The Preparedness and Survival Site

This is good information, listen even closer to the fella that spent time Sarajevo during the war there. Folks like that have been there and “done that” during a collapse.

1. Generators (Good ones cost dearly. Gas storage, risky. Noisy…target of thieves; maintenance etc.)
2. Water Filters/Purifiers
3. Portable Toilets
4. Seasoned Firewood. Wood takes about 6 - 12 months to become dried, for home uses.
5. Lamp Oil, Wicks, Lamps (First Choice: Buy CLEAR oil. If scarce, stockpile ANY!)
6. Coleman Fuel. Impossible to stockpile too much.
7. Guns, Ammunition, Pepper Spray, Knives, Clubs, Bats & Slingshots.
8. Hand-can openers, & hand egg beaters, whisks.
9. Honey/Syrups/white, brown sugar
10. Rice - Beans - Wheat
11. Vegetable Oil (for cooking) Without it food burns/must be boiled etc.,)
12. Charcoal, Lighter Fluid (Will become scarce suddenly)
13. Water Containers (Urgent Item to obtain.) Any size. Small: HARD CLEAR PLASTIC ONLY - note - food grade if for drinking.
14. Mini Heater head (Propane) (Without this item, propane won’t heat a room.)
15. Grain Grinder (Non-electric)
16. Propane Cylinders (Urgent: Definite shortages will occur.
17. Survival Guide Book.
18. Mantles: Aladdin, Coleman, etc. (Without this item, longer-term lighting is difficult.)
19. Baby Supplies: Diapers/formula. ointments/aspirin, etc.
20. Washboards, Mop Bucket w/wringer (for Laundry)
21. Cookstoves (Propane, Coleman & Kerosene)
22. Vitamins
23. Propane Cylinder Handle-Holder (Urgent: Small canister use is dangerous without this item)
24. Feminine Hygiene/Haircare/Skin products.
25. Thermal underwear (Tops & Bottoms)
26. Bow saws, axes and hatchets, Wedges (also, honing oil)
27. Aluminum Foil Reg. & Heavy Duty (Great Cooking and Barter Item)
28. Gasoline Containers (Plastic & Metal)
29. Garbage Bags (Impossible To Have Too Many).
30. Toilet Paper, Kleenex, Paper Towels
31. Milk - Powdered & Condensed (Shake Liquid every 3 to 4 months)
32. Garden Seeds (Non-Hybrid) (A MUST)
33. Clothes pins/line/hangers (A MUST)
34. Coleman’s Pump Repair Kit
35. Tuna Fish (in oil)
36. Fire Extinguishers (or..large box of Baking Soda in every room)
37. First aid kits
38. Batteries (all sizes…buy furthest-out for Expiration Dates)
39. Garlic, spices & vinegar, baking supplies
40. Big Dogs (and plenty of dog food)
41. Flour, yeast & salt
42. Matches. {”Strike Anywhere” preferred.) Boxed, wooden matches will go first
43. Writing paper/pads/pencils, solar calculators
44. Insulated ice chests (good for keeping items from freezing in Wintertime.)
45. Workboots, belts, Levis & durable shirts
46. Flashlights/LIGHTSTICKS & torches, “No. 76 Dietz” Lanterns
47. Journals, Diaries & Scrapbooks (jot down ideas, feelings, experience; Historic Times)
48. Garbage cans Plastic (great for storage, water, transporting - if with wheels)
49. Men’s Hygiene: Shampoo, Toothbrush/paste, Mouthwash/floss, nail clippers, etc
50. Cast iron cookware (sturdy, efficient)
51. Fishing supplies/tools
52. Mosquito coils/repellent, sprays/creams
53. Duct Tape
54. Tarps/stakes/twine/nails/rope/spikes
55. Candles
56. Laundry Detergent (liquid)
57. Backpacks, Duffel Bags
58. Garden tools & supplies
59. Scissors, fabrics & sewing supplies
60. Canned Fruits, Veggies, Soups, stews, etc.
61. Bleach (plain, NOT scented: 4 to 6% sodium hypochlorite)
62. Canning supplies, (Jars/lids/wax)
63. Knives & Sharpening tools: files, stones, steel
64. Bicycles…Tires/tubes/pumps/chains, etc
65. Sleeping Bags & blankets/pillows/mats
66. Carbon Monoxide Alarm (battery powered)
67. Board Games, Cards, Dice
68. d-con Rat poison, MOUSE PRUFE II, Roach Killer
69. Mousetraps, Ant traps & cockroach magnets
70. Paper plates/cups/utensils (stock up, folks)
71. Baby wipes, oils, waterless & Antibacterial soap (saves a lot of water)
72. Rain gear, rubberized boots, etc.
73. Shaving supplies (razors & creams, talc, after shave)
74. Hand pumps & siphons (for water and for fuels)
75. Soysauce, vinegar, bullions/gravy/soupbase
76. Reading glasses
77. Chocolate/Cocoa/Tang/Punch (water enhancers)
78. “Survival-in-a-Can”
79. Woolen clothing, scarves/ear-muffs/mittens
80. Boy Scout Handbook, / also Leaders Catalog
81. Roll-on Window Insulation Kit (MANCO)
82. Graham crackers, saltines, pretzels, Trail mix/Jerky
83. Popcorn, Peanut Butter, Nuts
84. Socks, Underwear, T-shirts, etc. (extras)
85. Lumber (all types)
86. Wagons & carts (for transport to and from)
87. Cots & Inflatable mattress’s
88. Gloves: Work/warming/gardening, etc.
89. Lantern Hangers
90. Screen Patches, glue, nails, screws,, nuts & bolts
91. Teas
92. Coffee
93. Cigarettes
94. Wine/Liquors (for bribes, medicinal, etc,)
95. Paraffin wax
96. Glue, nails, nuts, bolts, screws, etc.
97. Chewing gum/candies
98. Atomizers (for cooling/bathing)
99. Hats & cotton neckerchiefs
100. Goats/chickens

