to arrest and then feed anyone, get real! 9MM back of the ear. Asteroids, volcanoes, N plants, or WW III?
(Not even attacks by thousands of angry gerbils.) Get out of fantastic land. I’m going to backpack my way out of an asteroid impact? Ya sure. Come on people; figure what’s likely and prep. Financial collapse by whatever means, problems with the free shit army sure, N Plant problems get in your car drive upwind.
Dave
or slow down a little bit and get through unscathed 😉
Takes too much calories to chop your way through 12 miles of brush. Northern Id mountains Require climbing Constantly over downed trees. My plan is to let someone else (like Kula or Genius) lead point.
Dave
good idea to let those guys lead out 🙂
Crashing through brush can be heard for miles, though. Straight lines are not always quickest in the woods.
My EDC:
Leather shoe laces
.380 on left ankle
“Travelers Stash Pouch” around right ankle containing: small first aid kit, mylar blanket, ferro rod, giant water/wind-proof matches, water purification tabs, essential oils, 30 lb fish line and hooks.
Leatherman on belt. (Knife, File, and other tools)
100% cotton bandana in left rear pocket
Wallet in right rear pocket containing: Bills 100 50 20 20 10 5 and 4 ones. Emergency money and I can make exact change to the dollar from $1 to $210. Wallet survival kit with fresnell lens, compass, info on survival, first aid and signalling. Small hacksaw blade, cuff key, 2 quarters for phone call, 4 postage stamps. Remote access instructions for home answering machine to get a massage to anyone who might call.
Paracord bracelet on left wrist yields 2 7ft pieces of paracord, in forest green.
All this covers:
The survival Rule of Threes
Dave Canterbury’s 5 C’s of Survival
(Cutting tool, Combustion device, Covering device, Cordage,
but will have improvise Container)
Self Defense
Money
First Aid
Navigation
Some basic E & E
and some Miscellany.
Great ideas.
But….
2 quarters for phone call
Really…??? LMFAO!!!
The last payphone I’ve seen was a gimmick one set up at the entrance to a friend’s property in the desert. It’s not connected, just sits there. I haven’t seen a working payphone for several years.
I’m in Idaho and don’t get out much.
Don’t forget suspenders to hold all the stuff up on the belt
Only Leatherman on belt…
Nice that you care to give a massage to anyone who might call 😉
Not, I hope, with a “Happy Ending”…
I would include one of those mosquito-net head coverings — they can be scrunched down to use almost no space in storage, and are all but weightless. Having one of these can take a literally unbearable situation down to “annoying but tolerable”.
I would also consider carrying two 1-oz silver bars and one 20-franc gold coin (which contains just a hair under 1/5 oz of gold). These coins were minted by both France and Switzerland and are readily available through coin dealers or online bullion dealers.
If the situation really is dire, paper money might not still be useable. Even if currency is still accepted, having a solid gold coin is a heck of a “force multiplier” in a crisis. Likewise with the silver; slamming a silver bar down on a table and declaring “And I’ll throw in a silver bar to sweeten the deal” could be the deciding factor in clinching a trade that you want.
I Daily carry a get home bag. Some cash, a 2 way which my wife has the other. knife, couple of water bottles, life straw, knife, foil, poncho. some Para cord. some food. Nothing too heavy but It will get me back home. we are almost never more than 35 miles away.
Foil! I didn’t think of that one. I wonder if lining my baseball cap with foil will help 🙂
I just spent three days going through my food pile. I had a 30 gallon trash can close by, expecting to fill it up with stuff that wasn’t any good…I found 2 packets of instant pudding that one had a hole in it, and both had hardened like a bag of wet sacrete. I found 1 bag of instant potato buds that had a hole in the corner, so I decided to pull it out and use it up.
THAT WAS IT! All I found in all of my stores.
I’m amazed.
Six, aside from a morale boost, instant pudding will do more harm than good. It just doesn’t strike me as top fuel.
Especially for hard times. Just my opinion.
Ill just use my tinfoil hat! At this point its thicker than most commercial cookware!
Genius,the foil won’t help!From your posting history tis clear the radio waves/microwaves/waves from planet X ect. have already done their damage!
On a different note,instead of foil how about mylar as a heat retention device,ones made that can be reused time and again,they will not though ever fold back perfectly into that sweet little rectangle!Don’t ask a ocd type like me how I know!
