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Did you ever read a blog post on a prepper site and sigh, because the person writing the post seemed to have been born a survivalist?

In your mind’s eye, you could envision them at the tender age of six, weaving a snare from some vines that they wisely assessed not to be poison ivy, catching a rabbit, skinning and gutting it with a pocketknife, and cooking it over a fire they started with two sticks that they rubbed together, while wearing their little elementary-school-sized camo outfit.

Discouraging, isn’t it?

But not everyone can be Daryl Dixon.

Normal people can survive, too.

Prepping for normal people often seems out of reach, but it’s not as outrageous as it sounds.

In fact, I really don’t believe that the majority of preppers actually are rugged survival gurus. Most of us had to make a conscious effort to learn. Most of us aren’t wilderness guides or professional hunters or military special forces operatives. We don’t regularly pop a deer in the backyard with a homemade bow, we don’t have a bunker with 30 years of storable food and an aquifer we can access from within the safety of its walls, we don’t isolate our children from all forms of popular culture, and we don’t live in the middle of nowhere, so deep in the woods that we have to carefully climb a tree while clenching a laptop in our teeth to get an internet signal. We aren’t all off-grid homesteaders that weave our own fabric from the sheep we nurtured through a Himalayan winter.

Nope.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

SELCO: The Dangers of Looking “Tactical” When the SHTF

January 9, 2019

SELCO: The Dangers of Looking “Tactical” When the SHTF

Every now and then I get into “rant ” mode, and then even I realize that I am being grumpy. I can’t help myself, I have to go through it, and usually, that means I have to write.

So…

My very good friend told me a story some time ago. This friend is into survival training, and he is a very good observer of people and events.

He was traveling and landed in some airport somewhere.

There he spotted a guy in tactical grey pants, 5.11 shirt, and dark glasses, tactical boots… the guy was looking like the “prototype” of “being tactical.” He was standing there with a “tough” expression on his face.

He did not move.

He was being all “tactical”.

But being tactical means not standing out.

The only problem is that he was sticking out badly because he was in the middle of hundreds of people who were in holiday mode; funny shirts, suitcases, travel bags, or business suits. Yet, he was standing there like a wannabe mercenary.

I mean maybe the guy just likes to wear cool stuff, I do not have anything against that.

The point is the concept of “looking tactical” went into some wrong and weird directions a long time ago for many reasons: books, Hollywood, survival industry, money… and that guy is a perfect example of how you can be dressed in tactical equipment and look tactical but still stick out ridiculously.

Looking tactical at that airport probably means being dressed like you are going on a holiday, or business trip, or walking and acting like you are checking the arrival of a plane, or talking on the phone or whatever else.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Individual Preparations Have National Implications

December 30, 2018

Individual Preparations Have National Implications

With the recent release of reports from government agencies that warn of potential risk from long term grid failure, it is only prudent to evaluate your readiness for potential problems in our future. Catastrophic events have a habit of showing up unannounced.

When the population is capable of caring for itself following an event, it frees up government assets to devote to fixing the problem rather than taking care of the population. As we have seen in the past, even in the best cases, government assets cannot provide everything the population wants following an event. They can only provide the most basic needs and this decreases in proportion to the number of people that require assistance.

When something happens and you have resources to provide for your needs, you automatically have more options at your disposal to work your way through the problems. This provides you with the freedom to act in your own best interests and not be a pawn to others. Those that are dependant on others for their needs are at the mercy of those providing those necessities.

The recent NIAC report expresses a need for community enclaves where people can hunker down while the problems are being fixed. These enclaves would encompass things such as schools, hospitals and other community assets that are necessary to continue providing necessities to the community. Enclaves that can provide medical needs, water, sewer services, communications and security are just some of the things that can allow a population to weather an event with the least amount of discomfort.

The ability of community enclaves to care for the local population allows the government to deploy available assets to fix the problem rather than provide for the daily needs of the population.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

FORGET THE LISTS: Selco’s Guide to What You Should REALLY Store for Trade and Barter

November 30, 2018

FORGET THE LISTS: Selco’s Guide to What You Should REALLY Store for Trade and Barter

Selco’s Guide to What You Should REALLY Store for Trade and Barter

Discussions about trade and usage of trade are great because sooner or later when SHTF, you’ll find yourself in a situation to be involved in a trade.

Now this sentence above sounds great and you may think: “OK, let’s just store a whole bunch of items for trade”.

But what items?

