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mars22581
 My Survival Strategy: (Lessons learned from Katrina, Bosnia, Rwanda, Indonesia, Haiti, Japan and the Arab Spring/year) I have a simple two strategy approach: 1) Short term: (emphasis on short) Stay-put in my house, prepared to be off-grid and semi-fortified with all necessary resources for five (5) days of survival. (with certain exceptions... For instance, a mushroom cloud means RUN NOW) These resources are separate from my bug out gear, and include things like propane for the grill and a solar panel on the roof to run the fridge and charge a couple batteries. 2) Long term: Bug out with provisions for the journey as well as a means of existence when the destination is reached. These resources include my light weight long storage food stuffs like rice and dried beans, rain collection and water purification gear, weapons and ammo, and heirloom seeds for farming. All the odds and ends not likely to be found or easily made after TSHTF. Surviving the first few days: Even if the dead start to prowl the earth in search of huma-food, there will still be something far more deadly and dangerous to contend with… People who did not plan for their own survival! I believe over 90% of people are completely unprepared for any sort of disaster. These people would have no idea what to do in the early days. And when the food runs out, human instincts take over. They will revert to an aggressive, high-blood pressure, off their meds VIOLENT version of their former selves. A. In a real emergency, forget about last-minute purchases. After TSHTF, the streets will be swamped by thousands of refugees and locals trying to buy (or steal) last-minute supplies. If you don't have it now, you'll never be able to buy it after the end of the world. Take what you have, and dig in like a tick! Keep your head down, and lights out. If you can, make your house look empty. Like you already left or the house has already been robbed. B. Plan on ‘Diversion Supplies’ A couple soda bottles of tap water and a case of Top Ramen doesn‘t cost much and gives you something to trade, give away or lose. In the event of a robbery, it’s far better to have ‘diversion’ supplies you can afford to lose… whilst keeping your own core supplies well hidden! Also, generosity pays dividends. A simple cup of soup can make a new friend, who may share info about a safe place or come to your aid in the event of trouble. C. The competition. They may have guns, they may only be armed with sticks… but they will have greater numbers and they will come and take whatever they can find. Even if this is only a big old bag of cat food and the water in a festering toilet bowl, people who are unprepared will quickly become desperate. It will not take long to for these people to discover your prepared state… and they will want a piece of the action. This is why my first strategy… the “Stay-Put strategy” is strictly limited to five (5) days. Anything longer than that is a near-certain death sentence. The five-day strategy is to assess the width and breadth of the disaster. If it becomes clear the usage of the word apocalypse is indeed warranted, it’s time for strategy 2. Surviving the rest of your life: Eventually you must relocate. But it’s important to avoid conventional means of travel, avoid populated areas, and be as invisible as possible. Where to go and what route to take involves careful planning and a thorough understanding of the threat. In this case, undead stalkers and starving-freaked out survivors means you need to be quick, quiet and avoid attracting any attention to yourself! Do not look prepared, or you'll have two hungry hordes trying to kill you! 1. Don't count on any disaster being short-term. Even if your home has not been destroyed, if it's bad enough you have to evacuate, it will almost certainly be several weeks, and might be several months or longer before you return. During that period, what you have with you - essential documents, clothing, etc. - is all you have in the world. You'll have to find new doctors for your prescriptions (or source it through other means), find a place to live (a FEMA trailer if you're lucky) and some way to earn a living. Don't expect your employer to be paying out your vacation time, or the half a week worth of work you did before the SHTF either. Have a marketable skill, such as fist aid, hunting/gathering wild edibles, gardening, fixing machines… If nothing else, help with the clean up. People will be very grateful to have that tree branch out of their living room. 2. Have a bug-out kit ready at all times. Don’t pack at the last minute. You‘ll always forget something important (prescription medications, important documents, baby formula, diapers, etc.). Some of these things (e.g. prescriptions) can't be stocked up in a kit, but you can at least have a list in your bug-out kit of what to grab at the last minute before you leave, and keep things like medication in one place so they’re easy to find in a hurry. Scan every family picture you have and put it on a couple CD's and Thumb drives. It will get the wife out the door HOURS faster and save room in your car for important stuff. 