Montana Preppers Network

Preparedness Expo in Spokane, Washington

2011-07-22T20:45:00.002-06:00

Special thanks to Idaho Bob for bringing this to our attention:

There will be an Sustainable Preparedness Expo, at the Fairgrounds, in Spokane, on July 31.

http://www.sustainablepreparedness.com/

Preparedness Expo - June 18th - Evergreen, Montana

2011-06-12T15:46:00.000-06:00

Mark your calendars! The Flathead Liberty Bell is sponsoring a Preparedness Expo on Saturday June, 18 from 10am - 8pm featuring Resources and Workshops to Help You Prepare for the Unexpected
Address:
Valley Victory Church (in the gym)
315 East Evergreen
Evergreen, Montana
Admission: $5.00
12 and under: FREE!

http://flatheadlibertybell.com/scheduled-events.shtml

The river is rising

2011-06-10T01:51:00.000-06:00

It's june 9th 2011 in Great Falls Montana.
It's been raining for two weeks
and the snow in the mountains is melting
filling the rivers and flooding the lowlands.
What's next?

Free Flood Preparedness PDF's

- ARC - Are You Ready - Flood

- Fact Sheet - Flood
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Montana Preppers Roll Call - All Preppers Please Check In

2011-03-07T06:51:00.002-07:00

The American Preppers Network is conducting a network-wide roll call. Whether you are a member or not please check in and let us know what you are doing to prepare.

This is a good opportunity to network with other preppers near you.

Montana Preppers, to respond to the roll call please follow this link:
http://americanpreppersnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?f=437&t=9268

Reply to the Roll Call and let us know what you have been doing to prepare.

If you are not yet a member of the forum you can register here for free:
http://americanpreppersnetwork.net/ucp.php?mode=register

Wilderness Survival: Three Days at the RiverWilderness Survival: Three Days at the River

2011-02-28T06:56:00.005-07:00

Three days without nothing

A few very good survival skills:

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EMERGENCY FIELD DENTISTRY COURSE

2011-02-10T15:43:00.000-07:00

A North American renowned Emergency Field Dental Surgeon and currently practicing DDS (Doctor of Dental Surgery of 29 years) from Tennessee, USA has been retained and scheduled to instruct a “ONE TIME” two day course on “Emergency Field Dental procedures”.

This class will cover all aspects of Field Dentistry with hands-on instruction on several aspects such as types of fillings and how to do them, dental anesthesia, extracting teeth, what equipment to use and how to get it. The student will get the unheard of chance to fill cavities, replace broken or missing crowns, extract teeth and use a high speed dental drill. The drill is the same type used in any dental office. Several years ago this Dental specialist was asked if he could convert the air turbine drill he uses to run off a simple compressed air tank which could be recharged with a bicycle air pump. He did and we now use EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse) / Electricity grid down proof high speed dental drills. All students will be given the chance to practice dental procedures on models and have plenty of time to have all questions answered by our guest Dental Field Surgeon! All Course Materials and guides will be provided as part of the course fee.

Until NOW this course has only been offered in the Southern United States on a very limited basis.

DON’T MISS THIS AMAZING OPPORTUNITY TO ADVANCE YOUR SKILLS AND PREPARE!

WHEN – MAY 5 & MAY 6 of 2011 - Class begins @ 8 am – 5pm - 1 hour lunch break

WHERE – “The South Country Inn” Conference Room located in Cardston, Alberta

COST - $ 400.00 CDN / STUDENT

Class Space is extremely limited (25 students CANADA WIDE) and offered on a First Come, First Served Basis. This course WILL NOT be offered again! All Class Registrations must be PRE-RESERVED AND PAID IN FULL by March 15, 2011 in order to guarantee a spot otherwise spots will be sold to those on the waiting list.

Registration payments can be made via Major Credit Card or Cash ONLY.

To register please contact Kara–Lyn or Dan @ (403) 915-2685

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Draw Your Line

2011-02-03T07:49:00.003-07:00

It's Time to draw a line and stand your ground!

YouTube -- yumology

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Montana Fires a Warning Shot Over States’ Rights

2011-01-10T09:49:00.002-07:00

Go Montana. An uphill battle for sure. But to lay down and be walked on by our federal government is not an option. Stand and fight for your rights. The more we allow them to have the more they will take.

http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2009/04/30/montana-fires-a-warning-shot-o

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Doomsday Fear Mongers Get It Right Again

2010-12-28T22:59:00.000-07:00

By now, you’ve likely come across the recent 60 Minutes segment titled State Budgets: Day of Reckoning. If you have yet to view it, you can do so below.

Millions of Americans who have been told that our economy is now in a period of recovery may be surprised to learn that most states are so broke that they are left with no other choice but to cut spending on literally everything. Governor Christie of New Jersey is, according to 60 Minutes, the canary in the mine:

We spent too much on everything. We spent money just crazily. The credit card’s maxed out. It’s over. It’s over.

For readers of this web site and other alternative news and contrarian outlets this report was to be expected. We’ve been reporting on, and our readers have been contributing their insights via comments for quite some time - at least a couple of years now - about the fundamental problems facing our country. For those who have questioned their own sanity, or have had their sanity questioned by friends and family when trying to spread the message of preparing for the Greatest Depression, Governor Christie just proved that you’ve been right all along:

Where am I getting the money? I don’t have it. I literally don’t have it.

It’s not like you can avoid it forever because it’s here now. We all know it’s here. And the Federal government doesn’t have the money to paper over it anymore either for the states. The day of reckoning has arrived. And it’s going to arrive everywhere.

Unlike the federal government, states don’t have the ability to issue debt and print as much money as is needed via the digital presses at the Federal Reserve. They are left with no choice but austerity measures via spending cuts. And, as Charlie McGrath pointed out recently, Austerity will hit America like an Eight Pound Sledgehammer.

Earlier this year, we discussed the Collapse of Dysfunctional States as Another Step To The Federal Bubble Detonation, and according to mainstream reports as of late, we’re well on our way to complete destruction of the way of life as we have come to know it in our spend and consume society.

If you thought the housing bubble was bad, consider what financial analyst Meredith Whitney has to say about state and local governments. Take note that it was Whitney who blew the doors open on the problems in housing and the excessive leverage in the banking system - which led to the collapse that has left us where we are today. And while investment houses and ratings agencies are still promoting municipal bonds as a great way to preserve wealth, you might want to sleep on Whitney’s latest comments before you go all in:

It has tenticles as wide as anything I’ve seen. I think next to housing this is the single most important issue in the United States and certainly the largest threat to the US economy.

When asked why no one is doing anything about it, Whitney provides an answer that is as true today as it was before the housing bubble pop:

Because they don’t pay attention until they have to.

It is only at the precipice of disaster that people, especially politicians and vested interests, are willing to change.

The worst thing about all of this, is that, as Meredith Whitney suggested, the states will likely find a solution to their problems. Our view is that this solution will come down to massive, unprecedented bailouts from the Federal government. Not billions - not trillions more will be printed.

We maintain our previous forecast, though we can’t put a specific timeline on it, that the collapse of state governments will eventually lead to the largest bubble detonation in history - financier George Soros refers to it as the Super Bubble and trend forecaster Gerald Celente calls it the Government Bubble:

How long will this be?

It’s hard to say, but in terms of the states, we’re likely looking at sooner rather than later. States are already broke, with California, Illinois and New Jersey already showing serious fiscal strain. In the near future we’ll begin seeing states requesting bailouts directly from the federal government. Eventually, we suspect that the majority of states will be standing in the welfare line looking for hand outs.

For now, the US dollar remains fairly strong given our economic problems. In fact, any time a financial emergency spreads across the globe, investors seem to be running to US bonds for safety, so there is still confidence in the US government’s ability to service our existing debt.

However, we believe that once the states begin to require federal involvement to pay government workers, emergency responders and pensioners, we will be much closer to a serious collapse of not only our economic system, but the monetary system as well. It’s only a matter of time before the rest of the world realizes that we’re completely broke and takes action accordingly.

The states blew a government spending bubble, and that bubble is about to pop. The federal debt bubble will not be far behind.

Naturally, there will be skeptics. In fact, most are skeptical of the possibility of a complete collapse of the US Dollar and our way of life, but it is in process as we speak.

Just like the states, the federal government will soon be on the precipice.

Meredith Whitney says that municipal bond defaults will start occurring in scores over the next 12 months. We’ll see what the federal government does, but our guess is more bailouts - hey it worked before!

But who will bail out the $150 Trillion (official figure) government debt bubble?

Any takers?

Yeah, we didn’t think so.

Author: Mac Slavo
Date: December 22nd, 2010
Visit the Author's Website: http://www.SHTFplan.com/

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Sing the health praises of parsley and sage

2010-12-25T12:48:00.000-07:00

Those of us who go back a few years likely remember the line about parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme in the huge Simon and Garfunkel hit song about two ill-fated lovers, "Are You Going to Scarborough Fair". Many have speculated that the reference to the four popular herbs was due to their use in Medieval Europe to help cleanse the air and ward off the infamous black plague. Others have thought that the reference to the four herbs was because the combination may have been used as a love potion. Whatever the reason for their inclusion in the popular song, the many health benefits of parsley and sage are worth loving and singing praises about in their own rights.

PARSLEY

Parsley is an amazing medicinal herb with a world of health benefits. The root contains calcium, B-complex vitamins, and iron, which nourish the glands that help regulate the uptake of calcium. It is a source of magnesium, calcium, potassium, vitamin A, beta-carotene, vitamin C and vitamin K.

Among the many benefits reported for parsley are:

*It is a diuretic which helps the body produce more urine to keep the urinary system operating smoothly and which helps prevent problems such as kidney stones and bladder infections.

*It is wonderful for removing toxins from the body, such as heavy metals.

*It is an effective breath freshener. It is believed that the practice of including parsley on a dinner plate began due to its breath freshening abilities and not merely for its decorative effect.

*The root and leaves are good for the liver and spleen.

*It helps relieve bloating during menstruation.

*It provides relief for edema, often helping when other remedies have failed

*Parsley root and seeds help relax stiff joints, often making stiff and unmanageable fingers work again.

*It helps remove gallstones when used properly by taking a pint of the tea daily.

*It is beneficial for the adrenal glands.

*It is a powerful therapeutic aid for the optic nerves, brain and sympathetic nervous system.

*Parsley juice is an excellent tonic for the blood vessels.

Note: It is best to avoid large amounts of parsley if you are pregnant, especially the use of the volatile essential oil.

SAGE

Like rosemary, its sister herb in the mint (Labiatae) family, sage contains a variety of volatile oils, flavonoids and phenolic acids, including rosmarinic acid. The oils found in sage are both antiseptic and antibiotic, helping it fight infections.

Besides the antioxidant and other properties shared with Rosemary, sage`s other health benefits include:

*It is effective for symptoms of menopause, night sweats and hot flashes because of its estrogenic action and because its tannins help dry up perspiration.

*Sage helps provide better brain function and has been used in the treatment of cerebrovascular disease for over a thousand years. It helps provide better recall and research has suggested that it may be an effective option to help treat Alzheimer`s.

*There`s also compelling evidence that sage may be of value to people with diabetes for whom the hormone insulin does not work as efficiently as it should. Lab studies indicate that sage may boost insulin`s action.

* The ability of sage to protect oils from oxidation has also led some companies to experiment with sage as a natural antioxidant additive for cooking oils that can extend shelf life and help avoid rancidity.

In an upcoming article, we will also sing the praises of the other two herbs mentioned in the popular song - rosemary and thyme.

Sources included:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarbo...
http://www.healthy-holistic-living....
http://www.greenmuze.com/blogs/natu...
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/pars...

About the author

Tony Isaacs, is a natural health author, advocate and researcher who hosts The Best Years in Life website for baby boomers and others wishing to avoid prescription drugs and mainstream managed illness and live longer, healthier and happier lives naturally. Mr. Isaacs is the author of books and articles about natural health, longevity and beating cancer including "Cancer's Natural Enemy" and is working on a major book project due to be published later this year.
Mr. Isaacs is currently residing in scenic East Texas and frequently commutes to the even more scenic Texas hill country near San Antonio and Austin to give lectures in health seminars. He also hosts the CureZone "Ask Tony Isaacs - featuring Luella May" forum as well as the Yahoo Health Group "Oleander Soup" and he serves as a consultant to the "Utopia Silver Supplement Company".

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Uses For Dryer Lint

2010-12-01T06:38:00.001-07:00

Just about everyone has dryer lint. I suppose most people just toss it out in the trash. But I don't. I've been saving dryer lint for what seems like ages. I happen to know that there are lots of other folks out there that do the same thing. How do I know this? Because not only have I had LOTS of people actually admit that they save lint, I have seen it with my own eyes.

Walk into most laundry rooms and you will probably see a pile of lint somewhere. On top of the dryer, in a separate trash bag, in an old coffee can and some even have a "special container" just for lint saving. I'm one of those. I have an old trick or treat bucket stuffed to the rim with dryer lint. Somewhere I even have ANOTHER container to dump the bucket into when it gets full.

I was thinking about it one day (yeah I do tend to think of off the wall stuff sometimes) and asked myself just what in the world I was going to do with all that fluffy, multi-colored recyclable material. I don't know why I even started saving it to start with. I just kept thinking " There must be something I can do with this stuff". I also decided to ask around and see what others had to say about the stuff. The number one answer, hands down, was to use it for firestarter.

I started searching around and came up with a few other things that dryer lint can be used for. I'm kind of glad I did too. Somehow it makes me feel better to know that I'm not alone in my "harvesting" of lint!

Here is where I have to put in a serious warning. Dryer Lint is EXTREMELY flammable. Which is, I suppose, one reason that the #1 use for it is for starting fires!

You have to be careful when you burn dryer lint as well. Remember that how it burns depends on what the lint was made out of. Things that are man-made will melt and/or smoke. It might smell like burnt plastic or even put out fumes. Cotton, wool and linen dryer lint will work just fine. If you aren't sure about what's in it you might want to take it outside in an open area and burn some. If it morphs into something ( like little beads etc) don't put it in your fireplace or bbq pit.

Some of the things people use it for call for caution and a bit of common sense. If you decide to use any of these ideas please use your head and remember just how flammable this stuff is ok?

Alrighty then.... We have the warnings out of the way. Now on to some of the interesting things you can use all that harvested dryer lint for......

Here are a couple of ways to use that fluffy stuff as a firestarter. I like a couple of these ideas because not only does it call for using your dryer lint but also some of the other things just laying around the house "just in case".

Try using it instead of lighter fluid the next time you fire up your BBQ pit. Lay little pieces around your briquettes to start your coals.

Lint also makes a good woodstove or fireplace tender. Just ball up some of the soft lint and place it in your starter kindling. They should ignite quickly and get your fire started easily.

Take an empty toilet paper or paper towel roll and stuff it with old newspaper and dryer lint. Close up the ends and you have a great firestarter. Use it in your fireplace or put a couple in your stash for your next camping or hiking trip.

This idea seems to be one of the most popular in the searches I've done. Take a cardboard egg carton and stuff lint into it. Then, using old candles, paraffin, or even used crayons, Pour melted wax over each cup on top of the lint. Use one or two of your "lint eggs" to start your fire.

Make firestarter "kisses". Take a small piece of wax paper and wrap lint and little wax bits in it. Then twist the wax paper ends like a candy wrapper. Put them in your stack of wood and light the end of the waxed paper. This would be a good way to use up some of those little bits of crayon pieces that the kids have laying around too.

Something else I ran across while reading about lint is to use it when making small dolls and teddybears as well as the batting for quilts. Stuff your home-made cushions with it. I saw where someone used it in their old farmhouse for insulation against drafts. Personally I'm not sure I would want to do this though because of the possibility of it catching on fire. I only mention it because it actually would work.

You could leave some out in the yard somewhere for birds to make their nests from as well as using it in your worm beds. Again, I would do a bit more research before trying one of these ideas.

How about using it to make a draft stopper? It would work well on a tile floor, especially if you have a metal door or one of those metal kickstopper on the bottom of your door. You could use a tube sock and stuff it with dryer lint and then sew the end closed to keep the drafts from blowing in under the door.

You know that nesting box material you pay an arm and a leg for at PetSmart for your hamsters and guinea pigs? Try using dryer lint instead. Warm, clean, cuddly and cheap!

How about using it for packing material? It can't be any worse than using those dang peanuts that get everywhere when you open up a package.

Use your artistic abilities and make a masterpiece from old dryer lint. Use it for kid's craft projects. You can shape the lint into almost anything or even use it to replace cotton for things like snowmen or clouds. Just glue the "shapes" onto construction paper. How about using it for things like hair or even fur for your craft projects! You can make some dryer lint clay from it or even make paper out of it. There are several places to get recipes for either of these projects on the internet.

You could make candle wicks from it, as well as rope. Just roll it the same way that the Indians used to make rope from plant fibers. It would take a bit of time but it would work!

You could use it to help with growing your plants. You don't want to put the lint on the soil next to the plant. It could mold. But you could use it in the bottom of your pots. It will keep the soil IN the pot and let the water OUT. If you are going to do this though you might want to be careful with what kind of lint you use. Some fabrics and some laundry detergents have chemicals that you might not want on your plants. But if you use the dryer lint from natural fabrics like cotton and linen and eco- friendly detergents it should work just fine!

Here's another use. Use dryer lint to soak up used motor oil. Before you change the oil in your car, put down a "sheet" of lint under the car and on the sides of the front of the car. If you spill oil, cover it with another layer of lint and firmly step on it so it soaks it up well. Be sure to discard the lint carefully.

So there you have it! Some actual uses for that stuff that seems to magically "grow" without much help.
Arthur:SciFiChick

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Montana Preppers Roll Call

2010-11-27T11:19:00.000-07:00

The Montana Preppers Network is conducting a Roll Call on our forum. If you are a prepper please check in.

* Here is a link to the Roll Call:
http://americanpreppersnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?f=437&t=6196

You have to be registered to check in. If you aren't registered please join here:
http://americanpreppersnetwork.net/ucp.php?mode=register

* If you are a HAM Radio Operator check in here:
http://americanpreppersnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?f=143&t=6219

* If you are an A.N.T.S. member please check in here:
http://americanpreppersnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?f=618&t=6220

We have a new members in Montana

2010-09-30T09:43:00.004-06:00

Please welcome our new members:

junkyarddogs

My wife and I have made preparations for the last several years and would like to meet and converse with locals "in the know" regarding bug-out preps and long term Off the grid living. We are located in southwest Montana and will meet with folks within 100 miles of us. Any contacts appreciated.

Welcome our new member by following the link below:
http://www.americanpreppersnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?f=563&t=6044&p=57223

noonanski

hey im new
im a cook from missoula montana

Welcome our new member by following the link below:
http://www.americanpreppersnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?f=563&t=5001

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How To Join The Montana Preppers Network

2010-09-14T15:33:00.001-06:00

Come learn survival, preparedness and sustainable living with us!

The Preppers networks are all about volunteering our knowledge and skills with each other. We share ideas, tips and basically network with each other to survive any type of disaster whether natural, man made, or economic. Information that you learn and share with others will help everyone learn how to find "Freedom Through Teaching Others Self Reliance."

Joining the Montana Preppers Network is simple, and most of all, it's Free! To join, just follow these few steps.

1) Register to become a member of the American Preppers Network www.AmericanPreppersNetwork.net The registration page is here: http://americanpreppersnetwork.net/ucp.php?mode=register

2) Once you have your account, go to the index page of the forum and do your first post by introducing yourself in the new members area. http://americanpreppersnetwork.net/index.php

3) Once you know how to do posts, visit the Montana forum and introduce yourself. The Montana forum can be found by scrolling to the lower section of the index page where you will find a list of states, or you can go directly by following this URL: www.MontanaPreppersNetwork.net

4) After you've visited the Montana forum, follow this link to learn how to join the Montana Preppers Network group:
http://americanpreppersnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?f=564&t=2738

APN's success depends on your contributions. If you would like to donate to our organization by becoming a Gold Member you can join the APN Gold Members club by following this link:
http://www.americanpreppersnetwork.net/page.php?p=apn-gold-membership&sid=5b241e92a767cdfbe7a345c54dd55127
Gold Membership is only $5 per month. For a list of Gold Member benefits go here

Thank you for your support!

Prepper Medical Kit

2010-03-27T20:01:00.018-06:00

We all know the story; the quake/flood/hurricane will come and we will be on our own for 96 hours or more. This includes medical care as the nearest hospital will be reduced to gravel and the nearest doctor will be buried alive in wreckage.

We have also read innumerable posts for medical kits we can make to enable us to perform heroic measures and pull through anything medically. Many have seen the catalog ads for "field surgical kits", kits that contain just enough instruments to get us into trouble while enabling us to perform little real "surgery".

Here is my contribution to the survival med kit guide. Kit is for dealing with trauma only. Kit does not duplicate common items found in "standard" kits, such as gauze pads and medical tape. It consists only of items that will enable a prepper to provide care beyond basic first aid for a few days. This kit is based on the idea that deus ex machina, definitive, care will not be available for 96 hours or less. It will enable the careful prepper to:

Cleanse and debride wounds. And deal with wound infection.
Provide initial care for burns covering significant locations and areas of the body, such as to help prevent death from overwhelming swelling, compartment syndrome, or burn shock. As a general idea: dealing with body surface burns of 35% or less or involving hands/feet/perineum. Note that cutting burn eschar to enable better breathing or caring for compartment syndrome requires [relatively "easy"] surgical intervention, so the surgical unit described below would be required.

