Gold is Money - The Premier Gold and Silver Forum -- Goldismoney - Survival and Preps http://www.goldismoney2.com/ Place to kick back and talk survival, building stuff, and how not to? en Thu, 20 Jun 2013 10:41:58 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.goldismoney2.com/images/scarletrush/misc/rss.png Gold is Money - The Premier Gold and Silver Forum -- Goldismoney - Survival and Preps http://www.goldismoney2.com/ Could You Stomach These Great Depression Meals? http://www.goldismoney2.com/showthread.php?48257-Could-You-Stomach-These-Great-Depression-Meals&goto=newpost Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:40:42 GMT Could You Stomach These Great Depression Meals?

Posted by Survival Mom on Jun 17, 2013 in American Culture


With all the talk about food storage and growing our own food, I did a little digging around to find out what some people ate during America’s Great Depression of the 1930′s. Surprisingly, a few of these were made by my mother and grandmother, traditions, I’m sure, from a more frugal era. I still have a soft spot for Chipped Beef on Toast! How many of these are familiar to you, and do you have any others to add to the list?

Milk toast

Chipped beef on toast

Cucumber and mustard sandwiches

Mayonnaise sandwiches

Ketchup sandwiches

Hot milk and rice

Turtle/tortoise

Gopher

Potato soup – water base, not milk

Dandelion salad

Lard sandwiches

Bacon grease sandwiches

Sugar sandwiches

Hot dogs and baked beans

Road kill

One eyed Sam – piece of bread with an easy over egg in the center

Oatmeal mixed with lard

Fried potatoes and hot dogs

Onion sandwich – slices of onion between bread

Tomato gravy and biscuits

Deep-fried chicken skin

Cornbread in milk

Gravy and bread – as a main dish

Toast with mashed potatoes on top with gravy

Creamed corn on toast

Corn mush with milk for breakfast, fried corn mush for dinner

Squirrel

Rice in milk with some sugar

Beans

Fried potato peel sandwiches

Banana slices with powdered sugar and milk

Boiled cabbage

Hamburger mixed with oatmeal

American cheese sandwich, ‘American’ cheese was invented because it was cheap to make, and didn’t require refrigeration that may or may not exist back then.

Tomato gravy on rice

Toast with milk gravy

Water fried pancakes

Chicken feet in broth

Fried bologna

Warm canned tomatoes with bread

Butter and sugar sandwiches

Fried potato and bread cubes

Bean soup

Runny eggs with grits

Butter and grits with sugar and milk

Baked apples

Sliced boiled pork liver on buttered toast (slice liver with potato peeler)

Corn meal mush

Spaghetti with tomato juice and navy beans

Whatever fish or game you could catch/hunt

Tomato sandwiches

Hard-boiled eggs in white sauce over rice

Spam and noodles with cream of mushroom soup

Rag soup: spinach, broth and lots of macaroni

Garbanzo beans fried in chicken fat or lard, salted, and eaten cold

Popcorn with milk and sugar – ate it like cereal

Lessons learned from this list? Stock up on ingredients for bread, including buckets of wheat. Bread, in some form, is one of the main ingredients for many of these meals. Second, know how to make different types of bread. Next, have chickens around as a source for meat and eggs, and if possible, have a cow or goat for milk. Another lesson is to have a garden that will provide at least some fresh produce, and plant fruit trees and bushes. Finally, don’t waste anything, even chicken feet!

http://joeforamerica.com/2013/06/cou...ression-meals/ ]]> Survival and Preps searcher http://www.goldismoney2.com/showthread.php?48257-Could-You-Stomach-These-Great-Depression-Meals 850 Miles In 27 Weeks: Experience With Long Distance Walking http://www.goldismoney2.com/showthread.php?48236-850-Miles-In-27-Weeks-Experience-With-Long-Distance-Walking&goto=newpost Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:21:31 GMT 850 Miles in 27 Weeks: Experience With Long Distance Walking, by Erik M. Do you plan to walk to your retreat? Then read this first. For those who like me, are nearing or over 50 years old and out of shape after years of working a desk and who think that walking or biking to a retreat is... 850 Miles in 27 Weeks: Experience With Long Distance Walking, by Erik M.


Do you plan to walk to your retreat? Then read this first.

For those who like me, are nearing or over 50 years old and out of shape after years of working a desk and who think that walking or biking to a retreat is an option for them, let me tell you about the last 27 weeks and the 850 miles I've covered by walking and biking. In doing so I'm hoping that I can convince you to start now rather then waiting for a situation that forces you to do so. After all, if my retreat were 260 miles from where I live, could I, or you for that matter, really afford to take the 10 weeks to get there that it took me to cover that distance when I first started? That's how long it took me to walk 260 miles and now that I've walked 200 more I can tell you that even in my current shape to walk 260 miles would take me a long and grueling time!

First let me say that I'm not a 'doomsday' prepper and I don't believe that a catastrophic economic collapse will end the world as we know it tomorrow. On the other hand I've seen human nature at its worst (war) and have studied enough history to know that things could go south in a big hurry if the right things occurred and we do seem to be living in a time in which a lot of those 'right things' are lining up to present the best possibility or “things going bad in a hurry” actually happening. I believe, however, that it will occur sometime in the future because, if one studies history, it always does.

I'm a 47 year old Marine who's allowed himself to ride a desk for far too long without exercising. This means that my formerly 'lean and green' 190 pound self managed to add 90 pounds of not-so-lean body weight. My blood pressure was high and I was diagnosed with Hypertension. While I ate well, so I thought, by avoiding processed foods as much as I could (I thought) I never really examined my food intake with a critical eye and as a consequence I added weight in the form of fat and raised my blood pressure to unhealthy levels.

My blood pressure was managed with drugs (a diuretic and Lisinopril) and because of that I didn't worry so much about it. My blood-work was excellent with cholesterol numbers that made the doc jealous but once in a while he'd frown at my blood glucose level which was bumping up against 100 – so not diabetic yet but starting to be something to watch.

I was out of shape, down right fat with high blood pressure unless I took drugs that might not always be available and I was fighting dehydration and a myriad of issues as a result of taking a diuretic and not eating as well as I thought. Something had to change.

After a few attempts to lose weight by dieting and a few 'starts' at walking I finally committed and began walking in earnest. Since I'd started and stopped a few times it was easier this time, but let me tell you, the first time I tried walking a mile was killer! This coming from a marine who once marched 32 miles in under 8 hours carrying a heck of a lot of gear! However, this time I wasn't so bad off and walked two miles with relative ease – if you call having shin splints relative ease anyway. That first week I clocked 8 miles in 4 walks and I was convinced I could do 'this'. The next I was walking 4 miles per outing and put in 26 miles followed by 27. I was well on my way and felt I could easily attain 100 miles a month which was my goal at the time.

Christmas saw me take a week off but when I returned I stepped up and hit the road for an additional 23 miles and began to examine the foods I ate. I was determined to lose weight and get back into shape and while I'd done a lot of walking (now over 85 miles) I'd only lost about 5 pounds and my legs were killing me. I wanted off the blood pressure drugs and I wanted to get back in shape and lose all the weight.

I watched some movies that inspired me like 'Fat sick and nearly dead', 'Forks over knives' and 'Hungry for change' and through those and help from others I decided to really make some changes. I swapped my two eggs, cheese, toast and butter breakfast for cooked wheat and oatmeal with a little honey or agave for flavoring, I changed my lunches which were usually meat and cheese sandwiches or Ramen noodles packed with meat and cheese (I need the sodium so I thought) to rice with a little flavoring. I cut out meat and dairy from my first two meals with the exception of cream in my coffee (1 cup a day habit).

At first I gained a few pounds back which I attribute to my diet being different but I began to get used to the new foods and actually enjoyed them. It was more filling to eat the grains then I thought and I had plenty of energy for my walks. However, by now my legs were constantly sore and I began to realize that I needed more protein during the day so I added a protein shake between meals (twice daily) which seemed to cure that problem. I left my dinners alone mostly which gave me an incentive to eat well throughout the day because, after all, I could eat whatever I wanted for dinner. Doing this saw my daily caloric intake drop from around 2,800 calories a day to about 2,100 and I knew it would make a difference.

With my legs feeling better and my diet making a difference I stepped off for longer walks with more confidence. I was often walking 7 miles and clocked 25 miles the first week on my new diet and then 40 miles! I also stopped my blood pressure drugs and found my numbers were nearly normal! Frankly, that shocked me. How could this be? After all, I was told I'd probably have to take them for life so how could the doc be so wrong?

Before trying to tackle that last question, however, a new problem arose: my left foot began to really hurt. I'd done a 7 mile walk and then a 3 mile walk in the same day to reach my goal of 40 miles in a week and hadn't stopped or slowed down when I felt pain in my left foot. Perhaps it was the old marine in me loving the march again and feeling better, however it was clear I'd made a mistake the next day. My foot hurt.

I began to research the pain I had and realized that I'd given myself 'Planter Faciitus' which is tearing of the planter tendon on the bottom of the foot. The most likely cause of which was my lack of stretching! All this time I'd been telling myself that walking is what people do, it's not like it's running or something and there is not need to stretch when you walk. I was so wrong!

I also learned that my old runners (unused for most of their ten years) weren't what I needed and I learned about 'motion control' shoes and how they help with the problem I was experiencing. Off I went to the local shoe stores in search of a decent pair of runners to wear on my walks and I managed to find a good pair of gel control / motion control Asics that really helped. I was glad to be able to get back to walking and wasted no time (like a dumb old Jarhead) in getting back on the road. I clocked in another 25 miles before realizing that I was overdoing it and took my old mountain bike in for repairs because I knew I'd need to ride it if I wanted to continue my regimen of daily, or almost daily, cardio.