It will help hold body heat if it’s winter also the mylar emergency blankets will serve as cover against those heat seeking drones that will be scouting about. Your can even cut out a stencil of a sleeping deer shape for nighttime.
it would keep ppl from ‘hearing’ what you are thinking too!?
Will keep the spy satellites from reading your mind if all else fails. LOL Peace
i keep a few one ounce gold coins in my motorhome, just in case i run out of money and credit, when far from home.
BCOD, I do the same but silver dollars and smaller silver coins. I carry a small gold coin in my wallet.
Something I just thought of is those folgers single serve coffee packs. Like a teabag that is enough for a good size cup of coffee. A great moral booster and comfort! I have tried them and they are good, compact, light 🙂
Folgers?!Really?!Would rather me own urine!
Sounds identical to mine.
I have 18 miles to cover through urban retail areas that might draw looters. My bag is built around sufficient nutrition, water purification, shelter, fire-making ability, and defense for three days if needed. My bag weighs in at 22 pounds. On my off days, I condition myself by saddling up and walking for as long as I can.
Written out directions to the nearest Holiday Inn. EMP could take our your cell phone, ya know.
I like the way you think. Why should the Apocalypse be difficult. If you need to bug out, just call Uber.
Motel 6
Well leave the light on!
Kula, remember the article saying motel 6 reports any suspicious people to the cops? Might want to stay at a mom and pop motel 😉
Naw , gotta earn my Marriot points .
Ill watch the riots from the fifth floor !
Whatta plan .DUH
Motel 6
Where you can get your drugs, get laid and you ass beat all in one stop.
Motel 6? Watch out for those bed bugs!
…and your car burglarized…
Kula… DISCLAIMER: except if the grid goes down.
DETAILED maps of your area…
Geological map of your area…
JS, I already have that in my head lol.
Two ‘items’ few think of —-> railroad tracks and power line roads. Either of these modes of travel are splendid provided you have the vehicle (or legs) for it. In the mountains you can often take an hour or so off getting someplace by just using a powerline ‘road’ (barely a road in many places).
learn to drive off-road…with even a two-wheel drive car with tires aired down, MOST people would be SURPRISED at where you can go if you know how to drive….an air pump could be PRICELESS, maybe even MORE expensive. see your local 4 wheel drive club …
WAY off topic
but damn this is getting good
LMAO!!!!
Report: Rubio “Very Extroverted Homosexual” During College Years
htt p://www.prisonplanet.com/report-rubio-very-extroverted-homosexual-during-college-years.html
and supposedly the New York Times has some secret tape of “the Donald” which is quite damaging
Cruz and Rubio are demanding it be released
stay tuned for more laughs from the clown car
Very sad about Marco if true. Coming from Alex Jones however there is about .00000001% chance that it is true.
Donald Dump is running the same campaign that Mad Vlad Putin used to win in the Neo-Soviet Union, “Make Russia Great Again” vs “Make America Great Again”, SOS! (same old sh*t)
Putie Boy has even endorsed Trump Dumpling.
Right now I have far more respect for Putin than I have ever had for the man child in the White House. I didn’t say I agreed with Putin’s policies, but at least he’s not a lying, spineless, sniveling, …. you get the picture.
i also like putin.
yes, he’ll kill you if you don’t fall in line with what he’s doing in russia; but he’s at least building it into as big as possible.
pretty sad that the usa can’t push around someone with 1/8 the economy; but the usa a just another western fat country that cant do anything but kill itself slowly.
@Wilson & Lena
Written just like a couple of Neo-Commies.
Lot of commies on this site. Perverts, too.
Sounds like you two like obama more than putin? Whos a commie?
this guy’s on his death-bed and the doc says to his family “we got a very risky operation we can try…it’s quite new, but in this case it’s worth a try…he needs a brain transplant”…..finally one family member stammers what all WANTED to say…”how much does a brain cost”….doc says well, we can get a democrat brain for 10,000 dollars, or a republican brain for 250 dollars….one family member finally says “why is the republican brain so much LESS?”….the doctor replies “the republican brain is USED.”