Fractures of long bones, with basic capability to deal with open fractures. Capability to reduce femoral fracture and reduce the chance of death from pelvic fracture.
Animal/human bite care.
Very basic care of knife or gun shot wound (GSW) from looters,etc. For "flesh wounds", not for organ hits, and only care to improve breathing efficiency temporarily for lung hits.
Provides a very basic eye and ENT capability. This is real specialist country so the kit will only cover initial care for injuries that are very prone to later complications if certain basic interventions are not applied near the time of injury. Examples: bruising of ear, heavy bruising of nose, foreign object in eye.

First, a few book suggestions. There are others out there, but these are listed on several online prepper/disaster sites as good resources. Remember, medicine is very complex. So know your limitations, only prep to the medical intervention level that you can competently deal with. You will always be a prepper trying to keep a companion alive, never an "instant doctor" who can suddenly perform as well as the professionals.

(Anatomy) McMinns (excellent illustrations!) or Grants are good choices for seeing where vital structures generally lie. A surgical anatomy might be useful, Skandalis' book can be found often on Amazon for under $5.00.
(Technique) Atlas of Emergency Procedures, by Rosen, et al, is expensive new but covers many of the lifesaving procedures preppers may need to perform, in a clear, well organized manner. Field Guide to Urgent and Ambulatory Care Procedures, by James, David M. , covers a broad range of common emergency procedures in good [text] detail, including ENT and dental procedures.
(Wound Care) Wounds and Lacerations, Emergency Care and Closure, Trott, Alexander; this is the best manual for learning about general wound care and closing wounds. Used copies are sometimes available from Amazon or used book stores, this one is a keeper if you buy it, you will never give it away!
(Online Reference) Survival and Austere Medicine (how do the pros do it under these conditions?), Borden Institute (extensive military medicine reference. Especially note the lessons-learned book for Iraq/Afghanistan), Operational Medicine (Online learning resource for many common procedures).

Dental Unit: See my previous post for a solid, simple dental disaster kit.

Pain Control Unit: See my previous posts on survivalist analgesia/anesthesia: herbs for analgesia/light anesthesia and coverage of pain control drugs not on DEA lists, with notes on local anesthesia.

Diagnostic Unit: stethoscope, bp cuff, thermometer, penlight, 128Hz tuning fork (poor man's xray machine when used with stethescope), prepackaged eye trauma diagnosis kit (fluorescein strips, cobalt blue light, eye magnet with loop), precordial stethoscope (for monitoring vitals during surgery or for prepper "intensive care/resuscitation"). This unit will cost about $150. Without eye unit, about $70.

Airway Unit: "pop-up" CPR mask with oxygen fitting, pocket CPR mask, (1) set of nasopharyngeal airways (safer to use and causes less gagging than oral pharyngeal airways). Definitive airway equipment: (1) Ashermann chest seal (for sucking chest wounds), (1) Combitube (adult size only), (1) needle cricothoracotomy kit (for tension pneumothorax. Costs about $25), (1) chest tube set (optional as the procedure is very invasive, but can save the life of someone with tension pneumothorax or bad hemothorax). This unit, without chest tube, will cost about $120.

Oxygen Unit: Oxygen tank with variable regulator with good, readable gauge (D cylinder is best generally. E cylinder provides for longer usage. B cylinder is good for mobile operations), (2) packages of oxygen tubing , (1) each pediatric and adult simple face mask, (1) humidifier unit, with sterile water. Oxygen can make a great difference in outcome if it is used safely, and properly. First and foremost: no high flow oxygen for over 12 hours for laypeople! This unit will cost about $270.

Burn Unit: (2) burn sheets, 4 oz+ of colloidal silver (for prevention of burn infection), (1-3) tubes of povidine/antibiotic ointment (for infection), (1-3) 4oz burn spray with 30% lidocaine, nonstick dressings in various sizes, (2) nonstick roller bandages (e.g. Coflex AFD), (1-5) Tegaderm(r) type film dressings ("replaces" burned skin for non-extensive burns). For treatment of burn shock, include iv setups with at least (3) 1L bags of normal saline (do not use ringers lactate for burn victims). Burn shock can require staggering amounts of fluid replacement and requires careful monitoring to prevent disaster; know the fluid calculation formulas; read up very well. This kit, without the iv component, will cost about $110.

Wound Unit: Comes as four modules: bleeding control, cleansing, closure, surgical. The first two require common sense and some reading. Closure requires some reading up to intensive study and practice on pieces of meat/gelatin film "skin". Surgical, of course requires intensive study and practice for anything beyond very basic debridement or splinter removal. Cost, without surgical unit, will be about $170 (assuming that you buy the sutures and Zerowets in bulk with others). Cost of surgical unit is about $120 or more for the items not in the closure unit.

[Dressings and bandaging] (2) Bloodstopper(r) type dressings or military field dressings. a few Tegaderm(r) type film dressings, tampons (for GSW), several Kerlix(r) type roller bandages (for bandaging and for packing wounds), good commercial tourniquet (know how to use it! Improperly used, tourniquets can kill). [Hemorrhage control] QuikClot® and/or Hemocel® gauze squares (at least one packet, consider two or more gauze squares); Vistec® type lap pad package (1 or 2), more Kerlix® type gauze rolls in 2'' and 4'' width; (2) sterile surgical towel pack.

[Cleansing] (2) 15ml and (3) 100ml Shurclens(r) ampules (excellent for wound cleansing; good for embedded asphalt too), chlorhexidine surgical/hand scrub (not as safe in wounds but does a very good degerming job), irrigation syringe packages (20 or 60ml size), (2) Zerowet(r) shields for use while irrigating wounds (make a group order: about $55/50 shields), hydrogen peroxide (dilute 1:1 with water for irrigation). Instruments: adson tissue forceps, curved kelly hemostat, splinter/dressing forceps, (several) Medipoint Splinter Out(r) packs (inexpensive and versatile!). Dakin's solution can be used for infected wound care; it is easily made from plain bleach, baking soda, and sterile water.

[Closure] (2-4) strips of butterfly strips, (2-5_ packets of wound closure strips. Sutures: 3-0/4-0 and 5-0 in nylon or Novafil or Prolene (two each size, use for closure of skin); 4-0 and 6-0 in Dexon or Vicryl (two each size, used to close deeper structures, absorbable so does not need removal, do not stock gun show-bought chromic gut—it is a poor choice). Webster needle holder (one each short and long). Stapler, 5 shot (one or two). Staple removal kit, sterile (one per stapler stocked). Suture removal kit ( enough to cover the sutures stocked).

Surgical care] scalpels: (2) each: #10, #15, and #11 . Scissors: straight and curved iris scissors, curved metzenbaum or mayo scissors (one each at a minimum). Forceps (“tweezers”): adson tissue forceps, dressing/splinter forceps, curved iris forceps, Russian tissue forceps (two each is best). Hemostats: curved and straight mosquito type (at least two/each), atraumatic (one for sure, an extra, curved, would be useful for many tasks). Retractors: a pair of senn retractors, consider a pair of small rake types. Good set of magnifying glasses/loupes.

Orthopedic Unit: With this kit, we can stabilize a pelvic fracture, hopefully well enough so the victim survives until help is available. Mortality is very high for unstabilized pelvic fractures, hence including a pelvic splint. We can reduce a femoral fracture enough to pull the victim through. We can do pretty durable splinting and can, with extreme care, reduce some dislocations or fractures in order to re-establish blood supply. Unit cost will be around $600, including backboard. SAM pelvic splints run around $70/each.
SAM pelvic sling (one each: standard and small, consider also one extra-large), Kendrick Traction Device (for femoral fractures), backboard with straps, adhesive felt (one roll); SAM soft shell splint (2-4). Several commercial cardboard splints in various sizes. Consider having a roll or two of casting tape and some stockinette for lining improvised casts.

Eye/ENT Unit: This unit will enable basic, vital care for broken or severely bruised noses, bad ear bruising, persistent nosebleeds (not associated with head injury!!!), and care of simple foreign object in eye/minor corneal abrasions. Again, this is specialist territory, if you stock it, learn from the pros and read up on the procedures. Note that this unit contains prescription meds, to be prescribed by an opthamologist. Cost, without prescription meds and Desmarre retractor, will be about $110. Meds will cost around $40-60.

(2) Bayonet forceps ( usable for dental also), (1) nasal pack set , (3) #14 Foley catheters (usable for urinary catheters also), nasal speculum (1 medium), #15 scalpel, disposable ear curette ( a few in child and adult sizes), (1) Hartman ear forceps (“alligators”), spray bottle of nasal decongestant (1-2), strong penlight, packing strips for wounds, 0.25”X5yd (one)/ Desmarres retractor (one. Can improvise with paper clips); , antibiotic eye drops (5ml), diclofenac or ketorlac eye drops (5ml), sterile eye wash, 4oz (2), roll of saran type wrap, (1) fox eye shield, eye dressings-sterile (4-6, usable for many types of wounds)

May you never have to use this "extended first aid" kit.

Gun Rights and the Prepper News

2010-02-22T17:35:00.017-07:00

Gun rights issues have been in the news lately in Washington and in Wyoming.
In Seattle, a judge recently ruled that the previous “progressive” mayor's ban on gun carry on city facilities “where children may be present” was a violation of state preemption laws. As usual, the “progressives” framed their argument in terms of “protecting the innocent”. As always, their real aim was to gain more control over the peasants, for the peasants own good.

In Wyoming, the Legislature advanced a bill that would allow citizens of Wyoming to carry arms without a state permit. Their permit system requires the supplicant to provide proof of firearms familiarity training/experience and pay a fee. A reasonable system that is much like the process used here in Montana. If signed into law, this measure would exclude the federally banned categories of habitual druggies or alcoholic-types , adjudicated mentally ill, and felons from being able to carry concealed.

As usual, in both of these recent cases the gun “control” faction cites studies that“show” that carrying guns make you more likely to be shot. A current popular one is from University of Pennsylvania that shows that those in the Philadelphia study group, 677 shooting incidents, were 4.5 times as likely to be shot when the subject was carrying a gun.

Since the lions share of those carrying in the study were criminals, then of course they were more likely to be shot as they were actively engaged in “looking for trouble” as part of their occupation. High crime in an area, greater chance of being shot. As always, gang and drug related shootings are not broken out from defensive shootings. As always, the subtle message is that only the State can protect the peasant.

In other happy news, a Russian blog reported on the case of a fed up retiree who tired of thieves stealing his crops. So he constructed three land mines in his garage. The next thief tripped a mine and suffered bodily harm. When Mr. Skopintsev was tried, he was found guilty of making the landmines, not of harming the wealth-redistributor, and given 2.5 year suspended sentence.

If only more of this kind of legal reasoning was used in the USA! Less focus on keeping the peasants unarmed so that criminals' rights to redistribute wealth, indulge their sexual drive upon unwilling partners, and intimidate innocents are not “infringed”.

The Second Amendment codifies our right to keep and bear arms as a natural right, not one granted according to conditions set by the State. Requiring permits to carry arms in our states is counter to our natural right.

But, we do have to act responsibly in the exercise of our natural rights. Plus, allowing universal carry does remove one tool from the boxes of police. Being able to arrest someone for carrying a concealed weapon. With universal carry, police must give the benefit of the doubt to someone found to be carrying and run the person's name through the system to see if they have a history of using their weapon for criminal purposes.

Some argued against the Montana “castle law” which was passed last year by the common contention that allowing citizens to draw down on assailants would result in bloodbaths as people would magically become homicidal if they were not required to retreat from threats. I'm disabled, so my attempts to retreat would be nearly useless. Squishy Liberals and politicians prefer that peasants call for the police to save them. "When seconds count, the police are [usually] only minutes away."

“Progressives” do support the proposition that a woman, lying dead and
bleeding from her rapist's assault is somehow more noble that the same woman explaining to the police how her would be assailant got that bullet hole.

Perhaps some would change their opinion if one of us took the time to present the facts in an effective way? Have you tried to reason with an antigunner? How did it go?

Many studies through the years have shown that criminals' greatest fear is picking an armed victim. In South Africa, it has been found that those who used a firearm increased their chance of survival by 31 times, and 97% of women who were armed successfully resisted a rape attempt (US study). Sure, if you haven't thought it out ahead of crisis time, you could be disarmed by your assailant. But we are preppers, so we will be mentally and physically prepared.

What do you think? Should universal carry be the rule. Or should there be reasonable" restrictions on Second Amendment rights such as training requirements (that give the State a potential confiscation list) and gun free zones?

Links to help you communicate with anti self-defense people:

The arguments made by MT Shooting Sports Association for the MT armed defense bill which became law last year. Good points to keep in mind when MT law enforcement executives militated against we peasants being able to defend ourselves.

Brief article on the real implications of "gun free zones"

Editorial which asks, "is self defense murder?"

Poignant letter from the head of Jews For the Protection Of Firearm Ownership (JPFO) on the implications of allowing erosion of Constitutional principles

Short blog post on how to effectively debate

Good overview of the "gun free society" arguments' fallacies

The infamous gun webcam. Watch it, report when the gun does something evil

Dirty debate tricks used by anti gunners, and how to counter them

Fire and the Prepper

2010-02-14T11:03:00.012-07:00

Fire is a disaster that can strike us easily. It is much more likely that we will deal with a fire in our lifetime than that we will have to face TEOTWAWKI. In the Western USA, we also often live in areas subject to wildland fires. So we do have to plan for that also. Some quick notes on fire extinguishers in this piece. A future article will provide very basic coverage of wildland fires and your family's prepping measures.

We all know enough about fire extinguishers to buy a dry chemical extinguisher. Because all the excellent public information programs tell us that they can be used on all types of fires. But how much capacity do we need? How many for our houses? What about those carbon dioxide and halon-type units?

A review. For fire to happen, there must be fuel, heat, oxygen and a self-sustaining chemical reaction between the former three . For our purposes, there are three classes of fires. Type A is fire in paper, wood, couches, and rubber or the like. Extinguishers rated to work on A use this metric to measure effectiveness: each numbered increment represents the extinguishing power of 1.25 gallons of water; so a 5A would equal 6.25 ga of water. Water breaks the heat side of the tetrahedron and the steam from application helps break the oxygen side of the tetrahedron.

Type B is in flammable liquids. The metric for this rating is that each B increment represents one square foot of burning fuel that the layperson can extinguish. So a 40-B would extinguish 40 square feet of burning liquid. Dry chemical B extinguishers attacks the chemical reaction that supports the burning process. Foam type extinguishers cut off the oxygen and some provide attack on the heat also.

Water fog, or class AB or B rated foam, can be used on a class B fire, but for the prepper this will mean having a charged hose line with a good adjustable nozzle if water fog is used.

Type C indicates fire involving energized electrical equipment. This rating on an extinguisher just means that the extinguishing agent does not conduct electricity.

For the prepper, our agent choices are: water, dry chemical, gas type, and portable foam units.

Pressurized water units are venerable performers on A class fires as they are easy for laypersons to use. Just watch out for energized electricity around them or any use on class B fires! And follow manufacturer's directions to enable them to survive Montana Winters.

Dry chemical units work well but have a few downsides: the powdery mess which can get into electronic equipment and other inconvenient places, the cloud of powder can obscure the firefighter's vision, and the agent melts onto hot surfaces, forming a very tenacious film, so cleanup is hard. But these agents work well and are versatile. Better a hard cleanup than a lost home tragedy.

Carbon dioxide, and halon-types, extinguish B and C fires with no mess and work very well for fires in enclosed areas, but do have some downsides: carbon dioxide units are notoriously heavy so can be hard to bring to bear, if a class B fire is in an open area, there is a high probability of reignition as oxygen reaches the fire again, these agents are nearly useless on class A fires, and these agents displace air so the prepper in an enclosed space who is using one of the gas extinguishers could be overcome from lack of oxygen. Plus, these units cost much more than dry chemical-based units, often easily by a factor of three.

One note here, there are small halon-type units available that are about the size of a large spray can. Maybe keep one near your computer or entertainment center for quick knockdown of electrical fire? Cold Fire(r) is one brand that is easily available at Costco and other major retailers for a good price.

Portable foam units work well, but make sure that your unit is rated for AB, not just A. The downside of these units is that they are technique sensitive. These units cost significantly more than dry chemical-based units but less than gas-based extinguishers.

The OSHA “gold standard” is a 3-A 40-BC unit for business use. the small 1-A 10-BC units that fit in the little brackets on the wall work for small spaces or for your car or SUV. If you store large amounts of flammable liquids , you might consider buying one of the large, wheeled units. These units can be surprisingly easy to deploy and feature good ratings of 100-BC and above.

Plan your placement of extinguishers carefully. An extinguisher is useless if you might have to go through the fire to access the extinguisher. For example, have extinguishers available in rooms on both sides of the kitchen so you can access a unit no matter where you are in the house. In a shop, have a unit available at the entrance as well as in high risk areas in the shop.

Whatever capacity you choose, don't forget that you have to be able to physically haul it and deploy it. A few 4-A 80-BC units in your retreat? Can all family or group members handle them effectively? Or would it be better to buy a few more smaller units that are more generally deployable? Place units near high fire risk areas. So near the kitchen, woodstove, fuel storage area, shop, barn, etc. Also consider having a unit available in your sleeping area so you can start an attack, or facilitate you and your family's escape quickly.

Here are some useful links to learn more:

Extinguisher basics and more from OSHA. Clearly written, informative

General overview of extinguishers, with area deployment suggestions

Retailer's page on foam units, also carries many other types and firefighting gear

Working Cats and Preppers

2010-02-10T18:39:00.012-07:00

This is Montana. This is dog country for sure, what with the “Montana dog walk” (owner in pickup, dog running happily in front of the truck, up the trail) and hunting with our canine partners. But cats have their role to play for the prepper too. And not as target practice or for dog "training".

I'm talking about working cats here. Ones who pull their weight just like our dogs and horses do. For our purposes, we will call working cats barn cats to indicate cats that do not live mainly in their owners' home but rather spend most of the time outdoors, sheltering in outbuildings.

Sure the family dog can sound the alarm if intruders approach, or physically defend the family from looters. But it can't control vermin as well as felines nor is it as capable of personal survivalism as a feline. Cats can be a real help to the prepper as rodent hunters, alerters (though not as good as dogs), and “therapists”. Plus, they are small enough to function as "bioheaters" on cold Winter nights in our bedrooms.

But note that they cannot automatically “get by on their own”. So if you must move or evacuate, take your felines with you too. Felines that have been abandoned by families that move or evacuate are often scarred by the experience for life, assuming they survive. Don't “put the cat out” when the wildfire sweeps toward your compound, show the same compassion you show your dogs or horses.

Cats have been used for thousands of years for protecting stores of grain from vermin. They work as well today without the need for poisons, traps, or need to dispose of dead vermin that more “modern” methods require. The very scent of a cat in the area deters rodents and affects their reproduction negatively. Cats would also help the prepper who has berries as the cats will chase away the birds. Keep in mind that some cats will not kill birds, but will only chase them as “moving objects”. Providing wood fencing or ramps around the berries will help the cats deter birds from "harvesting" your crop.

Cats will alert to approaching strangers pretty well as their hearing is more acute than humans. Cats will have the edge over the family dog as “therapists” post disaster as felines will usually require less social reassurance by the family unit than the dog will. Cats, as "therapists", provide affection, play solicitation, and some camaraderie, though often less than dogs .They could serve as message couriers between two residences, though they would have to be taught, and given a reason, to travel between points on command.

Cats can pull their weight in the Hope and Change economic depression or TEOTWAWKI. My past barn cats have proven to be tireless workers; often following us into the fields “on patrol”, providing emotional support for humans, and alerting to deer in the flower and garden beds. I had significant feed losses until I got barn cats.

Here is a site that profiles working cats in developed areas, read it for examples of how felines can improve your operation with less “overhead” than dogs.

A few quick notes for the prepper. Cats are resourceful and can forage better than dogs. But your working cats need to be fed regularly and have access to clean water. Starving them won't make them hunt better. It will just weaken them. After all, do you go after that big muley buck when you haven't eaten properly in two weeks? A fed barn cat is a healthy, effective barn cat. Also, fixing your barn cats is vital as cats breed as well as , or better than, rabbits. When getting your new feline workers, please consider supporting a local feral rescue organization by adopting one of their fixed cats.

Cats have entirely different dietary requirements than dogs. Dogs are omnivores, cats are [absolute]carnivores. They require much more protein and fat in their diet than dogs. Unlike humans and dogs, cats require the amino acid taurine in their diet.Cats cannot survive on dog food. Always make sure that the store bought food label states that the diet has been found to be adequate by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). The same applies for your dogs' food. No Dollar Store, made-in-China chow.

Other caveats: tuna is a rare treat as too much results in vitamin deficiency, occasional table scraps are ok as long as they are unspiced meat, or small amounts of grain or vegetables. Texture of cat's food matters to felines so try different presentations if one is rejected or try another texture of food. Homemade cat food takes more planning than dog food. A future article will deal with this.

Your barn cats will require shelter. We had modified dressers inside an old hen house for our barn cats that provided shelter and a refuge from coyotes, dogs, and the mountain lion in our valley. In Montana Winter, you need to provide insulated shelter that is large enough to accommodate all your barn cats so they can huddle together for warmth. If possible, the shelter should provide some elevated perches as cats have an instinctive need to survey their territory from a high vantage point. Also, don't forget toys for your barn cats. Racquetballs and sturdy commercial cat toys will help maintain the mental acuity of your cats. But do not give yarn or string toys as these are unsafe for tongues, limbs and intestines.

Veterinary care should be factored in. Worming the cats a few times a year is important as they will probably become infested with roundworms and tapeworms from their prey in Montana. Vaccination, at least for rabies is important. Annual feline 4-way vaccination is good, especially if there are other cats in the area.