By this time I'd walked over 175 miles and while my left foot hurt I'd learned to stretch. My shins no longer bothered me, my thighs were no longer sore all the time and my blood pressure was nearly normal still. I'd also lost some weight and was down a total of 13 pounds off my heaviest. I was motivated but also realizing that no one my age or older who wasn't already in shape, was going to 'walk' out any great distances. After all, I was trying to walk in the best of conditions and I was having to learn a lot of things and relearn things I'd long forgotten or ignored. Consider that after each walk I could take a shower, I could eat and drink well and I could relax on a couch if need be. My evenings were spent in a comfortable bed and a nice home that was secure and warm and I had plenty of resources to pull from should I need supplements, shoes, Motrin or whatever. It wasn't as if I was walking through the hinterland on my own carrying a pack with no grid to log into and no Right Aid around the corner to purchase painkillers from. I wasn't sleeping on rocks and filtering my drinking water from a stinking mosquito infested pool and yet all I had managed in 6 weeks was 175 miles and to show for it I had a bad tendon in my left foot.

Clearly I need to change some things and clearly the idea of walking to a retreat could only really be done by the likes of me if the retreat was very close – which means too close to be of use.

I got my bike back from the shop and promptly rode it a mile – and nearly died! Forty minutes later I road it 4 miles and while my pulse was a bit higher then I'd like it wasn't that high. I could do this!

Over the course of the next four rides each getting longer and between riding I walked, albeit shorter distances and often slower paces since I was still dealing with a sore foot (that was healing thanks to the riding and a lot of stretching). My knees would get sore, my legs would complain but overall I was getting use to riding again and the following week I completed a 9 and finally a 10 mile ride. I was getting there and my pulse rate was much lower after those rides then on that first day. I also walked but a lot less and while my tendon had mostly healed it was something I had to constantly pay attention to.

In ten weeks I had completed 205 miles of walking and 55 miles of riding in ten weeks and lost about 16 pounds (20 off my heaviest). My blood pressure was 'ok' and while not below 120/80 in the morning it was often right there or only slightly higher (sometimes it's actually lower but not that often yet). Another 17 weeks followed with an additional 580 miles traveled and my weight is down 45 pounds, I can walk 4 miles per hour for 3 hours with few breaks (I walked in a 'Relay for Life' for 3 hours) and can cycle 13+ miles without killing myself. I believe at this point that I could walk, if I had to, 10 miles per day without much issue if I had to and had to carry a pack etc. To push to 20 miles a day would require a lot more work on my part but at least at this point I'm certain I could make a 260 mile hike inside a month providing there weren't any unforeseen circumstances. If I could ride, I'm certain I could ride 260 miles in 10 days or less though admittedly I'd be very saddle sore! Please bear in mind that this is after over 6 months of constantly walking and riding and eating right. I'm healthier today then I was 6 months ago and still off my blood pressure meds (my BP this morning was 121/79) and while I still ride a desk I work very hard to not allow it to debilitate me like I had previously.

The moral of the story here folks is that if you're out of shape like I was and you expect to be able to walk to a retreat further then a few miles, then you better get cracking and start walking now! Change your lifestyle, diet and routines and get in shape today because it will take months (no get fit quick scheme will work) and a commitment as great as any you've done so far.

I'm continuing on my quest to lose the weight and get back into shape but wanted to take a moment to recap for you some things that I think are important if you, like me, think you could 'walk out' if things head south in a hurry.

1. If you are not walking now then don't assume that you can later. Chances are you will injure yourself and quite possibly end up stranded somewhere you do not want to be stranded.

2. Your body simply cannot take the punishment if you are overweight and out of shape so do something about it now and get back into shape, lose the weight and strengthen your body.

3. You cannot carry all that you need so consider carefully what you think you will or can carry bearing in mind that the added weight of carrying a pack is added weight (ten times) on impact to your feet and knees.

4. You will likely suffer injuries to the planter tendon, Achilles heal and the knees as well as shin splints and other possibilities. Prepare for he worst and hope for the best.

5. You must consider pacing yourself which may mean only walking 2 to 5 miles every other day at the start and only slowly getting to a daily distance of 4 to 8 miles an only if you're at least well enough prepared that you have good shoes/boots that won't cause injury themselves.

6. You will need rest, lots of it, so if you really plan to walk out without at first getting back into shape then you will need a good sleeping mat and a lot of luck in finding comfortable places to rest.

7. There is more to prepping then just buying lots of stuff; physical fitness and personal health are as important, if not more important, then a lot of what you might be spending a lot of time and money on. Having a great retreat won't help you if you can't get there.
8. It is often said that you should store what you eat and eat what you store, but do you? How many have the required amount of wheat per person but don't know what to do with it? Have you sprouted wheat? Cooked it? Milled it into flour for bread? If you store it, eat it! Best way to do that is to start incorporating wheat, oats, rice (black, brown, wild more so then white but white is OK when added to the others), quinoa, farrow and others into your diet now. Try cooked wheat for breakfast and mixed rices and quinoa for dinner. It will be good for you and get you used to eating your storage foods.

9. If you store beans, then eat them! Many store beans but don't eat them so don't produce enough of the enzymes needed to digest them (hence the bloated gassy uncomfortable feeling when you suddenly do eat them).

10. Cut out processed foods, they are bad for you! Even store bought milk is processed and while it may be nearly impossible to replace it at least know that it isn't as good for you as the advertisements say. It's processed and that means 'damaged'. Raw milk contains enzymes and bacteria like 'probiotics' that today's modern American's buy expensive yogurts to get, ever wondered why that is? But I digress, I'm not saying 'go raw' I'm just saying pay attention to what you stuff into yourself on a daily basis and try to start eating right – something most of us have forgotten how to do.

11. Start making things you think you might have to make, or want to, at your retreat. Make cheese (you'll learn all about store bought milk then, I assure you), butter (you'll need good cream for that), soap, flour, sourdough bread etc. Everything you make will taste better then what you buy anyway and you will know what went into it. Just remember that you also have to be fit and maintain a healthy lifestyle so don't go eating cheese for three meals a day!

12. Seriously consider what you think you can do or might have to do and then test yourself. If you believe you can 'ruck up' and march off to a retreat that's 200 miles away hidden deep in the woods then ruck up today and take a nice long walk, chances are that if you're like me and no longer that young and lean fighting machine then you'll learn real quick that you need to make some changes. Make them today and survive tomorrow, make them tomorrow and you won't survive.

I know that's not a complete list but I'm hopeful that those of you reading it might take it to heart and get doing something. Just be sure to get good shoes to start off, to stretch lightly during and after each walk (calve stretches will help a ton!) and to research your diet now and make the appropriate changes to it so that you can both have the energy to keep at it, to keep walking or riding, and the nutrients to heal the muscle you will be tearing down and rebuilding.

Here is a sample of my daily diet for those interested:

1. First thing in the morning I drink a 12 oz glass of water (something that I never would have done before).

2. 1 cup of coffee with about 1 TBS cream and a half TBS of Agave sweetener

3. Breakfast: ½ cup of oatmeal mixed with ¼ cup of cooked wheat or bran and 1 scoop of Chia seeds sweetened with Agave nectar and cinnamon.

4. Snack: 1 8oz protein shake (140 calories, 27 grams of protein) made with water not milk.

5. Lunch: 1 1/2 cups of mixed rice with some flavoring (Mrs. Dash no salt seasoning and olive oil)

6. Snack: 1 8oz protein shake (140 calories, 27 grams of protein) made with water not milk.

7. Snack: on particularly hungry days I have ¼ cup of mixed nuts for a snack in the afternoon.

8. Dinner: Whatever I want but preceded by a large salad (fills my dinner plate) with a small portion of salad dressing (I used to pour on the Blue Cheese dressing but today use a 50-80 calorie dressing that I measure out to be sure I don't pour it on). I try to keep my dinners to about 500 calories except on days I burn a lot more doing cardio.

My current daily caloric intake is about 1,450 calories unless I do cardio which can increase the intake to about 2,100 calories (these are the days I take the protein shakes or eat protein bars).

http://www.survivalblog.com/2013/06/...by-erik-m.html ]]> Survival and Preps searcher http://www.goldismoney2.com/showthread.php?48236-850-Miles-In-27-Weeks-Experience-With-Long-Distance-Walking Emergency Candle http://www.goldismoney2.com/showthread.php?48173-Emergency-Candle&goto=newpost Tue, 18 Jun 2013 00:27:14 GMT Attachment 39881 (http://www.goldismoney2.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=39881) . . crayon candle.jpg
. .
Attached Images
]]> Survival and Preps Goldhedge http://www.goldismoney2.com/showthread.php?48173-Emergency-Candle Prepping For Seniors http://www.goldismoney2.com/showthread.php?48099-Prepping-For-Seniors&goto=newpost Sun, 16 Jun 2013 07:20:59 GMT *Prepping For Seniors, by Retired Rev.* I became aware of the need for prepping too late to have the advantages associated with youth. Seniors are already dealing with issues of declining physical prowess, declining health and a growing sense of mortality. To add prepping to the list of... Prepping For Seniors, by Retired Rev.



I became aware of the need for prepping too late to have the advantages associated with youth. Seniors are already dealing with issues of declining physical prowess, declining health and a growing sense of mortality. To add prepping to the list of concerns seemed more than a bit overwhelming but given the realities of our day, prepping slowly became an unavoidable necessity as I began to understand that the economic path on which our nation is traveling is clearly becoming unsustainable and is getting worse, not better.

There was also the additional concern - shared by preppers of any age - of convincing my dear wife that my fears were well-founded and that prepping was seriously necessary if we were to have a chance to survive TEOTWAWKI. So the first challenge to overcome when contemplating prepping as a senior is the same challenge as for younger preppers: Becoming convinced that there is serious trouble ahead that will likely destroy the support systems on which we have all become far too dependent.