Ha ha ha, or do you know how many democrats you have to kill to get a complete brain 😛
i like that one too, genuis.
obama’s outside the spitehouse walking with hitlery, when they see a boy with a box of puppies. obama looks down and says “what kind of puppies are those?”…the boy beams as he says “these are democrat puppies”. obama is quite happy to see another supporter growing up democrat…..a week later he’s walking with mooshell, the appocalypse COW, again near the spitehouse, and he sees the same boy with the box of puppies, so they wander over to look, and mooshell asks “what kind of puppies are those, sonny”…and the boy says they are republican puppies….so obama says, “now wait a minute son, you said those puppies were democrats”….no, says the boy, they’re republicans….”now their EYES are OPEN.”
I’m not a commie…. just a pervert… I do hope that I get half credit for this…
Commie Hater!
I’ll take my perv credits now, thank you very much!
Man, you haters don’t know how to have a good time, it’s all twisted knickers for you guys.
I remember Putin also saying something like “if war is inevitable, He will strike first” Something to think on.
Not true. We have now managed to fill our military with courageous, trans-gendered “soldiers”…
SW
Don’t worry. I’m voting for Hillary. Everything is in the bag.
Me too, if anyone can push it over the edge, she can, think ill vote for her a few times actually
Kulafarmer.
Hillary will pick Obama for V.P. or maybe Kerry. Then Kerry and Romney can fight over who looks more like Frankenstein. But if Obama comes into the picture we can have Hillary on the Morning News and Obama on the Nightly news. What Trump needs to do is Pick Sarah Palin for V.P. and torpedo it all. There is John McCain to fall back on.
All the Great Combinations you can think of.
Bill Clinton is sounding better all the time. Hahahaha!
For any appointment.
I was just kidding, could never vote for that c_nt ever.
I have a feeling it wont matter who anyone votes for,
she puts the cunt in country!….i appreciate the setup kula!
Anything to help out bud!
Please don’t insult country like that! We deserve better! 😉
I thought obummer was promised a seat at the U.N.?
Vote early and vote often. The Dems war cry.
my uncle kenny was a staunch republican all his life…but since he died, he’s voted straight democrat.
Ha ha ha, good ones BC
You may as well. She’s gonna vote for herself too.
You mean your bug out bag.
it’s hag, slingshot….it’s spelled HAG!
That was a great joke Buttercrack….I’m gonna tell it to my republican neighbors here in the country.
ok, here’s a GREAT joke…you won’t laugh HERE, but try it in a room full of people(hopefully intelligent)..it HAS to be several people….here in america, people are sooo stupid, if you only got an audience of two or three, nobody is smart enough to ask the question….”hillary just got her most important nomination yet for her presidential run”…….when somebody says “oh, who was it?”….you answer “i don’t know….the guy won’t leave his name!”…in a room full of people, it gets a lot of laughs every time….you can even insert trump’s name instead of hillary’s, if yer in the wrong crowd.
endorsement……instead of nomination, it should have said endorsement…..damn dumbassed american
Rubio was trying to make the connection of small hands-small penis when campaigning against Trump. I really considered that a low rent move. I do think anyone on this rodeo needs to be claiming moral superiority.
Some very good advice.
We all need a plan A, B, C. and maybe even D. We all know what we have planned, and it will change, and will have to adapt to what is happening at the time.
So stay loose and prep.
Sgt.
Sounds like a good list, but most importantly, adjust your gear to fit your specific scenario and location.
and don’t forget to PRACTICE with that gear!
How much of that stuff can I get through a TSA groping.
you’re still FLYING?
Is this article Snyder approved?
the heck with all that.
i’m just going to load up the armor and go to the big houses and contract myself out as a mercenary/security to the one who has the best stockpile of food and water.
What a great plan! Nothing like working for the man.
Not kidding… rich folks are advertising for couples to take care of their BOL for them.
Heck I used to let an old man (friend of mine) live in his camper on my property in exchange for watching the place. Worked out great till he died 🙁
Uh,what state,this the property with the shtf deck,might be interested in watching the place,well,say for 2 weeks(and no,not considering it a vacation spot if thats what you thought!).