From a Sarajevo War Survivor:
Experiencing horrible things that can happen in a war - death of parents and
friends, hunger and malnutrition, endless freezing cold, fear, sniper attacks.

1. Stockpiling helps. but you never no how long trouble will last, so locate
    near renewable food sources.
2. Living near a well with a manual pump is like being in Eden.
3. After awhile, even gold can lose its luster. But there is no luxury in war
   quite like toilet paper. Its surplus value is greater than gold’s.
4. If you had to go without one utility, lose electricity - it’s the easiest to
   do without (unless you’re in a very nice climate with no need for heat.)
5. Canned foods are awesome, especially if their contents are tasty without
    heating. One of the best things to stockpile is canned gravy - it makes a lot of
    the dry unappetizing things you find to eat in war somewhat edible. Only needs
    enough heat to “warm”, not to cook. It’s cheap too, especially if you buy it in
    bulk.
6. Bring some books - escapist ones like romance or mysteries become more
    valuable as the war continues. Sure, it’s great to have a lot of survival
    guides, but you’ll figure most of that out on your own anyway - trust me, you’ll
    have a lot of time on your hands.
7. The feeling that you’re human can fade pretty fast. I can’t tell you how many
    people I knew who would have traded a much needed meal for just a little bit of
    toothpaste, rouge, soap or cologne. Not much point in fighting if you have to
    lose your humanity. These things are morale-builders like nothing else.
8. Slow burning candles and matches, matches, matches

Credit goes to http://www.thepowerhour.com/news/items_disappearfirst.htm for the posting of this on their site.

Submitted by Debra,

Our goal has always been to try to be as self sufficient as possible. While sitting down to eat, we were discussing how nice it is to be able to prepare a meal that came right from our own land, each year brings us closer and closer to our goal. But, will we be able to really totally become self sufficient?