Also, cats are not social by nature so it is vital that your barn cats let you handle them. Cats revert to “wild” in a single generation so early human contact is necessary. Or else, when they become injured or ill you will have to put the animal down as you will not be able to take them to a vet. Patience is necessary in approaching feral or semi feral cats. Feeding, coupled with "systematic desensitization", is a time proven way to tame down shy or feral cats.

Some of the links below describe how to tame down feral cats so that you can handle them and engage them as “employees”. I've had good luck taming feral cats ; two even served as good "watchcats", alerting to strangers and defending me when they thought I was in danger. Often, feral or semi-feral cats can be tamed but you can never trust them completely. Ferals do not just scratch you or nip you; they go all out. I once rescued a feral that destroyed my heavy leather glove in under five seconds and inflicted bites requiring medical care within seven seconds. See the movie Sleepwalkers for a sample of what damage domestic cats can do ;-)

Finally, let's put to rest the myth of the always “aloof cat”. I have done feral rescue, worked in animal shelters, and have owned felines for over twenty five years. It has been my experience that cats respond pretty much as they are treated. Sure some will only interact with humans for food and water, just as some humans are recluses. But approaching a feline in a friendly manner usually elicits a friendly response. Just like humans, many felines are wary of strangers at first, but warm up as they get to know the person.

They do show personal loyalty, though less than canines do. Dogs loyalty is to the pack. Cats loyalty is to the individual human or human family, with some cats showing generalized compassion for injured or ill humans . Treat your barn cats with at least with the level of affection that you give your horse. Friendliness and warmth elicit the same from felines as from humans.

Grooming is an excellent way to develop a relationship with a feline as it is a bonding mechanism in their “culture”. Plus, grooming your cats helps avoid serious problems like intestinal blockages from swallowed hair and burs. Pats are not well received as pats are discipline or combat gestures to felines. Running in front of the owner and dropping to the ground is a usually a play solicitation move by the cat.

See links below for more on communicating with your feline workers. Consider felines to be that guy with the pony tail who keeps your firm's computers running, who knows nothing about RBIs or who's going to the Bowl. Consider dogs to be the guys who get together after work for a few beers or a bbq. Now, work with your new feline employees for mutual benefit.

LINKS

Handling Barn Cats
Working cats have care requirements that differ from working dogs' needs. Also, a site with hints on keeping felines off your property without resorting to callous savagery.

Very good coverage of how to manage barn cats
Article on how to repel cats from your property. Without gunfire or poison
A reminder that felines have a vital role to play in ecosystems. Australian attempts to save the birdies on McQuarrie Island by booting the cats resulted in rabbits damaging the biome.

Cat Behavior
Links for the newcomer to cat ownership. As well as good information for current owners.

Felipedia.org section on feline behavior. Good, basic coverage of feline behaviors and common problems, with solutions. The anthromorphic section is, of course, a joke. Felipedia is a good resource for all aspects of domestic felines, but double check as this is a wiki.
Sacramento SPCA guide to feline behavioral issues. Very well written. For new barn cats, pay particular attention to the roaming cat article as cats must be initially confined for a time until they imprint a locale as home. This is normally not a significant issue with dogs.
Simple suggestions for play therapy to help with cat behavioral problems.
Good comparison of feral vs tame cat behaviors.

Disaster Preparedness and Cats
Cats disaster time needs. For example, a pillowcase with a rope is a great way to evacuate a frightened cat. For both your dogs and cats, remember to have current photos and ID on the animal.

Disaster kit for your cats.
Vital information on evacuating with your cat(s). Felines are much more likely to run and hide in a disaster than canines. How to successfully evacuate cats.
Disaster lists for our animals. This links to the cat page. Site also covers horses and dogs. This organization also trains animal disaster workers.

How to Make Homemade Dog Food

2010-02-04T21:32:00.003-07:00

Today's post is from our newest Prepper author about feeding our dog companions properly. More articles to follow from this writer on pet care. Our canine, and feline, companions are key partners in our prepping efforts. Let's give them the best.

How to Make Homemade Dog Food

By D. M. Du Pont

Back in the days before Iams or Purina, what did our grandparents feed their dogs? Table scraps mostly or their own recipes. There weren’t the hundreds of dog food varieties as there are now. After World War II, Gaines and Kennel Ration began with canned horse meat. Mostly as a way of getting rid of surplus horses and using up cans made for the war effort. It wasn’t until the 60’s and 70’s when dog food really come into its own.

The ironic trend is now going back to natural dog food. After the poisoned grain episode from China and the increasing cost of dog food, plus my last dog, Adam I adopted came with multiple bags of very expensive sensitive stomach dog food (he upchucked anyway). I decided I’d try my friend’s homemade dog food recipe she used.

With a degree in Animal Science, I decided to put my education to a practical use. So after several versions of the following recipe, here is the most balanced one. My dogs love it. My pup Adam went from 56 to 104 pounds and his liver functions have improved 100 points. This recipe is simple and versatile and far less expensive than canned food.

I call it the “Third Recipe”, because all the portions are in roughly thirds; Rice, Vegetables and Meat. Plus you should make more of everything every three days. Once you get into the routine, it is very easy and you’ll know what amounts you are regularly using.

Important point to remember is dogs are omnivores, not carnivores, which mean they eat all sorts of stuff, not just meat. So just feeding meat is a no no. Too much protein in their diet can make dogs hyper and overly aggressive. Too much protein isn’t good for their kidneys and they don’t get certain needed trace elements. People act like feeding dogs is an “exact” science now. However, it never was before and dogs did fine. So you really can’t make a mistake it you stick with the basics of this formula.

The “Third Recipe” for Dogs

White rice boiled with a chicken bullion cube – carbohydrates for energy, easy digestion and bullion cube for favor. You can substitute potatoes occasionally.
Vegetables - frozen or canned or fresh - green beans or peas/carrots or mixed vegetables – I prefer frozen over canned – and green beans are best. Easily digested and have fiber.
Meat – chicken, turkey, tuna or beef or wild game or eggs
Two half meals – morning and evening- and the cup portions depend on the size of your dog(s). All ingredients are roughly in thirds, but if you have an active dog, use more rice.

Rice

The most inexpensive way is to buy 25 to 50 pounds of rice is from Costco or similar retail outlet. Those little bags in the grocery store are quite pricey. I store rice in “Vittle Vaults” porthole screw top lid hard plastic dog food containers. Buy these storage units on Amazon.com, least expensive and free shipping and you use these for all sorts of bulk food storage.

You’ll need to make more rice every third day as it gets watery and becomes a great bacteria medium. You can use a rice cooker, which I don’t like to clean. Or make it from scratch in a stock pot. White rice recipe is usually 2 cups of water for every cup of rice.

If you are not used making rice, it takes a little effort at first. So for two big German shepherds, I make four –five cups of rice at a time - eight plus cups of water, bring to a boil with two boullion cubes and then add 4 cups of rice. I stir, then turn the water on to a slower boil and stir periodically to make sure the rice doesn’t stick. Making the rice is now so routine now that I get up during commercial breaks, stir and visually know once the rice is big and puffy to cover and take off the burner. I have an designated big stock pot and I know from experience to fill up to a certain point and add so many cups of rice and two bullion cubes. Brown rice is harder to digest, tastes like cardboard and the point of the white rice is carbs for energy and easy digestion.

Vegetables

Green beans are the best all around vegetable. Green beans are fibrous, full of nutrients and pulls particles through the digestive tract. I occasionally mix a bag of peas and carrots with a bag of green beans. Peas and carrots are a bit more sugary and not as much fiber. So as a veggie staple, don’t use all the time. Mixed vegetables, like corn and lima beans, aren’t broken down in the digestive tract and a waste of money. Shop around for the lowest frozen vegetables or seal-a-meal or can your own. Broccoli is fine if you are willing to perish from dog gas attacks.

Meat

You can use a variety of meats in this food. It depends what your dog will tolerate. Be careful not to rotate types of meat until you have a feel for what you dog can tolerate. I always cook the meat; in today’s world there is too much contamination to take a chance on causing a hemorrhagic intestinal bug. Cut or pull the meat into smaller portions for better digestion.

Eggs

Eggs are a very cheap and inexpensive protein. I hard boil the eggs and add one or two to the meal. You can fry or scramble if you want to spoil your pooches. Eggs and rice is what makes up that expensive ID (intestinal diet) dog food from the veterinarian.

Chicken - is great, it is easy to digest and inexpensive. I broil up a $5 pallet of 10 chicken thighs from Wal-Mart. Chicken thighs have lots of meat and only one bone to remove and I add one chicken thigh per meal serving for my German shepherds. When traveling I bring cheaper canned chicken breast to open and add. You can use gizzard and hearts as well. Livers are a bit fatty, but okay as a baked treat once in a while

Turkey is inexpensive. You can cook a turkey up when they are on sale, then package the meat into portions, freeze and take out as needed.

Tuna – I give this for only two meals a week. It is inexpensive if you buy the store brand and the oil/water is good for their coats. Too much processed ocean fish has mercury. So limit the amount. I don’t like fish oil capsules. Oil from what fish? Goldfish? Contains too much concentrated mercury. Natural fish is best.

Beef – Is harder for dogs to digest. When I make a stew or a soup, I crock pot up beef stew meat until tender and broken down. I make extra to add to the dog’s meal with a little juice. So if you insist on feeding beef, crock pot for tenderizing and easier digestion. Hamburger is fine in limited amounts and a little grease is good for their coats, but kind of pricey to feed regularly unless you have a little foo foo dog.

Wild Game– Feeding your dog, venison or other game is okay. Just make sure it is thoroughly cooked. You don’t want your pet to get sick from some weird intestinal bacteria. Some wild game is very rich and less is more with pets. Just make sure your pet can tolerate this meat to avoid diarrhea and other intestinal episodes.

Vitamins

You can supplement your dog’s nutrition with a daily over the pet counter vitamin. A money saving tip is to buy the senior dog vitamins. They contain twice as much vitamin per pill. So, buy the senior dog vitamins, break them in half and you get two vitamins for the price of one.

Tips

As in all things in life, balance is the key. Dogs don’t mind eating the same thing daily. Try not to give your dog gravy or lots of fatty food, as this can cause pancreatitis and could kill your pet. You’d be surprised during the holidays how many dogs come into the vet with pancreatitis from eating gravy and fatty foods.

You can make a giant batch of this food, put it into portions and freeze. I don’t blend this food in a blender, but just hand mix the ingredients or with a spoon in their bowl. Blending breaks down the natural structures and it loses some of it’s value. Eating a paste like substance can stick on the dog’s teeth and cause problems. I have mixed this food and to put into portions to freeze to take on a trip for limited use.

Dry Dog Food

I do have some dry crunchy kibble dog food out. I prefer Purina, mostly because they are an all American ingredient dog food and never had recalls from overseas tainting like Iams or other brands. Purina One chicken and rice is a good all around dry dog food. Old Roy is a suspect dog food made in China. Science Diet is mostly corn based and not as digestible. Friend with kennels call Science Diet the poop making food, since it all gets eliminated. Eukanuba is a very fatty dog food and should only be fed to active bird dogs or dog with similar energy burn levels.

Dog Treats

Dog biscuits are fine. I just give the Milk bone or Kirkland brand. Remember each treat has between 2-5 grams of fat. That is what is holding the biscuit together. Avoid those dyed fake “meaty” treats. They are full of dye and salt and fat. Some dogs like carrots or other raw veggies. Carrots have fiber but are also very sugary.

For three days with two meals a day, it costs me about 75 cents a day per dog on average. This is for the rice, green beans and chicken, even less with eggs or more with beef. Once you get into the routine, it is a very healthy and economical solution and better for your pet’s health.

Cyber Security and Stalking

2010-02-02T18:15:00.007-07:00

We use our computers to network and to gather information on prepping, etc. We need to be careful here too about security. Here are some links dealing with maintaining a safe computing environment. And a few links for dealing with cyber stalkers. Learn, enjoy. Defend your cyber retreat!

Basic Information
This site has a great deal of basic information on cyberstalking and bullying. Simply written and has solid advice.Mostly directed toward kids and their parents. This link is to a page where further help can be requested. Note that the request will result in a volunteer contacting the questioner to help brainstorm response to the harassment. http://www.wiredsafety.org/cyberstalking_harassment/

One of the best sites for learning about safe computing practices. Little on what to do if things go bad. Consider it a site for working healthy, not a site on treating “disease”. http://www.besafeonline.org/English/safer_use_of_services_on_the_internet.htm

CyberAngels, a branch of the venerable Guardian Angels organization has a site that deals with various online threats. Also has a downloadable PDF manual that is geared toward parents but contains solid information everyone should know about online security.

A good site for home users, teachers, and business computer security people. Has a link to online security checks, I have utilized several of these sites over the years. http://www.staysafeonline.org/

Somewhat dated, c. 1998, general information page on cyberstalking. But does sketch out how to get law enforcement aid. http://www.cyberguards.com/CyberStalking.html

From the FTC. Many useful documents here that can be viewed and dowloaded: choose VIEW in the web browser, then click the SAVE icon in the PDF window. http://bulkorder.ftc.gov/index.php?showcat=Identity+Theft%2C+Privacy%2C+and+Security%3A+Privacy+and+Security

Dealing With Cyberstalking
National Center for Victims of Crime stalking page. Has a downloadable stalking incident log, legislative updates, plus the phone number to call for victims of crime (1-800-FYI-CALL, M-F 8:30 AM - 8:30 PM EST, or e-mail gethelp@ncvc.org) Good, downloadable brochures. http://www.victimbar.org/src/main.aspx?dbID=DB_Virginia3189

Very good site that covers identity theft in great detail. http://www.identitytheft.com/

2003 technical article from India on cyberstalking. Very good outlining of how it happens and covers the various associated threats, ID theft, etc. well. It is somewhat technical but is worth a read to “look under the hood” of the stalking process. http://www.erces.com/journal/articles/archives/volume2/v03/v02.htm

All of the current state statutes related to cyberstalking. Montana's laws are good enough. http://www.ncsl.org/IssuesResearch/TelecommunicationsInformationTechnology/CyberstalkingLaws/tabid/13495/Default.aspx

Disaster Preparedness: Working Together

2010-01-22T09:07:00.004-07:00

Three links for you today on how to plan for resilience outside your home or car. The more stable our workplaces, schools, and communities, the more secure we and ours are. These three links will help point you toward possible Winter projects aimed at improving the strength of the social environment you find yourself in. All links are, of course, highlighted from body text below.

The first link is to a good article from that fount of survivalist knowledge, James W Rawles SurvivalBlog.com. Not only is the site one of the best sources for solid information on best practices survival methodologies, it also has contests for writers on prepper subjects with nice prizes. This article covers how to prepare in the workplace and the school. Both places where our vast home stores will be unavailable come a disaster. There is good information for employers and employees both on how to make the workplace an oasis of safety and sustenance in disaster situations. The advice for school age kids is good, albeit focused on high school aged kids.

The second link is to a very good Italian site that deals with the "big picture" conceptual approaches to disaster mitigation and response. Not much in the way of lists for food storage and the like, a great deal in the way of rethinking our responses to disasters and their prevention. This site is worth a look every few months to get the mind moving in new directions in re: disaster preparedness. His latest post on the Haiti quake is thought provoking.

Third link is worth a look every month or so. It is a networking site for Montana bound, or considering moving to Big Sky, preppers. This site can allow us to encourage the "right people" to immigrate here to our great state. It is also another way to network.

We need more prepper types, and people of intelligence and good values, moving here and less of the NIMBY "aristocrats". Or big city families bringing the same amorality, personal isolation, and nanny state ideologies which spurred them to leave their dying rat warren cities for Montana's beauty and healthy culture in the first place.

I hate to sound like a Balkan villager here, but we do need to do our part to keep Montana's zeitgeist healthy. We need to diplomatically let the "aristocrats" know that they are ultimately humans, just like us, who need to cooperate with their new community, not just carry on as if they are boyars of Vlad Tepes' time. They need to realize that having been a yuppie in a cosmopolitan city, living the metaphorical life of a medieval noble, matters little in [their term] "flyover country" where the traditions are of neighborliness, self sufficiency, and faith.

We must help them realize that humans come in many forms, not just "aristocrats", darling "noble savages", and bubbas/peasants. Taking people as we find them is part of the Montana culture. If a person is a fool, we treat them one way. If a person can effectively engage with us in Life's quest, then we treat them another way.

We need to gently help the big city refugee family realize that their impatience with our pace of life and schools that do not tolerate aping of "keepin' it real" rejection of academics by their kids is not within our norms, our culture, the culture that they need to accept to integrate into our state.

Sure, we Montanans need to be flexible. But we must be true to our ideals. Trying to recreate California or Kosovo here is insane, but many of the immigrants try. We must reach out to these families and inform them through good example and caring instruction. Else, they will add to the problem come the collapse or other disaster.

Montana Weather Alert

2010-01-20T19:38:00.001-07:00

.MAJOR WINTER STORM EXPECTED TO DUMP SUBSTANTIAL SNOW THROUGH
THE WEEKEND.WITH BLIZZARD CONDITIONS POSSIBLE SAT AFTERNOON
INTO SUNDAY.

.THE MAJOR STORM THAT IS CURRENTLY IMPACTING CA WILL MOVE
TO THE NO. & EAST.BRINGING SUBSTANTIAL SNOWFALL TO EASTERN
MT OVER THE WEEKEND STARTING LATE FRI AFTERNOON. HEAVY SNOW WILL
GIVE WAY TO BLOWING & DRIFTING SNOW.& POSSIBLY BLIZZARD
CONDITIONS LATE SAT AFTERNOON INTO SUN AS NORTHERLY WINDS
PICK UP.

MTZ016>027-059>062-211100-
/O.NEW.KGGW.WS.A.0002.100122T1900Z-100125T0700Z/
CNTL & SE PHILLIPS-CNTL & S. VALLEY-
DANIELS-SHERIDAN-WESTERN ROOSEVELT-PETROLEUM-GARFIELD-MCCONE-
RICHLAND-DAWSON-PRAIRIE-WIBAUX-NORTHERN PHILLIPS-
SOUTHWEST PHILLIPS-NORTHERN VALLEY-EASTERN ROOSEVELT-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF.MALTA.SACO.GLASGOW.FORT PECK.
HINSDALE.FRAZER.SCOBEY.PLENTYWOOD.MEDICINE LAKE.
WOLF POINT.POPLAR.WINNETT.JORDAN.CIRCLE.SIDNEY.
FAIRVIEW.GLENDIVE.RICHEY.TERRY.WIBAUX.WHITEWATER.
ZORTMAN.OPHEIM.CULBERTSON
154 PM MST WED JAN 20 2010

.WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM FRI AFTERNOON THROUGH
SUNDAY EVENING.

THE NATL WEATHER SVC IN GLASGOW HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM
WATCH.WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM FRI AFTERNOON THROUGH SUNDAY
EVENING.

* MAIN IMPACT: TRAVEL CONCERNS AS HEAVY SNOW INITIALLY ACCUMULATES
ON ROADS.

MAJOR TRAVEL IMPACTS WILL BE POSSIBLE SAT AFTERNOON INTO
SUN AS NORTHERLY WINDS PICK UP AT AROUND 35 MPH.CAUSING
BLOWING & DRIFTING SNOW. BLIZZARD CONDITIONS ARE A POSSIBILITY
SAT AFTERNOON INTO SUN AS NORTHERLY WINDS INCREASE TO
AROUND 35 MPH.

* TIMING: FRI AFTERNOON THROUGH SUN EVENING.

* OTHER IMPACTS: PERSONS LIVING IN RURAL AREAS MAY BECOME SNOWED
IN.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS.

A WINTER STORM WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT
SNOW ACCUMULATIONS THAT MAY IMPACT TRAVEL. CONTINUE TO MONITOR
THE LATEST FORECASTS.

Montana Weather Could Be Bad

2010-01-19T22:44:00.001-07:00

The APN-National Disaster Reporting Service would like to thank MTJoe for this info

I just got an email from a pal at the National Weather Service, here is what she said;

"By now, your ears are probably buzzing about the talk of the winter storm coming in this Friday through Sunday. The good news, there is no arctic air associated with this storm that will be coming from the southwest (not Canada!). The bad news is that warmer temperatures mean that the atmosphere can hold more precipitation, and the snow that does fall tends to be heavy, wet snow.

Right now, it looks like we'll see some snow starting Friday afternoon continuing through Sunday. The winds will pick up from the northwest at around 15 to 30 mph by Saturday evening and continue into Sunday. Blowing and drifting snow will be a problem on area roads. Snowfall amounts of 6 to 12 inches are possible with this storm."

Be ready for it!

A Ba le Partie Politique

2010-01-14T18:05:00.005-07:00

A quick 2010 election note today. Again, part of prepping is doing our part as citizens to ensure a good political landscape for our kids and grandchildren. With that in mind, I write to you today about a vital,upcoming, election that I have heard about. The election is next Tuesday, the 19th, in Massachusetts. It is of grave importance for we Montanans also.

The grave election will be the special election to fill the US Senate seat of Ted "Swimmer" Kennedy. The election pits a complacent Party apparatchik, Comrade [Attorney General] Martha Coakley, against State Senator Scott Brown. Coakley cannot be bothered to actually meet with voters. Instead, she works tirelessly with Party officials, and their pack of special interest dogs, to spin a stream of lies against her opponent. I lived under a Party regime for years. This is what the party substitutes for actual work on solutions, ad hominem attacks on those who challenge the right of the Party's "philosopher kings" to rule we peasants as they please.