For me, that reality began to come home to me as I watched the unfolding of the current administration's agenda to abandon private enterprise as an economic model and move toward a more socialistic, European model. It still puzzles me that we can easily observe the disintegration of the economic well-being of European nations on our evening new broadcasts, and then decide to emulate them ourselves. Human nature is a strange thing! Regardless of the reasons, it became clear to me that there is no will to rectify the situation in Washington and that we are rushing pell-mell toward some sort of inevitable financial Armageddon. Therefore, the only reasonable path for me was to begin prepping in earnest despite my age of 66 years.

At first my wife was not open to the idea of prepping at all. Women don't like their "nesting" instincts messed with and to assert that all that we have come to depend on (Social Security, pensions, health care systems, investments, and the like), might well come to an end in the reasonably near future, was and is very difficult for her to deal with. It was understandable. So, my initial efforts at raising her awareness consisted of providing a running commentary on the evening news. As things in Europe began to deteriorate into economic chaos, I would just point out that if we think that we are immune to such things here, we'd better think again! Then, when President Obama was re-elected for his second term, I turned to my wife and said, "Honey, I'm sorry if this makes you uncomfortable, but now we really do need to get serious about our prepping." The economic mess that has been created was not going to be addressed by the Obama administration.

Reading was essential to my preparation for prepping. The first book that influenced me was 77 Days in September, by Ray Gorham. This was a tale of a man on a business trip to Houston whose plane crashed on take off due to an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack on the United States. It chronicled his trip walking home to northwest Montana, and was a primer to cultural breakdown. Additionally, I read James Wesley Rawles, Patriots, which served as a wealth of resources for prepping and was a whopping good story. I couldn't get my wife to read either one because they were both just too scary, but they helped me get prepping into focus for my family and I.

Another influence in raising my awareness was information from a friend of mine who subscribes to Richard Maybury's Early Warning Report. Mr. Maybury is a combination historian and economist whose writings are both eloquent and pointed respecting how history intersects with economics and whose writings were often the stuff of Ron Paul campaign speeches on the topics. The subscription to Maybury's publication is a bit pricey, but worth the investment.

My wife was still not really on board (the contemplation of economic chaos was just too unpleasant to deal with for her), so I determined that I would begin prepping on my own simply because it is my responsibility to provide for my wife, (our daughter is grown and gone), whether or not she approved of my efforts and would willingly suffer whatever consequences may come from that.

As retired senior citizens, there are things to be considered in prepping that younger people don't need to consider to the same degree. Living in the wilderness at a remote retreat simply isn't as realistic an option for seniors no matter how tempting that choice may be. Health care needs especially come into play and the effort it takes for relocation to such locales is almost beyond our emotional and physical abilities. This was particularly complicated for us because after 40 years of married life, we had finally retired and moved to our retirement home in northern Colorado, near Fort Collins. We had often joked that the next box out of our house had better have one of us in it! So for us (and I believe for most senior citizens), prepping is a "bug in" proposition.

We have some things going for us in our location. We live in a small town of about 3,000 people. It is mostly a bedroom community for Fort Collins, Loveland, and Greeley, Colorado. Additionally, we are not next to I-25 but about several miles east of that major thoroughfare. We are about an hour north of Denver which is a cause for some concern, but are hopeful that most desperate refugees would turn west from I-25 toward Fort Collins rather than east toward the open prairies. Our community is likely small enough to get organized, but I don't see that happening until the proverbial stuff hits the fan and they are forced to do so.

The problem with a bedroom community is that it doesn't really see itself as a community to any great degree so it will be necessary to try to identify some like-minded folks prior to the collapse to form a cadre of leadership with which to offer our community some guidance whenever things "go south". It will be a difficult place to defend as we sit out on the prairie with the usual mile section grids that come with that. Additionally, while some natural water sources are present, most are connected to irrigation canals, reservoirs, and the like, while the municipal water supply is connected to a water tower which requires electricity to pump water into it. Water is always a big issue when you live in the rain shadow of the Rockies. Therefore, I have begun to store water in larger quantities in house and garage.

With respect to food preparation, I have convinced my wife that having a year's supply of food is just a practical thing to do if there is any chance that things could get rough - the Social Security and pension checks could stop coming, and the panic following an economic collapse might quickly empty the grocery store shelves. So I opted for a two-pronged approach. First, there was the purchase of some long-term foods that stored essentially longer than I am likely to stay alive. Here I examined the "Mormon Four": wheat, honey/sugar, dry milk, and salt. These were basic staples that may not be all that tasty, would keep us alive and I wouldn't need to worry about expiration dates except for the dry milk. There are some local grain elevators near us who sell wheat in bulk, but the grain has not been thoroughly cleaned and my wife wasn't very excited about that. So the best source I could find for nice, clean wheat for the price was at www.store.lds.org. I am not a Mormon, but I do recognize that these folks likely know more about food storage than just about anyone out there. So 600 lbs. of wheat was ordered (hard red, and hard white) and stored away for safekeeping. Likewise, a hand grain mill was ordered. It will give you a workout, but it nicely converts wheat to useable flour. I purchased a Wonder Mill Jr., grain mill from www.onlygrainmills.com, and it works just fine. Additionally, quantities of salt, sugar/honey, and dry milk were purchased and stored in the usual white buckets, but since my wife can't open the usual plastic lids on the buckets, I opted for splurging on some gamma lids that seal nicely, but unscrew for easy access. Arthritis takes it toll!

The second prong of my food preps involved the purchasing of food items from Sam's Club, and the local grocery stores with emphasis being given to acquiring a year's supply of such goods and using them on a first purchased, first eaten rotational basis. We built some storage closets in our basement, installed shelving, and stocked them full of goods paying attention, whenever possible, to finding items with extended expiration dates. We have also planted three raised gardens in our back yard to produce as much produce on our own as we can and have purchased long-term, heritage seeds to keep for the future.

The next real life senior concern to be addressed was prescription drugs. Both my wife and I are on cholesterol statin drugs, and blood pressure medication as are nearly every elderly couple I know. What to do about that? Here I want to carefully evaluate how seriously we need these medications and seek to acquire a surplus of them. If possible I hope to convince my doctor to prescribe a years supply of these medications. If he refuses, then it is my plan to see how much of the medications I can take and still not see a significant jump in either my cholesterol "score" or my blood pressure. Perhaps I can take the meds every other day or every third day instead of daily and save the rest. Failing to succeed in those efforts means that when things get serious and no further prescriptions can be obtained, then I will take whatever prescription medications I have and cut them in half. Then I will take half of those cut in half, and cut them in half again. The object is to wean myself off of them gradually rather than take them as prescribed and then stop cold turkey. Blood pressure medications and cholesterol drugs are preventative meds, thus, it simply may become necessary to let things play out as they will if they become unavailable.

In addition to medications, the elderly need to consider establishing a circle of friends and/or family who live in close proximity. Eventually, us old folks get so old that we just can't get things done on our own. I've walked through these things with my own parents so I know what I am speaking about first hand. Aging is simply one of the most challenging aspects of life and there is no such thing as the "Golden Years". Death does not scare me nor does it frighten my wife. We are Christian people (I am a retired Lutheran pastor), and we know exactly where we are headed when we die and frankly can't wait to make the trip! What doesn't excite us is the process of dying. If we end up in a situation in which the usual artificial supports (medications, hospitals, doctors, and such) are not available, we know that we will die sooner rather than later. If that is the case, then so be it! The cadre of family and/or friends near by is simply what people have always done in the past to care for those who can't care for themselves until they go home to be with the Lord.

Older people are not just a drag on others, however. We have an array of skills, knowledge, and understanding of an age when electronics didn't even exist, when we burned our own trash in the back yard, and by and large took care of ourselves and others without the government having much to say about it. Those are precisely the skills that communities that are cooperating in surviving need to know. Additionally, there is a difference between being older and being decrepit. I am old, not decrepit. I can work a full day, shoot straight, and think clearly. Until the day comes when such things are no longer possible for me, then I can be a productive member of any survival community.

With preppers of every age, however, I hope and pray daily that all of this preparation isn't needed. However, I will continue to be ready just in case it is.

http://www.survivalblog.com/2013/06/...tired-rev.html ]]> Survival and Preps searcher http://www.goldismoney2.com/showthread.php?48099-Prepping-For-Seniors Planning To Bug Out With A Military Mindset http://www.goldismoney2.com/showthread.php?48068-Planning-To-Bug-Out-With-A-Military-Mindset&goto=newpost Sat, 15 Jun 2013 13:49:44 GMT *Planning to Bug Out With a Military Mindset, Part 1, by C.W.D. (http://www.survivalblog.com/2013/06/planning-to-bug-out-with.html)* I will be writing a series of articles for SurvivalBlog that focus on prepping aspects, but with a military mindset. I will say first and foremost that I am... Planning to Bug Out With a Military Mindset, Part 1, by C.W.D.



I will be writing a series of articles for SurvivalBlog that focus on prepping aspects, but with a military mindset. I will say first and foremost that I am not the definitive expert on these subjects, though I do have a wealth of experience that I would like to share. First, I am an Infantryman by trade. I have served in Iraq during the surge and also Afghanistan. I have been a Rifle Team Leader and Squad Leader in combat. . Additionally, I spent 3 years as the opposing force applying guerilla tactics against units who were deploying overseas to combat. I have seen when good doctrine and tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) work perfectly and also when they have not.

One of the defining characteristics of war is chaos. TTPs are the counterweight to this chaos. From the moment combat begins, plans often become obsolete, communications fail, Soldiers become casualties, and units fragment. The result can be devastating. I have served in Light Infantry and Airborne Infantry Units. So my views and opinions will be with that mentality. There are other types of Infantry Units that choose to skin the cat differently. It doesn’t make them wrong just a different flavor of soda.

