Prepare or perish

 

Poor Man Survival

Self Reliance tools for independent minded people…

www.poormansurvivor.net

ISSN 2161-5543

A Digest of Urban Survival Resources

 

 

Prepare or perish     

America is a land of plenty and Americans are used to having plenty — plenty of food, plenty of water, plenty of everything. Most of them can't imagine not being able to go to the store to get food of some sort. A preparedness mindset truly takes vision and planning for the future, especially now.

I hazard to guess that still — despite recent storms, the lockdowns and everything else that has happened in this truly odd year of 2020 — there is a 90 percent chance you could not live for more than a few days, and certainly not more than a couple of weeks, if something worse happened to the food supply chain than has already occurred. If you are one of the 10 percent who has, kudos! You are ahead of the game, but read on because preparedness is something that we must do far in advance of need.

Think now... if we needed more of any particular thing than we thought, it would already be too late.

Inevitably, when I write about preparedness one or two (at least) wags write to me to chime in to ridicule and fulminate against me for being ridiculous and wasteful. "People won't be without food," they say. "We have FEMA and Red Cross for that." They are fools.

If you recall, California's Pacific Gas & Electric began a series of blackouts last year in order to try and prevent fires like the ones that ravaged millions of acres and destroyed more than 22,000 buildings in 2018. The blackouts by PG&E alone left 730,000 customers in the dark, some for days.

The blackout left residents cold, hungry, stressed out, disillusioned and angry. According to the LA Times: "In Lake County, which shares a border with Napa County but lacks its wealth, (the blackout) has meant fear, cold, hunger and often anger — directed at both the utility and state leaders."

What Californians experienced is life when the systems we depend upon go down and we haven't taken personal responsibility for our own well-being. It's life (and often death) for people conditioned to depend upon the government for their sustenance and care.

The Leftists in our country constantly clamor for more government and turn to the government for everything they perceive as going wrong in their lives, including natural occurrences like storms and viruses, because they have fallen for the propaganda directed at them. That way lies disaster of Venezuelan proportions, dear reader. It is up to us to secure our own futures as if the government is not around, because it won't be when we need it most, as we saw during the height of the virus paranoia and looting. 

History is our guide in this. The police and government men will not be there for you. As hard as it is to remind ourselves, they are people too and are just as panicky, scared and ill-prepared.

In fact, anyone who depends upon the government for sustenance is a slave. And in a widespread emergency, even if government services still exist in some fashion, the government is at best slow and inefficient. The list of responses to hurricanes, fires, looting, flooding and power outages is long and undistinguished.

We have often urged you to store food. We even set up a website so you can purchase it at a discount. Everyone should have at the barest minimum of three days of food and water on hand. But even better is at least three weeks of food and water and other essentials at your disposal at all times. More is better.

You should have at least one month of cash on hand, as well. When the power is out, plastic does not work. Nor do ATMs. I also recommend gold and silver and extra items for barter.

You should also have a gun or guns and plenty of ammunition and adequate training on how to use them so you can protect your family and what is yours.

You should eat from your stored food by rotating out the older dated food and moving the newer food to the rear. This prevents loss from spoilage. Vacuum-sealed and freeze-dried food has a long shelf life and can be preserved for many years. Food storage is not a waste of money, as some claim. It is insurance. You will have actually profited by buying stored food when prices are lower than they will be in the future.

You must know that even an honest man will steal food if his family is starving. How anyone can see the looting, suffering and chaos in a place like St. Martin after Hurricane Irma swept through the Caribbean in 2017 and not take it as a warning sign to begin protecting himself and his family is beyond my understanding. If the recent looting hasn’t reminded you, then then you have well and truly been inured by the media.

If you have not begun preparing and want to, you should start small and work consistently, writes preparedness expert Larry Barkdull in his book, Emergency Essentials' Tips for Preparedness.

"Too many people make the mistake in thinking emergencies only happen to 'other folks,'" he writes. "Beyond the subject of disaster, being prepared should be a part of your normal provident living. Don't become overwhelmed. Start with small goals and work consistently."

Barkdull gives the following ideas to help you get started on your preparedness plan:

• Establish a modest preparedness budget. Make it a priority and work at it the best you can. Start with a few items, such as a 72-hour kit, emergency candles, a sleeping bag and a first aid kit or an emergency bag. Then budget enough money monthly to keep adding to your stores of emergency supplies.
• Get your information from reliable sources. Most sensible programs will coincide with other reputable sources such as books, community preparation and church or government programs. Don't let anyone scare you into thinking that has to be done all at once or that you must incur heavy debt to achieve your goals.
• That which would be required to sustain life for three days can be easily multiplied for planning long-term storage needs.
• Be consistent. Within a short time, you will have the necessary supplies and equipment to take care of yourself, family members and others.
• Think investment, not expense. Think practically when it comes to assembling a food storage program. Buy the basics and learn to use them. Buy foods that you can rotate and eat regularly instead of storing foods that are unknowns to you that you have never eaten. Buy emergency materials that can be used for other activities such as Scouting events, camping adventures and family road trips. Take care of what you purchase and learn not to waste. The point is, do something and do not procrastinate.

