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Backup Power on a Budget: Notes from South Africa
Backup Power on a Budget: Notes from South Africa
Editor’s note: By now, just about everyone has heard about the difficulties occurring in South Africa. The violence is palpable, the corruption is an everyday fact, and utilities such as water and electricity are no longer a given. Not only that, but the cost of these utilities has become prohibitive, so conservation is a necessity. Backup power, such as solar or generators, have become a necessity for many families.
In this article, a regular reader from South Africa shares some of the tips for starting out with generators and backup power that have made it easier to deal with the continuous rolling blackouts and outrageous prices for electricity. ~ Daisy
Living in South Africa we have had our share of rolling blackouts nationally. The cause: nefarious activities. The result being us forced to find ways to ensure we are not affected as badly.
The problem is better now, but it has highlighted that it is not just a South African problem, but in actual fact a Western world problem. We all are totally reliant on a massive aging infrastructure that can come tumbling down like a house of cards, with or without help.
Another problem is the cost to keep the national system operational. In some areas, it is not a priority to resolve the regular failures.
For getting started with backup power, remember that NEEDs vs WANTs – a huge price difference.
- UPSs – with like 2 up to 8 100ah batteries. Good for a number of hours depending on use – most cost-effective solution
- Generators – works for some, but cheap ones cost more as they damage some electrical appliances over time.
- Solar inverters and panels – power failures, what is that? And you save a lot of money afterward IF YOU DO IT RIGHT.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
The American Dunning-Kruger Epidemic (Or Why Ignorant People Are So Sure They’re Right)
The American Dunning-Kruger Epidemic (Or Why Ignorant People Are So Sure They’re Right)
It’s time to address an epidemic in the United States. It’s one that could be deadly, particularly to liberty.
It’s an epidemic of Dunning-Kruger. It’s why ignorant people are so certain that they’re right.
What’s that, you ask?
The Dunning Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which individuals, who are unskilled at a particular task, believe themselves to possess above-average ability in performing the task. On the other hand, as individuals become more skilled in a particular task, they may mistakenly believe that they possess below-average ability in performing those tasks because they may assume that all others possess equal or greater ability. In other words, “the miscalibration of the incompetent stems from an error about the self, whereas the miscalibration of the highly competent stems from an error about others.” (source)
And haven’t we all seen that lately? Let’s look at a recent example right here in the good ole USA.
Those who haven’t lived like the rest of us are the ones shouting the loudest.
Let’s start with the current gun control debate.
We have high school kids who think they are experts on policy, firearms, and the Constitution, smugly telling us how clueless they believe we are.
We have movie stars who make millions from movies where they shoot people and who are protected by armed security guards, telling us that we law-abiding citizens who have guns are vicariously responsible for every school shooting that has ever happened.
We have wealthy city dwellers who live in buildings with doormen telling the rest of us that we’re nuts for wanting to protect ourselves.
And all of these people who want to loudly tell the rest of us how to live our lives have one thing in common: they are completely out of touch with the real world.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Selco: The Shocking Reality of SHTF Medicine and How to Prep for When the Medical System is GONE
Selco: The Shocking Reality of SHTF Medicine and How to Prep for When the Medical System is GONE
Editor’s Note: Something difficult to plan for – or even wrap your brain around – is a world in which medical care is not available. Even though it’s outrageously expensive here in the United States, we can still access care. We may be in debt forever, but it exists.
So, what do you do in a world in which it no longer exists? A world in which there aren’t emergency rooms or doctor’s walk-in clinics? A world in which there aren’t any well-stocked pharmacies?
Today, Selco shares the brutal reality of SHTF medicine. ~Daisy
Since there were no hospitals, how did you treat people who were ill?
Organized (system) of professional medical help ceased to exist.
Hospitals, health centers, EMS, and everything similar was gone. The most advanced medical help that you could find in the hardest period was more or less primitive medical care that some military units had, such as medics and low-level trauma care. But this was not available to common folks.