The first topic I will write about is some factors to plan for when bugging out. From reading these and other forums a lot of people seem to have the same plan to one degree or another; through on a bug out bag and start walking. Sadly, most of those people will find themselves dead. So I will discuss several military doctrines and TTPs that will aid them in this endeavor. Any bug out must be planned out thoroughly and elaborately, this doesn’t mean that your plan must be elaborate, but that you must cover all the angles. There are six planning or assessment factors that can save your life. In the Infantry world everything we do is based on the acronym METT-TC and without knowing it all of us use this tool hundreds of times a day, just not in this deliberate thought process. METT-TC stands for Mission, Enemy, Terrain, Troops, Time, and Civilians. Some or all of these play key factors in operations and planning. You must begin to think of your bug out as an operation, not just a stroll from one place to another. I will elaborate and explain each factor:

Mission, this is what I am planning or currently doing or my desired end state. This will dictate a large majority of your initial actions based off of what your mission is. It is critical that all members of your party understand the mission to the lowest level and also what each member’s piece of the mission is. The reason for this is should something happen to a member of your party someone else will have to fill in on that role and they must know what that role is. A term we use in the military is two down, one up. This means I will know the job one echelon above me and two below me. It is also a good idea to know the job to the left and right of you. This mean that when you look to the left and right of you, you should know the job of the person you see and that they should know the same. As stated above, my mission will dictate most of my principle actions if I am bugging out. For instance, if I am bugging out it is implied that I want to try to remain hidden until I can get out of built up or urban areas as much as possible. For example, its hit the fan and I need to get to from point A (an unsafe location) to point (my bug in location or link up point with family or friends). So if I come across a group of people I will shy away from them and try to stay out of eyesight, smell, and hearing distance of them.

Enemy, this should be considered everyone that you come across. In a bug out situation there are the haves and the have not’s. You have and should consider that they do not and want what you have. The general rule of thumb is that for every one enemy I encounter, I want to have three friendly personnel. So if I come across two people I would want to have five other people with me. This will give me the odds that I want so that it will deter them from trying anything and if it should become hostile I can either disarm them or have enough fire power that I can put on them so that they cannot shoot back at me without being killed. This ratio of 3:1 can change based off several factors. Such as: weapon systems, improvements made to their fighting position and finally, the training and expertise of both your group and theirs.

Terrain is one of the most important factors, so much so that it gets it own acronym of factors that you should plan according to. That acronym is OAKOC. This stands for obstacles, avenues of approach, key and decisive terrain, observation and fields of fire, cover and concealment.


  • Obstacles- These will limit your mobility with regards to your mission. These obstacles can be natural or main made. These may include ravines, gaps, or ditches over 3-meters wide; tree stumps and large rocks over 18-inches high; forests with trees 8 inches or greater in diameter and with less than 4 meters between trees; and manmade obstacles such as towns or cities.




  • Avenues of approach- An avenue of approach is a route leading to an objective or key terrain. Put plainly, it’s a path that might lead people to you or you to people. You should also consider how large of a group can travel on these and also if it is accessible to vehicles. These may also be lines of drift which are paths that are natural or formed by animals. These should be avoided because if you were to come across someone if would most likely be on one of these.




  • Key and decisive terrain- Are terrain that affords a marked advantage to the combatant who seizes, retains, or controls it. Simply put it is terrain that I can use to ones advantage such as a hill top to look at others below them, or it can even be a bridge that I can use to control who gets to cross a river. Or if they should want to use it to attack them as others cross. They will be channelized on the bridge and limited in the space that they can maneuver. The bridge then becomes key terrain because it gives them an advantage over their opposition.




  • Observation and fields of fire- You should analyze areas surrounding key terrain, objectives, avenues of approach, and obstacles to determine if they provide clear observation and fields of fire for both friendly and enemy forces. This means that I should be concerned with being able to see the other people from my key terrain, avenues of approach and more specifically not only that I can see them but can I shoot at them from that location if need be.



  • Cover and Concealment- Cover is protection from being shot at, this can be sand bags or trees over 8” in diameter. Concrete blocks such as ones used in building can be used but only if they are filled with cement. A standard concrete block will do little to nothing to stop a bullet. Concealment is protection from observation but not from bullets. Such as foliage, camouflage patterns, terrain. Cover can be concealment but concealment cannot be cover.


Troops are the next planning or assessment factor. This is solely concerned with the troops that you have with you and questions like: What kind of training for they have? How physically fit are they? How confident are you in their ability to complete a task? And do you even have enough of them to complete your task? This is all about knowing your men or women in your group and being able to honestly consider their capabilities. Just going to a range and shooting at a target 25 meters away does not mean that they will be able to shoot, move and communicate or that they have the proficiency to defend against hungry and crazed people who want to take what you have.

Time is the amount of time you have to accomplish your task, in bugging out this may be one of the most critical factors. Have you bugged out in time? Also it is used in planning considerations such as how long it will take you to bug out to your location. How much food and water should you bring? What time of the day will you travel? Night time travel will greatly slow down the time it takes for you to negotiate more difficult terrain.

Civilians will be a harder factor to assess for, this because there will be so many. Especially, in an urban environment. Needless to say since there could possibly be so many of them it would be in your best interest to stay away from them and consider them hostile until you can determine otherwise.

This was just a brief overview of one aspect to military planning. It only brushes the surface but I hope that it will give you a different perspective to your bugging out plans. You must be methodical and calculated in your plans. Know where to assume some risk and where to control it.

Part 2 of this article will be on principles to use when planning your actual bug out movement. After that I plan to discuss more tactically-based topics that I have learned from combat and training. ]]> Survival and Preps searcher http://www.goldismoney2.com/showthread.php?48068-Planning-To-Bug-Out-With-A-Military-Mindset <![CDATA[Learn A Post-Collapse Trade Before It's Too Late]]> http://www.goldismoney2.com/showthread.php?48067-Learn-A-Post-Collapse-Trade-Before-It-s-Too-Late&goto=newpost Sat, 15 Jun 2013 13:39:18 GMT Learn A Post-Collapse Trade Before It’s Too Late

Thursday, 13 June 2013 04:29 Brandon Smith



There comes a point in the analysis of any problem when its escalation turns so blatantly obvious that the disaster is self-explanatory. The economic crisis in the United States and around the globe is one of those problems. While there are still plenty of people out there who remain ignorant to the immediate danger, I think we are very close (at least in America) to a point of maximum velocity. The more accelerated the awakening, however, the faster globalist interests will pull the plug on what remains of our financial system.

Most citizens are at least vaguely concerned with the state of our country and are attempting to learn more. The survival methodology has gone mainstream and grows in popularity daily. Even the annual Bilderberg meeting — a confab of the world’s most influential economic and political power mongers, which mainstream media entities have long refused to publicly acknowledge — is finally being exposed to the light of day. We are now in a race, a mad dash to shape the future battle space before the elites position themselves for the final conflict.

Further economic analysis would merely reaffirm what most of us in the liberty movement already know, but let’s recap our situation for the sake of clarity.

Full-Spectrum Fiscal Disaster Is No Longer Theory; It Is Certain
The U.S. stock market is now in the midst of perhaps the largest artificial bubble in world history. Virtually all movements in the Dow are now determined by the stimulus actions of the private Federal Reserve. Agents of the Fed, including former Chairman Alan Greenspan and current branch head Richard Fisher, have openly admitted in separate interviews that the central bank’s primary directive has been to prop up equities to give the public the illusion of stability, rather than to revamp consumer credit markets as originally promised. Because of the system’s dependence on Fed fiat, whenever the smallest rumor of a possible reduction in stimulus is heard, the markets tumble.

To illustrate how detached and absurd our economic reality has become, investors now actually rally around the Dow whenever bad financial news is released because bad news means there is higher likelihood that the Fed will continue fiat printing.
For example, Reuters reported on June 4: “A report released on Monday showed the Institute for Supply Management’s index of U.S. factory activity fell to its lowest since June 2009 and tempered expectations the Fed would retrace its stimulus measures.”

This indicates that our current economy is so fragile that it is utterly incapable of sustaining concrete investment without the Fed creating dollars out of thin air 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In fact, I have to laugh anytime a mainstream analyst suggests we have entered a phase of recovery. Let the Fed stop all stimulus, and then we’ll see how much legitimate “growth” is actually taking place.

The wealth of most Americans is down 55 percent since the “recession” officially began in 2008. Job creation remains dismal. In 2010, 58.7 percent of working-age Americans were employed. In 2013, that number fell to 58.6 percent (according to official statistics), meaning there has been no improvement in the jobs sector of the U.S. economy following the 2008 collapse, despite all the claims by the Fed and the Administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama that bailout dollars and quantitative easing measures would bring jobs back to life.

Also, keep in mind that a rating of 58 percent employment may have been acceptable in the 1950s and 1960s when the U.S. population was half what is today. However, 42 percent unemployed working-age Americans in a population of 350 million is a dangerous prospect. Add to this the fact that, in those days, high-paying manufacturing jobs were the norm. Today, blue collar business has been replaced by burger-shoveling-wage slavery.

Unknown trillions of dollars have been printed, the dollar has been inflated and devalued, national debt is skyrocketing, and there’s absolutely nothing to show for it.

In the global political sphere, tensions continue under the surface between North Korea and South Korea, while the conflict in Syria appears to be spreading like a plague, drawing in multiple nations and promising a high probability of widespread warfare. Any broad-based disaster at this tenuous time will trigger a breakdown in the U.S. fiscal system. A crisis is inevitable.

Once we accept this fact, we must then ask ourselves a simple question: What can we, as individuals, do about it? In the liberty movement, most activists agree on the causes of our current dilemma as well as the eventual direction we are headed. Unfortunately, the movement completely diverges when it comes to solutions.