Comrade Coakley's campaign has been characterized by violence against opponents that is reminiscent of faschistii violence of the 20s. Dear Leader is even campaigning for her. No doubt here, the Party wants to maintain their stranglehold on the Legislative Branch. If Brown were to be elected, the Peoples' Party would lose their "majority" in the Senate and there is a chance that the Senate might become a Senate again, rather than a rubber stamp for Beloved Leader's drive to destroy our nation in the name of "progressive ideals".

Brown, and his supporters, realize how vital this election is. So they are soliciting help, and donations, from anywhere in the USA (before it becomes the USSA). I am going to see about volunteering to call voters. Brown has stated that one of his first acts in office, if elected, would be to oppose the "health care reform bill" and work for genuine health care reforms. He has been a National Guard member for over twenty years and advocates policies which are based on common sense, not Party agitprop.

Our US Senators have done much good for the citizens of Montana. But they now serve only the Party; supporting "hate crimes" legislation that effectively says that military members or White folks cannot have "hate crimes" committed against them. How reminiscent of South Africa, post-1994.

Plus both Baucus and Tester support the grotesque, socialist, "health care reform bill" that would force all Americans to buy a product or be fined, cut the quality of health care generally, set Party hacks up as health care "gatekeepers", and give lavish exemptions and benefits to Party minions such as unions, "kommunity o'ganizahs", and porkulus for states which joined the Dark Side to vote for this odious "legislation".

We need another real American in the US Senate, not another sycophant. Please consider supporting damage control for our sinking nation by aiding Brown in defeating the Dark Lord's, Sauron/Obama, candidate for the new Peoples' Senate.

Welcome to the Second American Revolution.

Grains: Omission

2010-01-08T08:19:00.003-07:00

Yesterday's article on grains did not cover one important bit of information on quinoa. Quinoa is nearly "birdproof" when grown as grain because the grain is coated with a bitter saponin. So it is necessary to rinse the grain thoroughly before cooking. Note that even when the grain is rinsed enough to remove the coating, it still tends to give off a slightly "bitter smell" in the first few minutes of cooking, though this does not impact the final wonderful texture and taste of the finished product.

Wikipedia recommends soaking in water for a few hours, draining, resoaking and draining, then cooking; or rinsing in a strainer or chesecloth with running water. All the quinoa I have bought in a store has only required some rinsing under running water, warm is best, for about 1 minute.

This includes bagged quinoa from Costco which was labeled as being prewashed. The Costco quinoa had a bitter odor while cooking and tasted mildly bitter when cooked. The Costco quinoa required about 20 seconds of rinsing to render the finished product palatable. So always rinse before cooking as modern business practice is generally to do the minimum required to make an ad claim.

Obviously quinoa that you grow yourself for the grain will require more rinsing than store bought grain.

The leaves of both quinoa and amaranth contain small amounts of oxalic acid, as does spinach. So do not eat a steady diet of these greens as it does interfere somewhat with the absorption of calcium by the body.

Grains and Prepping

2010-01-07T19:53:00.004-07:00

When squirreling away our food supplies, it is easy to make two major errors. The first is storing
"survival foods" which we would not normally eat. The end results of this error are: upset GI tract when you must rely on the stored foods, subtly lowered morale as you must suddenly subsist on food you don't like, and (probably) finding that these foods are past expiration dates because you subconsciously didn't want to buy them in the first place.

The second error is not including variety in your stored foods. This article deals with a classic example of this, the sole reliance on storing rice and wheat for the grain component. Both are useful grains and certainly belong in our food store programs. But both can quickly lower group morale as one or the other is served, day after day. Variety in stored foods will help keep the diet balanced nutritionally and palatable throughout the time of need.

This article is a brief overview of a few alternatives to wheat and rice for food stores. Quinoa is one of the few grains which is a complete protein source and has a unique taste and texture which I find wins people's taste vote time and time again. Buckwheat is a "psuedograin" which can provide both grain and greens for cooking. But see the cautions below re: buckwheat greens. Amaranth is an ancient grain which is very high in, complete, protein and very useful and versatile, easily substituting for cous cous or farina in recipes. Spelt is a great alternative to wheat for cooking as it has a yummy taste and cooks quicker than wheat. Millet is a tasty grain which is about as nutritious as brown rice, though with more minerals.

Quinoa and amaranth are ancient grains from South America and Mexico respectively that not only are delicious grains,they also produce good salad greens as well. They are members of the same family as beets and spinach so they are not technically grains.They are higher in protein than wheat and, unlike most grains, are composed of complete protein so there is no need to serve with beans or nuts to get a decent amount of protein per serving. Quinoa cooks up to over
three times its dry volume, so it is a good value for its dry volume.

Quinoa and amaranth can be grown in a rich soil. They are related to pigweed so control of this weed, and general weeds, in your quinoa or amaranth patch is important. Plants grow to about 4-6 feet in height in the garden and are relatively pest and disease resistant. Expect to pay around $3.00/pound for quinoa and around $2.70/pound for amaranth. Several heirloom seed companies sell seeds for planting.

Buckwheat is another "pseudograin" that is actually related to rhubarb. When cooked, it has a coarse texture and a nutty taste. It is ideal for complementing the protein in beans and seeds as well as being "soul food" for Slavs when served as a kasha ;-) The grain itself is rich in minerals, B vitamins, and iron. In addition, buckwheat sprouts and greens are edible and very nutritious. To me, buckwheat greens taste like a cross between spinach and cabbage.

But,buckwheat sprouts and greens can only safely be eaten about once a week as the plant contains a toxin called fagopyrin which, when enough has built up in the body at a time, causes moderate to severe skin reactions when the consumer is exposed to sunlight. The seeds contain only trace amounts of the toxin, so pose no threat. The toxin also affects livestock so keep your stock out of your buckwheat patch/field to avoid serious skin problems. Consume buckwheat sprouts/greens sparingly or else you will find out how those vampires in countless movies feel when they are exposed to sunlight by the film's protagonist!

Buckwheat is very easy to grow. It grows well in poor soil, indeed, planting buckwheat as a green manure is one of the best ways to regenerate poor soils. It grows about 3-4 feet tall here in Western Montana, with tiny white flowers that are very attractive to bees. It matures within about 9 weeks when grown for grain. When grown as a green manure, turn it under before it flowers. When used for sprouts, the sprouts form quickly; in about 1-2 days.

Spelt is an excellent alternative to wheat for your stores. It can be tolerated fairly well by those with wheat allergies or candidia overgrowth. It stores nearly as well as hard wheat and cooks up with little or no need for presoaking. Its taste is unlike wheat so it makes for a good change in diet taste if your survival group/family needs a little break from wheat.

Millet is an African grain, best known in the USSA as birdseed and treat for chickens and guinea fowl. It cooks up well, expanding to about twice its dry volume and with a cooking time similar to white rice. It has a nutty taste and is very attractive with its pale, yellow color. Cost is a bit more than for brown rice.

Sources for these grains in Western Montana: Good Foods (Missoula; all the above), Dancing Rainbow Natural Grocery (Butte, all the above in small packages, though bulk is available), Montana Harvest Natural Foods (Bozeman, all the above from well-stored supplies), Community Food Co-op (Bozeman, most of the above), Real Foods (Helena, all the above, but not stored as well bulk as elsewhere), 2Jays (Great Falls, all but amaranth). Wheat Montana stores, statewide, can supply spelt in #50 bags or #45 pail (nitrogen packed). I assume there are good sources for these grains in Billings, but I don't know as I have not been to Billings.

New grains to taste. New recipes to try. Enjoy. Here is a millet recipe to get you started. Recipe is a South African one that I modified to use millet.

Gheel Rhys
1c. millet
2.25c. water
bouillon powder, chicken is best
1-2 tsp. curry powder
0.5 tsp. ground cardamon
raisins
salt

Cook up the millet with the bouillon powder. Takes about 30 minutes to cook. Add the seasonings during the last ten minutes and correct to taste; the cardamon adds a "sweet, aromatic heat". Depending on the curry powder, it adds a full, complex warmth or a blazing blast of flavour. Add the raisins a few minutes before serving. Add some ground flax seed if desired. Enjoy.

Survival New Year Movies

2010-01-04T18:57:00.002-07:00

Back again after the Holiday Season with a couple of prepper movie recommendations for you. In both films, ordinary people must make terrible moral choices in a disaster environment. In both, those who survive are those who can adapt quickly, whether they have stocked up or not. Let's start the New Year off with planning for supplies, new skills, and pre planning what we will do morally in a sudden situation.

First up, a classic from the '60s, Panic in Year Zero. This one deals with off-the-cuff survival where the brain is shown to be the best survival tool. A family on holiday sees L.A taken out by a nuke, and they hear on the radio that several other U.S. cities have been hit. The family must cope with panicked refugees, profiteers, and roving human predators. A good, thought-provoking movie for the whole family. But for parents, best for older kids as film has several dead bodies, one [off-camera] rape scene, and several people [bloodlessly] shot.

The second movie was one that got very very limited release when it came out in the Fall of 2009, Carriers. The film follows two brothers and their girlfriends as they flee a pandemic of a hemorrhagic fever. The movie focuses more on the psychological stresses of survival than on tactics, though the elder brother blindly trusts in a few "rules" to help them pull through. Some of the errors in infection control are laughable but all in all, this is a movie that is worth watching and discussing with family or your survival group. This film is valuable for the moral questions it raises. For parents: this one is rated PG13 for violent shootings, some gore, and language.

What disaster films do you recommend?

Merry Christmas and books

2009-12-24T09:59:00.002-07:00

Merry Christmas to all. Have a good Holiday with family and friends. Enjoy the past year's bounty. And remember the reason for the Season; the birth of the Redeemer (whether Jesus, Mithra, et al).

Two books I just finished might be good choices for New Year's reading. Both cover preparation through clear analysis of the problem areas rather than yet another doom and gloom Jerimiad. Both are written by experts in their respective fields.

The first, The Edge of Disaster, is a well written book about strengthening our nation's infrastructure against disasters of various sorts. It would be most useful to those involved in government planning though the author also includes several good suggestions for the individual prepper.

The author also advocates a great philosophy, proactive preparation. Not just "stocking up" or learning how to survive after the "big one" or TEOTWAWKI. It would also be very useful to anyone involved with CERT groups as the author provides good coverage of this level of preparedness.

The second book, Homeland Siege, deals with the spread of narcoterrorism and 4th generation war attacks on our nation. It makes for fascinating reading for those who like to "look behind the curtain" of current event reporting. This book covers our developing disaster exposure from foreign powers buying up critical infrastructure here and covers the Gramscian threat to our culture in clear, concise fashion. For those who might be wondering, this is not "militia nutcase" material. This author states facts , draws logical conclusions from said facts, and then suggests common sense solutions to the problems identified.

Very plausible crime wave scenarios in this book. And yes, it could happen in Montana; when I correlated the Montana gang coverage from the October '09 Crime Prevention Conference with what this author describes, I got a bit scared at the possibilities. A combination of our [thankfully] few Gramscian politicians, gang members, and compliant news media could turn Montana into a narcoterrorist-infested region. For an idea of what this would mean for us, read this book or read the factual news reports from Arizona, Los Angeles, and Canadian reports of their drug distribution hub in BC.

This book is also mainly useful to those involved in making policy or commanding security forces. But this author also includes ample material for the average citizen, even including ideas for political action (organizing for the disasters, pressuring politicians).

Not a book for those who read the Daily Kos and believe it is the "voice of truth",or believe BHO is the reason for the season. All in all, filled with information on disaster threats that are rarely discussed in the MSM as well as good suggestions for those who believe in prepping our society as well as our own family.

Merry Christmas to you all. Or as Party members say it: "Merry Solstice Proximate Federal Holiday".

Winter Storm Coming!

2009-12-03T18:12:00.002-07:00

The winter storms are coming this weekend. Glacier County, Great Falls, and Lewis and Clark Counties will be hit Friday night. Big Timber to Billings areas will start seeing problems tonight with wind. The storm hits them Sunday. Double digit negative night time temperatures, daytime temperatures in teens and single digits, heavy snow, low visibility.

If you must drive, make sure that your vehicle is equipped with extra clothing, water and food, needed tools, etc. Don't forget a good pair of work gloves and blankets or sleeping bags. . Stock up your home before the storm hits if at all possible. Use this weekend to conduct a shakedown of your disaster plan.

Thank you Canada for the Arctic air mass; we need the snow for skiing and playing! All of you stay safe and warm until this storm front passes early next week.

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T08:30:00.001-07:00

To all, a happy day together with friends and family. Enjoy the bounty. Treasure and nurture the social relations.

Will post again starting next week.

Personal Safety Seminar

2009-11-14T18:41:00.003-07:00

I am holding an NRA Refuse To Be A Victim seminar in Great Falls this week. Lots of good information for securing the home/retreat and cutting down on the number of unwanted visitors post-disaster.

Great Falls Library; 301 2nd Avenue N, Great Falls, in the Conference Room; 6-9pm, Thursday, 19nov09. No charge for those attending.

Hope to see you there.

Montana Issue and Ideas

2009-11-02T17:28:00.007-07:00

I attended the MT State Crime Prevention Conference a couple weeks ago. One of the best sessions I attended was the one on Montana's issue that we don't like to discuss, suicide. For the last 30 years, Montana has ranked in the top five for suicide rates in the nation. This year we are third in the nation. Grim statistic but it was a good presentation which pointed out ways to cut this number.

This is on a prepper blog because I believe that part of our duty as preppers is to educate our neighbors, family, and co workers in preparation and in encouraging good mental attitudes. The two presenters covered this grim subject in such a dynamic and optimistic way that we all learned lessons we probably would never have picked up otherwise. Karl Rosston, a LCSW and the State Suicide Prevention Coordinator, gave us the facts and figures as well as information on formal programs and simple interventions which could make the difference between life and death. Don Wetzel Jr., Director of Planting Seeds of Hope, gave the perspective from Indian Country and inspired with his talk re: the importance of reconnecting with one's traditions.

Important things for us as preppers to remember. The problem is not suicide, it is the person's perceived lack of options or feeling trapped. Sure, sometimes the person is "crying out for attention" or help; but we must take all suicidal behavior as serious. We are all "gatekeepers", we all need to be able to ask that hard question, "are you suicidal"? According to Rosston, asking that question can often be key in starting a conversation with the suicidal person. The critical period is not while the person is suicidally depressed, it is in the 90 days after the person's depression starts to lift.

And, studies show that for every completed suicide, there are six survivors. Given that we have about 180-200 suicides/year here in Montana, that means tha there are about 1,100 new suicide survivors in Montana every year! We need to break this chain of tragedy for them and for all of us. SAee the link for AFSP below for more information.

Practical measures that both proposed included overcoming the stigma of being suicidal by building on our Montana tradition of neighbors looking out for each other, and minimizing the gossip factor present in our multitude of small communities. Also, anything we can do to bridge our vast spaces and connect someone in crisis with help is useful as our geography itself can encourage suicidality as people are isolated from each other. We also learned a simple intervention model called QPR

QUESTION

Ask The Question
DON'T ask: "suicide is dumb, you're not thinking about it are you?" or start The Question with "why?" (tends to make them defensive, not communicative)
If you can't ask The Question, find someone who can

PERSUADE

Listen and give your full attention
Don't rush to judgment
Offer hope somehow, someway
Then offer to help; get them to come with you to help, try to get them to agree to hang on until they get to help

REFER

Suicidal people tend to be "hard sells" on the possibility of help for their situation; be prepared to give your best oratory
Best referral is getting the person immediately to a professional helper
Next best is getting the person to commit to seek help, then you arrange the appointment
If you have to, give referral information and try to get a commitment from the person not to suicide, even if it is not until after the appointment

Don Wetzel's program has a good motto for all of us to keep in mind: "Honor Your Life, Honor Your Ancestors". His talk dealt with this issue of cultural alienation as a strong factor for both Native Americans and others. In Montana, suicide is the number one cause of death for children aged 10-14. And in Montana, the suicide rate for Native Americans ages 15-24 is three times the national rate. Alienation is a big part of this. Keeping our culture strong and keeping the communication clear with our children will help with this.

Here are some resources for further study or referral:
http://www.mtwytlc.com/plantingseedsofhope.htm (Planting Seeds of Hope)
ww.AFSP.org (American Foundation for Suicide Prevention)
www.aacap.org (Resource on child and adolescent depression, etc.)
www.suicidology.org (Good source for written materials and statistics)
www.montanamentalhealth.org NGO here that provides education, outreach, advocacy and sponsors the Warm Line

CRISIS LINES
Montana Statewide Suicide Hotline: 1-800-273-TALK (National number routed regionally depending on prefix of phone number)
Helpline Mental Health Center, Billings 252-5658
Community Crisis Center, Billings 259-8800
Voices of Hope; Great Falls, North and NE Montana 268-1330
Center for Mental health; Helena 443-5353
Gilder House Crisis Line; Butte 723-7995
Help Center; Bozeman, S. Central and SW Montana 586-3333
Montana Warm Line (Support service for referral or just talking, not a crisis line) 877-688-3377

Tea Party Express

2009-10-29T21:54:00.003-06:00

Part of prepping is ensuring that our country remains free. Living a live episode of Amerika or a live performance of The Survivalist may seem like fun, but it is much better to just work to keep our country true to its founding principles.

Inviting all real Montanans to show up for one of the two rallies in our state this weekend to network and to feel the real power of real Americans instead of the "astroturfed" mobs of ACORN and some of our state's Party. Media nuanced "demonstrations" cannot compare to true Americans rallying as our Founders did, against incipient tyranny.

The Party wants to ruin our economy with "cap and trade"in order to remake America into a communist state. It wants to centralize power under the guise of "health care reform", while rejecting REAL reform measures such as tort reform, allowing insurers to sell over state lines, and fixing pre-existing condition problems (ok, so the Party is really trying on this one). The Party wants to control the Internet under the guise of Net Neutrality (with government mandates and oversight). Dear Leader wants all news outlets to sing his praises, not like that nasty old FOX counter revolutionary, running dog lackey of the paper tiger Fundamentalist homophobic racist Nazi network.

Who knows? Maybe we, the people, might be able to get this country off the greased rail of socialism our betters in the Party cadre have planned for we peasants. Maybe we can get it across to our US Senate delegation, and to any state representative who works behind the scenes for the Glorious Socialist Revolution, that the real Montanans far outnumber the twisted cadre followers of the Dark Lord Alinsky here. Time for Minas Tirith (Montana and the other still free states) to stand up to these devotees of failed communism and spiritual negation. Time for a new party to arise, God only knows, the Republicans are moribund and probably won't survive until 2012 (assuming Dear Leader allows elections).

Many good people on this tour. Here's the link. One fellow who will be there is Kenneth Gladney, a Black Conservative who was beaten up by SEIU thugs in August of this year at a town hall meeting in St. Lewis. He was called a nigger, by a Black assailant. Racism in my book, no "reclaiming words" none sense. It was meant as an insult to this Black Conservative. I don't want to be called a cracker or an umlungu (White scum). I don't address Blacks ever as nigger or kaffir. But such language comes naturally to Party cadre and sturmabteilungen as everything is allowed that furthers the Glorious Revolution.

Dear Leader's street thugs are out in force to prevent us from retaking our country from the left-over hippies who never got over their love affair with Castro and Pol Pot. Maybe they'll show up at either the Helena or Bozeman rally. Maybe we can stand against them. Maybe we can reason with some of them, assuming they took their meds this week.

I have seen a few of this ilk in Helena over the last year; White Liberals to a "person" with zombie-like faces that remind me of Moonies. I'm sure they'll be at this historic event, let's be there too. They will try to act as if they represent the "oppressed peasants", in true Alinsky fashion. Let's drown out their foul slogans and chitterings with our real voices of everyday Montanans who love this country and support a bright future for our kids. I'll still be too ill to go out but I will try for the sake of my country.

Tea Party Express National Bus Tour will be in Helena on Sunday, November 1st, at 11am, at the Lewis and Clark County Fairgrounds, 98 West Custer Avenue.

Tea Party Express National Bus Tour will be in Bozeman on the same day at 5pm at Heritage Christian School Gymnasium, 4310 Durston Road, Bozeman.

Sorry for the hyperbole. But I believe that our country is slipping away rapidly and all the stored MREs and solar panels won't save it. Only we, the people can save it from the "elites" of DC and all too many Starbucks franchises. Keep the faith, keep the nation. Support your local Patriot organizations. Set up samizdat networks against the possible victory of the Party over our people and nation.

Home Defense Drills

2009-10-28T16:11:00.004-06:00

Final installment in the Home Invasion series. I am not trying to provide a full home defense and firearm course here, just some quick notes to remind and point the way for further study. And I want to focus this forum more on general survival rather than making it yet another weapon-brandishing Jerry Ahern dream-come-true blog. With all the drills which follow you need to practice enough so that your body will have the instinctive memory needed to react automatically in a crisis. This doesn't mean daily hours of practice, it does mean doing some training every week or so. For example, I practice my moving and aiming a couple times a week for 3 minutes per session using a orange gun to “draw down on” objects in my home.

Here in Montana we haven't had a bad home invasion problem per se, but with our vast spaces there can be prolonged delays in getting police to our homes. With a worsening Hopey Changey economy, crime will increase here too. For example, if there was a home invasion burglary going down in Augusta and the resident deputy was off on a call it could take over half an hour or more for a deputy to get there from Helena or Lincoln. Death or rape can happen within seconds. The police will arrive to take a report from any lucky survivors.