People with medical knowledge became very important because of this fact, but even the most skilled people were often completely useless because all of the other help that the system offers you is simply non-existent.
One of my old colleagues told me story that could point out some things.
His friend called him to help him with his father, who had fallen from the roof. The man climbed on the roof to repair broken tiles, and he was there in the middle of the night (which was the safest way). He fell down, and his sons found him unconscious. They brought him in the house and called my ex-colleague, a nurse, for help.
When he arrived, he checked the old man, then called his sons in other room. He explained to them that their father was going to die very soon because most probably he had internal bleeding.
The sons were mad at him and they started to threaten him, asking him that he help the old man in any possible way.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Why Every Prepper Group Needs an Information Specialist (and How to Start Collecting Information)
Why Every Prepper Group Needs an Information Specialist (and How to Start Collecting Information)
Many preppers gather into groups of like-minded people to provide skills and equipment they themselves don’t have. One position or skill that is often overlooked is that of the “Information Specialist.”
“Someone who wants senior command should cultivate a lively curiosity. Technical competence (survival skills), even tactical competence (planning and execution of survival and military skills), isn’t enough. Strategy depends on intelligence (access to knowledge [books, articles, blogs, databases, maps, military intelligence, etc.]), and that depends on asking the right questions.” ~ “Winning Colors” by Elizabeth Moon (Comments in parentheses by the author of this article)
There is a great deal of information that is available to preppers publically and legally today that most likely won’t be available after the SHTF. Useful information that may help you survive and prosper during those bad times.
About the Information Specialist series
This article, the first of nine parts, does not discuss the basic prepper subjects of food (seeds, planting, growing, harvesting, cooking, saving, plus hunting and fishing), water, clothing, shelter, defense, first aid and medical, transportation, skills, gadgets, etc. This information is readily available in books and blogs. Prepper gadgets are available from numerous sources.
These articles will discuss the many sources of “important facts (that) are well known or may be gathered from public sources. This form of information collection is known as open source intelligence.” (Source). We will be discussing Internet sources of information, with links that you won’t find anywhere else, all free and legal.
For the purposes of discussion in these articles, there are two kinds of information. “Survival Information” (parts 1 – 6) and “The History of Technology and its Use in the Restoration of Civilization” (parts 7 – 9).
- First are news and disaster warnings to let you stay up with what is happening now.
- Second is information and gadgets that you can collect now that would be of use to the prepper now and after the SHTF. This includes maps, information about people and places local to you, in your state and nationally, radios, etc.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Selco: What We Ate and How We Got Food When the SHTF
Selco: What We Ate and How We Got Food When the SHTF
Editor’s Note: If a disaster is bad enough and lasts long enough, it isn’t going to take long before there is no food to be had. In this interview with Selco, he shares his real-life experiences and explains how people kept from starving to death when there was no food in the stores. ~ Daisy
How do you get food when there are no stores?
At the beginning of everything, most of the people did not have any significant “stash” of food in their homes.
In other words, the majority of common folks had food a or couple of days in their pantry and that was it. There were exceptions to that because the process of collapse did not happen in a few hours (in terms of suddenly there is no food in the stores).
When the chaos started, people looted stores after a short period of everyone buying things in a panic. Still, the majority of folks did not manage to get a decent stash of food from stores. Some did not want to believe that they were gonna need a stash. Others did not want to go out and participate in looting because it was dangerous. But I think the most obvious reason was that all food from stores was taken very fast.
In beginning period of SHTF, events unfold at a very fast pace. Actually, events go one after another so fast that if you find yourself lost in one event at the end of several events, you ask yourself, “Why in the name of God I did not go out and buy a whole bunch of food while I still could do that?”
Was gardening an option? If so, how did people protect their gardens?
Yes, it was an option, but the percentage of food from a garden was low because of a few reasons.
It was a city, without enough land for significant food growing, and the second reason is that even people who had some land (small gardens near houses) needed time to grow food there.