I started considering the meal placed before us. Sauerkraut Balls, how self sufficient are we really? When preparing this meal, picking apart the ingredients one by one, makes me realize just how really self sufficient we are, or should I say “are not”?

Ingredient #1
One finely chopped onion. We grew are own, BUT, I do buy the onion sets in the spring. Now, this is solved, because we ordered heirloom onions that are perennials, ones, that come up year after year. Check that ingredient off the list.

Ingredient #2
One pound of bulk sausage. Hey, we raised our own pigs. Hmmm, we bought the feed and also had the slaughter house butcher them, season the sausage and wrap and freeze it. The feed I suppose we could grow also, but that requires a lot of extra work and also I would need a feed grinder to process it. Plus we would have to research nutrition and such. All still doable.

Seasoning would not be a problem, I grow the herbs that are used. Now freezing the meat, that makes us dependent on the electric company. I could can the meat, but I do like a nice slice of ham. If I changed my eating habits, I could preserve the meat instead, but I just am not ready to give up my freezer yet!

Some meat preserving recipes call for certain spices and seasonings that I can’t produce in the quantity needed, like salt. Salt has to be store bought, I have heard of people gathering salt, but I’m not sure if you can do that here in humid Pennsylvania. So, Ingredient #2 makes me less self-sufficient, at least if I want to eat the way I have been used to.

Ingredient #3
Garlic. Easy enough, I grow garlic, but this time of year we use the garlic that we pickled and canned, which needs vinegar, that you can make also, but you need apples. I have no apple orchard, I just gather what are called “scrub” apples here. I live where Johnny Appleseed lived, and there are a lot of “wild” apple trees growing, but I would need something to gauge the acidity of the vinegar. For pickling foods you need a certain strength of acidity in order to prevent food from spoiling, again research needed to see how to “measure” acidity.

I would also need pickling spices. I grow most of the items needed including the bay leaf, but I don’t grow mustard seeds, these also need to be bought. I don’t think you can grow mustard to collect the seeds, but I could be mistaken, so ingredient #3 also keeps me from being totally self sufficient.
Ingredient #4
Flour. No problem, grow wheat. We do not have a tractor (which would require gas and if it was diesel, you could make bio diesel, but you still need to buy certain ingredients to make that) so all the wheat would have to be hand sown,  hand threshed and hand ground. I do have wheat berries to grind, but at this point they are bought as well. Rule out ingredient #4.

Ingredient #5
Chicken broth, I do have chickens and can make broth, but see the above problem with pig feed. This also can be done, just more WORK!

Ingredient #6
Sauerkraut. Cabbage that’s all. Oops need salt again, and need heirloom seeds for cabbage, which we do have. Rule out #6, can’t produce salt.

Ingredient #7
Parsley. No problem, that is easily grown.

Ingredient #8
Seasoned bread crumbs, see above problems for the flour to make your own bread. All the other ingredients we use in the bread crumbs we grow. To compensate for the yeast, It could be sourdough bread, so we would make our own starter, but that requires sugar, so the bread recipe would have to be one made with honey, but we have no bees. So that rules out #8.

Ingredients #9 and #10
Milk and eggs. We have no cow. Strike off #9 but we do have chickens and they do lay eggs, at least during the summer. Of all the ingredients used we can only produce onions, parsley, and possibly chicken broth and eggs totally by ourselves. 3 out of the 10 ingredients.

Oh, the recipe for sauerkraut balls could adapted, but it wouldn’t taste the same and this is just one recipe out of everything we eat. And, eating isn’t the only thing we do in this family. Now in a TEOTWAWKI situation, we wouldn’t be eating the regular things we eat now, we would be solely dependent on what we could grow ourselves and forage for. And, these are all dependent on the weather and soil, if I made the mistake of growing carrots under a walnut tree like I did this year and ended up with 1 inch long carrots, I would be out of luck. I couldn’t just buy some from the local market, everything would be scaled down and we would have to try to barter for things we couldn’t produce ourselves, we certainly would not eat like we do now.