Then you may look for info what is going to be missing once when SHTF and you may find out that (eventually) everything going to be gone and missing once when SHTF really bad.

So it is not about what is gonna be gone when SHTF when it comes to trade. It is much more about what makes sense to have stored for trade.

But since the whole trade topic got pretty much “hijacked” from the fiction industry, there are a lot of myths there, so let’s start from some common sense ideas first.

When you should trade during SHTF?

The answer is pretty weird and paradoxical.

The answer is that you should not trade, or you should avoid trade because the process is dangerous because it involves usually unknown people during a prolonged event where there is no law and order.

In a more serious event, it is one more level up in danger. It is an event where there is no law and order and there are clear signs that law and order are not coming back any time soon.

So, again you are involved in a process where you are holding valuable resources and showing them to another group of people in a time where there is no punishment from the system for the folks who want to shoot you because of those resources.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

How Prepared Are You? Let’s Find Out.

November 10, 2018

How Prepared Are You? Let’s Find Out.

Planning without practice is essentially worthless

We’re pleased to announce the first-ever Peak Prosperity Resilience Challenge.

Over an upcoming weekend in January 2019 (specifc dates to be announced soon) participating individuals will turn off their electricity from Friday at 7:00pm to 7:00pm Sunday and subsist entirely off of their existing preparations.

Are you in?

We’ll be seeking community input over the next month as we refine the particulars of this challenge; but the intention is to stress-test everyone’s current in-place emergency plans. So when the weekend arrives, no going out to the store to get new batteries, more firestarter, or a hot coffee.

A number of Peak Prosperity members proposed this idea to us in the wake of Hurricanes Harvey and Florence. During those storms, a lot of folks learned their emergency preps were much less robust than they had initially anticipated.

We agree this challenge is a great idea. Working out kinks and shortcomings during a practice-run like this will increase our odds of persevering through a future emergency.

Which is why we’re picking a cold winter month (for those of you in the northern hemisphere) to really push ourselves out of our comfort zones.

What will you eat? How will you stay sufficiently warm? Will you have to take steps to keep the pipes in your house from freezing? How will you communicate with the outside world? Do you have sufficient nighttime lighting? How will you occupy your time?

The goal here is to identify each of our weak areas while having some fun knowing that we’re all going through the experience together. We’ll all regroup here online once we turn the electricity back on Sunday night and compare learnings. Trust me, there will be many to share.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Preparations for War & Collapse: Gauging Possibility and Probability, and Making Preparations

November 6, 2018

Preparations for War & Collapse: Gauging Possibility and Probability, and Making Preparations

Many times comments have been written about how the site should be tailored more toward subjects entailing preparing and survival. Indeed, all of the Independent Media is “guilty” of reporting news and current events…political matters, politicians, what they said, what they did, ad infinitum. At times it may seem almost a “tabloid,” and may seem to bear no focus upon survival subjects, prepping, and so forth.

That is the furthest thing from the truth.

From the micro-anthropological standpoint, man is (most of the time) very little better than an ape: he kills, steals, eats, lies…will rip his neighbor to shreds or denounce him to pursue his own agenda. There is a conflict in every human heart, and no human being is beyond the ability to follow such behaviors [as Val Kilmer’s “Doc Holliday” termed them] outlined: “very cosmopolitan,” so to speak.

This concept is important to understand, because the same organisms as you and I…that sweat, eat, and lust after money, property, sex, and power…these same hunter-gatherer-killers…have their fingers or lips close to mechanisms that launch nuclear weapons and send out troops to die.

All masking the true reasons for the “crusade,” that fall under one of the aforementioned categories, or others. Such as a diplomatic consular outpost of the United States and its ambassador and staff coming under attack with no response, no reprisal. This is why it is critical to watch the news and see what these (mis)representatives of the world’s governments are doing and saying. Sift it for the relevant facts, and we step into the next points: predictive probabilities and possibilities.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Are You Prepared for Lockdown? How to Stay Safe When All Hell Breaks Loose in America

November 6, 2018

Are You Prepared for Lockdown? How to Stay Safe When All Hell Breaks Loose in America

Tensions are incredibly high in the United States right now. I realized that over the past three years, I’ve written that they’re “at an all-time high” far too many times. So, I’ll just say, they’re high enough that all hell could break loose at any moment given the right (wrong) application of fuel to the flame. The number one thing you can do for this situation to keep your family safe is to be prepared for lockdown.