Fight Tyranny From The Bottom Up
Though there are as many “silver bullet” ideas as there are people, I would divide the argument over solutions into two basic camps: top-down proponents and bottom-up proponents.

I have heard numerous theories fielded, from suing the Fed to voting Republican to impeachment to leaving the country to marching on Washington, D.C., with rifle in hand. These are what I call top-down solutions, none of which take into account the need for localized independence. If you cannot even sustain yourself where you live and if you are unable to provide your own survival necessities, then what good is voting, suing, impeaching or marching abroad going to do?

The problem with the average solution put forward by well-meaning, but sometimes naïve, activists is that they cannot seem to free themselves from the top-down mentality. For them, all big sociopolitical changes must be made at what they believe to be the epicenter and often by working within the controlled paradigm. They think they can play the game better than the men who created it. They forget all about the periphery, the foundation of localism. They forget that to give independence to the world, they must first give independence to themselves. I am consistently astonished by the number of liberty movement activists who don’t even have food storage, a decent rifle or a worthwhile barter skill, yet seem to think they are ready to march weapon-bound to Washington.

Let’s be clear about something: Even if the masses coalesce to overthrow our currently corrupt political matrix of puppet middlemen, we are still left with an international banking oligarchy as well as a collapsing economy. The fight doesn’t end when you boot out the paid-off politicians; the fight has just begun. It is childish and foolish to believe otherwise. Therefore, one must plan ahead if one wishes to be victorious in the battle for a decentralized society.

This decentralization starts with you — in your personal life and within your community. The last thing the establishment wants is for individuals, neighborhoods and towns to decouple from the mainstream system and provide for themselves. This is what they truly fear — not empty marches without tangible goals or intelligent planning.

One thing that every American can do right now to bolster and inspire real revolution would be to learn a trade or skill that would be highly valuable in a post-collapse environment. If you cannot sustain yourself, then you cannot thrive and you cannot fight. If your neighborhood or town is unable to produce necessities for barter, then there is no trade, no organization, no cooperation and, thus, no organized will to fight. That is to say, global liberty stems from local industry.

During a debt and currency crisis, barter will probably be the most accessible form of local industry. The following is a list of examples of post-collapse skills and trade models that you could learn or construct within the next six months in order to ensure you are a sought-after partner in your own community when breakdown occurs:



  • Fresh Water Storage And Filtration: Clean water is a precious commodity, especially in a collapse situation when central treatment plants stop functioning. Whether urban or rural, many people are not equipped to provide ample water supply that is free of contaminants. Those who choose to boil whatever stagnant pools they find still have to contend with disgusting tastes and smells. Fresh, clean water will be sought after, and stockpiling filtration equipment ahead of time means you have a ready-made barter business in place. As long as you have the means to protect that business from looters, you have cemented your position as a vital barter hub within your neighborhood or town.



  • Solar Power Bank: Use a well-maintained solar power array to charge deep-cycle batteries for your barter network. The need for electricity will not disappear post-collapse. There are literally hundreds of tools people will need, from flashlights to food dehydrators to night vision. Not everyone can afford to set up his own solar array, but most families can afford to purchase a few deep-cycle batteries. If you have the means to charge those batteries, then you have a valuable service to barter.



  • Seed Saving And Storage: The ability to grow food is a talent. A good gardener is a godsend to any survival community. That said, a person who knows how to effectively save and store seeds is even more important. Most people never consider that seed availability (especially heirloom seeds) might dissipate. One person with knowledge could take one good crop and turn it into dozens, or even hundreds. Learn to do this professionally, and you will never be without barter customers.



  • Gunsmithing: The establishment has been quite open about its intentions to continue pursuit of gun legislation and, eventually, confiscation. There may come a day very soon when the guns we have in our hands are the only guns we’ll be able to find. We will have to think less in terms of replacing items and more in terms of repairing them. Learn how to fix weapons and invest in the machinery to fashion new parts from scratch, and you will be one of the most sought-after members of your barter network.



  • Ammunition Production: I don’t have to tell you that the ammunition market is bone dry lately. I have never seen anything like it in my life, and neither has anyone else. Even during the “assault weapons ban” of the 1990s, parts and ammo were far more available than they are now. In response, smaller companies across the United States are starting to spring up to fill the void, producing higher-quality ammo at affordable prices, but with a reduced output. I would take this model down to the local level. If every survival community had a dedicated ammo smith (or at least a reloading expert), then regional and nationwide supplies might be rejuvenated (unless the Department of Homeland Security buys another 1.6 billion “practice rounds”). Making ammo can be slow and tedious (starting with scratch brass and lead is even more so). Output would be limited, but having some is better than having none. Also, I have no doubt that ammo will be treated like a currency in the near future.




There are numerous trade skills that one can learn to become more viable within a post-collapse economy. No one can provide every necessity or foresee every eventual need. Therefore, a barter community of tradesmen is essential and is the foundation of a truly free and prosperous society. The pursuit of a post-collapse skill should be at the top of every survivalist’s to-do list. It is not something to be put off or shelved for a later date. Learn one today — not tomorrow. This solution is within your power to make happen now. Do not waste the opportunity, especially in pursuit of top-down schemes that serve only to give false hope and zero returns.

http://www.alt-market.com/articles/1...e-its-too-late ]]> Survival and Preps searcher http://www.goldismoney2.com/showthread.php?48067-Learn-A-Post-Collapse-Trade-Before-It-s-Too-Late Sugardyne For Wound Treatment http://www.goldismoney2.com/showthread.php?48061-Sugardyne-For-Wound-Treatment&goto=newpost Sat, 15 Jun 2013 11:19:36 GMT Letter Re: Sugardyne for Wound Treatment



Hi James,

I'm sure you've heard of this--but on the off chance you haven't, you definitely need to: The miraculous wound-healing benefits of a goop made from sugar and betadine (povidone iodine--available cheaply everywhere). You mix together and make a paste, which can be packed into deep wounds and gouges. Some people refer to it as "sugardine."

Not everyone knows that sugar alone has been used for hundreds of years as an effective gunshot wound treatment. The high osmotic gradient it promotes attracts and traps bacteria--and animal cells are better able to withstand high osmotic conditions than bacterial cells. The addition of the povidone iodine makes it even more effective.

There are countless stories of near miraculous saves of horses with bad wounds that wouldn't heal, using this paste. I've used it to great effect on myself and on my dogs--sometimes with deep canine puncture wounds.

Ideally, it should be packed in and covered, and rinsed out and replaced everyday. But any application, under any circumstances, is a lot better than nothing. Granulated (or powdered) sugar and lots of povidone iodine are very valuable additions to prepper medical stores, in my opinion.

Here are a few medical journal articles on the topic:













And here's a very practical video on using sugardine, from a veterinarian.

Stay Prepared! - Steve N.

http://www.survivalblog.com/2013/06/...treatment.html ]]> Survival and Preps searcher http://www.goldismoney2.com/showthread.php?48061-Sugardyne-For-Wound-Treatment Medical Notes From Nicaraguan Villages - By COEMT http://www.goldismoney2.com/showthread.php?48005-Medical-Notes-From-Nicaraguan-Villages-By-COEMT&goto=newpost Fri, 14 Jun 2013 12:47:56 GMT Medical Notes from Nicaraguan Villages, by COEMT Permalink | Print Here are some insights that I gained from a recent week-long medical mission trip to Nicaragua. We treated hundreds of men, women, and children living in remote villages for general medical complaints. I envision these... Medical Notes from Nicaraguan Villages, by COEMT
Permalink | Print




Here are some insights that I gained from a recent week-long medical mission trip to Nicaragua. We treated hundreds of men, women, and children living in remote villages for general medical complaints. I envision these conditions as being similar to what many of us would see in TEOTWAWKI.

Living conditions:
Mostly, the men in these villages are subsistence farmers, picking coffee beans, or something similar. The women stay at home and take care of the children, grandparents, and animals – chickens and pigs. Their average income is very low, in the 10’s of dollars per month.

Their houses are really shacks made with available materials. They were about as big as a two-car garage, some quite a bit smaller. Many are composed of corrugated steel sheets, plastic sheeting, and some planks. Some have adobe walls, but few are all adobe. With many people in a small space, they are very crowded. One family I interviewed had 11 people in the home, probably in 3 rooms.
Their cooking is done entirely over a wood stove, many indoors without chimneys. Smoke inhalation is a constant for everyone in the house.
Their diet consists mostly of rice and beans to eat with coffee, soda and juice to drink. There is literally no money left after they buy wood for cooking and their food. There was even a sad story of how a pot of beans on the stove must be guarded against theft.

Primary medical complaints:
1) Headaches, Dizziness – from dehydration. They know the water has parasites, so they mostly drink coffee and sodas or juices which all dehydrate at some level.
2) Burning eyes, sore throat, coughing – from smoke inhalation all day long
3) Muscle aches – from lots of hard manual labor, walking everywhere, carrying children all day, plus dehydration
4) Gastritis, Heartburn, Abdominal Pain – from intestinal parasites gotten from drinking surface water and eating beans daily, and lots of coffee.
5) Tooth Decay, Abscesses, Rotten Teeth – from not brushing/flossing and drinking mostly sodas and coffee every day.
6) Infections requiring antibiotics – of almost every conceivable type.

NOTE: I’m a licensed EMT. The below lessons are intended as educational material and do not constitute medical advice inasmuch as they may be outside of the scope of my practice or coming from instructors, experience, or reading. The lessons are, however, within the scope of my many years of life, caring for myself and my family members. And, in case you’re wondering, I was working under the direction of a Physician's Assistant and an Nurse Practitioner. I also mention several brand-name OTC products below. I only use them because most people will recognize them a lot better than the chemical name of the medicine. Please use your own good judgment on what is best for you and yours.