We could exist, but life would not be “normal”, but back to the very first sentence, “becoming as self sufficient as possible“. I can stock up on salt and things I can not produce myself to make things a little easier, but it is not “possible” for me to produce the daily thyroid medication I need, or the anti-seizure medication my husband needs.

Nor is it “possible” for me to give myself a blood transfusion that I get every 3 months or so. I am dependent on others, and always will be. I have come to the conclusion that no man is an island, we need each other. No matter how far you have come in being self sufficient, I am sure we (my family) could never totally reach the goal.

The winter storm season is coming once again, and there are many out there that are considering adding a backup generator to their homes. This is a very prudent precaution these days considering the fact that the grid is having to support more and more of a load every year, and there have not been very many upgrades to support the growing demands. But, adding a backup generator to your home is not quite as easy as it may seem, there are some factors that you need to consider when it comes to the addition of a generator for back-up power needs.

Size
What are you wanting the generator to power? I have seen many folks that have run out an picked up a 5KW generator at the local big box, only to be disappointed that it won’t run everything that they want. Your planned usage is a major factor in what unit that you will need to purchase.

Connection to Household Circuits
This is the area where I see the most number of folks go wrong. There is one right way to make the connection and a few wrong ways. The only right way that there is, besides only running what you need via extension cords to the appliances themselves, is a transfer switch.

Double male cords that are used to plug into the generator and the dryer plug are not only dangerous, they are illegal. That transformer out on the pole in front of your house works both ways, it can step down the voltage that comes into your home to the right amount and it can take that same power fed the wrong way and kill a lineman that is trying to restore your power! Not to mention the fact that the end not plugged in to the dryer socket yet is hot, thus the nickname that they have as “Suicide Cords”.

A good quality transfer switch made for using backup generators is a must. They are moderate in price, and a typical homeowner can install one in an afternoon. Do be aware that some states/counties require a permit for such an installation and a final inspection to verify that it was installed properly. Take your time and obey the regs, if you don’t and something goes wrong, the fines and legal aspects will be much worse.

Location
Where to place the generator, that is always a big question.. There are several things to look at when it comes to location. Practicality (length of cables), safety, noise and risk of theft.

Practicality
Unbeknown to many there are problems with running cables for fairly long distances, the main way that this manifests itself if heat. If cables that are not large enough are used, the cable can become hot and possibly burn through its insulation, at which point you have a situation that can cause a fire or a dead short that can damage your generator. Make sure that you are using cable runs that can handle the load and distance.

Safety
This is a major one. Generators need to be located where the exhaust is not going to find it way into your house. I have read way too many sad stories in the paper of folks that have placed their generators poorly and have died from Carbon Monoxide poisioning. Make sure that your planned installation accounts for proper ventilation of exhaust and heat from the generator.

Noise
Now this is a tough one. No matter how you slice it, they are noisy. The smaller units that are commonly found at retail outlets are usually a one cylinder affair, these units usually do not benefit from the addition of extra mufflers and the like. The majority of the noise that they produce is from the engine and the generator head itself, not the exhaust. Small units like these can be enclosed only if the enclosure is designed carefully to ensure that there is enough air available for cooling and proper venting of exhaust.

The other factor when it comes to noise is that it is a beacon to those without power that you have it, depending on your location this can be a major factor.

Risk of Theft
See “Noise” above for starters. When you are using a small generator, make sure that it is securely chained to something. I don’t care how “safe” you think that your neighborhood is, generators seem to grow legs of their own at the most inconvenient times.

This is only meant to be a primer
As a long time generator owner, I can tell you that there are many more factors that you will discover after you install a unit. If you cover the bases that I have illustrated above, they should be minor (but I am not giving any guarantees).

The best advice that I can give is to ensure that safety is at the top of your list when planning for the addition of a back-up generator to your home.