Having piles of guns and ammo for after the collapse is great, if you know how to use it. Counting on the much vaunted adrenaline rush, alone, to enable you to carry the day might cost you your life. Using your gun in the event without prior practice might lead to tragedy if you can't hit what you aim at.

Before you start practicing mouse holing, dynamic room entry, and house clearing you need to have a good base of familiarity with your chosen gun or other weapon. You need to know how to quickly and efficiently draw it from your holster rig, be able to fire it with a reasonable balance of speed and accuracy at realistic ranges:handgun: 1-10yd shotgun: 1-50yd (for slugs), rifle: 5 to limit of your need.

You must practice moving and firing; the bad guys don't hold still like range targets, they move and/or shoot at you. You must practice this until you can again be reasonably accurate even while you move off the enemy's line of fire. Also, it is vital that you be able to immediately and effectively respond to your gun jamming or not going “bang” in a crisis situation, or you are dead. In addition, you must be able to identify your target as friend or foe, even in low light conditions. Code word challenges and responses must be worked out ahead of time so that you can avoid inadvertently shooting a family member.

Some basic principles for setting up your house to prevail in a home invasion. Have weapons pre -positioned, out of sight, throughout the house so you and yours have a good chance of becoming tool using survivor wherever you retreat or are dumped (by robbers). Consider having a Wedge-It by the front door so you can slide it along with the door when you open it a few inches to talk to a stranger. This way, if the stranger(s) try a push-in invasion, the Wedge-It will jam the door within a few inches of travel, startling the robbers and giving the good guys a couple extra seconds to react.

Have a safe room set up and have all family members drill on quickly getting there and securing the room. Impress on your kids that if scary people break in that the kids need to be absolutely quiet sometime even though they are very scared. Know ahead of time what role family pets will have; what to do if the invaders torture your pet to get you to make a mistake, use your dog to delay the invaders, pet goes to safe room also?

Have a plan for getting house keys out to the police if an invasion happens and you are holed up in your safe room. Work out a hostage family member drill out before you need it! See below for some suggestions in this regard.

A vital part of prevailing is practicing with the winning attitude and demeanor. Channel Mel Gibson as Mad Max (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbd9RYZUCPI&feature=related ) , emulate Charles Bronson in Death Wish (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuKeUAavpnU), method act Camille Keaton from I Spit on Your Grave ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKCys3sd8Bw ). This way your commands and responses to the bad guys will demonstrate your determination and courageous spirit.

No: “don't make me shoot” or “don't hurt us, please”. It's: “if you do anything other than what I tell you, I will shoot you. Got it it ,entiende, comprè?” and “Kill, Kill, Kill!” Remember, criminals don't fear your gun, it's just a piece of metal, they fear the person behind the gun if that person appears resolute. Those criminals lost the right to mercy when they invaded your home; you must go down fighting to win. Complying with invaders commands nearly always results in serious harm or death for the good guys. This is not the U.N.; you resist or you die.

Basic home invasion drills:

Good proficiency with your weapons: move and aim, target identification (vital: practice in low light also), weapon malfunction.
“Push in” invasion (door answered, robbers push their way in): Retrieving weapons and aiming, kids retreat to safe room? Close quarter combat evasion drills. Know who has what role (one always answers door, other always covers?)
Hostage drill: Extremely grave situation. Maybe you and the hostage family member live, maybe you die. But at least you try to prevail. Ideas: hostage drops, full force, to the floor when family member gives code word; then other family member takes out bad guy as the hostage moves clear of impact area. Hostage feigns illness, other family member takes action. Hostage taker threatens to kill hostage if you don't hand over/drop your gun. You tell them:” kill them, then I'll kill you slowly, I'll make you last” (Dexter or R. Lee Ermey emulation helps with this one).
Bedroom Invasion Drill: fast access to weapons with team coverage of all openings if possible. Practice accessing weapons from anywhere in the room. First aid drills for gun shot wounds or knife wounds. Practice 911 calls, with disconnected phone, giving full report of what's happening, who good guys are and how they are dressed.
Alarm goes off: If a central system, consider having control panel in sleeping quarters so you can identify breached zone. Otherwise, someone has to go to the display panel to determine where the breach is; very scary prospect and fraught with danger. If you have individual zone alarms, try to vary their alarm sound to give you an idea of where the problem is. Do you lock down if the alarm goes off?
Noises by garage or in back yard: searchlight area? Searchlight then investigate? What to do if it is just rowdy teens? What if you detected incoming invasion and they fire on you?
Post-disaster siege: How to lift siege; sortie? Plan your fields of fire ahead of time to enable you to pick off besiegers. Night sortie to relief? Exfiltrate a family member to get help? Nasty command-fired, BATF no-no devices?

Have fun with this stuff. The more you rehearse, the better your performance when the real thing comes.

Flu: Deadly Lessons Learned

2009-10-24T20:01:00.007-06:00

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I contracted [lab confirmed] swine flu (I have asthma) . Within 22 hours of onset of symptoms, I was unable to stand, moving less than half the air I normally can, high fever with confusion, in shock, and with a low oxygen level. I was brought to the ER by my wife and admitted to hospital. If I had not gotten to the ER that night and had instead gone the next day, I would be in ICU right now instead of writing these words.

I made mistakes in my prepping plan. Some of these mistakes could have cost me my life. I want you to learn from my mistakes. I list what went wrong, what went right, cover home care, and then list some advice I got from the hospital staff to help you all keep from ending up a statistic.

What Went Wrong
Too many trips outside the home. We live about six miles outside of town in a sparsely populated area. So limiting exposure to the "herd" is easy for us. But I did not plan trips to town efficiently, making about 60% more trips than actually needed, thus increasing my exposure to potential infection. Worst of all, I visited a house where a child had been recently ill with a respiratory infection without masking up while I was there. Even though I was there only a few minutes, it would have been enough to expose me to a disease.

I didn't pay attention to good hydration. When the disease manifested,, it came on with bad nausea and severe coughing. Initially, I could replace the fluid lost by drinking some water. But as the severity of the coughing itself induced vomiting, I stopped drinking water completely. Within a few short hours I began to show the symptoms of dehydration as I lost ever more water through coughing, sweating, tears, and vomiting. With the high fever, my falling oxygen saturation, and confusion I was soon beyond being able to save myself by drinking water. My wife should have forced me to take small sips of water as often as possible, but her concern for not causing me further suffering won out. In the event, the ER staff had to run 3l of IV fluids into me before the shock lifted. Dehydration can be a killer, get water into the patient as often as you can, even if it is only a tablespoon at a time.

No oxygen available in my house. I have asthma and used to have a home oxygen unit. But I never replaced it when we moved to Montana. I required oxygen in hospital for about 20 hours off and on. If I had oxygen available in my home, I would not have arrived at the ER in such desperate shape. Maybe it might have even given me the edge to be able to realize that I was getting shocky from fluid loss and got me drinking water again. Having a pulse oximeter available would have allowed us to monitor how well the bronchodialators and oxygen were working for me.

A decent oxygen rig can be assembled for about $220 that will allow about 2 hours+ at 3l/minute flow rate, enough to help a flu patient. Aviation oxygen is "OTC", medical oxygen (100% rather than 99%+) is by prescription.

What Went Right
Our IC plan works. We have a good supply of earloop medical masks and some N95 "rubber banded" masks available as well as ample supplies of gloves, disinfectants, paper towels, etc. So my wife was able to disinfect the house after I was admitted to hospital and I was masked when I was taken to the ER, thus cutting the chances of me infecting others.

I am in strict quarantine for 10 days; it was an easy matter for us to turn the master bedroom suite into our "prepper quarantine ward". I only need to leave it to eat, having masked, washed my hands, and gloved up. I spend only the minimum time outside the isolation room and wipe down everything I touched/handled with disinfectant before I return to my room. My wife is masked when she is in our home and we keep the CDC recommended distance of six feet apart at all times.

Could This Have Been Handled at Home?
I have a rescue inhaler with a spacer. In hospital, and for the next week or so, I require frequent nebulizer "breathing treatments". Using the puffer inhaler instead of a nebulizer would be less efficient and deliver much less medication than the nebulizer would. So it might have taken two days to even start to improve my breathing capacity. Plus, my puffers would have run out within a day and a half at the heroic dosing levels that would have been necessary. I might have been able to do it if my wife could have gotten more inhalers.

Without an oxygen tank, the shock would have worsened some more , I would have been unable to help myself for a longer period of time, and the risk of death would have increased. If I had just a little D cylinder with a nasal cannula, I would have improved some and the real risk of death would have been lower.

I had some prednisone on hand, though at a lower dose than used at hospital, so I was covered on this. I have a penicillin and a macrolide antibiotic on hand so I might have been able to treat the bacterial pneumonia that started up, though the hospital used a quinilone antibiotic. So I had a chance of treating the incipient, potentially deadly complication of bacterial pneumonia. I had a small supply of antiemetics to treat the nausea so I had a chance to slow the deadly fluid loss that would have killed me.

If my wife had forced fluids on me, an ounce or so at a time, I would have had a small chance of recovering from the developing shock. I was down nearly three quarts of water so it would have required round the clock intensive nursing care on her part and a lot of luck to correct the deadly fluid deficit. Between the shock, the low blood oxygen/seriously impaired respiration, and incipient bacterial pneumonia, I probably had about a 65% chance of surviving this flu with home care only.

Notes on the Disease
First, in our area of SouthWest Montana, there have been no cases of the seasonal flu at all, only H1N1 (swine flu) to date. Silver Bow and Lewis and Clark Counties lead the state in case reports, for week ending 17oct09, (1,501-3,000 cases each), with Galatin County close behind (751-1,500 cases). Generally, Eastern and Western Montana counties are reporting between 1-250 cases. Central Montana counties and Broadwater County are reporting 0-0.9 cases.

Montana's Department of Public Health has received the first shipment of H1N1 vaccine, they are deciding which groups to offer it to first. Watch your local newspaper and TV for further news. So get your regular flu shot but exercise meticulous infection control behavior in your family to avoid H1N1 infection. I had had the regular flu shot 8 days before I came down with the swine flu, maybe I became lax in my precautions? Here is the flu information page for our State.

The doctor told me that the H1N1 virus is transmissible by indirect means (infected person touches object, you touch object with germ and then touch your eyes or nose) also, not just by the infected person coughing or sneezing droplets that you inhale. As an added note, pets should be excluded from the infected person's room as their fur can serve as a "fomite" to carry the virus between people. The infected person could pet the cat or dog if the person washes their hands thoroughly before hand or wears gloves. But no nuzzling by the animal or kissing by the human. Imagine trying to sanitize a cat after the patient coughed and then pet it!

The virus is shed for up to 10 days after the patient's fever breaks. This means the patient is still highly infectious even after they feel fine again. So wearing a mask when out in public and using hand sanitizer or gloves frequently is not only common courtesy for the recovering H1N1 patient, it is sound public health policy. All door handles, light switches, etc. need to be disinfected regularly during the course of the patient's illness and the whole area given a thorough cleaning and disinfection after the disease has passed.

This strain of flu is highly infectious; consider it as infectious as measles or tularemia if that helps give you the mental image that this is not a trivial disease. Pregnant women, young adults, and those with chronic diseases (diabetes, heart disease, chronic respiratory disease) are at real risk of death from this flu strain.

Use masks! Sure it looks funny in the USA but in Asia it is a social custom to wear a mask when you are ill with the cold or flu as a courtesy to others and as a good public health practice.

N95 masks tend to have higher breathing resistance and be less comfortable to wear than procedure masks. But they offer a slight edge in risk reduction. Earloop masks are the easiest masks to wear for long periods of time, just remember to form it to your face carefully. Traditional string-tied masks tend to have more "breathing room" so they would be a good choice for the patient as they have low breathing resistance. There downside is that they take more time to don and doff and tend to shift position easily.

That's all for today. I'm glad I'm still alive and I hope you can learn from my mistakes so you don't end up in serious crisis due to the H1N1 flu.

2009-10-14T05:52:00.002-06:00

Off to MT Crime Prevention Convention, in Bozeman, through Friday. Posts will pick up again Saturday, the 17th.

In the meantime, here is a site for prepping your computers. The Technibble site is a good resource for computer repair software, much of it free, and has very useful forums where you can get help with computer problems. Prepper tools for our computer tools.

http://www.technibble.com/categories/computer-repair-tools/

(Home Security) Home Invasion #2

2009-10-08T19:03:00.004-06:00

Notes for hardening your house, and retreat, so the bad guys pass you by in favor of soft targets. In part #1 of Home Invasion, I mentioned the need to use strong, long screws for your hinges, locks, and frames. Consider also installing metal clad industrial doors for your exterior doors and the door to your safe room. These will provide superior resistance to kick-ins and fire.

If possible, eliminate windows in doors. Or install double deadbolt locks (key needed for each side) in said doors to eliminate the criminal's easy access. Another alternative is to install a sheet of lexan over the interior side of the door window to hopefully give the burglar a broken hand when they try to bash in the door window.

Everyone has heard about the latest trend in burglary; lock bumping. This is a quick way to jar many locks open with a minimum of effort. Bump proof locks are widely available, expect to pay about twice the cost or more for them. In Montana, our burglars are behind the times so bumping is not a real problem here now. But with all the people moving here??

Good visibility is vital to home and retreat security. Make it hard for bad guys to skulk near your doors by eliminating concealing bushes, etc. near your exterior doors. At entrances to your property, be aware of possible vantage points for wrong doers spying on your retreat/compound. Be especially aware of places enemies can lie in wait near where you must dismount to work your gates or doors. Rehearse what you would do if some person accosted you as you got out to open your gate.

For your retreat, plan now for how you will dominate your approaches and interior lines whether with firepower, obstacles, fences, light or use of animals. Consider setting up motion detector floodlights around your house and barn. Solar powered ones are available that are easy to set up without the need for an electrician. If you can afford it, have all of your exterior floodlights tied into a single switch in your sleeping area. This way you can light up your whole compound if you suspect a burglary of your house or barn is in progress.

Making the house look occupied by using lights that turn on at dusk and off at dawn is nice. For added security, and a nasty scare for home invaders utilize remote controlled light sockets, available from Sportsmans Guide among others. Imagine the thieves surprise as lights come on in widely separated rooms and a radio comes on. Probably send them running or at least give you a few seconds of surprise to run your plan on them.

Key control is vital. Change locks as soon as you move to a new home. Be very careful who you give keys to. Impress on them the need to maintain control of your keys at all times.

A quick way to control access to your property is to use tanglefoot. This slows down those approaching, it will not stop them. Traditionally, you make it by driving in a number of posts in the area, of varying height. You then string wire between the posts, usually barbed wire. This will force any bad person to slowly pick their way through, giving you plenty of time to sound the alarm, etc. But this is an inflexible system that is highly visible and tends to make your property, in peacetime, look like a little piece of Kosovo.

A more flexible way to use tanglefoot is to just make loops of baling wire, about 2.5 feet around, and scatter them around the area to be protected. For added force, scatter broken cinder block or broken glass around the area. The booby steps on the front of a loop, or gets an ankle in it, and steps on the trailing edge of the loop=trip time from the trap for the booby. This "trap field" is easily cleared as needed with just a sturdy metal rake and a good pair of gloves.

Deploying inexpensive IR and contact alarms that have built in sirens is a good move for outbuildings, and can be used for the house to provide uninterruptible alarm coverage.

Your home is your castle. fortify it like one. In TEOTWAWKI conditions, be prepared to dominate the space around your home. Make plans for how to respond to threats from "dead spaces" (i.e. you cannot directly see them) around your area. Fill such spaces with barbed wire? CCTV Camera system? Sonic "crowd control" devices set up to turn on by remote control?

Have safe holidays in your secure home. Next up; drills for home invasion/intruder on your land. Until then, enjoy our coming Montana Winter. Hope you got your vegetables in in time, I did.

Survival Mindset and Personal/Social Survival

2009-10-05T19:40:00.004-06:00

Fast one here on a stirring article I read yesterday on a South African blog. It really hits the fastener on the broad spot in its exegesis of the survival mindset for self, family, and society. I also include a link below to a worthy organization here that works to promote more support for our hard working "sheepdogs", the police in their often lonely jobs.

Note that the South African blog does contain some profanity, little in this article though, and it does contain some unkind epithets in re: historically disadvantaged groups. But keep in mind, South Africa made our 2008 mistake in 1994 (believing "Progressive", dialectical materialism trumped common sense) so they are, in a way, our future if we don't remind ourselves as a nation of the words of MLK: that we should all be judged by our abilities and individually rather than discriminated against [or for] merely on the basis of our "paint job". And if we also let the Party balkanize us further in order to rule us completely. Ally with decent people, support appropriate interventions for those of whatever ethnic group who ravage rather than contribute.

If you explore this South African blog further, remember, unlike in the USA and Australia, they did not attempt to exterminate the peoples they found in the lands they settled. Rather, they worked with them, sure sometimes exploiting them but much more often helping improve those peoples' standard of living and education.

Their apartheid system produced some injustices but it also produced much more benefit for the Liberal's "pet- causes-peoples" than the American and British Liberal installed government has done with its system of kleptocracy in the last 14 years there. For example, health care and housing starts were drastically better under the "evil" apartheid regime than under the "rainbow nation" regime that was elected, in a manner similar to Dear Leader's election, in 1994.

Like any society, they took a reasonable idea, separate development of ethnic groups according to their capacity and current values/mores, and implemented it with all the human capacity for good and evil that we all possess. If they had just implemented a political apartheid, which could have helped the various groups develop into the Liberal ideal of citizens, then there might have been less international condemnation than did occur because of the South Africans' social apartheid policies. But in any event, the "Progressives" would have opposed them as part of their Gramscian strategy to destroy the West and set up a Workers Paradise worldwide.

Most of the writers on that blog are people like us who feel cheated by the lies of Hopey Changey that is planned to destroy our very culture in the name of some over grown adolescent "ideal" of "social justice" Party cadre and their dupes heard from their college professor back when the students could still squeeze into their tie dyed bell bottoms.

I write today's post as someone who grew up in a mixed race neighborhood; few Whites with many Chinese, Guamanians and Filipinos. So I know what I am about. I will fight anyone who calls a decent person of whatever race, ethnic group or religion a demeaning name in prejudice. Again, every American deserves to be treated with dignity, even the criminal as they are gunned down by their victim in self defense or the ACORN apparatchik who schemes against our very culture and is caught.

Ends the disclaimer. Enjoy the blog article, it is PG for mild profanity.

http://www.zasucks.com/?p=5738

Support these people, and our police. One of the best days of my life was when a motorcycle cop was t-boned by a speeder and I was part of a group of neighbors who detained the speeder and watched over the cop until the ambulance arrived. When the cop told us thanks, we told him that we were paying him back in a small way for all he and his lot had done for us.

http://www.adoptacop.com/

Survival Movie Review

2009-10-03T19:00:00.006-06:00

Just got back from watching a good survival movie at the local cineplex. This one would be good for those of you with friends, coworkers, and family who just don't seem to "get" prepping. This one teaches even while it evokes gales of laughter. As I wrote back in June, humor is a great way to get past the scary aspect of thinking about prepping. Survivalist advice in this one is packaged in scenes and narration straight out of a wild Joe Lansdale story.

The movie is Zombieland. This is TEOTWAWKI at [Matheson's original book] I am Legend level. A food-borne virus has turned the USA, at minimum, into a still moving charnel house. Across this chaotic world, a college nerd, Columbus; a redneck ultimate-survivalist, Tallahassee; and two grifter sisters, Wichita and Little Rock, travel to a place rumored to be free of the zombie plague. The acting is great, the gore is less than that in Shaun of the Dead and is only enough to advance the plot, the survival lessons are presented in an easy to remember form as rules.

The film opens with the viewpoint character, a nerdy college student going over the rules which enabled him, the unlikeliest person to survive, to endure. Rule 1 is telling: "Cardio" (be in good physical condition). The prepper who is not in good tune will have much less chance in a crisis situation. Rule 23, "Enjoy the Little Things", is a lifesaver for the characters' sanity and is vital to keep in mind in real world survival scenarios. Rule 2, "Double Tap", is applied in such varied and hilarious manners that even dedicated anti gunners will feel a glimmer of the survival spirit.

The characters' foraging is handled in a so so manner. The personal dynamics of making common cause with strangers in a horrific disaster is handled very well.

The college student starts out as the prepper who relies on "bugging out" to stay alive. The redneck seems at first glance to be the ultimate macho survivalist until you find out what he is fleeing, in a tragic scene. The two grifter sisters of course rely on their wits and their Rule: "Trust no One but Me". This group finally comes together as a post-apocalyptic "family" when the dysfunction of their individual survival strategies results in a near massacre of them. Unfortunately, the movie ends there, but it is clear that this "family" will pull through anything now.

Give this one a look see with family and friends. It certainly has the potential to evoke prepper discussions after leaving the theater. Rated R for gore (about 2qts of blood, entrails told once, multiple zombies shot), language (but much less than the typical, current, Hollywood excreta), brief drug use, and [brief] nudity.

Home Invasion #1

2009-09-29T20:34:00.013-06:00

Just some quick notes on this one. I missed the Spike Surviving Disasters episode on this one. But it is a truly timely issue. With Hope and Change spreading unemployment and, with "cap and trade" threatening to collapse our economy, home invasion could soon happen here in Montana. In 2007, there was a home invasion attempt in Butte, but an un-PC 11yo girl shot the two invaders, killing both innocent "wealth redistributors".

The Spike episode seems to stress evolutions for unarmed home owners. Which is good so that Massachusetts and California viewers or others, within the Party-held areas, can also benefit from the series' advice. I think this is a good thing as over reliance in a gun, or other self defense tool, limits your options in an assault.