Ha ha ha, Thanks for the offer but my new place (same state and area) is checked on by my friends of 20 years. I do however have a work offer hauling and spreading 5 tons of gravel from the wash for a foundation for my storage container. I will even supply the buckets and gloves and shovel! Doesn’t pay a lot but has benefits like shtf insurance and a position in security patrol (when shtf). Rations of shine and some grits too! Your own camper to live in and the pleasure of my company 🙂
Genius
dang me I just moved 5 tons of concrete block… I shoulda contracted it out to a night watchman. …
Hauling gravel?!I am way too good looking to do that!Actually,done enuff bucket hauling with broken concrete out bulkheads/bring in gravel/concrete for B-dry type systems to last a life time.I refused to mix in cellar(could get mixer thru bulkheads)due to dust and some places hot air,I am that retentive!I think hauling your gravel would result in a security patrol Caine Mutiny(with more permanent out comes!).
That said,could refinish your deck properly and could show you how to set up/maintain a ,hmmmm…….,oh ya,chat room!
Warchild
you gave me a laugh this morning.
out I go to move a few more concrete blocks. Those raised beds gotta be done by May if I am going to get them planted this year. Maybe a cabin soon.
Then Genious, that makes you one ‘damn good man’. Thanks for extending your hospitality to your friend. I’m willing to wager he’s still keeping an eye on you. 🙂
genius, I did that letting an old man watch my place for letting him stay on my property in his car too…but I had to kick his ass out when he got too sick to get out of bed any more….I finally had to say, it’s time to go dad.
Practice!
I had fun this last year “roughing it” in my backyard. I slept in for all of February.
I practiced/played with all kine stuff.
Kelly Kettle, hobo stove, solar oven, making fire all different ways, hammock sleeping, tent procedures, water purifying, Mountain House/Wise foodstuffs, sleeping bag system, canning/preserving, etc.etc.
I quit going to the range. I practice in my buddie’s woods, training with various firearms from behind trees and deadfalls, on the run, and out of breath. I use very little ammo, and it is very fun.
My plans are vulnerable to contingencies based on various scenarios, and so are all my preps and EDC/GHB/BOB.
Plan A…. learn to adapt.
Try roughing it on an actual mountain or in a national park or out to sea or a desert.
Sheesh.
I have done that many times, it’s called camping lol.
get the kids into the boy scouts….they are prepared for ANYthing!…and it prepares the adults too…
I was going to join the cub scouts but I was too busy eating brownies 😛
that’s what gets you OUT of the boy scouts.
When I was in Boy Scouts we would sneak over to the girl scout camp lol.
Brownies, old one but still effective.
I love to rough it.
You know there’s a great four star restaurant in Yellowstone!
reminds me of my second wife…she liked it rough too.
Rrrrrggggggg!
But I digress!
Ignore the teasing, but I’ve been married for far more than a 1/4 century. I can’t even imagine anyone else.
She complains about how she looks after all these years, the children, the trials, the cancer. I mean damn every time she sees a dr. they send her home with more scars, but to be honest, when I make love, I make love to the woman of my youth. The gorgeous woman I married. She is all I could ever have hoped for, she is all I see!
My advise to anyone following me, seek quality, over quantity.
And I’m sorry if ever the entire Eastern Seaboard explodes, yup it was me and my sweetheart making love. If we get any better, well the whole world is at risk!
it’s a lucky and smart man that realizes when he’s got a keeper!
Excellent Video’s.
State maps you buy at the travel plaza are a good back up incase roads are closed or impassable and who’s to say your iPhone is gonna stay working during that time?
I also have print out frequencies for local repeaters and their PL tones just incase programmed radios get gone.
I have a list of “checkpoints” of various places in our area that are printed out and stored I n both cars and bags, so if you’re using open air comms you can communicate with someone else to meet up at checkpoints that are predetermined vs announcing where you’re gonna be on open channels.
Duress words are a must as are all clear words.
Check-sum is priceless for comms too if you get everyone in agreement on how it works.
Jim, great plan. I use the DeLorme topo maps for all the states near me and my own.
Jim,the appy trail site has the maps for almost all the US,easily printed but a protective cover up to you.A good prepperwill print maps of all places they even think they might need em and just for regular travel,can dig em up.
I need a new printer and ream of paper,any good thoughts on a permanent cover home made appreciated.