“Only 2% of the U.S. population grows food that the other 98% consumes. When you have a chance, thank a farmer.”

This is what the sign read that I saw on the county fairgrounds today (or something very close to those words). When you think about it, this is a very scary statistic. I am not sure about the real and “absolute” numbers on this, but they have to be pretty close.

This is really striking when you think about it, 98% of the U.S. are consumers that do little to contribute other than throw money towards the supermarket and other industries, and are totally oblivious to the root of the problem. This needs to stop if this country is to survive in tact through what may be coming.

On our part, even though we are not the greatest green thumbs around, we do try to tend a garden every year that provides some of the basics that make it to our dinner table. With the path that the economy has been following I can see that next year’s garden is going to be much larger than any other that we have ever attempted.

For all out there that read this, there are many ways that you can take the opportunity to grow some of the food that makes it to your family’s table. Even hardcore urban dwellers can find some room on a balcony or by a sunny window to grow some vegetables to supplement your diet.

With the economy going the way that it is, it is important that we all look for ways that we can reduce our dependence on that daily or weekly trip to the grocery store. Not to mention that I have already been witnessing the price increases, since I don’t personally make it to the grocery store too often I am not suffering the same fate as the proverbial “frog in water” being slowly brought to a boil.

Generally I set foot in a supermarket once a month or so (My wife saves me from it), but when I do, the price increases that I see are shocking. A can of chili that I was used to paying only $.99 for is now $1.49 (checked when I was in the grocery store yesterday). It may not seem like that much when looking at a single product, but when you factor in an entire shopping run with like price increases, it adds up quick! Getting dipped in that boiling water hurts!

Now, more than ever, it is important to turn your thoughts towards maintaining a pantry at home. Unfortunately this is not something that is routinely done anymore in American society, the only examples of home plans that regularly come with this feature are manufactured homes.

The home pantry can be thought of as an insurance policy, even if you have not chosen to go with a full on regiment of long term storage, three weeks worth of food in the pantry can smooth over a fair number of problems that you may encounter that either keep you from going to the store physically, or financially.

Shopping for the pantry does not have to be an expensive affair, it can be done reasonably by choosing foods that are stable for long periods of time when they are on sale. Canned goods are a great example, there are many times that you can obtain them at the local grocery while they are on sale, when they are, go ahead and grab a couple of extra cans that will go straight into the pantry instead of on the kitchen shelves.

With a well stock pantry, you are ensuring that you can by when you are hit by a sudden need of convenience when preparing a meal, or a need of not being able to leave the house or be able to purchase what you need at a given time.

Let’s face it, there are many that are living paycheck to paycheck, and its tough. But, even if you are stuck in that rut, you can still stock a pantry if you do so frugally. Canned foods, dried foods (beans, rice, etc.) and pasta are easily found on sale and can be stocked away in a pantry with very little more than the normal out of packet expenses.

A well stocked pantry is something that was a regular part of American life well into the 50’s and 60’s, it only fell out of favor from most families after the emergence of the “Supermarket”. This is one of the old ways that really can use to be brought back.

The US Government urges the US public to store at least a weeks worth of food and supplies to withstand an “extended” period without outside assistance, why not make it three or more weeks?

Inexpensive insurance that is priceless if you ever need to call upon it.

Being stranded without power for any extended period of time presents one problem that most fail to consider until they are left to deal with the situation, for families with children it is much worse. Bored children have the notorious habit of driving their parents to the absolute brink of insanity in short order.

As a society we have become so dependent on electronic forms of entertainment that when the power goes out and the batteries are finally dead, you are left with a vacuum that is not easily filled if you have not planned ahead a little.

Keeping a decent supply of books for entertainment (teens and adults), cards, board games and other forms of entertainment that don’t require batteries or electricity is fairly easy to do and does not require a lot of space to store them when not in use.

Who knows, if you have them around, you very well may use them even if the power hasn’t gone out (if you can pry the kids off the X-Box or the computer). I used to push the issue by turning off the main breaker to the house once a week for a couple of hours in the evening.