Lessons taken for TEOTWAWKI scenarios
1) Have a way to obtain pure water without fire. Bleach or Pool Shock (calcium hypochlorite) work well and go a very long way. At 1 tsp to treat 10 gallons of water, a gallon of bleach can treat up to 7,680 gallons, or enough water for a family of 4 for over 5 years, at a gallon per person per day. (This is from a government web site. Please do your own research.)
If I could have handed out a quart of bleach to each family, it would change their lives. Unfortunately, they cannot afford it on their low incomes. And they can’t afford the wood to both cook food and boil water.

2) Drink lots of clean water. Most of us aren’t used to heavy physical labor all day, every day. Drink as much as you want. While working, you may sweat more, but you’ll stay cooler.
Most of the folks I saw were dehydrated. In one case, I had a sickly-looking pregnant woman drink as much clean water as she wanted. About 20 minutes later, she looked way, way better, and said she felt better too. Wish I could have given her a 55 gallon drum to take home.

3) Avoid smoke inhalation. This is so obvious as to sound stupid, but the Nicaraguans didn’t even think about the problems they cause themselves. To avoid smoke, cook with fire outside, on a wood or gas stove with chimney inside, or without fire. Gas, of course, doesn’t create smoke when burned, so has better OPSEC, but residual carbon monoxide is even more dangerous than outright smoke. Solar ovens and solar-powered electric stoves/ovens are good choices as well.
The only remedy I could give those folks was to recommend they get themselves and their children outside and away from the smoke as much as possible, and to open their windows and doors – if their homes even have them.

4) Muscle aches are a given when doing the daily activities that will be required in TEOTWAWKI. Chopping, lifting, carrying, picking, bending over and so on take a toll on muscles. A couple more pain reducing strategies include taking stretch breaks and learning to use the other side of your body. Switch the tools to your other, non-dominate hand. It’s uncomfortable learning a different way to do things, but you’ll be able to work longer and more comfortably. Start practicing now when you don’t need it to get comfortable with it when you really need it.
I recommended this to my patients. I can only hope they will follow through with switching hands/arms/sides every so often. I also wish I had been able to give out tubes of Ben Gay to everyone I saw. It’s not a cure, but it sure feels good when you’re sore. Advil/Ibuprofen will work, but it has some fairly serious intestinal side effects – mostly upset stomach and constipation – not good for those folks. Aspirin and Tylenol (acetaminophen) will also work, but equally isn’t great for long-term use.

5) Get a few pairs of really comfortable, sturdy work and walking shoes. Break them in now so you won’t suffer when you need them.
The only people I saw with good boots were the men who worked in the fields. Many of the women wore flipflops – because that’s the only pair of shoes they owned. And they walked on rocky roads and paths all the time! Not good for many reasons.

6) Have a lot of intestinal meds available. The list of intestinal problems is long: Diarrhea, constipation, gas, heartburn, vomiting, etc. The effects are pretty simple: pain, discomfort, and disability. And it’s difficult to work when your belly hurts. Example meds to have on hand: heartburn – Tums or Rolaids; diarrhea – Imodium; constipation – stool softener and enema bag; vomiting – Pepto-Bismol; gas – BeanO or Tums. I recommend having a few treatments of each type for each person in your party.

I gave these meds out to dozens of my patients for temporary relief, along with antiparasitics as a long-term solution. You shouldn’t need antiparasitics if you are careful about purified water. If not, you’ll need them, plus a bunch of other meds for the diseases that also come with contaminated water: typhoid and dysentery among others.

7) Brush and floss your teeth every day. Brush your tongue. Use an antiseptic mouthwash (Listerine). Have a dental hygienist in your group. Do everything you can to keep your teeth, tongue and mouth clean. This is such a simple thing, but without dental care easily available, it can get out of hand quickly and the solutions aren’t good.
Many of the people we treated needed more than a few teeth to be pulled. Some patients as young as 12 years old. In some cases, our dentist didn’t even pull all of the teeth he could have because of the risks to the patient with no longer-term or follow-up care.

8) If you’re going to get antibiotics at the pet store, get a bunch of education too. Our pharmacy was extremely well-stocked. We had about every antibiotic you could name: Amoxicillin, Doxycycline, Erythromycin, Penicillin, and so on. This was a new area to me, except from personal experience. It's a very complex topic incorporating microbiology, pharmacology, and lots of other “ologies”. The big thing I learned is that antibiotics are specialized also. One antibiotic will work for one thing but not touch another. Going to the pet store and stocking up on FishMox in the belief that it’s a cure all is false hope and could cause someone to die.

Learn as much as you can about what you’re buying/getting. If you go down this path, you’re in deep water. The fancy medical words are indications, contraindications, effects, side effects, route, dosage and so on. The English words are what you take it for, when you don’t take it, what it does that you want, what it does that you might not want, how you take it, how much and so on.
My own story is that one stepson had an infection that required three different antibiotics prescriptions before he was cured. The first antibiotic didn’t do anything. He got hives from the second one. The third one finally worked.

One comment: Antibiotics are only useful for bacterial infections like pneumonia, scabies, ringworm, and so on. They do nothing for viral infections like the common cold or flu. Unfortunately, it’s very difficult to tell the difference between the two, even for doctors. The only reason a doctor should give out antibiotics for a cold is if there is a real risk of pneumonia. The current superbug scare we have is due at least in part to overprescription of antibiotics. The germs that are left are resistant, as well as having mutated, rendering the current antibiotics harmless to them.

9) Bactine and PhisoHex are a fantastic combination for superficial wounds. While in country, a couple of teammates came to me for small wound treatment. I had an AHA moment with Bactine. It’s terrific in two ways: topical pain reliever and antiseptic. Topical (on the skin) pain relief is rare in the OTC med world, but super useful because I wanted to scrub the wounds to get rid of any dirt. The antiseptic property is also nice to have. Phisohex is another wonderful thing because it’s an antiseptic soap that doesn’t sting when you wash/scrub with it. NOTE: this is not a pain-free solution. It hurts less.
I simply applied Bactine, waited for a while, then scrubbed with Phisohex and a few sterile gauze pads. Then I reapplied Bactine for more pain relief. In two cases (a big toe and forearm) I applied a Band-Aid for protection. The other, I didn’t (head wound).

10) Hand Sanitizer is wonderful in a pinch, but doesn’t replace washing. Being raised before the current germ phobia developed, I’ve never been big on hand sanitizer. Of course, I used it in the Ambulance and Emergency department. But I used it regularly while I was working in Nicaragua, treating dozens of people each day. I have no idea what they might have been carrying, but I’m sure I’m not immune to it. It’s a quick and easy dose of insurance when you’re in a hurry. Washing with soap and water is even better. That said, I want to point out that keeping a house spotlessly sanitized and trying to keep the family in an antiseptic bubble is not good for long-term health. Reason being: Our bodies develop immunity to germs through exposure to those very germs! If you want to have the most robust immune system, go get dirty with a bunch of people! Yes, you might get sick, but you’ll be immune when you recover, at least for a time. This is exactly how vaccines work – exposing you to the specific germs you want immunity to.

Final note for SurvivalBlog readers: all medical training is valuable, although difficult and time-consuming. I started down the EMT/Paramedic path when I started seriously prepping last year. The more I learn the more interesting and useful it is. As one EMT I talked to said, “You never know when you’ll need it.”

JWR Adds: The SODIS method for water sterilization is ideal for impoverished regions, since the plastic bottles can be obtained free at almost any dump. If you are careful handling them, the bottles can be useful for several years.

http://www.survivalblog.com/2013/06/...-by-coemt.html ]]> Survival and Preps searcher http://www.goldismoney2.com/showthread.php?48005-Medical-Notes-From-Nicaraguan-Villages-By-COEMT The Ant and the Grasshopper http://www.goldismoney2.com/showthread.php?47849-The-Ant-and-the-Grasshopper&goto=newpost Tue, 11 Jun 2013 02:25:00 GMT In a field one summer's day a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its heart's content. An Ant passed by, bearing along with great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the nest.

"Why not come and chat with me," said the Grasshopper, "instead of toiling and moiling in that way?"

"I am helping to lay up food for the winter," said the Ant, "and recommend you to do the same."

"Why bother about winter?" said the Grasshopper; we have got plenty of food at present." But the Ant went on its way and continued its toil.

When the winter came the Grasshopper found itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants distributing, every day, corn and grain from the stores they had collected in the summer.

Then the Grasshopper knew...

It is best to prepare for the days of necessity.




http://www.umass.edu/aesop/content.php?n=0&i=1 ]]> Survival and Preps Oz Waver http://www.goldismoney2.com/showthread.php?47849-The-Ant-and-the-Grasshopper Bugout and/or bugin location talk http://www.goldismoney2.com/showthread.php?47811-Bugout-and-or-bugin-location-talk&goto=newpost Mon, 10 Jun 2013 05:06:02 GMT This is just a place to talk about bugout and/or bugin location talk. Place to share information and thoughts. Share as much as you would like or ask questions of those around. TAEZZAR gave the idea in another thread so I thought this might be a good place to start. We are actually looking at... This is just a place to talk about bugout and/or bugin location talk. Place to share information and thoughts. Share as much as you would like or ask questions of those around. TAEZZAR gave the idea in another thread so I thought this might be a good place to start.

We are actually looking at buying a larger piece of property later this year with my wife's brother and his family. Will allow us to get a good size plot and be able to help each other out in a SHTF/turmoil/EOTWAWKI/collapse event. Plus he is a good guy.