3. Have portable weapons and ammo ready at hand. You don't have to take your entire arsenal along for a 'local disaster'. Firearms for personal defense come first, then firearms for life support through hunting (and don't forget the skinning knife!). A fishing kit might not be a bad idea either. Other than that, leave the rest of your guns and the bulk ammo in the safe. Bring enough ammo to keep yourself secure, but no more. If you really think you need bulk supplies of guns and ammo, they should be in a cache` waiting for you at your bug-out location, not occupying space (and taking up a heck of a lot of weight!) in your bag. If you have a bug-out plan with friends or family, organize it to ensure they have ammo for you there or vise verse. 4. Renew supplies in your bug-out kit on a regular basis. Batteries lose their charge. Foods and medications have an expiration date. Clothing sizes don‘t change, but you may. 5. Have account numbers, addresses and telephone numbers! Best case scenario, you may have a new address. Have contact info for Friends, Family, Doctors, Insurance companies (medical, personal, vehicle and property), Bank(s), Credit card issuer(s), Utility supplier(s), Telephone supplier(s), etc. Basically, anyone you may want to talk to, anyone to whom you owe money, or who might owe YOU money. How can you put your life back together when you don't have any pieces of your old life left? 6. Provide entertainment for younger children. Some may think to bring DVD's, video games, etc. - but very soon there’ll be no power available to show them! Have coloring books and toys to keep the kids occupied. It will help their sanity and yours! 7. Have a bug-out place planned. North or South and Upwind of the nearest big city or nuclear power plant (fallout). High ground far from flood zones, and further inland for flooding/hurricanes. Most importantly, your bug out location should be sparsely populated! Trailer parks and rest stops will be overloaded quickly. Even forest preserves and open properties not protected at gunpoint will have no room for you within days. Forcing you to travel further and further from the disaster to find a calm place to rest. Family and friends who will save you a place at their location may be your best bet. But be prepared to do your fair share when you arrive. You may own a farm or property, but don't be surprised if you have company waiting for you when you get there. 8. Don't plan on fuel being available en route. With thousands of vehicles jamming the road, by the time you get to a gas station, you're likely to find it sold out - or charging exorbitant prices. Much better idea is to keep enough fuel in portable containers at home (properly stored and stabilized) to reach your bug out point. This allows you to take small roads and trails without a gas station or person in sight. 9. Route selection, Route selection! What was the shortest route yesterday, won’t be the fastest route when half a million other folks have the same idea... Use your head and think outside the box. Choose your routes out of the city carefully, avoiding the more dangerous choke points like narrow bridges and two lane roads. Have multiple routes so that you can transition from your Primary to Alternate to Contingency to Emergency (PACE) as necessary. Have some linkup points that are easy to find and that provide some cover and/or concealment in case you and your family/survival group get separated. 10. A big bug-out vehicle can be a handicap. Even towing a large travel trailer can be too difficult to maneuver in a traffic jam. It's not a bad idea to have as small a vehicle as will suit your needs, so that you can "squeeze through" in tight traffic situations. Bikes really aren’t a bad option if you’re not bugging out too far. Another point: A big vehicle burns a lot of fuel. This is bad news when there's no fuel available! (See point 8 above.) 11. Pack essentials first, then luxuries. Make sure your vehicle will carry your essential supplies first. Folks load up their cars with heirlooms, furniture and useless stuff… only to find that they don't have space for food, water or even themselves! Pets are a particular problem here, as they have to have air and light, and can't be crammed into any old corner of a hot car any more then you‘d like to be. If you have to carry a lot of supplies and a number of people, invest in a rooftop luggage carrier. 