Buying board games new is one option, but I have done better picking them up used at second hand stores and garage sales. One of the better things that I can recommend are the packages that contain multiple games in one container, these are usually meant for travel, but a good quality one works just as well at home (saves space too).

Board games, and other games, that don’t peep, whiz, or have high resolution video are not outmoded by any means, they are just much better at actually promoting social interaction amongst family members.

As they say, sometimes it is the simple things in life that are the most satisfying. Whether you are dealing with a power outage of only a few hours, or a multi-day (or week) stint without basic services, the ability to fill the idle hours with a form of entertainment is priceless and a good way to remove you mind from the stress of the problems that you may be facing if only for a few hours at a time.

And yet another article showing that preparedness is making a comeback to the mainstream media…

So far the threat of a global food crisis has not affected Australia, but there are worrying signs appearing in the United States where some worried locals are beginning to hoard supplies.

Two bulk US retailers are rationing some sales of imported rice and that’s been enough for some Americans to begin stocking up.

It has also rekindled America’s survivalist movement.

One leading survivalist warning of lean and hungry times ahead is Jim Rawles, a former US intelligence officer and editor of a survivalist blog, who lives in California.

Mr Rawles says he thinks the food shortages being seen in the United States could soon become a matter of survival.

“I think that families should be prepared for times of crisis, whether it’s a man-made disaster or a natural disaster, and I think it’s wise and prudent to stock up on food,” he said.

“I’ve encouraged my readers to do this for many years, and the ones that have are now in a situation where they can just spend charity to their neighbours if there are full-scale shortages.”

He says there are thousands of people in the United States stocking up to prepare for the possibility of a food shortage.

“On a small scale, I’m sure there’s hundreds of thousands. In terms of real serious survivalists, it’s probably just in the tens of thousands that are actively preparing and the folks that are going to two, three or four-year supply of food,” he said.

He says it is a major situation with food with other potential calamities that concern him as a survivalist.

“If you get into a situation where fuel supplies are disrupted or even if the power grid were to go down for short periods of time, people can work around that,” he said.

“But you can’t work around a lack of food - people starve, people panic and you end up with chaos in the streets.”

Well prepared

Mr Rawles says he has been very well prepared for many years.

“We have more than a three-year supply food here at our ranch,” he said.

“We’ve got quite a bit if wheat, rice, beans, honey, rolled oats, sugar, you name it. We’ve got large quantities salted away.

“Most of it is stored in five-gallon plastic food grade buckets.”

He says that before this food issue came to light, he would normally be prepared for other types of civil unrest or disaster anyway.

“For earthquakes or flood, famine, whatever,” he said.

“We anticipated a situation where there might be a disruption of food supplies, but we’re more looking at a classic socio-economic collapse or even a nuclear war.”

But Mr Rawles says he did not expect he would be preparing for a food shortage several years ago.

“Not per se, because we’ve been living in a land of plenty for many, many years,” he said.

“We haven’t had food rationing in the United States since World War II, so it wasn’t very high on anyone’s priority list.”

He says the location of his survival ranch in the US is secret.

“We don’t actually reveal our location, even at the state level,” he said.

“All that I’m allowed to say is that we’re somewhere west of the Rockies. We intentionally keep a very low profile.

“We just don’t want a lot of people camping out on our doorstep the day after everything hits the fan.”

Yet another article that shows that preparedness is making it back into the mainstream…

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/fashion/06survival.html

THE traditional face of survivalism is that of a shaggy loner in camouflage, holed up in a cabin in the wilderness and surrounded by cases of canned goods and ammunition.

It is not that of Barton M. Biggs, the former chief global strategist at Morgan Stanley. Yet in Mr. Biggs’s new book, “Wealth, War and Wisdom,” he says people should “assume the possibility of a breakdown of the civilized infrastructure.”

