Go to the source: Prepare!

This weekend, I spent more time on my garden. It’s nice to grow flowers, but I like to grow things I can eat.

I put in strawberries, grapes, tomatoes, and peppers. Some of my seeds that went straight into the ground did not come up, so I transplanted pots grown in the house. I put in four more types of herbs in containers on the patio.

Other seed plants are coming up nicely; spinich, cucumbers and green beans. The ground will have to be tilled soon for the corn and I built three more raised beds.

The grapes took two hours per plant not including soaking and ground preparation. It’s the way that it is when you are setting up new “mini arbors” each year.

I am just getting started. I have to track down some new dwarf fruit trees because my normal supplier is out. I was able to snag another mini orange tree though and I am darn glad to have it.

I am no Old MacDonald, but I have been growing food in my yard for over fifteen years. It took a few years, research and lots of trial and error to get it right. And I am still learning.

Let’s take a look at the convential prepper now.

He may have his can of non-hybrid seeds from Waltons as recommended online, along with his copy of Bartholomew’s “Square…

Go to the source: Prepare!

Another chapter of The Traveler, SHTF fiction story. Please feel free to comment. 

I had not studied the city map I had taken, but remembered the route the taxi driver drove to the hotel from the airport. The freeway entrance was only a block away from the 7-11 so I made my way there first.

It was pandemonium in the streets. People were dazed, stunned, panicked. Some of the buildings were smoking from the heat of the blast. Cars had stopped in the street. A few thoughtful individuals were trying to help others but most were too wrapped up in themselves. I focused on the street in front of me. I had looted and stolen in the space of ten minutes. I could feel no redemtion only animal instincts and the desire to flee as fast as possible.

I turned onto the freeway and was thankful traffic had been light. There must have been another nuclear strike to the north because I could see the plume rising on the horizon. Not a good sign. There would be fallout and I needed to find shelter soon. Had I been further out of town, I would have stuck to the road and gone as far as possible towards home. But now I had to think. Get away from the city. Find a solid building with a basement. Hole up for a couple of weeks and then get back…

Go to the source: Prepare!

Yesterday was the monthly Costco run. You may go to Sam’s Club or one of the other mega shopping/warehouse places. These are great stores because you can buy bulk packages of prep items and put a real dent in your list of required stored food and supplies.

Here are some of the things I pick up every month at Costco. Afterward, there will be some explaination behind the purchases…

Honey – 10lbs. Two of the big containers
Oatmeal – both the 55 ct instant variety and the big Quaker boxes.
Toilet paper – big old 36 roll pack
Paper towels – same thing
Canned vegetables
Canned meat
Soap – mega pack
Tooth paste – same
Rice – 50lb bag

Honey – Grocery stores only sell containers which carry at most, 16 oz. Costco has a 5 lb container so I pick up two of those.

Oatmeal – you can get the large canisters at the grocers, but Costco has the next size up. Again, I get two of those and store them in buckets at home.
Instant oatmeal – because the kids eat it every other day and it is cheaper than the 12 ct boxes at the grocers.

Toilet paper – grocery stores carry a 12 ct package as the largest size. I have one closet in my home stuffed with paper products.

Paper towels – Paper towels…

Go to the source: Total Survivalist Libertarian Rantfest

So I am about halfway through Atlas Shrugged. The review portion is going to be a bit shorter than normal because I do not want to spoil anything for those who haven’t read it. Basically it follows a series of people. The people fall into 3 groups: producers, moochers and looters. About as simple as it sounds with producers producing stuff (they are big industrial types), moochers thinking they deserve something for just being themselves and looters taking by force. It is interesting. Onto the review.