12. Have enough money with you for at least two weeks. You may find a town or person with supplies. And regardless of the level of the disaster, money will have value for as long as people perceive that it has value. Checks and Credit cards only have value if computers can verify your information. However, don't bring large bills. Many gas stations and convenience stores won't accept anything larger than a $20. Keep small bills for small trades. You won't find many folks willing to make change. 13. The "bank problem." Banks that find themselves physically damaged and/or without communications will fold. It might be a good idea to have a "bug-out account" with a national bank, so that some limited funds should be available anywhere they have a branch, rather than keeping all your money in a single bank (particularly a local bank) or credit union. This is, of course, over and above ones "bug-out stash" of ready cash. And of little or no help when the world ends. 14. Don't rely on government-run shelters if at all possible. Your weapons WILL be confiscated, including pocket-knives, kitchen knives, and Leather-man type tools… you will be crowded into close proximity with anyone and everyone, including drug addicts, released convicts, gang members, and folks just plain off their meds! You will be under the authority of the people running the shelter, who WILL call on law enforcement and military personnel to keep order. ‘Order’ may include stopping you from leaving when you want. Much, much better to have a place to go to, a plan to get there, and the supplies you need to do so on your own. 15. Your End of The World party is by invite only!!! Say you told two friends to bring themselves and their families to your home. Then they told two friends, and they told two friends... we all saw the commercial. If you are a place of refuge for your friends, make sure they know that your hospitality applies to them ONLY. Similarly, if you have someone willing to offer you refuge, don't presume on his/her hospitality by arriving with other stray pets you found on the way. This is a recipe for hurt feeling and shots fired. Social Implications of disaster 1. Raiders. Fact: Looting and raiding during a major disaster is a survival technique. It’s not safe, and there is no guarantee you’ll find enough to survive, but for most people, this will be their primary strategy. If you’re lucky, they’ll stick to the Wal-Mart. The worrying observation made in countless disaster and social unrest situations is that the looters typically feel perfectly entitled to any goods stolen, and innocent to any damage or harm they do to others in the process. When you find a SHTF situation, you’ll also likely see racism, reverse-racism, paternalism, oppression and a hundred other political buzzwords getting the blame for the simple fact, hungry people will try to get food any way they can. It will not matter if you happen to fall in or out of this looting groups race/creed/color… expect to be targeted in some way for some reason. If you provide for your own needs in an emergency, and not share with others because you don't have enough to go round, taking things from you can and will be perfectly justified in their mind. Again, it’s a good idea to have goods you’re willing to share, and the goods that you’re not willing to share well hidden. Also, a generator under such circumstances is a bright and noisy invitation saying, "This house has supplies - come and get ‘em". Solar Garden lanterns, candles and flashlights might be a more "community-safe" option. However, be prepared to defend yourself, and be prepared to move to a new neighborhood after things calm down. Neighbors may have hurt feelings, and you may have threats of retribution even after life begins to return to normal… 2. Implications for security. Important to note is that when police or military personnel die, their uniforms and cars can be taken. The group at the end of the road directing traffic may not have your safety in mind. If one has successfully negotiated the danger zone, you will be in an environment filled, to a greater or lesser extent with other evacuees. How many of them will have provided for their needs? In the absence of immediate State or relief-agency assistance, how many of them will feel "entitled" to obtain these necessities any way they have to, up to and including theft, kidnapping/ransom, murder and general mayhem? Large gathering places for refugees suddenly look rather less desirable... and being on ones own, or in an isolated spot with ones family, also looks less secure. One has to sleep sometime, and while one sleeps, one is vulnerable. Even your spouse and children might not be enough... there are always going to be vulnerabilities. One can hardly remain consciously in Condition Yellow at all times. A team approach might be a viable solution here - see point 5 below. 