Here are some quick notes on setting up a safe room, so-called "panic room" in your home. As always, get legal input and make sure all family members know their role come the invasion.

It is important to have a safe room set up where you and your family can retreat if need be. If you have young kids or infants, use their room as it is easier for the adults to rally to the childrens' room than it is for the kids to retreat in good order to the parents' room. The hinges and latch hole need to be secured with long screws, not the low-bidder short screws used by default. The door needs to be solid core and it would be useful to install a single cylinder deadbolt lock on the door. Room must have survival kit stored and easily accessible.

In your safe room, be aware of windows, having bars without a fire release just traps you. Plus, the well organized gang could send a second breaching team in your window so your side must watch the banging door and the window(s). As Murphy says: if you make it hard for the enemy to get in, you make it hard for you to get out.

An old street fighting trick is to have a bare live wire to lay on the door knob to give the bad guys a little jolt, assuming they didn't cut your power. Another nasty trick is to retreat deep into the safe room, while crying piteously, and let the bad guys breach. When they rush in they encounter quickly scattered caltrops, or other tripppers. Obviously, in most jurisdictions, doing street fighter traps could be construed as an element of murder if you are not careful, but you and yours will be alive. As with any of this, consult an attorney before going Beirut in your own home on a criminal.

The room needs a reliable communication device; cell phones are good as the invaders will cut phone and power if they can. A couple of good flashlights are needed; consider having one of those nice 1 million + candlepower searchlights in the room also for temporarily blinding the bad guys if they break in. Having a set of keys , attached to a light stick, to throw out a window to the police when they arrive is a good thing. When you call 911, remember: describe who the good folks are and how they are dressed. The responding officers will be in survival mode too, wouldn't want one of your side shot by accident, eh?

Body armor or not? It takes several extra seconds, when milliseconds count, to don. It is heavy, especially if rated to stop rifle rounds. It can give the non-professional a false sense of security and bravado.

But it might save your life. If you have multiple family members, maybe add a body-armor-donning evolution to your practice. With this, one member covers while the other one dons their armor, then the roles switch. But, it would be tragic if the bad guys burst in just as one good guy was donning their armor and the bad guys killed the covering good guy. There are many many sources for body armor. The folks at Bullet Proof Me are nice , offer quality gear at good prices, and are commonly cited on survival blogs.

"When they kick in your front door, how you gonna come? With your hands on your head or on the trigger of your gun."
Guns of Brixton, The Clash

At a minimum, know if your state has a Castle Doctrine law. Montana now has one, it is common sense and allows defense against those intent on entry to commit a violent felony. It states that there is no duty to retreat/flee, or summon police, first before defending yourself from a violent assault.

The new law is currently being invoked in two court cases here. expect controversy for awhile with this one, and the Party railing against armed peasants. Read the law, know it, comply and stay alive. Think it through ahead of time; decide on your courses of action before the heat of the moment, else tragedy can result.

Weapons of your choice in the room. Even in California, we were politically incorrect and included guns in our safe room "arms locker". Your mileage would vary if you were in a Party controlled region where armed self defense is illegal and proof of racism/disbelief in "social justice".

But prior drill is vital. We had an alarm situation at home that nearly ended in needless tragedy with two armed good guys separated; with one entering the other's line of fire about 10 yards downrange in the dark, with no recognition signals/challenges worked out ahead of time. A recipe for disaster, a potential "accidental discharge" at one of your own in an unsecured, unlit area!

With guns, make provision for hearing protection for when you must fire. Most of the time, you will know and hear the bad guys trying to breach even with ear plugs/muffs. Your hearing is important for the rest of your life, firing in an enclosed area will hurt at a minimum and might damage your hearing for an extended time--use protection if you can.

If you have several family members in the safe room, one can light up the bad guy while another violates his civil right-to-"social-justice" with the gun. Don't forget shooting through the door if the bad guys are actively trying to breach it and you know there are no friendlies on that side of the safe room door. If possible, blast both sides of the door frame and the door simultaneously to get maximum roach knockdown.

Other weapons to consider are: going medieval with a solid fighting knife or modified bayonet-on-a-shaft; if allowed by local law, a baton; or use pepper spray. Remember that OC (pepper spray) can easily come back on you if used in an enclosed space. Include some OC "antidote", such as Sudecon Wipes, in your kit.

Don't forget to have a good first aid kit in the safe room. Consider getting one of the nice compact ones made for SWAT officers as these are designed for scenes of violence, unlike nearly all kits on offer at the local variety store. Quick Clot or the like is invaluable for quickly stopping bleeding, just follow directions or it won't work as advertised. Know how to stabilize a sucking chest wound, pack a wound to stop bleeding, and deal with a facial wound which impacts breathing.

Train ahead of time, again and again so your body will know what to do in that moment of chaos and terror. As the saying goes: the more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in combat.

Part #2 will deal with common sense home security measures, to include advanced precaution for post-disaster times. Here are a few links for buying or making trauma blowout kits:

http://www.afmo.com/QuikClot_Blow_Out_Kit_1_p/210-00139.htm Very bare bones kit, but used properly, it will do the job.
http://www.lmsdefense.com/forum/index.php?topic=743.0 Blog thread on making your own kit.
http://connect.jems.com/group/swat/forum/topics/whats-in-your-kit Article on assembling an advanced kit. Makes good point: these kits are for use on you, the owner of the kit, just like military battle dressings.
http://www.borelliconsulting.com/evals/tacems/bokrevisit.htm Good, short article on assembling a kit.
http://www.promedkits.com/blow_out.html I own one of these kits and use it for demonstration in classes. Company makes many useful kits at a good price.

Children and Emergencies

2009-09-27T09:54:00.009-06:00

Children are part and parcel of prepping at the family level. And where necessary, at the level of the day care. We all pray that children need never experience privation or be harmed. Yet life sometimes happens to them too. How can we minimize the harm to the child in the event, and help them integrate the frightening experiences in a healthy way to learn valuable life lessons?

"The wind howls through the empty blocks looking for a home
I run through the empty stone because I'm all alone"
London's Burning, The Clash

Child Emotional Stress:
Children can develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder too. But good early care, coupled with healthy reassurance can greatly reduce the likelihood of this developing. Here are some useful links to learn more:

Link to the American Red Cross page about their Facing Fear... series of books that deal with helping children cope with the stresses of terrorism, natural disasters, and the "24 hour news cycle".
As of today, the link to download the lesson plans does not work, nor the link to the Red Cross online store. But the book is available at your local Red Cross. Donate generously so the Red Cross can complete their website redesign.
http://www.redcross.org/portal/site/en/menuitem.d229a5f06620c6052b1ecfbf43181aa0/?vgnextoid=749bf655c099b110VgnVCM10000089f0870aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default

This is a link to a very useful website from Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia. This site has a short quiz for the parents, and the child, to fill out re: stress reactions post-injury that gives helpful, positive advice on how to further help the injured child.
The link: Find ways to help your child recover provides excellent advice on basic, immediate crisis intervention for the child and best communication practices with the child in the hard times. Also covers dealing with new fears in the child, a significant factor in development of longer term problems if not dealt with. Good section on self care for you, the parent. Common sense section, with resource links, for when to seek outside professional help for the child or you.

National Child Traumatic Stress Network offers free, online courses in child disaster trauma , grief, sexual abuse, provision of services, complex trauma, etc. Requires free registration but the courses seem worth it. The Terrorism, Disaster, and Speaker series seems most onpoint for the general prepper parent or day care provider.

Day Care and Disasters:
Nice link from Ohio Child Care Resource & Referral Association about rating your child's daycare for disaster readiness as well as resources for better preparing your family for life disruptions.

Learning Prepper Skills, For Kids:
FEMA has a great website for kids that will teach them valuable skills in how to prepare and how to cope with uncertain times.
A family of mountain lions, and their hummingbird friend, guide your kids through various fun family activities around disaster prepping. Kids learn about the types of natural disasters, and how to best survive them. They learn how to make a communication plan and how to make up a disaster kit. Site also has very good links for teachers and parents to learn more, especially about post-disaster coping skills. Good resources on this page for the teacher or school principal.

The City of Vancouver, BC has a site that guides parents in how to teach children disaster survival skills, in how to prepare the family home for disasters, and how best to return to the home post-disaster.

Children, the next generation, the future citizens. Get them involved in prepping now so that they can pass on the skills of self reliance and can-do attitude to their kids in turn.

Crime Prevention Conference

2009-09-23T19:07:00.003-06:00

Part of prepping is doing your part to help your neighbors and community in preparing. The Montana Board of Crime Control and Crime Prevention Council are holding a conference next month.

The 3rd Annual Montana Crime Prevention Conference will be held in Bozeman October 14-16 at the Best Western Grantree , 1325 N 7th Avenue. Registration is free and available online.

If you are affiliated with a law enforcement agency, court, service provider, educator or the like, then sign up for this conference. There will be some good sessions this year on police-citizen cooperation, some good youth-related sessions, and a session on our state's high suicide rate.

Bozeman is a great town for a conference too. For a great lunch; try the Pickle Barrel just off campus of Montana State University or Naked Noodle on Higgins, just off Main. For dinner, Montana Aleworks, on the far East end of Main serves awesome food and brew. Montana Harvest Natural Foods, on South Higgins just off Main, is very prepper friendly and has an excellent selection of grains and other prepper needs. Gallatin County Pioneer Museum is a real treat and is only about 1.5 miles from the Conference.

If you come to the conference or if you are in the Bozeman area, let's meet. I'll be the guy from the NRA with the cane.

Preparedness Month Exercise

2009-09-20T22:41:00.003-06:00

While the heads of state are having their fun
Are they ready?
We're looking at the world through the barrel of a gun
Are we ready?
And you stand there beating on your little war drum
Are you ready?
And it won't be long before your time has come
Are you ready? ; Warhead; UK Subs

Today's idea is from MT-Mauser, a thoughtful prepper here in Montana. I like the sound of this drill. MM estimates that a high percentage of people would fail this exercise, would you? I figure my family might pull through this one ok other than the lack of power (we are on well water) causing a worrisome run on water supplies. Try this one, take notes, learn. I sure will!

Here's a little drill to try with your family or prepper group to test your level of preparedness. Announce to the group that there will be a group get together [a dinner and strategy meeting] in two weeks. between now and the time of the meeting, you cannot go to the store for food [major regional grid-down conditions] and must make do with only what you have stored in your home/retreat as of that moment. For best test conditions, live off the grid for the next 14 days and off whatever fuel you have stored. This also means the toilet won't work unless you have solar power for your well pump, etc.

The day of the drill, you must act as if the power grid is down [so cooking is by LP or the like, lighting is candle/lantern, etc.]. You must assume that there has been wide spread social unrest, with looting, for the last 13 days [post an EMP event]. So you must travel armed to the meeting, with full use of bounding overwatch/covoy, etc.

The house where the meeting is to be held must have full black out precautions [looters, like moths, are drawn to light]. Sentries must be posted, incoming vehicles must be identified and challenged as needed. Full security must be maintained during the meeting.

The food on offer may be potlucked from all attendees but again, must come strictly from stores which were in place two weeks before. maybe throw in a simulated medical problem for additional fun.

Self Preservation or Political Correctness?

2009-09-19T22:28:00.003-06:00

"Hold your head up high-for there is no greater love
Think of the faces of the people you defend
And promise me, they will never see the tears within our eyes
Although we are men with mortal sins, angels never cry"
Winterborn ;The Crüxshadows

Short one today on whether to resist a criminal intent on doing you and yours harm. Or to be sensitive to their "cultural issues", be "practical", and give them what they want free of any effort.

Noted self defense writer Gabriel Suarez decries the modern tendency of the authorities to advise potential crime victims to just be "reasonable" with the criminal and give them what they want. Suarez rightly points out that the urge to self preservation, to say nothing of basic human dignity, calls for us to resist those who would harm us (The Tactical Pistol; Suarez, Gabriel; Paladin Press; 1996; page 2).

In South Africa, the criminals nearly always go above and beyond the "reasonable demands" of robbery or rape, etc. into protracted torture, mutilation, and wanton destruction. As the recent events in St. Louis schools, two assaults in one week, and the dismissal of the Black Panther intimidation case by the US Justice Department indicate, we are on the same road to culturally sensitive crime here.

Lest anyone mistake me, I am writing to readers of all races and ethnic groups. No one deserves to be a victim of crime and no one deserves to be a victim of assault just because of the color of their skin or their origin. Demagoguery only serves the speaker, it demeans and divides the rest of us at a time when we should be looking toward working together.

Here are links to two proponents of opposite approaches for dealing with being faced with crime against us. You decide which approach better becomes a prepper.

The first is a news story about an academic who interviewed 30 robbers in prison. His advice is effectively based on what the robbers said would make them most comfortable when robbing you and yours. This fellow could come here and be a czar for our Justice Department with his brilliance.

http://www.news24.com/Content/SouthAfrica/News/1059/5525775ad0c94f53b9e0ac76a0304ff4/03-09-2009-09-41/How_to_survive_a_robbery

The second article is by a missionary with extensive experience in numerous war zones. His advice is based on his experiences with the Rwanda Genocide, the Rhodesian war against the Communists (and Progressives), and in South Africa. Consider reading some of his other books for the history which you never read in the PC MSM.

http://www.christianaction.org.za/firearmnews/2004-03_Howtobeagoodvictim.htm

Evil can and should be resisted. But at the same time, you must factor in your personal situation at that moment. If you can talk your way out of the tight spot, do so. Maybe read up on basic crisis negotiation to help give you the edge if crime comes to you and yours. Do what you must, think it through ahead of time to reduce your reaction lag time.

Pain Relief and the Prepper Medic, Part 2

2009-09-16T14:48:00.006-06:00

Control of pain post-disaster can be problematic. Getting your personal physician to write you the prescriptions for effective pain meds can also be problematic. Many of the “good” painkillers are on the DEA schedules, so you and your physician can easily become targets of a DEA no-knock raid. Better to avoid the potential problem in the first place by stocking only non-scheduled drugs.

Non-drug pain management is best for our purposes. Consider learning hypnosis for pain control. I had good results using hypnosis as an EMT, etc. In any event, account for pain management in your medical kit and plan. Read the link below from the University of Basel re: pain management. Then integrate pain management into your prepper medical plan.

There are some useful prescription pain killers that are not on DEA lists and should be fairly easy to obtain. All have the potential for significant side effects so thorough study is required before using these drugs.

Toradol (ketorolac) is the strongest drug in the NSAID class and is available in pill,eye drops,and injectable forms. As eye drops, it can be used for a [very] few days for relief of pain from a corneal abrasion. It provides excellent relief of post-operative pain. It is also an anti coagulant so any bleeding must be under good control before giving Toradol. It can cause serious liver or kidney problems in relatively rare cases. Because of these “side properties”, Toradol cannot be used for more than 2 days of continuous dosing for injection or 5 days of oral dosing.

Tramadol is a pain killer which works well for moderate to moderately severe pain. Or in laypersons terms, it will do for pain relief for most of the common injuries the survivalist might deal with . It is available as both a pill and in an injectable form. It does not elicit as much nausea as other opiods such as morphine and unlike morphine, will not completely shut down the breathing reflex at high doses.

Another bright spot is that tramadol is rarely associated with addiction as it relieves pain without euphoria. But addiction can occur sometimes. If needed, it can also be used for your dogs or cats. On the downside, it does lower the seizure threshold so it is a poor choice if the patient has a history of seizures or is taking other drugs which lower the seizure threshold.

Nubain® (nalbuphine) is a very strong pain reliever that is only available in an injectable form. It is incompatible with ketorolac and is an “opiod effect reverser”. This means that giving Nubain to someone who is addicted to opiods will result in withdrawal symptoms. I was told by an Army medic, who had completed the US Army Field Anesthesia course, that Nubain is ineffective for bad war wounds.

There are a few prescription “para anesthesia” drugs which should be stocked. For reversal of overdoses of opiods, stock Narcan (naloxone). It has significant side effects, be aware, be proactive. Benadryl (diphenhydramine) is a useful antiemetic, antihistamine, and mild sedative. Prilosec or the like would be useful for victims of significant injury to help prevent stress ulcers.

Murphy's Law says that the group member who requires emergency surgical care will have a full stomach, risking aspiration of vomitus, a serious complication. Reglan (metoclopramide) is an anti nausea/vomiting drug and it accelerates stomach emptying. But do not rely solely on Reglan in the patient who ate or drank within a few hours pre-surgical- need.

Phenergan (promethazine) is a venerable anti emetic and sedative that also helps dry up secretions. It is available in both pill and injectable forms. If injecting it, dilute and give slowly and carefully as it can cause tissue damage and does cause pain on injection. When injecting phenergan, correct technique is critical as the drug can damage tissue if not injected properly.

Again, local anesthesia is the safest for the prepper medic. Here are some good online resources for learning more about local and regional anesthesia. As always, study hard, practice, talk these issues over with your personal physician or nurse practitioner.

http://www.anesthesia.wisc.edu/med3/localanes/localhandout.html (from University of Wisconsin Dept. Of Anesthesiology. Quick overview of how local anesthetics work, basic technique and spinal blocks—do not attempt these)

http://www.nda.ox.ac.uk/wfsa/ (an international online journal of anesthesiology; a few articles on local anesthesia, many articles on the fundamentals of anesthesia for practitioners in developing countries. Good site for preppers)

http://www.palmer.net.au/talks/regional_anaesthesia_blocks/default.htm (Very good slides on various regional blocks. Site is for Internet Explorer only)

http://www.bordeninstitute.army.mil/published_volumes/anesthesia/anesthesia.html (Anesthesia volume of the US Textbook of Military Medicine. Very good reference on anesthesia. Good chapter on local/regional anesthesia)

http://www.medana.unibas.ch/eng/internt/AC_PAIN.htm (from University of Basel, Switzerland. This link is to a page re: pain management. There are many more useful pages here: http://www.medana.unibas.ch/eng/amnesix1/amnesix.htm)

http://www.operationalmedicine.org/Powerpoint/Lectures/Local-Regional_Anesthesia.htm (Excellent PowerPoint-based course on local anesthesia. Many more courses in operational medicine available from this site)

http://www.nysora.com/peripheral_nerve_blocks/index.1.html (New York School of Regional Anesthesia. How to do regional blocks if you have local anesthetic agents in your kit. Thorough, with very good illustrations).

Anesthesia and pain control must be factored into planning a survival medical kit. I hope this article has helped point you in a useful direction. With the items described in this article, you can provide better, more comfortable medical care to your group members in a crisis environment. In a 96 hour crisis, you will have the ability to perform exigent minor surgery. In a TEOTWAWKI scenario, you will have a solid base for providing [very] basic anesthesia care to your group members.

Bibliography:

Introduction to Anesthesia; 9th Edition; Longnecker, edited by: David E. and Murphy, Frank L.; Saunders; 1997. Good coverage of the theory and practice of anesthesia from the ground up.

Special Forces Medical Handbook; Citadel Press; 1982. ISBN: 0806510455 A very good general reference. Good, simple chapter on anesthesia using ether as an inhaled agent, local /regional anesthesia and excellent charts showing signs of anesthesia depth).

Immunizations

2009-09-12T01:33:00.004-06:00

All survivor group members need to keep up their immunizations! Critical ones are: Tetanus & Diphtheria (1/ten years), Hepatitis B (series of three, retest antibody titers at times), Hepatitis A (series of two, good for 10-20 years), measles-mumps-rubella (MMR; for measles, those born after 1957 need to have 1 dose unless they have contraindications). Contrary to endless hysteria, the measles vaccine does not cause autism; the original study which "proved" that the vaccine caused autism was poorly designed and used statistical analysis that would embarrass a ten year old.

Why bother? In the 1990s, it was estimated that about 30%+ of the US population of age 50+ had no immunity to tetanus, due to not keeping up on vaccination. Now, tetanus is a horrible disease; the death rate can be as high as 78%, it causes extremely painful muscle spasms that can be triggered by something as trivial as a slight breeze, and death occurs due to a spasm being so prolonged that the patient suffocates, fully aware until the end. Good reason to get a booster every ten years.

With hepatitis A, the average time lost off work is about six weeks from the infection. Imagine your group having to care for a patient with tetanus, diptheria , or hepatitis A post-disaster. Precious resources and personnel used to care for a person with an easily preventable disease.

For those survivor group member who are susceptible, varicella vaccine (chickenpox, a serious disease for adults). For those at risk, due to chronic illnesses, the pneumococcal vaccine. A good one to have anyway as it is a common bacteria in the nasal passages of people. Rawles merry band in his book, Patriots, Surviving the Coming Collapse, were all immunized against pneumococci.

A single dose of zoster (shingles) vaccine is recommended for those over 60. A single dose of polio vaccine, as an adult ,would be good and neighborly to do in case NWO really opens our borders.
For those survivors under 18 years of age, completion of CDC recommended vaccination schedules is necessary. Especially, in Montana, pertussis (whooping cough).

For preparedness for true TEOTWAWKI times, consider keeping up on: typhoid (every 5 years for oral form, not 100% effective), yellow fever (1/ten years, was a significant problem in the USA until early 19th Century, negligible risk ever in Montana) , meningitis (roughly 3 years of protection, a disease of young adults, in crowded places in the USA, shows up in North Dakota)

The CDC publishes adult and child vaccine recommendations. as needed, please read them. They also maintain a good page that answers common vaccine questions.

There is an good series of information sheets CDC publishes called Vaccine Information Statements that cover each vaccine in good detail, with the risks and benefits spelled out. I passed these out to the day care providers who attended our course and heard reports back of how well received the forms were by the parents in their programs. Print these out for you and your group.