Haven't picked an exact location yet but a few requirements that we would want for our location:

- access to freshwater on the property (well/lake/river)
- able to get to location on one gas tank
- at least ~150 miles away from a city with > 500,000
- plenty of natural resources in the area (forest, fish, game, fresh water...etc.)
- away from any serious fault lines, volcanos, tsunami risk area...etc.
- find a location that wouldn't be in direct pathway of nuclear fallout from a nuclear reactor and/or large city or military base that might be target of a dirty bomb or nuclear bomb
- good soil and climate to be able to grow your own food


I am sure there are other things to consider and other things I haven't included in the above list. Just a few thoughts for this evening. Lets here from the rest of you things you considered before finding your current bugout/bugin location and from those of you currently in the process of finding a location to use. Lets share some ideas.

Edit: I should note that if you have good books or Youtube videos that are helpful please recommend them. I have a friend who has read Joel Skousen's "Strategic Relocation" and highly recommended that to me. I haven't had the chance to read it yet, so I'm not sure how good or useful it is. ]]> Survival and Preps Ahillock http://www.goldismoney2.com/showthread.php?47811-Bugout-and-or-bugin-location-talk <![CDATA[When Prepping Just Isn't Enough]]> http://www.goldismoney2.com/showthread.php?47805-When-Prepping-Just-Isn-t-Enough&goto=newpost Mon, 10 Jun 2013 01:09:50 GMT When Prepping Just Isn’t Enough Posted by: Daisy Luther | on June 8, 2013 There’s a sense of urgency in the prepping community lately that is at an all time high. Between the global elite warmongers, the impending financial collapse as the government makes plans to attach pension funds, the... When Prepping Just Isn’t Enough

Posted by: Daisy Luther | on June 8, 2013

There’s a sense of urgency in the prepping community lately that is at an all time high. Between the global elite warmongers, the impending financial collapse as the government makes plans to attach pension funds, the new viruses, Monsanto’s GMO seeds running amok and threatening the world’s food supply, and Big Food’s toxic food-like substances in the grocery stores with no regard for actual nutrition, it is clear that we are going downhill fast. The soothing ”everything-is-just-fine” propaganda is so blatant that even the most die-hard zombie is beginning to see that something is amiss and that a massive change is soon to take place.

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 prepare when each week it takes more money to put less in the grocery cart. (If you’re new to preparedness, here’s a little primer with some great links.)

With the situation looking more grim by the day, it is very clear that 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 through that which is a step beyond prepping….self sufficiency.

Self sufficiency is defined as the ability to provide for oneself without the help of others. No amount of stockpiling gives you true self sufficiency. It is a combination of skills, supplies, attitudes and habits that mean the difference between a person with a great pantry and a true survivor.

Self-sufficiency is for…
■The day the grocery stores close their doors or become so expensive that people cannot afford to shop
■The day that the FEMA Camp gates open in only one direction
■The day that the banks go on an indefinite holiday, after draining depositor savings accounts and pension funds
■The day that electricity and heat on demand become so expensive that only the wealthy can afford them
■The day that medical care no longer exists for the average person, or is directed by government death panels
■The day that a natural disaster or false flag locks down the country and completely, irrevocably changes our way of life

The list could go on and on. These things are hurtling towards us and we must be ready. Self sufficiency, unlike prepping, doesn’t cost a lot of money – it’s about planning and acquiring basic skills and tools. It is about putting your plan into practice before you have no other option but to do so.

What would you do if you could never go to a store again? If you could never have utilities provided by a supplier again? What if you were truly on your own, forever?

For some situations, prepping just isn’t enough. If you don’t have plans for the following, you cannot consider yourself to be truly prepared.

Water

Clean drinking water is one of the most important requirements for survival. Now is the time to figure out how you will get water if your stored water runs out. Some ideas might be:
■Rain barrels (which are beginning to be illegal in some states)
■Less obvious water collection containers like pools and ponds (don’t forget the roof if you live in an apartment building
■Water purification methods
■Locate nearby lakes, rivers and streams
■Wells (including non-electric pumps)

Food production

Many people believe that they will just be able to stick some seeds in the ground and feed their families year round. It isn’t that easy. You can only learn the foibles of your bit of ground through trial and error. It takes a lot more veggies than most people think to feed a family for a year. Anything from a blight to bad weather to a horde of hungry bunnies can wipe out all of your hard work and leave you without a bite to store away. Look into some of these methods:
■ Gardening in your backyard or on a balcony
■An aquaponics or hydroponics system
■Raising chickens and other micro-livestock
■Sprouting
■Hunting and foraging (a nice supplement to your diet but a risky plan for long term survival when everyone else has the same idea)
■Full-scale farming
■Rooftop gardening
■Greenhouses and cold-frames

Food preservation

Not all of us are lucky enough to live in a place where we can grow food outdoors all year long. For the rest of us, food preservation is a lifeline in the winter. A few basic supplies and tools are needed. Just like food production, it’s important to practices food preservation and work out the kinks now, while you still have moderately affordable groceries as a back up. As well, this allows you to rely on healthy, non-GMO foods instead of the inexpensive, highly processed garbage at the stores. Learn the following skills:
■Canning
■Freezing
■Dehydrating/drying
■Pickling
■Fermentation
■Salting and curing
■Root cellaring

Reduce dependence on utilities

Whether you live in the country or in a high-rise apartment, you need to take steps to reduce your dependence on electricity at the flip of a switch, water from the tap, heat from the thermostat, and cooking at the turn of a dial. As the divide between the rich and the poor widen, there could one day be a choice between food and electricity. Your priorities are:
■Water
■Sanitation
■Heat
■Electrical power
■Lights
■Refrigeration or other method of safe food storage
■Cooking methods

Every situation is unique so start now to amass the necessary tools to meet your needs should the lights go out on a long term basis.

Personal defense

This is the sticking point for many people. But if you can’t defend your supplies, your home, and your garden, you don’t really have them at all – you are just using them until someone better armed or tougher comes and takes these things away from you. Look at Argentina’s economic collapse as an example of what could happen – violent crime there increased by 35% in one year. One study went so far as to call property crime a tool of redistribution: ”Overall, these results suggest that property crime has been used as a redistributive tool for the poorest to compensate for their impoverishment during the last decade and in particular during the ultimate crisis in Argentina.

Some solutions for personal defense:
■Arm yourself and learn to use your weapon of choice
■Stock up on ammo while it is still available
■Have secondary methods of defense in which you are proficient
■Learn basic hand-to-hand self-defense skills

Home security

Not only should you be prepared to defend your home, but you should try to avoid the fight in the first place by securing your property.
■Make your property less accessible by fencing it
■Install heavy doors in reinforced frames
■Install sturdy brackets to hold a bar in place on either side of the doors
■Growing thorny inhospitable plants under windows and on fences
■Place alarms on windows and doors
■Install security cameras (even if they are fake and just have a blinking light)
■Keep a low profile – if no one else has lights or power, cover your windows thoroughly so that they cannot see that you have them
■Don’t be ostentatious – keep your property looking similar to everyone else’s in your neighborhood
■Keep all windows and doors securely locked
■Consider the potential necessity of standing watch in shifts if the situation has thoroughly devolved

Change your perspective on finances

Devastating financial changes are coming to a location near you. Wouldn’t you prefer to make the cuts now and adjust accordingly, instead of having them forced upon you through evictions, foreclosures, repossessions, and other painful methods? Making some difficult changes now can provide a stable standard of living in a world that is going downhill at breakneck speed. By decreasing your monthly output, you can hang on to necessities.
■Redefine what necessities mean to you
■Get your money out of the banks
■Convert fiat currency to tangibles like seeds, ammo, food, medical supplies, real estate, and precious metals
■Don’t be in debt
■Reduce your monthly expenditures to the bare minimum
■Spend more time at home
■Learn to enjoy productive hobbies
■Prepare for a potential barter-based economy – what skills do you have that could be traded for essential goods and services?

The economic collapse is not some far-fetched, end-of-the-world fantasy. It is the reality that is occurring all around us, incrementally. The collapse that has been occurring since 2008 has been one of 1000 small cuts as income goes down and expenses go up.

No matter how much food you buy, it may not be enough to get you through these difficult times. You must learn to be self-sufficient in order to remain free from the control of those who would offer you sustenance and shelter in return for your fealty.

Instead of a huge, life-changing calamity, consider that it may be the culmination of many small events, rising prices and lower incomes, and the deliberate erosion of our self-sufficiency by those who would control us that cause TEOTWAWKI. (The End Of The World As We Know It).

The lists above aren’t comprehensive – they are jumping off points to apply to your own situations. Wherever you are planted, you need to come to grips with the fact that the world as we know it is undergoing massive changes. Figure out now how to make the best of it and not only survive with your family, but thrive.

Ask the people in Greece whether they regret not having stocked up on food supplies when those items were abundantly available. Ask the people in Argentina whether they feel the need to be armed against roving gangs and home invaders.

Hunger, cold, crime and fear are the daily realities in many countries that once enjoyed a similar standard of living to that of the average North American. Our debt-based standard of living is unsustainable, and you must be able to connect these trends with what is happening in your own country in order to see the need for preparation.

Today, you still have stores at every corner, reliable utilities, and social safety nets in place. These may soon become a thing of the past and if you wait before preparing, your window of opportunity may slam shut.

I’m not suggesting that you stop prepping – your stockpile is vital insurance that can help to cushion you when things go downhill. But along with your food storage and your rocket stoves and your medical supplies, begin creating a self-sufficient lifestyle that will carry you far beyond what mere prepping ever could.

- See more at: http://www.theorganicprepper.ca/when....T3PB0s5A.dpuf ]]> Survival and Preps searcher http://www.goldismoney2.com/showthread.php?47805-When-Prepping-Just-Isn-t-Enough Cleaning And Cooking Pan Fish With Heather http://www.goldismoney2.com/showthread.php?47793-Cleaning-And-Cooking-Pan-Fish-With-Heather&goto=newpost Sun, 09 Jun 2013 23:06:53 GMT Here's how Heather cleans and cooks pan fish...............