For those that can..build a hobby farm. Someday those rice and beans will run out. Growing your own food is important if you want to eat. grow extras of a variety that grows in your area can be traded for other supplies. Buy used hand tools, store gas/diesel for a tiller, have a shotgun and a few rounds (2-3K) to keep the critters out. A fence and gravity fed drip irrigation for when the water gets scarce. Those that cannot have a farm…stock up in a barter item for when the rice runs out, such as 12 gauge shot shells…..lots of them and a press with components to make more. Buy winchester AA shells because they are easy to reload and can be done often without crimp fatigue. But anything is better than nothing. For the mechanics, learn how to convert/tune engines to run on white lightning and have a still to make it. In order to barter, you must have something or a skill other people need and cannot do without, such as electrical or alcohol production for fuel. Im doubt sewing, carpentry and plumbing type skills will not be in too much demand in a real bad shtf. People will just stitch or nail shit together the best they can as they did in the depression.
Also don’t forget, Bar chain oil, 2 cycle oil, conventional motor oil, extra spark plugs, for the Generator and tiller..
I re use motor oil for bar oil since my diesel gives me plenty.
What do you mean “sewing” will not be in demand? LMAO! My grandparents lived in northern Maine after the depression and during the shortages and rationing from WWII. Sewing was an essential skill for women to learn (and that even men appreciated). Old fabric was saved and converted into quilts. My family didn’t heat the bedrooms (or the house at night for that matter) they bundled the kids together in one bed and parents in another under heavy quilts to stay warm. Chamberpots were kept under beds for use in the night and emptied in the morning. Outhouse was used during the day and for taking a dump. My grandfather was a carpenter and painter and never did anything half-assed. If he was going to build a wood shed, he built it well. Same for my grandmother. She didn’t just cook, she was a fricking gourmet chef compared to the crap that most people eat today. Plus she insisted that everyone stay clean, that floors were scrubbed, and clothes mended. Looking presentable, even while being poor, was taught in my family and being dirty or wearing torn clothing was never acceptable in the opinion of my grandmother. It showed that you were unclean and had a mentality of poverty and made excuses. Excuses were simply not allowed in my family. I never remember hearing my grandparents bitch about anything. Ever.
99.9% of women today cant sew anything. My wife is a great seamstress. She could make me a whole new wardrobe lol. 98% of people when left to their own resources will EAT SHIT!
Genius, I started sewing and learning the fiber arts from a very young age, 4 or 5. Most women my age can’t cook or sew. Consider yourself lucky to be married with a woman that has useful skills.
I do.
Good!
Because in a shtf situation, people will do everything they CAN do themselves, regardless of the quality of the work…..unless the absolutely Cant figure it out such as electronics, well drilling, transmission rebuilding, doctor, nurse etc. I can sew a patch on my clothes.. It looks like shit, but the breeze won’t blow through it.. maybe a heavy fart will though.
Actually I’m the one on this house that knows how to sew. I’ve always been able to watch someone do something once and then could always do it myself. Mom taught 4-H sewing.
How many people have darned socks? Socks are so cheap, no one does this anymore. If the SHTF you’d wish you had a big spool of darning thread and a needle. It isn’t tough. I watched mom do it a couple times as a small child, I could do it in my sleep.
So many lost skills!
Interesting concept, they say the Internet makes people feel smarter than they are. They can have a minor plumbing or electrical problem in their house, check a few YouTube videos and fix it! They are so proud of themselves, but what if the Internet was wiped out by an EMP natural or man made. I suspect people will be surprised at how stupid they really are!
Make sure you have a good paper library. CD’s or thumb drive are great, but will be useless without computers, electricity or after nukes, EMP, or CME.
Philosopher, both the wife and I are from ‘the county’. I left (for the Navy), in 1970 but went back and found my wife (then left again), in 2003 (in favor of living in The Smokies). All that you say on this site regarding Maine is all very true, and for me was “how I was raised up”. So, as you know, about anyone from Maine (imho), is going to be, out of necessity at an earlier age, a ‘jack of all trades’ (and good at all of them). We got to play a lot but ONLY after the chores were done and allllll of the rest. Sounds strange to speak to family up there anymore – – with their ‘cahs and pahtees’. No “R”s exist in any words spoken they-ah! lol…
I was helping a nephew out with his tow truck. A guy he towed for let him use his garage when he needed repairs. The garage owner had an old guy mechanic that ran it as a public repair shop and the owner had the mechanic on duty for repo repairs and his fleet maintenance.
Well every couple months my nephew would cry uncle (pun intended). And I’d pack my tool box, welder, jacks etc and head upstate in my van like a mechanic on wheels. I was pretty good at knowing what tools we needed to fix what was ailing us. I even brought my own compressor and air tools.
