I was just thinking today about our rights. The Constitution sets down in writing and guarantees our rights. Cool. The thing about it is that, like the guarantee that comes with a pair of socks or a new widget, the guarantee is only worth something if you pursue it. The widget breaks and you have to go about the business of having the widget maker cough up the new widget. It's not always automatic, sometimes you have to fight for your replacement widget and make the company honor their guarantee. If enough people take the effort to make them honor the guarantee often enough, then the process is going to be pretty painless. If we don't try to make them do the right thing, then the guarantee is "just something that is printed on the box". We have to do the work.
I also believe (as probably do most people who are into self-reliance) that our rights exist independent of the Constitution. They are inherent in our being and imbued in us by God, or nature, or our humanity. They can not be legislated away. I think those of us with kids should take some time to make sure our children know that.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
Getting Started with Preps
What to prepare for is a question that can be hard to answer. It will largely depend on your environment and personal circumstances. Getting started means looking at the kinds of scenarios that you might find yourself in and then listing them in order of likelihood. I live in Michigan. As such, I think the most probable situations I might face are severe thunderstorms with extended utility outage, severe winter storms that again disrupt utilities and disrupt travel and the re-supply of local stores, and tornadoes that damage my home, make travel difficult or impossible and destroy utilities.
Fortunately, by being prepared for the worst, such as SHTF situations, the more likely emergencies are more easily navigated. What a focus on the small ones does is give you some idea of the directions you need to go to begin to make preps. What do you need to live? Shelter, Water and Food.
Without shelter the elements can take you in a few hours. A bad storm can put out windows and open your home to the elements. A tornado can take off the roof or level your home. This would leave me, mama, and the crumb snatchers exposed to the cold and the wet. That is un-cool and is thus to be avoided. I keep plywood, nails and screws on hand to patch holes or section off part of the house if necessary in the event of minor damage.
I also keep a six man tent (read sleeps four and a small cat) in a military duffle bag (the kind with two shoulder straps), along with a couple of mess kits, a camping stove, fuel bottle, a camping water filter, a collapsible two gallon water jug, a sturdy knife, a folding shovel, a complete pair of sweats, shorts and shirts and socks for each of us (I gave up on shoes they took too much space), four ponchos, 50 ft of paracord, firestarters, a firesteel, a candle, two multi-tools, fishing line, hooks, needles and thread, four wool blankets, a pack of Wet Ones wipes, two rolls of TP, a bar of soap, two mini-maglights, ten feet of wire, 8 Cliff bars, a can of Mountainhouse stew, and a wind up radio. The thing is packed. Save space by putting things inside other things. The firesteel, firestarters, candle, paracord, and wire go in one mess kit. The fishing line, hooks, needles and thread and Cliffbars go in the other mess kit.
In another bag I have four 0 degree sleeping bags and a multi-tool, a roll of sheet plastic, and a box of 9mm pistol ammunition and a box of .22LR. (only ammo goes in the bags, the hardware stays with me). This makes for a light but bulky bag. I figure that in the event of a tornado, if I can get the family into the storm shelter with these two bags, we should be able to last for about four days on our own, even if the house and it contents were lost.
Luckily, tornados don’t usually hit in the dead of winter where we live. Lesser storms would probably leave the house in good enough shape to shelter in it (in whole or in part). I’ve tried to provide for the survival basics in the bags. Shelter, water (or at least the means to filter and/or purify then store it), and food. I think this is a decent start for anybody. Think about a probable emergency and cover the basics. This will put you ahead of a lot of people.
Fortunately, by being prepared for the worst, such as SHTF situations, the more likely emergencies are more easily navigated. What a focus on the small ones does is give you some idea of the directions you need to go to begin to make preps. What do you need to live? Shelter, Water and Food.
Without shelter the elements can take you in a few hours. A bad storm can put out windows and open your home to the elements. A tornado can take off the roof or level your home. This would leave me, mama, and the crumb snatchers exposed to the cold and the wet. That is un-cool and is thus to be avoided. I keep plywood, nails and screws on hand to patch holes or section off part of the house if necessary in the event of minor damage.
I also keep a six man tent (read sleeps four and a small cat) in a military duffle bag (the kind with two shoulder straps), along with a couple of mess kits, a camping stove, fuel bottle, a camping water filter, a collapsible two gallon water jug, a sturdy knife, a folding shovel, a complete pair of sweats, shorts and shirts and socks for each of us (I gave up on shoes they took too much space), four ponchos, 50 ft of paracord, firestarters, a firesteel, a candle, two multi-tools, fishing line, hooks, needles and thread, four wool blankets, a pack of Wet Ones wipes, two rolls of TP, a bar of soap, two mini-maglights, ten feet of wire, 8 Cliff bars, a can of Mountainhouse stew, and a wind up radio. The thing is packed. Save space by putting things inside other things. The firesteel, firestarters, candle, paracord, and wire go in one mess kit. The fishing line, hooks, needles and thread and Cliffbars go in the other mess kit.
In another bag I have four 0 degree sleeping bags and a multi-tool, a roll of sheet plastic, and a box of 9mm pistol ammunition and a box of .22LR. (only ammo goes in the bags, the hardware stays with me). This makes for a light but bulky bag. I figure that in the event of a tornado, if I can get the family into the storm shelter with these two bags, we should be able to last for about four days on our own, even if the house and it contents were lost.
Luckily, tornados don’t usually hit in the dead of winter where we live. Lesser storms would probably leave the house in good enough shape to shelter in it (in whole or in part). I’ve tried to provide for the survival basics in the bags. Shelter, water (or at least the means to filter and/or purify then store it), and food. I think this is a decent start for anybody. Think about a probable emergency and cover the basics. This will put you ahead of a lot of people.
Friday, April 11, 2008
A messy birth
This is my first time blogging. I am interested in survival, self sufficiency, and some politics. I am not interested in racist BS or frothing at the mouth conspiracy theories. There are plenty of places for those who are into that to have their fun. I would like to give a nod to James Wesley Rawles, James Dakin, Rangerman, and the men at Total Survivalist Libertarian Rantfest. Their blogs have influenced me to try to contribute to the discussion of survival. Taking steps to prepare for emergencies, disasters, or TEOTWAWKI it is hard to know where to begin. While I have always felt a need to prepare, it is only in the last three years that I have begun in earnest. There is truth in the statements men have made about feeling overwhelmed by how much there is to do to get ready. The important thing is to do something. JWR's lists of lists is a good start. In the end making preps is like eating an elephant. How do you do it? One bite at a time. I'm pretty busy so I will probably only update two or three times a week.
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