Don't wait until crisis hits. Then it's too late.

Yours for the truth,

Bob Livingston
Editor, The Bob Livingston Letter^®

P.S. — I have compiled some basic preparedness information in my book, How to Survive the Collapse of Civilization, and we're making it available to you for free. It contains practical, actionable survival advice for all manner of disaster scenarios and can help get you started on your road to survival in these uncertain times. Go here to get a copy.

 

 

Useful stuff       

 

1000 Sqft Original and Adorable Log Cabin

Click here to see more PHOTOS...

http://hyggehous.com/1000-sqft-original-and-adorable-log-cabin-to-check-out-.html

Anyone into the history of cabin building would be very interested in staying in this wood cabin called The Squirrels Nest. This traditionally built log cabin building on James River in Buchanan, Virginia is a picture perfect log cabin retreat. It's just one of the many small log cabins you can find for rent through VRBO, and it might just help you become inspired for building a log cabin of your own to enjoy for vacationing. When you are thinking of building a log cabin of your own, it's a great idea to test out a few different styles and types of log cabins to discern what you prefer most. Small log cabins make the perfect vacation homes and rentals for couples and smaller families.

As you can see with this Squirrels Nest log cabin building, you can fit a lot into just 1,000 square feet of space too. This 1,000 square foot log cabin features three bedrooms and two bathrooms which is a lot for a compact space. The cabin can comfortably sleep 6 people at a time since one bedroom has a double bed, a queen sized bed and two twin beds. You could also put bunk beds in one of the bedrooms of your own log cabin to make even more room for guests. Futons and pull out couches also work well for accommodating extra people too.

This cabin also features a nice kitchen that has all of the items you need to cook delicious meals. There's a large fridge, stove, microwave and even a dishwasher. So you can make the most of your vacation and eat healthy the entire time. Some rustic log cabins will only use smaller propane stoves and convection ovens while some only use an open fire to cook outside. You can tailor your cabin experience to suit your comfort levels and needs. You can make it as rustic or as luxurious as you want it and it all boils down to personal preference. Some luxurious cabins have full gourmet style kitchens and barbeques to cook on while others just have the basics. This cabin also has a large TV in the living room to enjoy during downtime, but if you wanted your cabin to be a bit more bare bones, you can leave out the television and enjoy connecting with nature the entire time. The Squirrels Nest also has full electric and running water, but you could create an off-grid cabin with solar power and a water catchment system. This is a great way to keep the cost of running your cabin low.

Instead of building a log cabin from scratch you can also buy an older cabin like the Squirrels Nest and renovate it to bring it back to life. Many older log cabins that have been taken care of really well will still be in good enough condition to last many more years. Small log cabins are especially easy to maintain since there is less space overall to maintain. So keep that in mind when you're choosing log cabin designs and remember that small log cabins will also cost you less upfront and will be more affordable to heat and cool as well. You can see how they left the logs on the exterior of the log cabin in the original finish, but they painted the walls on the inside of the cabin white to give it a fresh and new look. You could also refinish the logs and bring out their natural beauty. Enjoy looking through the photos of this incredible historic log cabin and get inspired for your log cabin build. The Squirrels Nest cabin building is available to rent for $135 per night

 

This is part 2 of our look at guerrilla warfare. A rather timely, though hopefully not prophetic topic for our current age. The first part looked at WHY a guerrilla force may be deployed or arise. In this article, we are going to spend some time looking at the HOW.

 

Keep in mind these are very brief and surface-level looks, and as always, I've tried to include a ton of links to help those interested learn more.

 

There is way too much to cover in a single article. Many of these topics have been broken down into more specific issues in other pieces on our site. We will also put a list of military and private defense sources at the end of this article. There should be enough here to keep you learning for a long time...

 

Guerrilla Warfare: Tactics and Strategies for Preppers

You may also like...

 

Civil War Preparedness - Part 1

 

 

Useful Resources from our storefront-See new items!

You Can’t Buy Life Insurance After You’re Dead-Prepare NOW for Emergencies…

 

NEW! Home Circuit Power Saving Device-Save 30—90% on Your Electric Bill.

Home Circuits Power Saving Device-Environment Friendly!

…as advertised in Reader’s Digest

Power Electricity Energy Savings Device- 30% or more Savings 90V-250V 50Hz-60Hz

Easy-to-use---No Maintenance Provides or a more stable environment for your household electrical grid…invented in Germany

https://www.bonanza.com/listings/Home-Circuit-Power-Saving-Device-Save-30-90-on-Your-Monthly-Bill/813154600

 

Support our efforts by shopping my storefront…

http://RetroGuy.net