People usually did not grow food there in normal times, flowers, tea, maybe some particular kind of tomato, salad greens, and similar.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
How to Survive When Prepping Just Isn’t Enough
How to Survive When Prepping Just Isn’t Enough
Have you noticed a sense of urgency in the prepping community lately?
Maybe it’s the tensions with North Korea.
Maybe it’s the slow-motion collapse of the brick-and-mortar retail industry.
Maybe it’s a contagion from the other places around the world that are actively preparing for the potential of nuclear war.
Whatever the reason, it seems like natural disasters are becoming more catastrophic lately and experts are ringing the warning bell about our economy. Really, it’s only a matter of time before our world changes dramatically.
Many of us have stocked our homes to the rafters with beans, rice, bullets, and band-aids. Each trip to the store adds more to our stockpiles as we try to get what we need before time runs out. Newbie preppers are feeling even more frantic, wondering how to get prepared when each week it takes more money to put less in the grocery cart. (If you’re new to preparedness, here’s a littleprimer with some great links.)
But if you read Jose’s article last week about the things he could never have prepared for in Venezuela, it is very clear that merely stockpiling is not enough. No matter how many cans of green beans you have stored away, one day they will run out. We have become so dependent on the “buy it as you need it” lifestyle that despite our food storage, there are still gaps that must be filled.
And the only way to fill these gaps is to take things a step beyond prepping.
And that step is self-reliance.
Self-reliance is defined as the ability to provide for oneself without the help of others. No amount of stockpiling gives you true self-sufficiency.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Bleach, Hand Sanitizer, or Natural Cleaning Products? What to Use When
Bleach, Hand Sanitizer, or Natural Cleaning Products? What to Use When
There’s always a ferocious debate among people who swear by bleach, hand sanitizer, or natural cleaning products. But the fact is, there’s no black and white answer. There are times and places for each of these.
Staying clean is a critical part of staying healthy. We have a wide array of disinfectants and cleaning products to stock up on. This guide takes the most common disinfectants, breaks down their pros and cons, and sorts out how and when to use each item.
Staying clean becomes even more important when access to medical care is not guaranteed, such as during or post-disaster. Therefore, we need to know to know how to remove pathogens from surfaces and fabrics.
Cleanliness Is Not Optional
Good hygiene and good household cleaning habits are essential to good health. While exposure to certain bacteria is good for us, even necessary for good health, there are also harmful microorganisms that can make use very sick. Some of them can live a surprisingly long time outside of the body.
For example:
- MRSA is frequently spread via unwashed hands and bed linens.
- Salmonella can live on surfaces for up to four weeks.
- E. coli was shown to survive for a month on most metal surfaces.
- While we always knew that Influenza was spread by coughing and sneezing, it has now been shown to be spread simply by breathing. Influenza can live for several hours airborne and 48 hours on hard surfaces.
- Hepatitis can live anywhere from 4 days to several months outside the body, depending on the type.
One of the scariest viruses, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) doesn’t live or reproduce outside the human body. However, given the right conditions, HIV can survive outside of the body in blood droplets up to several weeks, though no cases have ever been linked to exposure to blood spills.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
How Our Dependence on Global Shipping Will Come Back to Bite Us
How Our Dependence on Global Shipping Will Come Back to Bite Us
If the general public understood how vulnerable our reliance on global shipping made us, they’d all become preppers overnight. Trucks, planes, and cargo ships are responsible for just about everything modern life depends upon. This reliance on global goods and long-distance shipping puts us all at risk.
Our Dependence Upon Global Shipping
Modern shipping keeps us clothed and fed. It brings us necessary medicines, fuel to the pumps, and delivers chemicals necessary to municipal water treatment plants. It is truly amazing how seamless it all appears to the average consumer, especially considering shipping’s global scale.
That is until there is a problem. Problems can be anything from a trucker’s strike to a plane crashing to a cyber attack shutting down the largest global shipping company.
