Poor Man Survival
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A periodic digest of urban survival resources.
Fail-Proof Your SHTF Plans...
FAILING TO PRACTICE BUG-OUT ACTIVITIES
They say that practice makes perfect. We may never become perfect when it comes to prepping, but we can get pretty darn close by practicing.
So what types of things should you practice? There are plenty — including the following:
· Practice bugging out. See how quickly you can do what you have to do to get out of the house, including turning off the water and lights, grabbing your bug-out bag and getting into your car. The more people in your family or party, the more challenging this will be, but practice will help you lessen your go time
· Practice hiking. Hikes are not only good for you physically, but will also help you learn much about your environment. Not to mention that the more you do it, the more physically fit you’ll become, which will help when you have to do it for real
· Practice building a fire. Like everything else, the more you practice it, the better you will become at doing it quickly. This task can become a lifesaver
· Practice building a shelter. This can be a challenge, but by doing it repeatedly, you’ll get the hang of it. Increasing your speed is important because the weather could be nasty when you have to build a shelter to survive. Try it using a tarp, poncho, parachute or whatever you have handy
· Practice purifying water. Learning how to purify water the old-fashioned way (boiling, etc.) is fine, but having a portable water filter in your bug-out bag and using it with water from creeks, streams, lakes, etc., will save a considerable amount of time. It’s not difficult to do, but practice it anyway
· Practice camping out. Even if it’s just in your backyard the first few times, you’ll learn about sleeping outdoors and will discover which items you should have included in your bug-out bag. Try to improve your time for setting up a tent each time you do it
· Practice your archery. Whether you use a bow and arrow, spear or slingshot, you’ll want to become adept at taking down a small animal if you have to for food. Set up a target and practice, practice, practice. Keep safety top of mind, especially if children are involved in this activity
· Practice outdoor cooking. Even if you’re an accomplished cook in the kitchen, you may have to practice cooking in the great outdoors. It’s a whole new ballgame when you don’t have as many materials at your disposal and when wind, rain or snow could become a factor
· Practice identifying plants and bugs in the wild. Knowing which plants and bugs are edible and which are poisonous could save your life when you’re forced to eat only what nature can provide.
FAILING TO KEEP SUPPLIES IN MULTIPLE LOCATIONS
Everyone knows how important it is to stockpile food, water and other necessities for an emergency. There is much less awareness of the need to have stockpiles of these items in at least two different locations, preferably three.
Preppers who have gathered large amounts of bottled water, canned food, toiletries and a host of can openers, flashlights, batteries, radios, blankets, clothing, first-aid kits and weapons are putting all their eggs in one basket if they keep everything in the same place.
A home is a great place to stockpile food, water and other essentials. That’s where I keep my largest supplies because that’s where my family and I are most likely to be when the stuff hits the fan. Even if I’m not home at that exact moment, I will probably be in a position to return there shortly.
If that’s the only place where I have my emergency goods stockpiled — and either I can’t get to them or they’ve been destroyed by whatever disaster — I will have wasted a huge amount of time and money preparing for the exact scenario in which I find myself.
It is absolutely essential that you keep supplies in multiple locations. If you have a year’s supply of goods at home, keep six months’ worth in at least one other place. If you have six months’ worth of goods at home, store at least three months’ worth at a secondary location.
Now, where should these second and third locations be? There are several important factors to consider. For one, these other locations need to be close enough to get to, yet far enough away that they’re unlikely to be affected by the same disaster that just did a number on your home.
Just as important, these locations have to offer the same features that your home does — a cool, dry place where food and water won’t be negatively affected by sunlight, moisture and extreme temperatures.
Among the possibilities for a second and possibly third location are a storage unit you can rent, a root cellar or storage bunker on your property but away from your house, inside a separate building that you own in town, within a building that a trusted friend owns or buried in a remote area where only you would think to look.
MISTAKE NO. 3: FAILING TO STOCKPILE ITEMS FOR BARTERING
In addition to your own supplies, there are other items you should stock even if you don’t think you’ll need them. Why? Because you’ll be able to use them for bartering.
There are plenty of people who will not be nearly as prepared as you are following a disaster. If you have certain items and they don’t, they’ll probably be willing to trade.
One of the reasons some people don’t bother thinking about or preparing for a disaster is because they believe they have enough money to get through it, no matter how bad it becomes. They’re used to drawing on their wealth to take care of problems, so they assume that their finances will come to the rescue.
But if we ever experience a total financial collapse, no amount of money in the world will help. And any number of events could thrust us into that horrific situation.
In a post-collapse society, it’s entirely possible that the only things of value will be the goods you have stockpiled and the skills you possess, both of which you can use for bartering.
There are a countless number of items you could hoard for bartering, although you’ll never be able to stockpile everything. The key is choosing items that will give you the biggest return on your investment.
In other words, the items for which there is the largest difference between what they cost you now and what they will bring in trade later. Another important consideration is shelf life.
Food and water will probably be the two most sought-after items in a post-collapse society, but trading your “extra” vital sustenance could be a little risky, as you probably won’t know how long it will be before things return to normal.
For your bartering supply, you may be better off choosing items that many others don’t think to stockpile — but which will be in high demand — including alcohol, cigarettes, coffee and candy. Other items (in no particular order) include:
· Water filters and water purification tablets
· Fire-starting devices
· Flashlights
· Batteries
· Paracord
· Non-GMO seeds
· Gasoline and oil
· Precious metals
· Clothing
· Medicines
· Bug repellent
· Soap
· Candles
· Toilet paper and other paper products
· Tools, nails, screws, work gloves, etc.
· Manual can opener
· Reading glasses
· Baby products
· Hygiene products.
Of course, the first thing you need to do to give your preparations a jump-start is to get a survival food kit. Because you don’t want to rely on the government to feed you in a crisis.
Thanks to Frank Bates, one of our frequent contributors and suppliers of our Food4Patriots!
-SideBar-
30 of the Most Rapidly Disappearing Occupations
If you're in the market for a career, you might want to avoid these jobs, which are rapidly in decline for reasons both obvious and unexpected.
We’ve all seen the headlines: the middle class in the United States (and much of Europe for that matter) has been in decline for years.
CNN May 18, 2018: “Almost half of US families can’t afford basics like rent and food”
Marketwatch June 2, 2018: “50 million American households can’t even afford basic living expenses”
Wall Street Journal February 13, 2018 : “US households shoulder record $13.15 trillion debt”
Every two years, the Bureau of Labor Statistics updates its data to predict job growth in specific occupations. While everyone is, of course, dying to know which occupations will provide the best career prospects in the coming years, the government also shines a light on the dying breeds.
Confidence game
The building economic and financial crisis is based on the illusions that computer numbers in a bank account and debt represent real wealth. People with big mortgages actually believe that they own their homes. Well, even the people that have their homes paid off still don't own them. Try not paying your property taxes and see what happens.
The building economic and financial crisis is based on the illusions that computer numbers in a bank account and debt represent real wealth. People with big mortgages actually believe that they own their homes. Well, even the people that have their homes paid off still don't own them. Try not paying your property taxes and see what happens.
It is always prudent to stockpile physical gold and silver as well.
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