Be prepared for the coming Change. Get immunized now, survive beyond the American Year Zero of Dear Leader and his cadre. More on this aspect of prepping in part two of Civil Unrest. In the meantime, remember to live your faith, tell truth to the Party apparatchiks and do your part to make this a better world.

Pain Relief and the Prepper Medic, Part 1

2009-09-10T19:49:00.035-06:00

Providing relief for moderate to severe pain post-disaster can be a problem for the prepper group. Same for providing basic, light anesthesia for minor procedures such as wound debridement, wound closure, and bone setting.

Biting a stick or having the patient swig some whiskey may make for good cinema but it makes for bad medicine. The anesthetic dose of alcohol is near the fatal dose. The severe pain and stress associated with doing surgical procedures without pain relief or anesthesia can seriously compromise the patient's recovery.

This is the first installment of a two part article on very very basic “survival anesthesiology”. I'll cover some basic terminology and standard rules as well as the use of two herbs for pain relief. Part two will cover some good pain relievers that are not on the DEA's scheduled list, so easier to obtain legally. Part two will also cover local and regional anesthesia and list some useful references for learning more about this vital part of survivalist medicine.

I am writing from my experience as a former EMT, dental surgical assistant; my brief, additional anesthesia training; my experiences as a chronic pain patient for 16 years; and my research into anesthesia for austere environments. This does not constitute medical advice. These two articles are for informational purposes only. Discuss these subjects with your personal physician and get his or her advice in this area. I write this only to help the prepper to learn more about this important aspect of SHTF medical care.

The aim is not to enable the prepper to ape the highly trained anesthesiologists who are experienced physicians,with extensive post-graduate work. That could never happen without intensive, extensive study, a great deal of practice, coupled with an incredible amount of good luck. The end result of such madness would likely be a dead patient. But by using the information in these articles, coupled with some hard study and practice, the layman prepper medic could safely manage control of an injured person's pain and anxiety.

The focus here is on enabling the intelligent prepper to provide their wounded companion with some modern pain relief in an austere situation. Providing good pain relief to an injured companion helps with their recovery, through reducing the severe stress pain places on the body, and and enables the prepared, trained, practitioner to care for the patient's injuries in a systematic and thorough manner without having to additionally deal with a patients cries and throes of agony.

Always remember, whenever you anesthetize someone, there is always the risk of serious complications or death. It is a fine line between rendering a patient insensible to the procedure and killing them. Study hard, be alert, use common sense. And most of all, only use these techniques and materials when a real professional is not available within the needed time frame.

The aim here is to point you toward some useful choices for relieving pain in hurt companions and facilitating relatively “comfortable” minor surgery in an austere or post-Obammacare environment. This first article will deal with two useful herbs for your prepper medical kit that could serve you well in lieu of morphine or ketamine: morning glory and salvia.

Note that the first one is illegal to use for non-gardening purposes in the USA, so only use this one under true emergency conditions. The second herb is illegal in several jurisdictions in the USA as well as several countries. Research your local laws before stocking this herb in your medical kit. And most of all, use these for legitimate medical purposes, not for “kicks”. Because if you use these herbs irresponsibly,then you risk the One World Government, or other modern demon, banning access to these useful herbs for all of us.

Definitions and Principles
For our purposes, anesthesia is defined as a state in which the patient is unconscious of their surroundings and of sensations , has amnesia for the operation, muscles are relaxed, and the body's visceral reactions to the operation (e.g. increased pulse rate) is blunted.

There are three types of anesthesia: general, where the patient is completely insensible and every term of definition is present. The patient's airway, circulation, and general well being are completely in the hands of the anesthetist. Regional anesthesia involves the injection of local anesthetics around a nerve such that an entire region of the body is anesthetized. Examples are wrist blocks to allow repair of a mangled hand. And finally, local anesthesia where local anesthetics are infiltrated into the soft tissues around the area that needs operation. An example is anesthetizing a tooth so it can be filled.

In a survival situation, local anesthesia and where needed, regional anesthesia are the preferred techniques for the prepper. There are risks of possible infection, allergies, and serious cardiovascular effects if too much agent is injected or injected into a blood vessel. But, with study and some practice, a reasonably intelligent, deft prepper could safely do the job. The patient is still fully conscious so airway problems will be nearly non existent.

General anesthesia is to be avoided for the non-physician because of the risk of complications up to and including death. General anesthesia means the patient is no longer conscious. At the depth of anesthesia required to do involved surgery, the patient has no gag reflex and if you are not careful, no breathing reflex! As we all know, the patient can "vomit" while going under or during the operation resulting in the risk of getting vomitus into the lungs--a serious complication. For general anesthesia, the prepper medic must be able to secure the patient's airway and be able to recognize a developing crisis and respond effectively to it. A very tall order for the layperson!

As prepper medics, we will only be doing minor surgical procedures so general anesthesia is not going to be needed.

The best, safest, choice for the lay person is local anesthesia and where needed, regional anesthesia if the prepper medic has received thorough instruction and practice in the procedures.

It is important to remember that local anesthetic agents relieve pain first, then at higher dosages' the other sensations (temperature, pressure, proprioception, etc.) are temporarily shut off. But these higher doses tend to be very near the toxic threshold for the agent, so just use local anesthetics to eliminate the pain of the procedure. In practice, this means that when you use a local anesthetic, expect your fully conscious patient to still report feeling “pinching”, stretching, and any temperature differences.

This is where distraction, use of sedation or "disassociative agents" is useful. The two herbs described below provide relative analgesia and some amnesia for minor procedures, with the caveats listed for the herb.

For our purposes analgesia is defined as the state of being pain free while still being conscious. Analgesia is familiar, with a little common sense, analgesia can be achieved safely for your patient.

The standard of care for anesthesia calls for monitoring of the patient's body state during the procedure. For our purposes, you need to monitor their pulse, blood pressure, breathing [depth and rate], and where needed, the amount of oxygen their blood is carrying at a point in time.

The instruments needed are simple: a blood pressure cuff, your two eyes and one hand (to check pulse), and for oxygenation, a pulse oximeter. There are several combo devices on the market that can monitor blood pressure and pulse simultaneously and pulse oximeters monitor both the pulse and the oxygen saturation (of the arterial blood). Pulse oximeters can cost under $200 or as much as $800+ for very advanced models.

For all survival medical procedures, keep good records. For the “survival anesthesia worker” , you must note carefully how the patient's physical and mental condition fluctuated over the course of the procedure as well as what effects the agents administered had on said conditions over time. By keeping good records you also tend to be more focused

Herbs
We've flotsam been, and the jetsam In highness being,
gonna get some On the water walking,
it's easy to be Centralised we to infinity
Dying Seas, Hawkwind

The two herbs described below are widely available in most jurisdictions and can be used for pain relief and the induction of light anesthesia in survival situations. Both provide a useful alternative to stocking morphine or ketamine, both DEA scheduled drugs, for relief of moderately severe pain and for [very] light anesthesia.

However, the DEA and NWO types want to ban people from using these herbs whose roots surely must be in Hell itself. Part of the reason is irresponsible [ab]users of this class of herbs, part is in getting political mileage out of sheer demagoguery. Neither herb, with the exceptions noted below, will harm the prepper who uses them for the stated purpose of pain control or light anesthesia. In many cultures around the world this class of herb is used frequently for various folk medicine purposes as well as use as sacraments. Common sense says that usage of these herbs does not mix with driving, handling guns or the like.

Long and the short: be responsible, don't encourage the DEA or manipulative politicians in curtailing access to this useful class of herbs for all of us. The effects from these two herbs can be very powerful; note the cautions given below, use them only for necessary medicinal or spiritual purposes, and take responsibility for using them—no blaming their being available for any stupid act you do which results in harm to another!

These herbs are psychedelics, some call them hallucinogens or even entheogens. They provide pain relief and [very] light anesthesia by two mechanisms: making all sensory input “equal” so that pain becomes no more important than the fact that the Earth orbits the sun, and these agents facilitate a disassociative state in which the patient's interpretation of pain or pressure signals can be radically altered by simple measures such as playing music, reading of Bible verses or the like.

Extensive research in the 1950s and 1960s, and today, on LSD; for example, found that the drug provided better pain relief than morphine or demerol, with few, if any, side effects. The few formal studies done on salvia, the second agent below, have found that it also offered strong, short-acting pain relief, tends to calm the patient to a degree where continuing pain perception and anxiety are reduced for a relatively long period, and has the potential to be used as a general anesthetic.

In using these herbs, one must pay special attention to two vital factors; set and setting. Set refers to the state and focus of the patient's mind; a relaxed patient who is focused on positive thoughts will be unlikely to experience an anxiety attack whether given one of these herbs, ketamine, or morphine. Setting refers to how pleasant, or at least non-chaotic the treatment or convalescence area is. Operating in a quiet, clean room will help allay patient anxiety and thus reduce the need for additional meds during the procedure. If available, readings from religious texts or use of music will help control your patient's anxiety and pain levels.

Good setting, coupled with a show of calm competence from you, should help ensure a good psychological outcome for your patient. When using either of these two herbs, good set and setting are vital because of the mechanism of action of their active agents; as psychedelics. When using either of these agents, you need to assign one person to do nothing but serve as a "companion" for the patient, providing distraction as needed, monitoring their psychological condition, and serving as a "reality anchor" (point of stability for the patient's altered perceptions). If possible, this person should not be the same person who is assigned to monitoring the patient's vital signs.

This means that if you do not maintain a good environment and support calmness and positive introspection in your patient the dreaded "bad trip" (marked increase in anxiety, coupled with a shift of perceptions toward the horrific and negative)can occur. If this does occur, you must capture the patient's attention through mirroring calmness and serenity for them, keeping them from physical harm, redirecting them gently with music/religious text/beautiful objects (e.g. flowers, actual or in pictures). And most importantly, reminding the patient that they have taken a medication which has altered their perceptions and that the effects will pass as the drug effects pass. In extreme cases, confer with a psychological professional as soon as you can while keeping the patient physically and emotionally safe.

The first herb might be as available as your garden; morning glories, preferably Heavenly Blue or Flying Saucers. Yes, these are the real names. But the truth is that the active agent in the seeds, lysergic acid amide, is a strong analgesic that can provide six or more hours of pain relief with a single dose of roughly 200+ seeds that are chewed thoroughly and swallowed. Pain relief is less than that which can be achieved with LSD but is still an effective, strong analgesic.

Effects begin in about 1 hour after ingestion. Pain relief is variable, but generally this herb can relieve pain of level 6,or higher with larger doses, out of 10.The active agent, LSA, also has potential for use for cluster headaches.

The downside is that tolerance, of about three days duration, develops quickly. So that a second dose given for pain control 10 hours after the initial dose must be roughly twice as large and so on. The total effects last for upwards of 12 hours.

The seeds must not be treated or must be washed free of the arsenical which is commonly used on the seeds to prevent psychonauts or survivalists from utilizing them for non-gardening purposes.

The taste is vile and tends to induce moderate nausea and vomiting, treatable with mild anti emetics such as Benadryl, so the patient will probably never want to repeat the psychedelic trip. So be aware of the patient's state at all times; protect that airway if vomiting occurs. Satan is unlikely to make a new convert of the patient who is given these seeds to facilitate a wound repair.

Cautions. The seeds contain several ergot alkaloids and the active agent, LSA, causes uterine contractions so this agent is contraindicated in the pregnant patient! Do not use if the patient is taking MAO inhibitors such as Nardil or Parnate as dangerous cardiovascular effects can occur.

Use in patients who are in significant psychological distress or in patients with a family or personal history of schizophrenia is unwise as LSA or salvinorin-A (described below) can exacerbate psychological difficulties or activate latent schizophrenia. Or, with expert use, say by a psychologist, these agents may help the wounded person's psychological state.

This agent will permit wound debridement or closure as long as the patient's attention is captured by music, art, or a deep discussion about whatever interests them at that millisecond. It would provide good relief of pain for bone setting but careful monitoring of the patient's blood pressure and heart rate would be required because this agent is a poor anesthetic and provides no amelioration of the patient's body's response to the surgery. Used in conjunction with one of the strong pain killers described in part 2 of this article, such as tramadol, this herb could be used for minor surgical procedures.

Salvia divinorum, a member of the sage family,is an herb which provides good pain relief and can significantly ease the pain and discomfort associated with minor surgical procedures. It provides profound pain relief for about 5-10 minutes, then good pain relief for about 1.5-2 hours more. Salvia frequently produces a calmness and “afterglow” for up to a few days post-usage that will help greatly in reducing post-op pain and anxiety. No study to date has shown any direct harmful physical side effects from usage of this herb or its active agent. But be aware that this agent has only been seriously studied since the 1990s so it is to be considered “experimental”.

It also produces a slowed reaction time and coordination side effects so the patient should not operate the retreat's truck for several hours after salvia dosage. Since it acts on the kappa-opioid receptor in the brain, rather than the mu-receptor affected by morphine and the like, salvinorin A is highly unlikely to turn the patient into a raving, addicted, member of the Army of Darkness. Euphoria is very uncommon with salvia use, indeed people do not tend to ever take it for “kicks”. It also has potential for treatment of addiction as the kappa-opiod receptor is key in addictive behavior.

Overdose will not kill , but it will result in a dangerous agitation of the patient though of short, under 30 minutes, duration. With higher doses, salvinorin A induces a dramatic urge to get up and move that could easily result in your patient sustaining secondary injuries as well as knocking you flat as a cartoon character. Salvia is usable for our purposes only if the operator pays very close attention to dosage, using only enough to enable the surgical procedure, but not so much that the operation suddenly becomes catch-the-delirious-staggering-patient!

My personal experience with salvia has been with use for relief of chronic and acute pain. It has reliably relieved pain of level 7 (roughly the pain from a leg being shattered in a bike wreck) completely for 1.5 hours, and kept said pain at endurable levels for three hours or more from a single salvia dose. Tolerance does not develop so analgesic doses of salvia can be given consecutively.

A salvia researcher, Daniel Siebert, has published a guide to salvia which includes his model of “planes of the salvia experience”. As “survivalist anesthesiologists”, we will be getting our patients to Siebert's “plane” 4 (vivid visionary state-with eyes closed, outside world is “gone”) to 6 (amnesiac state, also high movement potential!).

Salvia can be purchased as a live plant which grows very well in the Northwest USA as an indoor plant. It can be grown elsewhere if due care is taken to protect from frost and to provide enough humidity, etc.

It is also available as dried leaves. Dried leaves are only marginally usable for our purposes though. It is also available as a crude 5x or 10x concentrate, or as a standardized extract. The standardized form is obviously the best choice for our purposes.

It can be administered by mouth, by chewing 15-20 fresh leaves and holding the chewed leaves in the cheek for 15 minutes. The effects then last about 45 minutes. Ingesting the leaves or concentrate is useless as the agent is inactivated by stomach acid. Obviously, using the agent by mouth increases the risk of nausea/vomiting so be aware and monitor the patient's airway carefully.

Or it can be smoked, vaporized actually. Effects occur in under 30 seconds. Vaporization allows the best titration to effect. It also is associated with a high “failure rate” as it is very technique sensitive. When vaporizing salvia concentrate, it is vital that the concentrate be heated as much as possible (with direct flame), the smoke drawn deeply into the lungs, and held there as long as possible. Throat and lung irritation can happen when using the vaporization method . I have asthma; salvia vapor does not induce bronchospasm for me, but “your mileage may vary”.

The active agent, salvinorin A is extremely potent, being effective at 200-500mcg for an inhaled/vaporized dose. Its effects begin in under 30 seconds which makes titrating an analgesic dose fairly easy. It provides good analgesia, being about as potent as morphine, though it only provides, at best, two hours of strong pain relief. After inhalation, drug effects begin to fade within 3-5 minutes of dosing.

At higher doses of 500-1,000mcg, it provides relative disassociative anesthesia for about 5 to 7 minutes. However, at these doses the drug causes severe “motor hyperactivity”. Think a PCP zombie who also drank three double espressos! Heed the cautions that Siebert gives at the previous link Titrating the dose to true disassociative effect ,Siebert's “plane” 6, without the patient lashing about and injuring herself can be tricky.

If used for just relieving the pain of simple wound debridement, having the patient “smoke” small amounts of concentrate until they report no sensation when the intact skin is pricked with a sterile needle . If possible, capture the patient's attention while the wound is cared for. Patient will probably still be somewhat aware of pressure and stretch sensation, thus the need to capture their attention elsewhere.Then, work quickly and efficiently. If patient begins to feel pain, use more salvia.

If a bone must be set or extensive wound debridement is required, then a higher dose of salvia must be used, preferably along with a “conventional pain med” and maybe (with all due precautions and pre-research) an inhaled agent such as trilene (warning: can be toxic to liver in prolonged use) or methoxyflurane (warning: can cause kidney damage). This will mean a brief excursion back to pre-19th Century surgical practice; the use of sturdy assistants to hold the patient in place. The purpose here is to keep the patient from moving about and injuring themselves or facilitating a horrible surgical disaster.

As you can see from the number of links in this article and from the detailed knowledge needed to safely use these agents, careful study is necessary before the balloon goes up so that you can make a positive difference with your wounded companion or family member. Basic anesthesia care can be provided by the well informed, meticulous prepper medic when the nearest physician or anesthesiologist is under 50 tons of rubble. Just act only within the scope of your knowledge and only in case of true need.

Please consider the subject of pain control in a austere environment in your medical prepping plan. Read about the two herbs discussed here, consider stocking them in lieu of or as supplements to prescription pain killers. In Part 2, I will cover some useful analgesics that should be relatively easy to obtain from your doctor, the [very] basics involved with local anesthesia.

Surviving Disasters: On Spike TV

2009-09-05T19:55:00.011-06:00

Indian Police seek Out Terrorists near Colaba in 2008

Knowledge is power. And knowledge in a crisis, coupled with determination, can spell the difference between life and death. So today, here is a review of a must-see new series, Surviving Disasters. Show is on Spike channel and features high production values, excellent direction/editing, and most important of all, solid, practical information that anyone can use.

The host, Cade Courtley, is a former Navy SEAL who has the rhetorical skills to make this show appeal to all, not just to males who like “action” movies but to "regular folks" of either gender and nearly all ages.

Series premiered this week with an episode on surviving ,and prevailing, in case of an aircraft hijacking. Script is politically correct enough that ACORN and CAIR are unlikely to protest the episode as “racist” or “anti Muslim”. The terrorists look like two Maghrebis, a Latino, and a White, probably meant to be a Bosnian Muslim or Soros Agent of Change.

Likewise with the group of passengers who carry out a successful ad hoc plan to retake the aircraft. Women are given strong characters to identify with in this episode and men are shown “regular guys” who rise to the occasion to identify with. I hope the producers keep this paradigm; it will mean big success and strong audience share as those who don't like MMA or traditional “male movies” (sports, over the top war...) will tune in this show again and again.

Techniques shown are all simple, easy to remember, and easy to execute. Of course, we know that the best thing to do when confronted by violence is to try and find common ground with the assailants and carry out open, culturally sensitive negotiations to resolve the core issues which drove the formerly saintly perps' to violence. Or you can just strike back decisively in the name of saving innocent lives as the everyday folks depicted in this episode do.

The acting is good and the special effects serve to advance the plot and learning experience. Hopefully, some “directors” in Hollywood will watch this show and learn anew how to hook an audience. The blood and violence in this episode are enough to get the point across clearly without going over into grindhouse or gorno Hollywood sewage.

So this show is watchable by those who don't like the sight of blood, etc. At the same time, it will give those individuals an idea of what to expect if the real thing happens, thus enabling them to be more effective come the wolf at the door. From my years of training people of all types in preparedness, this approach works very well in truly internalizing the lesson and increasing the likelihood of the viewer being able to take effective, positive, action when confronted by the real deal.

Upcoming episodes will deal with hurricanes, a mall shootout and surviving fires. Give this one a look see. Very intense staging so not for young children. But outside of that, I think Spike has made a show for the whole prepper family to view and discuss. Be prepared, stay alive.

Airguns

2009-09-05T00:40:00.003-06:00

Today's post is about a great tool for the well heeled prepper, airguns. Today's post is by a long term prepper and former Army officer from SW Montana. I've seen him demonstrate what these guns can do. Trust me, get one they're very useful and fun!

While most 'preppers' include a firearm in their preparedness plan, one weapon that is frequently overlooked is the air rifle. The air rifle can make an excellent addition to any prepper's battery and is probably more useful in anything short of a TEOTWAWKI situation, particularly for the suburban survivor. The Air rifle is useful for training, pest control and even hunting small game, while having a low report and limited range that makes it well suited for more built up area. Ammunition is widely available and relatively inexpensive. A can containing 500 rounds is the size of a chewing tobacco tin and can be purchased for less than $8. Also, because air guns are not firearms, there are few regulation regarding their purchase, ownership and even use (as always, check your local laws). This article will cover the various types of air rifles, discuss their utility and give some tips on selecting an air rifle for you personal battery.

Most Americans think of air guns as toy suitable for older children rather than as a serious tool. Many of us owned 'BB' or 'pellet' guns when younger, and look at these weapons as a sort of 'junior' firearm until we are old enough to get a 'real' gun. However, in countries with restrictive gun laws, the air gun is often the only gun one can obtain, and air guns in these countries (Germany, England, etc) are as refined as any American made firearm. The higher end 'adult' air guns are accurate, powerful and extremely well made guns that can last a lifetime or more.