3. “Too many chiefs, not enough Indians". Authorities in disaster areas tell of getting conflicting assignments and/or requests from different organizations and individuals. One will send out a group to check a particular area for survivors, only to learn that another group has already checked and cleared the area. Unfortunately, in the absence of centralized command and control, the information is not being shared amongst all recovery teams. Some people have a natural tendency to take command. This isn‘t a bad thing as long as there‘s ONLY ONE person taking command. City officials, State functionaries, Red Cross, Police, Fire Departments, FEMA, and other groups tend to refuse to take instructions from each other. Moral of the story is: if you want to survive, don't rely on the government or any ’relief’ organization to save you. Your survival is in your hands - don't drop it! 4. Long-term survival is a private sector responsibility. Post disaster, everyone is focused on the immediate, short-term objective of rescuing survivors from under rubble. However, there’ll be a million survivors floating around that need long term accommodations and food, and most of them are now unemployed. The Government can’t provide enough in emergency aid even in moderate disasters, to immediately return to your normal life. And it may be some time before anyone needs a computer programmer. After finding a safe place to hang your hat, it will be necessary to organize a less monetary dependent economy based on your marketable skills. So, have some. 5. Personal emergency planning. You’ll need to provide for your physical security, and must ensure that you have supplies, skills and knowledge that will be "marketable" in a post-disaster situation. The idea of a "team" of friends with (or to) whom to bug out and survive is recommended. In this way, you all contribute to your mutual survival and security in the medium to long term. Not only will you increase your chances of survival, but also life might be fairly comfortable! This bears thinking about, and begin building "team relationships" with nearby people of like mind! Thoughts at a glance: 1. Helping ones friends is likely to prove expensive. 2. When help gets there, you may get it whether you like it or not. 3. There is a cumulative and detrimental psychological effect on survivors who shelter in place. Surrounded by constant reminders of devastation, expect depression and listlessness to set in. 4. Expect a lack of communication from rescuers and government. A radio will help, because the media is far more interested in informing the population. 5 Never, EVER allow your group to be separated by rescuers, even if it means waiting for a later bus, plane or other evacuation. Insist on this at all costs, or you may be evacuated to different ends of the country! 6. Expect rescuers (including law enforcement) to enforce a distinctly un-Constitutional authority in a disaster situation. 7. Don't believe that rescuers are all knights in shining armor. They may not like that you’re so well prepared, and ‘recommend’ that you share. 8. If you choose to share, don‘t expect your friends, neighbors, the Red Cross or Government to reimburse you, or let you take any of your stuff back… ever. 9. Law enforcement abuses will often be overlooked by authorities. 10. Your personal and/or corporate supplies and facilities may be commandeered without warning, receipt or compensation. 11. If you look like you know what you're doing, you may be targeted by authorities who assume you must have stolen all of these supplies... 12. Those who think themselves safe from the disaster are often not safe from refugees. 13. Self-reliance draws attention to you. Keep your head down and appear as desperate as everyone else. This is no time to stand out. 14. Relief workers from other regions and States often don't know local laws, at great cost to you. 15. Relief organizations have their own bureaucratic requirements that may conflict with your needs. If anyone in your group can’t walk 20 miles to get their FEMA sandwich, you won’t be allowed to bring one back for them. *************************************************************************************** GEAR PRON      (The copy and paste job is just me being lazy about taking a new group photo)   *************Emergency Food****************** 3,600 calorie 'ER Bar'  (2-3 days of food per person per bar, for about $3.50 off Amazon!) These things are priceless... Each bar is smaller and lighter then an MRE, requires no cooking or mixing or opening a bunch of baggies, has a taste and texture similar to lemon sugar cookies, and is a 2-3 day supply of food IN EACH BAR (depending on activity level). You can even mush it up with water to use as baby food. And moisture content is neutral (doesn't make you thirsty like freeze dried food). 