Global shipping is a necessary evil in a world where we rely on global goods. When companies take their manufacturing operations overseas, the first thing we think of is lost jobs. But, we also put access to those goods at risk. Some of these risks include:
- Relations with China breaking down over North Korea.
- Hackers taking down software (navigation, customer orders, inventory tracking, systems diagnostics, etc) on ships, planes, trucks, and at ports and command centers.
- An EMP causing all electronic systems to cease working.
- Employees of shipping companies across an industry going on an extended strike.
- Deteriorating domestic infrastructure interfering with the delivery of goods.
- War/terrorism anywhere in the world causing delays and lost shipments of imports/exports.
Just a 24-Hour Delay Causes Shortages
A perfect example of this is shipping fresh food to Alaska all year long. Alaskan grocery stores do what they can to stock Alaska-grown items on their shelves, but due to the climate, Alaskans rely on imported produce and goods. The Anchorage Daily News reported on the impact of a single ship being delayed by just 24 hours for a repair.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
The Importance of Having Prepper Friends
The Importance of Having Prepper Friends
You’ve probably all heard that old success adage that warns, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” The guy credited with saying this was Jim Rohn, who is widely accepted as the world’s top business philosopher. But don’t overlook it, because it’s true of all facets of life, not just business. In fact, it’s why I suggest you have prepper friends.
How our friends influence us
No matter who you are, you’re still influenced by the people with whom you spend the most time. You tend to prioritize the things that are consistently mentioned and practiced, so if you get together with a few friends to do some canning or to work on a bug-out property, not only are you bonding, but you’re practicing important skills.
When your friends support prepping as a positive and reasonable activity, you’ll be a lot more likely to focus on it regularly. After all, it’s a lot of fun to share a great score of kerosene lamps at a yard sale with people who will actually join you in your excitement.
On the other hand, if your peers constantly denigrate or mock your preparedness efforts, it can be quite demotivating. Who wants to be the object of rolled eyes and deep sighs all the time? You may stick with your efforts in private, but being surrounded by folks like this can make what you’re doing feel far less important – or even ridiculous.
Motivation and encouragement can’t be overlooked as the impetus to help you become better prepared.
What if you don’t know any preppers?
The funny thing about prepper friends is that they’re not always “preppers.” While it can be awesome to find a group of people who share your interests completely, it isn’t always practical.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Another Massive Blackout Struck Puerto Rico Last Night
Another Massive Blackout Struck Puerto Rico Last Night
Last night, an explosion at a San Juan power plant regressed Puerto Rico’s efforts to restore power to the island five months after Hurricane Maria struck a massive blow. Much of Northern Puerto Rico has suffered another blackout, including the capital city.
The island’s Electric Power Authority said several municipalities were without power, including parts of the capital, San Juan, but they were optimistic it could be restored within a day as they worked to repair a substation that controls voltage…
…It was not immediately known what caused Sunday’s fire, which was quickly extinguished. Officials said the explosion knocked two other substations offline and caused a total loss of 400 megawatts worth of generation. (source)
Before this explosion, more than a million people were still without power from the Category 4 hurricane that struck the island on Sept. 20, 2017. They’ve been thrown back in time by a hundred years, with no power, no running water, and damaged homes.
This is a prime example of how disasters aren’t just one-time occurrences. They’re very often followed by subsequent disasters.
Think about it. Fires are often followed by floods which are followed by mudslides and sinkholes. (See California for reference.) The tsunami in Japan was followed by a nuclear plant disaster. Hurricane Harvey in Texas had storm surges and floods that caused a chemical plant to explode a few days later. Now, this already-stressed infrastructure has crumbled again under it’s increasing demand.
Power has been restored to a few critical locations.
This is one situation in which living in a more populated area can benefit you. After last night’s explosion, workers were quick to restore power to specific locations.