Pretending that it isn’t happening or hoping to hug it out is not a rational response to the chaos that is coming. I know that some cling to their misguided views on the way the world works with the ferocity of a mother bear protecting cubs, but for the rest of us, there’s this thing called reality. When we accept it, we can prepare for it.

People near the border are quite reasonably concerned that if thousands of immigrants push through our border illegally, they and their families could be at risk. People in other parts of the country are concerned about the aftermath of whatever happens when these people arrive at the border. Regardless of what occurs, somebody is going to be unhappy. Add in the fiercely-fought midterm elections and the threat of civil unrest is high.

Are you prepared for lockdown?

Which leads me to a very important subject. As the situation in the United States devolves, how prepared are you really? If you had to go into lockdown mode and keep your family safely at home, how long would you last with the supplies you have on hand? If the answer is “a few days” or “a couple of weeks” you need to work on that. Immediately.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Think You’re Prepared For The Next Crisis? Think Again.

October 6, 2018

BLOG

Think You’re Prepared For The Next Crisis? Think Again.

Even the best-laid preparations have failure points

No plan of operations extends with any certainty beyond the first contact with the main hostile force.

~ Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.

~ Mike Tyson

Scottish poet Robert Burns aptly penned the famous phrase: “The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men/Gang aft a-gley.” (commonly adapted as “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.”)

How right he was.

History has shown time and time again that the only 100% predictable outcome to any given strategy is that, when implemented, things will not go 100% according to plan.

The Titanic’s maiden voyage. Napolean’s invasion of Russia. The Soviet’s 1980 Olympic hockey dream team. The list of unexpected outcomes is legion.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in Europe during WW2, went as far as to say: “In preparing for battle, I’ve always found that plans are useless but planning is indispensable.”

This wisdom very much applies to anyone seeking safety from disaster. Whether preparing for a natural calamity, a financial market crash, an unexpected job loss, or the “long emergency” of resource depletion — you need to take prudent planful steps now, in advance of crisis; BUT you also need to be mentally prepared for some elements of your preparation to unexpectedly fail when you need them most.

Here are two recent events that drive that point home.

Lessons From Hurricane Florence

A family member of mine lives in Wilmington, NC, which received a direct hit last month from Hurricane Florence.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Fun and Exciting Ways To Use Vaseline For Home Preparedness

September 28, 2018

Fun and Exciting Ways To Use Vaseline For Home Preparedness

Vaseline is often found in medicine cabinets across the United States. But have you ever thought of adding some to your prepping gear? It actually can be useful in a survival situation and offers many benefits to those who store extra for when the “SHTF.” And if you’re a more natural prepper, we’ve got a few alternatives to Vaseline for you that are just as good, if not better!

What is Vaseline?

Petroleum jelly is the generic name of Vaseline. It is a lubricant and is a byproduct of the petroleum industry. Surprisingly, Vaseline is an organic product. It was originally discovered on the bottom of oil rigs and is often used to prevent or heal dry flaky skin. Vaseline is highly-refined, triple-purified, and regarded as non-carcinogenic. Other brands may not be as pure, and many dermatologists suggest sticking with the original name brand to avoid possible contamination of cancer-causing chemicals.

Vaseline is water-repellant and not water-soluble. That means it will seal the barrier so that moisture does not leave the skin. If you’ve ever had such dry skin that it’s cracked and bled, you know that feeling of instant gratification when you slather on an antiseptic that’s also a moisture barrier such as Neosporin (which contains three antibiotic ingredients in a petroleum jelly base.) Even though it’s considered safe to use, if you can access other options for your dry skin concerns, it is recommended to do so. Products containing beeswax, coconut oil, olive oil, shea butter, and/or cocoa butter seal in moisture as well are definitely more natural if that’s a concern.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

How to Prepare for Hurricane Florence When You Live a Few Hundred Miles Inland

September 12, 2018

How to Prepare for Hurricane Florence When You Live a Few Hundred Miles Inland

When I moved to southwestern Virginia, I really didn’t expect to be dealing with hurricanes. But, as I’ve just learned, a system like Hurricane Florence could affect places that are as much as 350+ miles from the shore. So, if you are one of the 112 million and then some of Americans in the area classified as the “East Coast” – particularly the southern to mid-Atlantic part – you need to get prepared.

When and where will Hurricane Florence make landfall?

Hurricane Florence is picking up power and could make landfall as a Category 5 as soon as Thursday. If you aren’t familiar with hurricanes, a Category 5 hurricane has sustained winds of 156 mph or stronger. It is the highest classification for hurricanes.