“Your safe haven must be self-sufficient and capable of growing some kind of food,” Mr. Biggs writes. “It should be well-stocked with seed, fertilizer, canned food, wine, medicine, clothes, etc. Think Swiss Family Robinson. Even in America and Europe there could be moments of riot and rebellion when law and order temporarily completely breaks down.”

Survivalism, it seems, is not just for survivalists anymore.

Faced with a confluence of diverse threats — a tanking economy, a housing crisis, looming environmental disasters, and a sharp spike in oil prices — people who do not consider themselves extremists are starting to discuss doomsday measures once associated with the social fringes.

They stockpile or grow food in case of a supply breakdown, or buy precious metals in case of economic collapse. Some try to take their houses off the electricity grid, or plan safe houses far away. The point is not to drop out of society, but to be prepared in case the future turns out like something out of “An Inconvenient Truth,” if not “Mad Max.”

“I’m not a gun-nut, camo-wearing skinhead. I don’t even hunt or fish,” said Bill Marcom, 53, a construction executive in Dallas.

Still, motivated by a belief that the credit crunch and a bursting housing bubble might spark widespread economic chaos — “the Greater Depression,” as he put it — Mr. Marcom began to take measures to prepare for the unknown over the last few years: buying old silver coins to use as currency; buying G.P.S. units, a satellite telephone and a hydroponic kit; and building a simple cabin in a remote West Texas desert.

“If all these planets line up and things do get really bad,” Mr. Marcom said, “those who have not prepared will be trapped in the city with thousands of other people needing food and propane and everything else.”

Interest in survivalism — in either its traditional hard-core version or a middle-class “lite” variation — functions as a leading economic indicator of social anxiety, preparedness experts said: It spikes at times of peril real (the post-Sept. 11 period) or imagined (the chaos that was supposed to follow the so-called Y2K computer bug in 2000).

At times, a degree of paranoia is officially sanctioned. In the 1950s, civil defense authorities encouraged people to build personal bomb shelters because of the nuclear threat. In 2003, the Department of Homeland Security encouraged Americans to stock up on plastic sheeting and duct tape to seal windows in case of biological or chemical attacks.

Now, however, the government, while still conducting business under a yellow terrorism alert, is no longer taking a lead role in encouraging preparedness. For some, this leaves a vacuum of reassurance, and plenty to worry about.

Esteemed economists debate whether the credit crisis could result in a complete meltdown of the financial system. A former vice president of the United States informs us that global warming could result in mass flooding, disease and starvation, perhaps even a new Ice Age.

“You just can’t help wonder if there’s a train wreck coming,” said David Anderson, 50, a database administrator in Colorado Springs who said he was moved by economic uncertainties and high energy prices, among other factors, to stockpile months’ worth of canned goods in his basement for his wife, his two young children and himself.

Popular culture also provides reinforcement, in books like “The Road,” Cormac McCarthy’s novel about a father and son journeying through a post-apocalyptic wasteland, and films like “I Am Legend,” which stars Will Smith as a survivor of a man-made virus wandering the barren streets of New York.

Middle-class survivalists can also browse among a growing number of how-to books with titles like “Dare to Prepare!” a self-published work by Holly Drennan Deyo, or “When All Hell Breaks Loose” by Cody Lundin (Gibbs Smith, 2007), which instructs readers how to dispose of bodies and dine on rats and dogs in the event of disaster.

Preparedness activity is difficult to track statistically, since people who take measures are usually highly circumspect by nature, said Jim Rawles, the editor of www.survivalblog.com, a preparedness Web site. Nevertheless, interest in the survivalist movement “is experiencing its largest growth since the late 1970s,” Mr. Rawles said in an e-mail, adding that traffic at his blog has more than doubled in the past 11 months, with more than 67,000 unique visitors per week. And its base is growing. Read the rest of this entry »

Once again it has come to light in the mainstream that preparedness is a good idea, the thing that prudent folks are doing to ensure their survival in rough times. A recent article on MSNBC highlights this swing back towards personal preparedness.