5 year shelf life! Each tactical vest has one of these and a bladder for drinking water. *****************************Survival kits**************************** I have 4 'survival' kits that work on different levels and situations: Every day carry -Belt I made out of 50 feet of 550 cord (http://www.m4040.com/Survival/Projects/Rescue%20Belt/RescueBelt.htm) -A folding pocket knife -An Aluminum LED flashlight. -Lighter -Cellphone/Camera phone (I want to take out the IR filter on my phone so it works as night vision... but that means an IR flashlight too... we'll see) -In my wallet I carry credit card size: sheet of magnesium for fire starting/super bright signal flare, Fresnel lens and stainless steel mirror. -Day Bag (also for my laptop) A few power bars, Platypus sports bottle for water, poncho, crank power flashlight/cellphone charger, some 550 cord, lighter and first aid kit. ****************************Bug-Out-Bags*************************** (one in the house, one in the car, mostly identical)  -MEDICAL GROUP: First aid kit (With Quick Clot, SAM Splint, blister pads, Ice pack, etc...) -SHELTER GROUP: Hammock tent with bug netting and rain fly 1 Mylar and 1 fleece sleeping bag (use both for sub-zero temps) Poncho *Thermal base layer *5.11 pants *thermal shirt *socks *hat *towel (*in a water proof bag) -FIRE GROUP: Blowtorch style lighter Water proof matches Flint/magnesium fire starter block. Large Fresnel lens Strike anywhere mini 'presto' sticks. Georgia Fat-wood tinder. -SIGNAL GROUP: Flares Super loud rescue whistle Large signal mirror Florescent tape to mark trails/signal for help Wind-up/solar flashlight/radio/cellphone charger (by Eton). 5 watt folding solar panel battery charger (AA, AAA and cellphone). -WATER GROUP: Water bladders (One 3 liter, one 2 liter) Stainless Steel Canteen (32oz, for boiling water) Purification tablets Long surgical tube (For drinking water that's out of reach) Solar water still bag (makes clean water from sea water/urine...whatever) Also, a couple gallons of water in the car (good for a busted radiator too) -FOOD GROUP: 2 ER bars 2 servings of Jello mix (Treatment for hypothermia, Any color but Red!) Telescopic Fishing pole, tackle and fillet knife. Snare wire. Large rat traps. Slingshot kit (minus the forked branch). A mess kit with spork and collapsible cup. -TRAVEL GROUP: 2 Compasses Map of my state -MISC TOOLS GROUP: Fast-Hawk tomahawk, Full tang combat knife, Multitool, Waterproof paper and pencil, Car/wall/USB battery (AA and AAA) charger kit with batteries, sewing kit, safety pins, duct tape, Hand warmers, T/P and 100 feet of 550 cord. The 'B.O.B.' double as a level 3 assault pack for extra gear should you be on a long recon and compliments the gear in each tactical vest. All of the above and some basic survival skills will keep you alive almost indefinitely, and weighs only 25lbs! ************************Home/Disaster kit************************* For about 50 bucks, all of the following in a 5 gallon plastic paint bucket from the local big box store: -Lots of garbage bags and duck tape! (To patch up the house) -Crank Flashlight/radio, glow sticks, work gloves, first aid kit, multitool, dust/smoke masks, Disposable camera (mostly insurance reasons), -Illegal fireworks I got the next state over. Should get someones attention if I run out of flares. -20lb bag of rice, Dry bean soup mix (beans and peas), Chicken Bouillon cubes, (30 days/person of food right there) -5 Gallons of water (plus whatever you can get into your tub, sink, pots and pans, hot water heater before the fall of civilization) (this doesn't fit IN the 5 gallon paint bucket... but right next to it) (I'm considering using some PVC pipe and fittings to make a 2 liter soda bottle filling station under the sink. Throw one valve, and all 10 or 20 bottles fill up. Good precaution for storms too.) And as always, the contents of a good tool shed, though one should keep a decent tool kit in the house, maybe in or near the emergency closet. (You DO have an emergency closet, don't you?) When bugging in, eat the perishables in the fridge first. Next, the freezer, then your dry perishables (breads, cereal), then canned goods. You should save your rice, noodles, dry beans and the emergency rations in your 5 gallon bucket for LAST. The canned goods may seem like the last resort, but they are heavier then the dry goods. Should you need to move out in a hurry, you'd much rather carry your 5 gallon/20lb home emergency bucket then 50lbs of cream of mushroom soup. *************************************************** I will allow myself a small Christmas list:  14, COUNT 'EM, FOURTEEN... 12ga. shells in this bad boy. Two tubes. You can have Seven 00Buck, and Seven Slugs, and select which tube you feed from!  I know what you're thinking and yes, Robo-cop wants his gun back. 30 round mag in the handle, adjustable stock, and a barrel that is just begging for a haircut! (They also make a pistol version but the waiting list is disgusting) ******************************************************************************************************* These are some pictures and concept art for a secure and sustainable survivors colony.   
Latest page update: Apr 30 2012, 6:18 PM EDT
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