The old timer mechanic was leary of us the first time or two. He expected us to be hitting him up for tools, or just ripping him off, turns out twice in a row I had what he needed, and didn’t have, and saved his bacon on a repair going sour.
When he saw us pull out a my cheapo harbor freight 151 welder, that turned out to be just the right size for our job, with welding blankets to protect nearby cars and my own fire extinguishers, he was blown away, yup his $3,500 Lincoln welder was dead!
We were always good about cleaning up after ourselves, yeah we were guests. During one of my last visits, my nephew had to jet and I finished cleaning up. They old timer asked where I learned my shit.
I said, “I had a high school job summers that grew into collage summer’s at a really great father son auto and body shop.” I got to work in both, but I have to say I got really tired of taping and sanding in the auto body shop, and the fumes in those days.
Anyway, I told him one of the best lessons I figured out, was to keep my mouth shut, and my ears and eyes open as I pushed my broom in those early days. That was prime learning time. I also read every repair manual in the shop, I guess that helped too.
I became great friends with the son at that auto – body shop and he taught me a lot. He’d call me in for certain big repairs he knew I could blow through that annoyed him. Like drop an engine tranny combo and replace a clutch in a rear engine foreign car like a Porsche.
It set me up for lifetime,being able to repair my own and family cars that has been worth a small fortune. And I’m tech savvy enough to be able to handle computerized car repairs.
Last of all for anyone serious to prepping, may I suggest you try to be be a master of as many trades as you can. Every apocalyptic movie I’ve every seen had a sub theme that there were certain people that they refer to as engineers, who could fix or maintain anything, that were prized and protected. It’s not a bad place to be. Look at Cuba that has maintained cars build in the fifties that are now 60+ years old.
In you want to survive an apocalypse, have lots of stored supplies, or be yourself an inherently valuable player, useful to all sides of whatever conflict is happening.
The knowledge I have emassed is quite valuable, I’ve tried to pass it on to my son. Who should be at this point, be too valuable to draft by TPTB.
The father at that “father son repair shop” never got drafted for America’s experimental wars, because his craft was considered too important for the homeland! His skills were needed for the homeland. Thus he was protected, and may I add his wife was gorgeous, so many women left behind in time of war, but I digress! Young preppers, I hope I’ve peaked your imagination.
PTPO: that was awesome. Spot on. I am always learning. I have gone to different schools and learned a number of things my entire life. I wasn’t raised to be a spoiled brat and I was expected to work and getting dirty was not an excuse. Being female was not an excuse, either.
Red Cross first aid got my my first babysitting job. Then I picked berries in the summer. Then I worked at a YMCA camp the next summer. Grew up cooking / using a wood stove for heat / riding horses / riding 4-wheelers on the power lines for fun. Camped and fished for fun. Made little tree forts for fun. Shot and reloaded for fun. Boot camp was easy because I was in shape and knew how to shoot. Went to school to learn carpentry and furniture making. Learned how to work clay, by hand, too. Learned how to sharpen tools and use both hand and mechanical tools. Hit the books for a few years and got an official degree in Philosophy, minor in Latin. Then did an organic farm internship. Love to cook so have perfected great recipes that I make at home on a daily basis.
Looking for some acerage for a BOL. Not gonna say where but the prices are right. Looking to take a couple road trips. When? Soon. Oh and I am single. A partner with equivalent skills would be a joy.
Philosopher, I sooo hear ya. As the eldest of all girls, I learned a lot from my dad. I helped him with everything from building an addition to the house to assorted small mechanical repairs. I learned more mechanical skills from a dear departed husband and then other woodscraft in the Boy Scouts while my son was in Scouts.
I learned sewing, knitting, and many other useful home skills (e.g., food preservation, etc.) from my mother and grandmothers plus great mother in law.
My original major in college was fine art. It sounds like a useless thing to learn but much of the skills required doing what I’d already seen my father do with tools but for artistic endeavors such as stretching a canvas on a frame, sculpting or mixed media.
I’m overlooked now as a potential marital partner precisely because I have no interest in seeing the latest movies or dining out as a hobby (or one-nighters). I do my own yard and home maintenance (aside from really big tasks like re-shingling the roof) which is also an oddity these days. I would enjoy having a partner in life but it’s hard to find that guy.
great post, dave!