“With foreclosure rates running rampant, financial institutions teetering and falling, prices for many goods and services climbing, and jobs being slashed, many Americans are making preparations for worse times ahead. For some, that means cutting spending and saving more. For others, it means taking a step into survivalism, once regarded solely as the province of religious End-of-Timers, sci-fi fans and extremists.”

It was good to see them also touch upon the fact that knowledge is just as important as the goods that are stored.

“In the last three or four years, he has led his clan away from what he calls their former “yuppyish lifestyle.” They no longer eat out, cook most meals from scratch, and rarely drive their one car. They also are all learning practical skills — such as sewing, nursing and wielding a gun for self-defense.”

I have read too many sad stories in the news about people suffocating from carbon monoxide poisoning. People who were prudent enough to obtain a generator for backup power, but they were not prudent enough to take the time to learn safe operation practices for the equipment.

If you are reading this as part of your research into whether or not to take the next steps to prepare for yourself or your family, there is no time like the present to get started. Make sure that you take the time to learn the skills that you need to survive on your own; there is a wealth of information out there for the taking, all you have to do is take advantage of it. There are many other sites out there like this one that offer free information for the taking (we’ve even linked to a lot of them so you don’t have to search them out).

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27244465/

Additional Resources:

Download Archives: http://downloads.tpass.org
Preparedness Links: http://www.tpass.org/?page_id=5

It has been more than four years since this piece was first published on our site, it looked like this is an appropriate time to drag it back to the forefront. The uneasiness and unpredictability of the financial markets in the US is just one reason, the other is that personal and family preparedness is always paramount no matter the “looming” disaster. Its usually the disasters that we don’t see coming that do the most damage, so it is better to be prepared for a wide range of things that can go wrong.

It is human nature that during, and especially after a crisis that people suddenly “get religion”.  Foxhole Faith; when the skeptic suddenly feels an irresistible urge for security. Y2K was that moment for a large number of people who, having access to the internet, discovered that they were intensely interested in Survivalism.  9/11 was a similar, but more transient moment of conversion for a lot of people.  Websites sprang up hawking a bewildering plethora of gas masks, anti-radiation pills and freeze dried foods.

But a few people were able to look beyond the moment.  A few people were wise enough to look at the specific case and see beyond it to extract the broader general principles.

You are such a person.  You who are reading this are one of the few who have the good sense to see the bigger picture.

You realized that today’s crisis is but one of many to come.  And you had the brains to realize that there would be other crises, other dislocations, other threats large and small that would have the potential to endanger your loved ones, your way of life, and possibly even your life itself.  And unlike your neighbors and co-workers you decided to carefully and calmly forge a plan of action to reposition your family and yourself to better withstand whatever the future might have in store.

There was a fellow who made a certain notoriety for himself on Usenet back before Y2K.  He was a real live bath robed Jeremiah forecasting Doom and Gloom.  He used to write that those who didn’t prepare would end up “drinking stale dog p*ss from a rusty hubcap” while huddling under some forlorn highway bridge.  He conjured up images of 3rd World destitution and devastation heaped upon the scornful masses that failed to stockpile and fort up.  “If you live within 5 miles of a 7/11, you are toast” was his slogan.

But those Americans who had actual first hand experience and knowledge of the last Great Depression are now dead or nearly so.  The average American living today has never known any real hardship, has never watched their children go hungry night after night with no way to comfort them.  The average American has never known a time when they could not find work at decent pay and yes, maybe they had to cut back and scrimp for a time, but never really experiencing the hope crushing daily despair of want and need.

And so Jeremiah’s hoary diatribe fell on deaf and scornful ears.  To most Americans it was and still is inconceivable that such a fate could ever possibly descend on America.

But you and a few others across this great land woke up from the slumbering comfort and luxury that America has become and began to suspect that all was not well in Mayberry. Read the rest of this entry »