The good: It has made me think a lot about all sorts of stuff. There have been (without ruining it for you) 2 points that really stuck out to me. First is that even a theoretically well intentioned highly centralized planning committee can not manage an economy in a decent fashion for very long. Not a big surprise there, Russia pretty much proved that one. Also the reminder of how well things are going in North Korea helps. Even if Thomas Sowell ran things along with Milton Friedman and Adam Smith who were brought back to life for the occasion it wouldn’t work. Markets work because of dozens of decisions made daily by every person involved. They produce and thus earn and consume by turning the fruits of their labor (or ill gotten gains) into things they desire. A particular product like a new type of soda doesn’t succeed or fail because of a report…

Go to the source: Stealth Survival

Go to the source: Stealth Survival

…

Go to the source: Stealth Survival

Go to the source: Be A Survivor

By Ranger Squirrel – Ranger Squirrel’s Ramblings

The prepper/survivalist community tends to repeat itself. We hear lots of talk about preps for food storage, fuel, water, knives, guns, wild edibles, hunting, fishing, trapping, shelter building, firemaking, water purification, bugging out, bugging in, and bugging sideways … okay I made that last one up. But there are two preps we hear mentioned only rarely.

#1 – Skills
The bottom line is that even the greatest piece of gear, the nicest rifle, coolest pack, niftiest widget or gadgetiest gadget is essentially useless without the skills to use it. Moreover, a lack of skill can destroy top-notch equipment faster than you can believe. A fine axe in the hands of an amateur for example, will quickly become a dull and chipped axe.

This concept first hit home for me several years ago when a friend and I struggled to get a fire lit for twenty minutes on our first backcountry outing. This despite having lighters, matches, and ferro rods and years of experience lighting fires in fireplaces. We lacked the skills to properly prepare tinder from wilderness materials, find dry wood, and build a fire lay. The skills you need depend on your environment, but there is a base set of skills that every prepper/survivalist should have. In the wilderness, these skills are known as Bushcraft and include things like firemaking, hunting, carving, shelter building and land navigation. In the preparedness world though,…

Go to the source: Be A Survivor

By Flea – Be A Survivor

I have pretty much come to the conclusion that most GPS’s are garbage. I have owned three in my life and all three at one time or another had a major malfunction that could not be recovered from and required me calling the suits at the company to get a replacement.

Tale of two customer services: One of the first GPS systems I had for my car was a TOM TOM ONE. Almost immediately the system white screened meaning I would turn it one and be greeted with a white screen and nothing else. It could not be saved or was a brick as some would say.

I called TOM TOM and they were great. They over-nighted me a new GPS and included a return shipping label to send the old unit back in. I still have this unit in my wife’s car and it has been solid since it was replaced a few years ago.

Admittedly the TOM TOM is nice but is a rather entry level GPS. I do a boatload of traveling and figured I would invest in a better one for myself. I selected a Magellan Roadmate 1470. I love the GPS. I have had it for about 45 days when surprise, surprise…white screen. I was in the middle of a trip (luckily I always print paper directions, just in case) and all of the sudden the lady stopped talking to me.…

Go to the source: Circle of the Oroborous

From USGS.

Magnitude 7.2 – BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO

2010 April 04 22:40:40 UTC

• Details
• Maps
• Scientific & Technical
• Tsunami 

Earthquake Details

 * Magnitude
    * 7.2

    * Date-Time  
    * Sunday, April 04, 2010 at 22:40:40 UTC
    * Sunday, April 04, 2010 at 03:40:40 PM at epicenter
    * Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

    * Location
    * 32.128°N, 115.303°W

    * Depth
    * 10 km (6.2 miles) (poorly constrained)

    * Region
    * BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO

    * Distances
    * 26 km (16 miles) SW (225°) from Guadalupe Victoria, Baja California, Mexico
    * 60 km (38 miles) SSE (165°) from Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico
    * 62 km (38 miles) SW (233°) from San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora, Mexico
    * 167 km (104 miles) ESE (105°) from Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico

    * Location Uncertainty
    * horizontal +/- 2.4 km (1.5 miles); depth +/- 31.6 km (19.6 miles)

    * Parameters
    * Nph= 13, Dmin=70 km, Rmss=0.28 sec, Gp=259°,
    * M-type=regional moment magnitude (Mw), Version=2

    * Source
    * California Integrated Seismic Net:
    * USGS Caltech CGS UCB UCSD UNR

    * Event ID
    * ci14607652