I liked the videos! Great information. My favorite new thing to add to my kit is a pencil sharpener. Love that idea! Also duct tape. My favorite old thing he had was socks and a bandana. That sleeping bag and hammock looked cool I am going to see if I can find them here in the US.
Very funny videos I like this kid talking about compensating for, well, nevermind 🙂
Kind of off topic.
Almost complete newby
I have a 6.8 mm LWRCI carbine with BUIS. Zero power ACOG on there now. I am retirement age, had operation on eyes so have better distance than reading vision. Unlike Jeremiah Johnson I won’t be “taking it to the aggressor.” I live in a suburb on a street a lot like yours. I”m in pretty good shape for a sixty-something fossile but I’m not Ranger fit.
Only ranges that I have access to within 50 miles are 100 yard ranges.
I don’t anticipate ever shooting farther than 350 yards. Most likely engagement range would be between 100 feet and 250 yards.
What dimesions of scope do I need? Need all the help I can get; don’t care about FOV, want crisp acuity at the likely distance. What size objective and tube? What brand?
Would a milliradian reticule help or hurt me? Do I want BDU? Do i want multicoated glass?
What kind of mounting hardware … would a good gunsmith know this or do I need to tell him?
Do you have a favorite source for your rifle optics? What kind of cash should i expect to pay?
thank you
what’s wrong with the ACOG??
Shepard makes scopes with pre set elevation crosshairs for different calibers (if your load is close to the specs). Easy enough if you load to the specs you should have no problem at 100, 200, 300, 400 etc. Read up on them, maybe it will fit your bill…
Have to fit his wallet$$ too. Have you priced a shepard.?
I stuck a Millet on my AR-15 LR-308, ‘zero’ed’ it using a Laser-bore sight …and it hasn’t needed any tweaking and takes quite a beating, so far. What I purchased is beyond average needs (or knowledge) unless you can snipe and USE the ‘funny little markings’ ….lol. Scopes start at about $250 and go upwards, the average being about $450.00 for ‘nice’ scopes. I don’t follow my own advice, but a scope that has electronics isn’t such a good idea (for instance, my Millet has ‘green-lighted’ crosshairs with a dial to increase intensity (if needed). One dead battery or EMP and that feature will be useless (along with the digital zooming).
Rufus,not off topic at all as this is a gear post.What as some asked is wrong with the ACOG,they are tough beasts.I would say a goodshort -mid range if not the Acog is the Vortex Viper with their unbeatable warranty,the acog just a reflex reticle?
BCOD
Genius
Dave in Idaho
Equorial
Warchild Dammit!
Thank you for sharing your expertise.
I realize it depends on fundamentals rather than on glass but my ageing eyes need all the help they can get beyond shotgun range. The ACOG doesn’t give me that help.
Thank you for the warning about being battery dependent. If my life is on the line I’ll have more than enough to think about.
just remember to send all warning shots down-range, center-mass….they’ll get the message!…i used to think the scope was the way to go, but iron sites aren’t all that bad. we had a training coarse for AR-15 a while back, and my man-sized target had one of, if not THE best grouping out of all 14 entrants.
I keep a small tube of Crazy Glue in my first aid kit for closing large cuts. Burns like an SOB but seals a wound. A small curved needle and dental floss can be used to suture a wound, too.
There was a nurse online a few yrs ago said the same thing to use super glue for stitches, but she said to leave a tiny opening at the end of the wound so puss and infection can get out. Don’t seal up totally. I got super glue in my fridge. It’s great if ya don’t have suture.
good one marie!
FOX – – Crazy Glue is, imho, a last ditch effort. Are you aware of a product called “Clear Skin” (it’s similar to crazy glue except it’s for the skin and has ‘germ killers’ in it plus it seals “bad” cuts in seconds (with pressure), is (almost) waterproof in that it holds up well even in a downpour (exposed). I asked my physician ‘flat out’ if he’d assist me with assembling a ‘first-responder’ type kit (didn’t mention ‘bug-out’ anything…hehe). Wow! I received Lidocaine, 20 different types of straight and curved needles, syringes (to ‘plant’ lidocaine around a bad wound before suturing …and gave me his old PDR that shows hundreds of ways to sew skin, organs, veins, cartilage …everything! Besides, if nothing else you’ll want to be sure you can make a ‘surgeon’s knot’ blindfolded. We may end up being a Hybrid MASH unit when this shit ‘rips apart at the seams’ and all hell breaks loose. Please don’t use commercial glues on your skin …especially ‘opened’ skin. (You don’t want crazy glue used as a ‘tooth-filler’ either). On the flip-side, Gorilla-Glue is far better anyway …but not for ‘doctoring’! For the best glues, you need a two-part epoxy that needs to be mixed then applied. THAT stuff is permanent and also not meant for bodily repairs. gawd!