At this point, it looks like the coast between Charleston, SC, and Norfolk, VA will bear the brunt of the storm, with Wilmington, NC taking a direct hit from the eye. Here’s a map from ABC News:

Save

(photo credit: ABC News)

Now, a very important thing to keep in mind is that hurricanes are unpredictable until they get closer to the shore. At that point, we can know with much more certainty that the storm is headed our way. Unfortunately, at that point, it’s really too late to get prepared. Supplies will be picked over at the stores and roads will be jammed with people fleeing the hurricane.

It’s much better to prepare as far in advance as possible for a hurricane. And if this one turns back out to see, don’t think your preparations have been wasted. Trust me, another one will come and you will be glad you have the supplies that you do.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

‘Prepare For The Worst’: Florence Strengthens To A Category 4 Hurricane

September 11, 2018

‘Prepare For The Worst’: Florence Strengthens To A Category 4 Hurricane

As Hurricane Florence continues on its path toward the east coast, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster had some good advice. “Plan for the worst, pray for the best,” said the governor.

Hurricane Florence has increased in strength quickly to a category 4 storm, with a potentially catastrophic outcome. “Now is the time for your family also to prepare and stay tuned for more updates,” McMaster also said. According to USA Today, a coastal North Carolina county on Monday issued a mandatory evacuation order for its entire population as Hurricane Florence strengthened to a Category 4 storm and continued its slow but violent trek toward the East Coast of the United States.

The National Hurricane Center said Florence is expected to slam into the coast around North and South Carolina as a Category 3 or 4 hurricane on Thursday or Friday. The storm’s winds had increased to 130 mph on Monday. The governor of North Carolina, Roy Cooper has already asked president Donald Trump to declare Florence a federal disaster ahead of the storm. Of course, that won’t help those in its destructive path.

The hurricane center’s description of a Category 4 hurricane begins with “catastrophic damage will occur.” The center warns that such storms will snap or uproot most trees and down power poles and that power can be out in some areas for weeks or months. Any Category 3, or higher hurricane is classified as a major hurricane.

The hurricane center warned that the swells are likely to cause “life-threatening” surf and current conditions. Even before the evacuation order, Dare County emergency officials warned that rough seas and strong rip currents are already creating dangerous conditions. Florence is going to pose a very serious threat to those living on the East Coast later this week, according to AccuWeather. Florence could also increase in intensity and become a category 5 hurricane before it slams into the east coast later this week, warned AccuWeather.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Here’s How You’ll Die When the SHTF (and How to Prevent Your Untimely Demise)

August 25, 2018

Here’s How You’ll Die When the SHTF (and How to Prevent Your Untimely Demise)

When it hits the fan…I mean REALLY hits the fan in a permanent kind of way, the most likely outcome is death.

That’s not pretty, and I’m well aware of it. I always try to be positive and optimistic, because, for me, preparedness is the ultimate act of optimism, but sometimes we have to look at the numbers and face some things that are pretty terrifying. The first reality check is that some research says that only 3 million Americans are preppers. That means that 315 million Americans are not preppers. Some experts predict that within 30 days of the power going out, 50% of Americans will be dead. Within a year, an astounding 90% of the population will be dead.

Do you want to survive such a scenario? Do you want your children to survive? When you read this information, you have to realize that it’s very unlikely that you and your family would live through a grid failure of a year or more unless you are proactive and develop a preparedness plan that takes all of these causes of death into consideration.

The Top 10 Ways to Die in a Long-term Disaster

So here are the cold hard facts. One of these is the way that you are most likely to die when the SHTF, particularly in the event of a long-term grid failure. The good news is, now that you know this, you can take steps to prevent your untimely demise.

You die of thirst or waterborne illness. Most people have a case of water bottles kicking around, and perhaps a 5-gallon jug for the water cooler. What they don’t have is a gallon a day per person for a long-term emergency. Most people also don’t own a gravity fed, no-power necessary water filtration device with spare parts and extra filters.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Are We Due for a Pandemic Flu? Here’s How to Prepare Just in Case

August 24, 2018

Are We Due for a Pandemic Flu? Here’s How to Prepare Just in Case

It has been 100 years since the Spanish Flu (also known as the 1918 flu pandemic) spread across the globe, infecting 500 million people and causing the deaths of 50 million – which was three to five percent of the world’s population at the time.