By late Sunday, electricity workers had been able to restore power to key locations, including the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in Carolina, as well as the Medical Center. (source)
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
How to Build a Dollar Store Dental Kit for Your Bug Out Bag
How to Build a Dollar Store Dental Kit for Your Bug Out Bag
Do you have a dental kit for your bug out bag? I’ve seen a lot of great bug out bags loaded up with all manner of tacticool gear, tiny first aid kits stuffed into Altoid tins, and ultralight camping supplies. That’s wonderful and all, but where’s the dental kit?
What’s a Bug Out Bag?
For new preppers, a bug out bag (BOB) holds the supplies you need to evacuate from your primary location to your (presumably safe) secondary location, aka your bug out location (BOL). Your bag is intended to get you from Point A to Point B.
BOBs are sometimes called 72-hour bags, a 96-hour bag, emergency bag, go bag, or get-out-of-Dodge (GOOD) bag. Whatever you call it, your bag holds your needed supplies for a limited period of time, just long enough to get to your BOL.
Your Bug Out Bag Needs a Dental Kit
Since you aren’t living long term out of your BOB, you may not think that dental supplies are as important as other supplies, like a good knife or paracord. After all, what’re a few days without brushing your teeth going to hurt, right?
Mouth pain is no joke. Imagine you ended up with some food stuck between your teeth. I find that wildly irritating and have to get it out. Otherwise, the gum swells, becomes tender and sometimes bleeds. Food can stay stuck there, rotting, causing bacteria to breed like rabbits. Next thing you know, you have an infection.
If you think mouth pain is miserable now, imagine it post-SHTF, with no access to a local pharmacy and no local dentist. Why deal with that, when simple brushing and flossing can dislodge that bit of beef jerky from your teeth?
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
What Would Actually Happen In a Magnetic Pole Shift?
What Would Actually Happen In a Magnetic Pole Shift?
What would happen if the Earth’s magnetic poles literally flipped upside down? If north was south and south was north? Would it just be our compasses going awry or would this result in a catastrophic end for the citizens of Planet Earth? Would a pole shift be the end of humanity?
It depends on who you ask.
For example, the UK Daily Mail describes this horrific scene:
This sounds like the plot for a disaster movie: an invisible magnetic force-field that defends life on Earth against killer rays from space goes awry. Blasts of radiation destroy our satellite communications and bring the world’s electricity supplies crashing down.
Chaos reigns. Human cancer cases multiply as unshielded radiation from the sun devastates people’s DNA. Billions of creatures the world over die because their ability to migrate becomes fatally confused by changes in our planet’s magnetic field.
Ultimately, Earth’s atmosphere itself could be blown away by fierce solar winds, as happened long ago to our sister planet Mars when its magnetic field dissipated.
But hold the popcorn. This is not a sci-fi movie. Leading scientists warn that this may really happen, because of an imminent revolution at the Earth’s core. (source)
Meanwhile, Science 20 rebuts the doomsday scenario.
If we get a magnetic pole reversal, then from studies of previous reversals and modeling, the main risk is increased UV as a result of the ozone layer damaged by repeated solar storms. It would mean that you need to wear more sunblock cream on sunny days…
…The risks from solar storms are always present, whether it’s a magnetic reversal or not. The main risk of a solar storm is of GPS satellites glitching for hours, recovering once it is over – and of power cuts.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
According to the Doomsday Clock, the End Is Near
According to the Doomsday Clock, the End Is Near
The hypothetical “Doomsday Clock” is closer to midnight – the hour of doom – than it has been since 1953, the year that the US and the USSR both tested hydrogen bombs at the beginning of the global nuclear arms race.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS) announced on Tuesday that the time on the clock was now two minutes to midnight. The BAS is a group of science and policy experts who assess human advancement…and risk…say that we’re getting alarmingly close to the Zero Hour. Their statement said:
To: Leaders and citizens of the worldRe: Two minutes to midnightDate: January 25, 2018
In 2017, world leaders failed to respond effectively to the looming threats of nuclear war and climate change, making the world security situation more dangerous than it was a year ago—and as dangerous as it has been since World War II.