]]> Survival and Preps searcher http://www.goldismoney2.com/showthread.php?47793-Cleaning-And-Cooking-Pan-Fish-With-Heather Community Building Is Critical http://www.goldismoney2.com/showthread.php?47784-Community-Building-Is-Critical&goto=newpost Sun, 09 Jun 2013 19:37:22 GMT Community Building is Critical, by W.H.


A couple friends and I recently talked about the state of ‘things’, and how ‘things’ seem to be getting worse, and how ‘things’ are so bad that ‘things’ simply cannot get better. You’ve had those conversations, right? My friend David is well aware of the sorry state of our political system, and we’ve discussed those ‘things’ several times in the past. However, he was not thinking in terms of societal collapse. David started thinking along those lines pretty quickly, once I pointed out some weaknesses of our system, like the fact that our power utilities are not adding capacity, but reducing capacity, all at the behest of our environmental protectors at the EPA. We’ve had some bad weather in this area over the last year, and the power outages heightened his concern.

My other friend, Steve, was already thinking preparedness, and related some stories about how he buys his grown kids long term storage food for Christmas! (“What? No socks this year?”) Steve has his ear to the financial side of the equation and is quite concerned about the deficit spending and national debt.

Both my friends are also seeing clearly the moral decay of our country, and realize that the fruit of that decay will only be destruction. Needless to say, like you and me, they are looking to prepare and protect their families in whatever eventualities arise.

Then I mentioned my notion of starting a prepper store, a retail outlet that would serve our region by selling preparedness supplies and offering classes. So we started talking that over, having several meetings over the next months. We identified a location for the store, our target market, how we wanted to help our customers, and how we would compete in an Amazon.com marketplace flooded with cheap Chinese goods. We are now open for business!

We’ve come up with some good ideas, one of them being offering classes on preparedness elements. Our initial class drew dozens of people and gave us some initial encouragement that there is a potential place for local preparedness supply outlets. We notice that the attendees at our classes are fully engaged, whether beginning or advanced preppers. After the formal part of each class ends, the folks hang out for sometimes an hour, chatting, networking, and sharing ideas. This was a bit of a surprise to me because I thought that all preppers were very private, OPSEC obsessed individuals who would only reveal their first names.

In our classes, we find a discussion format works well because everyone attending is working on some piece of the preparedness puzzle. Even between two experts in one area, each learns from the other. It’s pretty cool to see two ‘experts’ taking notes during a class he or she is teaching!

In the process of opening this prepper store, David, Steve and I have been so encouraged. Before, we were thinking that there were only a few other people thinking preparedness. But now we realize that there are many, many people thinking and starting to live this way, just in our area. Our ‘destination’ for preparedness is helping folks to focus and get more serious about prepping for the gigantic disaster that our government is bringing down on our heads.

Something else is interesting… In our meetings, we have little or no discussion of politics, religion, morality, or the decline of society and impending doom. Very little. It’s as if ordinary people are getting beyond that and concentrating on the important matters of surviving and thriving. We all know that the sun came up today, the grass is growing, and the government is wasting 8 billion dollars a day, 46% of which is borrowed! That’s just a matter of course in our discussions, and we don’t waste time on it.

We are instead focusing on community building. David, Steve and I came to the conclusion early on that if only 10% of us are prepared in our rural county that we all will still suffer greatly. Now it’s difficult to convince a liberal that his thinking is destroying America, but there are many conservative people in my area who already have awakened. It’s not hard to get them thinking about prepping. If we can raise that 10% to 20% or 30%, then we are making progress. Not all of us can move to the Redoubt, and if we all did JWR would likely move back east!

Community building is the process of restoring the community atmosphere and benefits that we had in America 100 years ago. In every community there was a storekeeper, cobbler, carpenter, brick mason, etc., and these people were interdependent. They were not co-dependent, with all the negative connotations that brings today, but they were more inter-independent. Our communities today consist of individuals or families who shop at the same supermarket, but never speak. A neighbor of mine was out of work for a year, and I did not know it! We shop at the same supermarket, but never talk, and that’s not enough to support a community.

When I watch people chatting at the end of our classes, I see community building in action. “Oh! You know about solar power? I was thinking about putting in a small system. Can you tell me about what you’ve done?” That’s what we need in our community -- people sharing their expertise and friendship toward a common, meaningful goal, something more than watching the Super Bowl or American Idol.

The classes we teach are sometimes involved, and comprise topics such as radio communication, canning, food packing, medical, etc. The people who attend generally have a career and are experts at what they do, though not at what we are teaching. It is heartening to see a 60 year old grandmother hitting the books to learn about radio antennas, or a 20 year old learning about safe and proper canning. I’m getting a boost just from being around these people, and I’m finding others who have skills I lack, so I’m building my community network at the same time.

How do you build community to ensure you not only survive, but thrive? You have to take a bit of an OPSEC risk and talk to people about preparedness. In our area, we’ve had some bad weather, as I mentioned. That’s a good place to start. As I was putting up flyers at a convenience store for one of our classes, some guy standing there told me that a week long power outage was not the worst of it, but that they had a two week "boil water" requirement from the local utility after the power came back on. That was the perfect entrée for me to note the wisdom of having water and food stored for emergency use. Get them thinking with comments like, “Makes me wonder what we would have done if the power had been off for a month!”

Without taking politics or the accursed Federal Reserve, you can start a conversation with a fellow prepper. Recommend a product to them like freeze dried food that was ‘unexpectedly tasty,’ or a water filter, or how you and your spouse met a friend at the shooting range the other day. I was chatting with a buddy I had known for years and the topic of guns came up. I found out that he is an expert marksman and had taken several advanced handgun classes, with his wife, too. Both are office workers and I would have never guessed that about them.

A neighbor just changed the license plate on his car to one of the Gadsden flag designs. That opens up an easy avenue of discussion that may just well lead to a prepping dialog.

Another idea is to just call a meeting at a local library about basic emergency preparedness. Invite someone from your local Red Cross chapter to speak for a few minutes. FEMA gives out free literature (well, we are over-paying for it), shipped to you for free (we are over-paying for that, too), and the pamphlets have some great advice for short term preparedness. That will give your meeting credibility, in case the local constabulary show up to take names. That’s the first batch of your community building effort, because most people there will be interested in long term preparedness, not just how to apply a band-aid or open a bottle of water. Branch out from there.

As we have been building community, I’ve been feeling better about my family’s decision to bug-in and stay put. We are in an east of the Mississippi state which is within a several hour drive of a couple heavily populated areas. Though our county is rural, it could suffer an influx of refugees, if they survive the ride up the interstate. I’m not about to move to Idaho due to family, climate, and age.

While the greater population density is a downside, it’s not if a bunch of those people are part of my community. Every person I can get on the preparedness track is a person I will not have to feed, but one who can help me in time of need, most likely with skills and expertise, and by sharing a community workload. Who cares if there are 1,000 people per square mile, as long as most are prepared?

Another advantage to community building is it becomes the basis for the next American government. It is the survivors who write the history books, and it is the survivors who will form the next government. America 1.0 is done, we know. But freedom is not done, nor is morality, or honor, or virtue, or courage. The survivors, over time will be people with those traits, and they will force their will on the government, hopefully adjusting the framework to prevent the next politician-greed driven crash. I’m participating in training the survivors today, my community.

These people are awesome. One fellow is building an alternative fuels business. Another is taking his home off grid. Several are learning about communications techniques. Many are learning safe and effective firearms practices. A single mother is raising livestock on her own small farm. People are finding ways of getting water out of their deep wells and thinking micro-hydro installations using scrap materials.

These are the people I want to share a country with. A John Galt in every community. It’s happening!

I encourage you to build your community, wherever you are. Only about half of Americans are wed to the government check. Many of the rest have the backbone to ride out the end to the new beginning and be the men and women of strength and courage we need to build a brighter future. Yes, store beans, band-aids and bullets, but don’t neglect your community, for by working together we can determine our own tomorrow for many years after the dependents have burned Washington, DC

Community Building is Critical, by W.H.

www.survivalblog.com/2013/06/community_building_is_critical_by_wh.html
Community Building is Critical, by W.H. Sunday, Jun 9, 2013. A couple friends and I recently talked about the state of ‘things’, and how ‘things’ seem ]]> Survival and Preps searcher http://www.goldismoney2.com/showthread.php?47784-Community-Building-Is-Critical How Would You Bug In (Your Home) During Civil Unrest / SHTF - Demcad http://www.goldismoney2.com/showthread.php?47774-How-Would-You-Bug-In-(Your-Home)-During-Civil-Unrest-SHTF-Demcad&goto=newpost Sun, 09 Jun 2013 14:06:42 GMT Demcad talks about bugging in during a civil unrest / shtf situation http://youtu.be/y2SfXWpYczQ Demcad talks about bugging in during a civil unrest / shtf situation

]]> Survival and Preps searcher http://www.goldismoney2.com/showthread.php?47774-How-Would-You-Bug-In-(Your-Home)-During-Civil-Unrest-SHTF-Demcad <![CDATA[CA Couple Finds Fully Stocked 1960's Fallout Shelter In Backyard]]> http://www.goldismoney2.com/showthread.php?47763-CA-Couple-Finds-Fully-Stocked-1960-s-Fallout-Shelter-In-Backyard&goto=newpost Sat, 08 Jun 2013 22:49:20 GMT http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/trending-now/california-couple-discovers-fully-stocked-1960s-fallout-shelter-173128092.html?vp=1 That would be cool. But now everyone knows about it. :thumpdown: SC http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/trending...8092.html?vp=1

That would be cool. But now everyone knows about it. :thumpdown:

SC ]]> Survival and Preps SilverCity http://www.goldismoney2.com/showthread.php?47763-CA-Couple-Finds-Fully-Stocked-1960-s-Fallout-Shelter-In-Backyard