Imagine the catastrophic numbers in today’s time if a similar flu hit – and how quickly it would spread from the ease in transportation modern society allows.

While you can rest easy right now knowing a global pandemic is not currently a threat, it is just a matter of time before the next one arrives.

Although modern medicine has a lot more flu-fighting tricks in its arsenal than it did several decades ago, the risk of a pandemic flu killing many is still very real.

The growing population, ease in global travel, civil conflict, a marked decrease in medical facilities in outbreak regions, and a decrease in CDC resources could all create a perfect storm for an epidemic to rapidly get out of control and become a pandemic.

In The Big One Is Coming, and It’s Going to Be a Flu Pandemic, Dr. Sanjay Gupta wrote that when a highly lethal flu pandemic comes, it will affect everyone alive today:

Pandemic flu is apolitical and does not discriminate between rich and poor. Geographical boundaries are meaningless, and it can circle the globe within hours.

Dr. Gupta goes on to explain that when most people hear “flu”, they think of seasonal flu, but pandemic flu is “a different animal, and you should understand the difference.”

Panˈdemik/: pan means “all”; demic (or demographic) means “people.” It is well-named, because pandemic flu spreads easily throughout the world. Unlike seasonal flu, pandemics occur when a completely new or novel virus emerges. This sort of virus can emerge directly from animal reservoirs or be the result of a dramatic series of mutations — so-called reassortment events — in previously circulating viruses.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Systemic Thinking: The Primary Skill That Humanity Will Need as We Prepare for A Future That Will Not Be What It Used to Be Stonyhill Nugget #300

August 23, 2018

Systemic Thinking: The Primary Skill That Humanity Will Need as We Prepare for A Future That Will Not Be What It Used to Be Stonyhill Nugget #300

It’s hard to believe that this is my 300^th blog post. It amazes me how fast the years seem to fly by when you’re doing something you enjoy doing; when that something feels important and meaningful! Awakening our collective adult human consciousness and preparing for the changes that are coming, and the disruptive challenges those changes will create for all of us feels very important to me if our goal is the successful creation of a more just and sustainable world.

In this article, we will take a look at systemic thinking and the dangerous unconscious childhood illusion that each of us is a unique being independent and separate from the rest of reality.

We’re not.

But that unconscious childhood belief and the behaviors and actions that this unconscious childhood belief allows us to manifest in the world is clearly threatening the collapse of our planet’s life support system, the foundations of human civilization, and the very survival of humanity.

What we “do” matters. How we “think” matters.

Human Civilization Is at A “Fork” In the Road

Humanity is at a crossroads. We can continue “business as usual” and continue human civilization toward the precipice of collapse, or we can begin to prepare for the life-altering changes I will list below…the changes that are coming.

Without preparation, those changes will threaten human civilization and life as we know it.
Without preparation, the critically needed resilience that preparation creates will not happen.
Without preparation, the changes that are coming will threaten human civilization and life as we know it.
Without preparation, the resilience that will be needed for our survival will be seriously compromised.
Without preparation and resilience, the level of courage and sacrifice that will be required for humanity to survive will be seriously compromised.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

This Kind of Life Is Not Cute or Kitschy…It’s A Lot of Work

August 19, 2018

This Kind of Life Is Not Cute or Kitschy…It’s A Lot of Work

This weekend has been busy. I am getting ready to post several pictures on Instagram about what I got done this week and I am still struck by how much work gets done around here every weekend. What strikes me, even more, is how much work there is to do everyday and weekend.

I choose this life. I wasn’t delusional about what it would entail. Being a prepper is work. Being a homesteader is work. Being self-reliant is work. Being frugal is more work. All four of those together means the work never lets up. I know people who can’t handle it and I don’t blame them. There are days I can barely handle it.

Some of you probably think that all I do is run a blog and hang out here at home. That couldn’t be further from the truth. I work as an office manager Monday through Friday, 7:30 am – 4:30 pm. I run an eBay store that I have been adding more and more inventory too. I have two very active teenagers at home and two young adults who live with their husband or boyfriend. I have two grandchildren. And I blog and write for other sites.

I am not asking or seeking sympathy. Like I said before, I choose this life.

What gets me though is the people who think this kind of life is cute or kitschy. What we do to thrive or survive is trendy. Like raising chickens is adorable. Like raising a garden is so good for my health and the environment. Like everything I do to save money in a day is so consumer conscious.

Spare me the trendy terms and the idealistic attitude. That is not why I do it.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

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