The greatest risks last year arose in the nuclear realm. North Korea’s nuclear weapons program made remarkable progress in 2017, increasing risks to North Korea itself, other countries in the region, and the United States.Hyperbolic rhetoric and provocative actions by both sides have increased the possibility of nuclear war by accident or miscalculation.
But the dangers brewing on the Korean Peninsula were not the only nuclear risks evident in 2017: The United States and Russia remained at odds, continuing military exercises along the borders of NATO, undermining the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), upgrading their nuclear arsenals, and eschewing arms control negotiations.
In the Asia-Pacific region, tensions over the South China Sea have increased, with relations between the United States and China insufficient to re-establish a stable security situation.
In South Asia, Pakistan and India have continued to build ever-larger arsenals of nuclear weapons.
And in the Middle East, uncertainty about continued US support for the landmark Iranian nuclear deal adds to a bleak overall picture.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
The Flu Is FAR WORSE Than We’re Being Told: Tens of Thousands of Americans Are DYING
The Flu Is FAR WORSE Than We’re Being Told: Tens of Thousands of Americans Are DYING
We all know that this year’s flu season is bad. I have been pouring over numbers and reports over the past few days, and it’s actually even worse than we’re hearing about. Tens of thousands of Americans are dying. It’s now worse than the 2009 swine flu outbreak and is on track with the 2014-15 strain. And it’s not showing any signs of slowing down.
Despite this, the media is downplaying the severity of the flu and the government makes the statistics pretty difficult to find. Are they trying to avoid a panic? Do they know something we don’t?
Here’s what you need to know about why this year’s flu is so dangerous.
This Year’s Flu Strain Is More Deadly
The dominant Influenza strain this year is H3N2. This particular strain has a history of causing more hospitalizations and more deaths. According to the CDC:
In the past, H3N2-predominant seasons have been associated with more severe illness and higher mortality, especially in older people and young children, relative to H1N1- or B-predominant seasons. Between 1976 and 2007, for example, CDC estimates that an average of 28,909 people died from flu during H3N2 seasons, compared to 10,648 people during non-H3N2 predominant years.
That’s a difference of 18,261 adults each year. And that’s in a good year.
In addition to H3N2 producing a more serious infection in general, this year’s particular H3N2 influenza virus is particularly virulent. The number of deaths due to influenza or complications to the flu, such as pneumonia (a secondary bacterial infection following influenza), varies from year to year.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
How the Collapse of Venezuela Really Happened: Part 2
How the Collapse of Venezuela Really Happened: Part 2
Finally!!!! After Jose left us hanging in Part 1 of How the Collapse of Venezuela Really Happened, he’s back with part 2. In the last installment, he’d been inadvertently swept up in a mob of protesters.
So, I found myself, at age 15 facing a mob coming right straight to me. And of course I did what anyone with common sense would have done: I left. Not running, because my parents always told me that whenever a bunch of people surrounds you, there are usually socially non-adapted thugs within it that will look to hurt whoever they can, and the more harmless they look, the better. These kind of sadistic individuals are in all countries, regardless the cultural or economical general level of it. Look at the hooligans in London if you don´t believe me.
I walked slowly, with the other friends I was with, and shaking myself like a jelly bowl of course, but never turning the back to the mob, and found shelter in a car parts shop owned by a friend of the family.
He came to the door, with the iron bar used to close the steel shutters in hand, just in case, (He is a pretty nice guy, he would make fun of me after years about how pale I was that day. God Bless him!). But the road direction steered away most of the people towards what would be the equivalent to the commercial district, with some large warehouses and bulk shops. Some of them told us not to follow, and to go home immediately. We saw in front of the boys of the high school we were going to, who came in the opposite direction to us, in a huge group and mixed with people of all kinds.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