I forgot to add that keeping a couple cloves of garlic is most wise. It is the earth’s natural antibiotic. Chopped and stuffed into a bad wound will get your attention fast, but it also clears up infections (or prevents them from starting or getting worse). Used in WW2 ‘exclusively’ for most wounds.
Unless a physician/nurse comes on here and tells me that using superglue or ‘the like’ is non-damaging to use on ‘open skin’ ….I’m stickin’ to my guns that it is NOT ‘good’ to use.
My little girl split her head open and in the ER the dr used medical superglue to glue it back together. Midwives use it as well for tears. It’s not a bad option if the cut has a clean edge.
Most you guys here will flame me. I’m an REI member and have been for years. The video showed my Compass! Silva. I don’t go hunting or hiking with out it and a topo map.
When near REI I always liked to go in and ask if they sold hunting licenses and tags? Just to watch the fag yuppies vomit.
I am Pacific coast so we do things different. I can start a fire in the rain and snow, but no birch trees here. Moss, fir bark, and Mil tablet stuff
I always carried a survival bag for work. I’ve been stranded on the top of a 14,000 high mountain that looks like Mars, but it is only 18 miles down hill to my home. It is easy to “escape”.
I’ve never carried that much “tin foil”. I’ll add that, or maybe carry my mess kit and put all the pills and other crap in it.
Keep on preping!
Rellik, REI has some good stuff. I am gonna have to remember that little gag the next time I am near a real store. LMAO. The little yuppies are cute but clueless. Teasing them almost doesn’t seem fair. Awwwww, poor little yuppies!
Oh oh I forgot, I love the rat traps! Very smart to tie a lanyard to them and peanut butter is the best bait. I have watched different survival shows where they bash their fingers trying to set traps. I love the rat trap so will buy a pair and throw them in my bag! Would I eat a squirrel or a chipmunk or a rat or mouse? Oh heck yes!
@ Philospher
Rat traps certainly won’t stop an intruder, for very long. But if the howl and profanity tells you they’re there, they’ve done their job. After grids go down, in your home or other location.
As ex-special forces, I have to say all this prepper advice misses some key points. They are:
1) What do you do when your bug out bag goes up in flames when thugs set your house on fire, or is destroyed when thugs pull over your car on the highway and you have left the bag in your trunk?
2) What do you do if you have to run for your very life with this stuff and after a couple miles, you can’t take the pain of carrying it, so you start to drop equipment to save the pain? I have seen many ‘hard men’ turn into crying little f-boys after having to run hard with all their kit. A man bragging in a bar – and I care not how many ‘roided muscles the guy has or how many tattoos – is nothing but a little sissy in a mini skirt when he has to do something real and tough like run for miles and miles on no food and little water or sleep.
To be a true ‘prepper’, you need to be able to be a ‘clean prepper’. That is, you need to be able to survive right now with nothing in a bug out bag. You need to be resourceful, you need to be super fit with a high endurance capability and high pain threshold. You need to survive in whatever environment you find yourself in, either urban or rural. A white cracker will get eaten alive in most US ghettos by black and latino gangs; equally, a black thug won’t last long in a ‘Revenant’ environment. You need to blend in and out of your surroundings. Walking down a Detroit street in camo with a trucker cap is going to get you killed; equally, wearing a pink suit in a Montana bar will get a similar result. Your best weapon? Your brain and an unrelenting desire to survive and live.
What one knows is far more important than what one has….don’t generalize because we will face situations which have never been seen before and the effects will vary from place to place…
So many articles about travel bags and walking everywhere.
Not many about the hostile gun toting people that you would meet.A lot of bad fantasy talk. A lot of people are going to die.
Merely having stuff won’t help if you have to leave the stuff behind…what’s in your head will be far more valuable than what you have in the basement… the most important survival item you MUST have is FAITH…..