Adult air guns were relatively unknown in this country until recently thanks to Dr. Robert Beeman, who began importing high powered air rifles into the US to be sold under the Beeman name. There are now a variety of importers, and literally dozens of high quality air gun from scores of sellers. One can buy air guns from hundred to thousands of dollars, and from small caliber precision plinkers to .50 caliber plus air guns capable of taking some of the largest game in North America.

Modern air guns are typically divided into three types: pneumatics, gas guns and spring guns. Pneumatics are further divided into single pump, multi-pump and PCP (Pre-charged pneumatics). Most common 'BB' and pellet guns fall into one of the first two categories. Benjamin and Crossman are well know for their 'pump up' pellet guns. The last type, PCP, utilize a built in air tank that is charged from a high pressure source like a SCUBA tank or via several hundred cycles of a special high pressure hand pump.

Most of the American made pump pneumatics are inexpensive and fair quality, with barely adequate accuracy and no provision for scope mounting, and are relatively limited in their usefulness. PCP guns are typically higher end guns that are very powerful and accurate, but require a high pressure air source that makes them less than ideal for anyone beyond the dedicated air gunner. Gas gun are familiar to most in the form of CO2 guns. While convenient, they rely on CO2 cartridges and their accuracy and velocity is also less than optimal.

This bring us to the spring guns, which make up the majority of the 'adult' air guns available. In a spring gun, there is a large compression chamber much like a doctor's syringe. A spring is held under pressure by the trigger, and when the trigger is released, the spring presses the 'plunger' forward, compressing the air and forcing it through a small port into the rifled barrel where a pellet is waiting. The compressed air launches the pellet out the barrel. The gun is then re-cocked, compressing the spring and another pellet is loaded into the barrel. This relatively simple system results in a uniform volume of air each time the gun is fire, leading to consistent velocity and good accuracy. It is also capable of producing fairly high velocities. Some of the higher powered 22 caliber spring guns can launch a pellet at or over 1,000fps. These guns can place 5 shots within a 1 inch circle at 50 yards and humanely kill small pests and game at 30-50 yards with little noise. The air gun can also be used to 'discourage' larger animals like feral cats and dogs from intruding into your yard or garden . And thanks to the light weight of the pellet and it's low ballistic coefficient, the same pellet is relative 'harmless' at 100 yards. Unlike firearms, a air rifle can be fired relatively safely even in a small suburban backyard, and few neighbors are likely to complain about you shooting your 'BB' gun.

Adult air guns are like conventional firearms in that you typically get what you pay for. The cheapest spring guns available are often of inferior quality and not worth consideration. Spring guns actually require as much or more precision manufacture than firearms, so you should expect to pay a minimum of about $150 for a decent spring gun. There are a variety of cocking systems used for spring guns – break barrel, under lever and side lever – with break barrel being the most common. In a break barrel air rifle, a linkage is attached to a hinged barrel. To cock the rifle, one breaks the barrel until the piston is captured by the trigger mechanism. A pellet is then fed into the open breech, and the barrel is hinged closed until it locks into place. Typically, the safety is automatically activated so that the cocked and ready to fire rifle is already on safe. Break barrels are easy to operate and understand, and it is easy to check to see if the rifle is loaded with a pellet by simply opening the action. In the case of under lever and side lever gun, cocking the lever opens a port into which the pellet is loaded. Because the lever is under spring tension, these guns are equipped with an 'anti-bear trap' mechanism to keep from smashing your fingers while loading. For this reason, the break barrel is usually recommended as a first air gun.

Almost all spring guns are equipped with a 2 stage trigger. This type of trigger is favored by Europeans and is generally unfamiliar to American shooters. The trigger has a long, relatively light first stage (take up) followed by a shorter, crisp second stage which fired the gun. On firing, the piston is released forward, and a spring gun will often have a noticeable, but not uncomfortable recoil. Because spring guns use a forward moving piston, they actually have recoil in both direction, and the forward recoil can destroy scopes not rated for air guns, so you will need an air gun rated scope. In addition, air gun scope have their parallax set for 20-25 yards, rather than 100 yards on a conventional scope. Adjustable Objective air gun scopes will generally focus as close as 7 yards.

When selecting an air gun, even after determining type, there will be a a number things to consider. The two main thing to keep in mind are intended use and the user. While spring gun can generate a significant amount of power, to do this means using heavy springs which require some upper body strength to cock. Also, intended use will dictate caliber. The four most popular air gun calibers, in order, are 0.177, 0.22, 0.20 and 0.25. Of these four, only 0.177 and 0.22 should be considered by the 'prepper'. The other calibers are often difficult to find, and so unless you plan on keeping a large store of ammunition, stay with the common calibers which can be found at almost any sporting goods store.

The general rule of thumb is that 0.177 is meant for target shooting and practice, and 0.22 is for pests and hunting. This is mostly true, but small animals can be dispatched with 0.177 if you restrict your targets to small game (birds and rodent) at short distances. The best all around performer is a powerful spring gun in 0.22, but such a rifle may be too hard to operate for older children or even some adults. If the air gun will be used by teens or a person with limited upper body strength, you will need to select a spring gun with a cocking effort of less than 25 pounds. This will generally limit you to lower velocity 0.177 air gun. However, these gun can still function very well in the pest control and hunting role if you understand their limitations.

Rather than cover every possible gun on the market, I'll list a few of the 'classics' that most experienced air gunners consider good guns and good values.

Light weight air guns with moderate cocking effort. These rifles are suitable for older children, men and women. These also tend to be lighter that 'full power' air rifles, and much easier to carry around.

RWS Schutze – This basic training rifle will deliver a 0.177 pellet at about 580 fps and costs about $200. It is marginal for game but only requires 19 pounds of cocking effort. Equipped with iron sights, it has an 11mm dovetail for scope mounting.

Beeman HW30S – Another easy cocking 0.177 caliber rifle from Germany, it features the famous Rekord trigger, iron sites and 11mm dovetail. 675 fps. About $300

Beeman R-7 – A highly refined version of the HW30S with an American style stock and 700 fps. Weighs in at about 6 pounds and sells for around $400

Classic 'work horse' guns. These are proven and well regarded designs that will last for years, are accurate and powerful. They require a cocking effort of around 40 pounds.

RWS34 – this basic gun start at around $225 and goes up depending on options. Just shy of 8 pounds in weight, the 0.22 version will launch a pellet at 800 fps.

RWS 350 magnum – This is a true magnum air rifle, capable of 1000 fps in the 0.22 version. The basic model starts at just under $400 and weighs in at 8 pounds.

Beeman R-9 – Available in 0.177 and 0.22 caliber, this is one of the most popular air rifles among US air gunners. It's equipped with the excellent Rekord trigger and weighs only 7 pounds. The 0.177 version fires a pellet at just under 1000 fps and the gun has a deserved reputation for superb accuracy. Fit and finish is first rate, as you would expect from an air gun that starts at $500.

Beeman R-1 – This was the first air rifle to break the speed of sound. Also equipped with the Rekord trigger, dovetail for scope and superb fit and finish, this rifle is a burly 9 pounds and starts at $600.

In addition, there are a number of other quality guns, both break barrel, under lever and side lever not mentioned here like the 'classic' RWS 48 and 52.

Recently, an number of excellent Chinese made air gun have been imported in the US. While fit and finish are not up to the standards of the European made guns, they represent a good value for the cash strapped buyer. In the past, quality was spotty, but the latest Chinese made guns are very much improved. In particular, there are are several models that are virtual clones of much more expensive European guns that sell for half or even one third the price. The Chinese XS-26 is a copy of the Beeman R-9, the XS-28 is a duplicate of the RWS 350 magnum and the XS-B30 is a copy of the RWS 48. A little research on the web will turn up numerous reviews on these and other air guns.

Once you have selected and received your air gun, here are a few things you need to know.

1.Treat your air gun just like any other gun. Adult air guns are not toys and can kill. Follow the basic rules of gun safety.

2.Wear eye protection. Pellets can ricochet and you are generally much closer to your target with an air gun

3.Never fire a spring gun without a pellet. When the piston is released, it is cushioned by a column of air behind the pellet. Without a pellet, the piston slams into the front of the cylinder which can damage the piston and piston seal

4.Use only air gun oil, and only oil as recommended. The pressure and temperature of the cylinder get high enough to detonate petroleum oil, just like in a diesel engine. Smoke and noise from you spring gun is a sign of 'dieseling', and is bad for the gun. Many new guns will diesel for the first few shots. Don't amplify the problem by adding 'fuel'. Use only approved oil as recommended by the manufacturer.

5.Air guns require a break in period before they reach full accuracy and velocity. This is typically 500-1000 rounds before the gun 'settles in'. Give the gun time to break in.

6.Air guns will often show a preference for certain pellets. Try a variety to find out which shoot best.

7.Have fun. Use your air gun to practice your shooting skills in the back yard, barn or even basement. Dispatch those pesky garden pests without using poisons, bothering with traps, or disturbing your neighbors.

Useful air gun web sites:

http://www.airguns.net/ - Air gun reviews and other helpful information
http://www.pyramidair.com – Customer reviews of a huge variety of air guns, air gun sales.
http://www.beeman.com – The original importer of adult air guns. Lots of useful air gun info.
http://www.arld1.com/images/swfs/tx200whole.swf – Great illustration of how a spring gun works
http://www.xisicousa.com/airguns.html – Importer of Chinese made air guns
http://www.compasseco.com – Chinese air gun sales, under their own 'Tech Force' brand as well as other makers.

Disability and Prepping

2009-08-29T11:18:00.008-06:00

http://olegvolk.net/gallery/technology/arms/wheelchair.jpg.html

"Not every prepper is a 20-something who jogs daily, hits the gym four days per week and mountaineers at every opportunity. Some preppers have too many family obligations to hit the iron pile at will. Some are middle aged or elderly. Still others are disabled.

How to deal with such people? Rawles excellent book, Patriots, Surviving the Coming Collapse, describes a prepper group who are all able bodied and fit 30-somethings. Some prepper pundits advise one and all to avoid getting entangled with such “liabilities” as disabled or elderly people.

But consider this, generally, the disabled and the elderly have an important psychological edge over the buff 20-somethings of popular disaster films and books. They are used to having to problem solve their way through days filled with obstacles, such as no curb cut or difficulties in manipulating machinery with poor vision. So the disabled do have something to add to a prepper group, as do the elderly. Just to the best of their ability, not necessarily in every area of work the able bodied members might want.

The disabled are rarely considered in community disaster plans or exercises. We generally don't think that the disabled can contribute positively post-disaster but it can be done. We just have to work around their particular disability. With the deaf, remember that "lip reading" does not work all that well and in deaf culture, detailed explanations are expected. With those with mobility problems, give due consideration to barriers to their movement. When evacuating the disabled, the "leave everything behind" rule of evacuation does not apply. Make sure to take vital meds, medical equipment and adaptive aids (reachers, bed etriers, etc.). With a little extra thought, the disabled can help out and be vital members of a survivalist/prepper group.

Sure, you would be a fool to think that the paraplegic in your group can help split wood. But that person could certainly be a medic or quartermaster for the group. I was in a wheelchair, off and on, for over one and a half years; my computer, medical, and organizational skills were still there. I just ambulated using a vehicle instead of walking on my legs. If there had been a disaster, I was ready, willing, and able to pitch in to help. It is the same generally in the disabled community. Self sufficiency is highly valued, problem solving proficiency is constantly honed, there is always a strong undercurrent of wanting to contribute to the situation or community. But, as in the general population, many don't think about prepping.

At some disaster scenes, the disabled and elderly are treated as “automatic casualties”, to be immediately shuttled off to “medical care” areas. The key rule of etiquette in the disabled community, and by extension amongst the elderly, is that the person will ask for help if they need it but they will nearly always want to try to do it themselves initially. It is considered an insult for an able bodied person to press unsolicited offers of help on the disabled person. The Americans with Disability Act may have been stupidly misused in the past, but it was passed so that the disabled in this country would gain the basic respect for their capabilities that the able bodied take for granted.

I have done classes for disabled resource organizations before where no one in the class could move without mobility aids and with several blind or deaf persons. For example, the blind can do CPR, they just have to rely on tactile and auditory cues without visual cues. Paraplegics can give first aid, even if it means leaving their chair and crawling to the injured person. And it is true; if you lose one sense, the others become sharper in compensation.

Post disaster, we will all need all the help we can get. Study how the disabled and elderly can contribute to your and your group's survival post-SHTF. Think this through ahead of time, be better prepared for when the balloon goes up.

Here is a link to a group, Disabled People and Disaster Planning, that has been around for several years. Their site has some good short articles on planning for the disabled in disaster protocols. Eye opening stuff!:

http://www.citycent.com/dp2/

Radio Communications Article

2009-08-17T12:34:00.003-06:00

Very good new post at West Virginia Preppers Network on radio communications protocols. I learned a great deal from this post that should help dealing with radio communications in the Helena Valley. For those who don't know our situation here, the "public radio" bands (GMRS, CB, and FRS) are often rendered useless by incessant chatters, kidz, and those who don't know how to use a radio properly. We shiver to think of what would happen come a disaster here as our public safety agencies rely on a single relay point, using 2meter radio. This will leave preppers on their own to maintain communications ad hoc. The information given in this article will help make our SHTF communication more likely to succeed .

Read it, please comment so this guy, Falcon 9N, will continue to share his store of knowledge. Here is a link to his article. Plan before you press transmit, be brief, use good radio practices.

Psychological First Aid

2009-08-11T20:57:00.005-06:00

So the earthquake has ended in your town, the dust has settled, you and your family are still alive and uninjured. But your area is out of contact with the rest of the state for at least 48 hours. You, and others, go round, giving medical first aid, mark structures in accordance with good CERT practice, you shelter in place. But some people in your area are in seemingly severe mental crisis; some are hyperactive and get in your way constantly, a few others just sit there in spite of the bitter cold, still others are disruptive and complaining constantly. What can you do?

Learning some psychological first aid is as important as learning CPR and [medical] first aid. It is simple and is mostly common sense. It can be important as victims of psychological distress can endanger you and your group; extremely rarely by assaulting, mostly by getting in the way (often from the best of motives) or being a "drain" on scarce resources.

The way I learned it way back when was as the Four Rs; a model used for dealing with combat stress:
R emove (from stressful environment); can be as simple as blocking their view of the scene
R est
R eplenish; food, water, etc. , unless contraindicated by injuries, etc.
R estore (their confidence/"to duty"); treat them as if you expect them to recover, no "labels".

This is about as simple as it gets; give immediate care to help keep the person's condition from worsening, reduce the risk of their condition worsening, provide reassurance, punt ASAP to qualified personnel if the person does not improve. I have successfully used this model post-earthquake, at accident scenes, and once with victim of a sexual assault.

Remember that people react to emergencies in their own way; some "rise to the challenge" and do what has to be done, then, maybe "it hits them" and they experience some anxiety or "shut down". Others react with hysterics, still others shut down with the "thousand yard stare". Take them as you find them, deal with what you see, just use common sense. And remember, people in crisis, especially children, take their cues from you: model competence and calm, be systematic, smile.

Here are a few suggested readings for you to learn how to deal with this important aspect of post-disaster and survival situation care:

(Book) Where there is No Psychiatrist; Very well written, easy to understand and apply. Covers all aspects of psychological well being, excellent chapter on disaster/war trauma. Good shelf companion for your copies of Where there is no Doctor and Where there is No Dentist.

(online document) Psychological First Aid...; Medical Reserve Corp: Step by step guide to providing basic psychological first aid. Gives very good examples to illustrate the concepts being described.

(online document) Psychological First Aid Heath Care Professionals; NY Office of Mental Health: Brief outline of principles of care in the context of a flu pandemic.

(online document) Psychological First Aid ; American Mental health Counselors Association: Technical article on various early intervention strategies. Good,short, discussion of critical incident stress debriefing (CISD), one of the "touchstones" of the field of early intervention which does not seem to work.

A Novel Tool for Disaster Preparedness

2009-07-30T20:56:00.009-06:00

Published under GNU FDL v1.2

We all read up on the latest survival-related products and pore over websites that give us new hints and strategies. We clear the vicinity at parties when we "talk shop" with fellow survivalists. Many of us run rehearsals with our family and friends. How about taking a break for fun, and educational gameplay?

I propose that you consider playing role playing games (RPGs) to help you and your family to prepare for emergencies and TEOTWAWKI. Since their "origin" in the late 1970s, RPGs have been used successfully in therapy and in helping with communication skills. RPGs have the potential to improve players' social and problem solving skills as well as being relatively low cost simulation/practice activities. By their very nature, they help improve the cooperative and problem solving skills of the players. What a good, fun, supplemental tool for the survivalist.

For FRPs to be usable for us as a teaching/rehearsal tool requires a few vital features. We all work and have obligations, and little time to study complex rules and matrices. So the rules must be clear and concise. The system must be flexible and speedy enough to allow "what if" scenarios that include various real world elements; it must allow for one's character (game simulacra) to use a shotgun one moment and model the same character's attempt to apply first aid to a party member the next with minimal time needed to game out the event. Finally, the system must be fun.

We have all heard of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (AD&D), a fantasy, some what Tolkienesque RPG. Not much utility for the survivalist as it is set firmly in a fantasy mileu and has very complex "combat"and skill rules.

Cyberpunk comes a little closer as it deals with a high tech society with extreme social and financial disruption. The skill and attribute (e.g. intelligence and strength) system is clear and challenges are quickly resolved. But Cyberpunk is less than ideal for survivalists as it is based strongly around implanted technologies and general high tech' and so it will not be ideal for modeling a contemporary disaster situation.

The Chaosium Basic Role Playing system (BRP), and its predecessor Call of Cthulu (COC) fit the requirements for survivalist use: easy to understand rules (practical attributes for character, percentile-based skill proficiencies), very flexible system (built to deal with Stone Age to the far future and fantasy environments), and allows excellent design of characters.

How can you use FRPs in your prep' plan? You and your family could spend a few hours discussing your roles and emergency evolutions/drills or you could play an FRP in which a certain disaster occurs and each person must react to it given their set of skills and available resources. A bit more engaging, especially for the kids.

You and your group could get together and game likely scenarios using an FRP. A good way to identify potential group communication problems before the Big Event (see my post of 27Jul09 below)! You can also identify potential chokepoints in planned movements/bugouts, test exclusion [of outsiders] policies before the Event, and have fun at the same time.

Here's an example of an implementation. I am currently involved in an FRP, called End of Days, which involves our characters trying to survive in the aftermath of a worldwide pandemic of a hemorrhagic fever, in the Portland and Coeur D' Alene areas. The game has been most instructive as our group of individuals try to collect the resources and cultivate the contacts with other survivors that will mean the difference between life and death.

Our group consists of a strange mix of types: the doctor, exhausted from fighting the plague and trying to hold the others to her high moral code; the "drop out" professor of Roman history who possesses many skills for rebuilding a viable society; the drifter jack-of-all -trades who is expert in negotiation and bargaining; the Army sergeant who was an NBC expert, now he must apply his combat skills to defense of the party's retreat; and the White Nationalist paramedic who had a smallholding set up for TEOTWAWKI, he must learn to cooperate with his "enemies" lest all die out.

Through the interaction of the players, key real world issues of cooperation, "creative scavenging" (what items will be needed), and small group dynamics under extreme pressure are all played out in the course of the game.

Setting up to do an FRP is simple and inexpensive. Visit one of the links above to locate sources for rule books. Buy the necessary dice and rule books. One source is www.rpgshop.com I have no connection with them, I have only heard good things about the firm from others.

Consider adding FRPs to your learning tools. You won't be sorry and you'll gain a new diversion which will enhance your necessary skills.

Survival Group Commo' Breakdown

2009-07-27T20:31:00.007-06:00

We actively seek like minded individuals to cooperate with if times of emergency come. We get to know them, we exchange tips, we size each other up. Then, if the facts and "look and feel" are right, we invite the new person(s) into our survival group. But if we choose the “wrong” person to admit to our group, that person can later turn your group in to looters or the State for profit or vengeance. Plus they can leave a wake of resentment and mistrust that could compromise the survival of you and your group.

We would all like to think we are a good judge of character and some of us also pride ourselves on good intuition in sizing up people. So when we decide to accept someone as a friend, or survival group member, we tend to ignore the little warning signs that might point to nascent problems with the new friend or recruit. Acknowledging the developing problem can mean acknowledging that we made a mistake in trusting the person.

If one suddenly discovers that Mr./Ms. Right has a few annoying personal habits, no big material loss though the social machinations involved in rectifying the situation can be embarrassing or stressful. But if one suddenly discovers that a member of the survival group has blabbed to the world your defensive layout and supply inventory just post-disaster, you or other group members could pay with your life for the member's indiscretion.

People behave the way they do socially because of many factors. This can add “some spice to life” or it can result in serious conflicts maybe even death of one of the parties involved. Some people are Machiavellian, others lack common social skills and compensate with an over emphasis on factual information, still others are guided by their religious beliefs primarily in social interactions for better or worse.

In times of crisis, people's social styles can become more exaggerated or they may drop into a primal individual survival at all costs approach. Even in “baseline stress” times such people can be dangerous to you and the group as they can carry information you confided in them to outsiders who can endanger you and your group in time of real crisis.

Imagine having a group member who has not been contributing much in the way of labor or resources during normal times preparation. Now imagine you or the group “voting” the problem person out. The slacker takes exception to this and goes to great lengths to make sure everyone in town knows that your group has a large supply of goodies to “share” in time of disaster. Maybe the person is also vindictive and goes to the local police or the ATF with “information” about your “hate group” and its cache of “illegal weapons”. You and the members of your group are now in a hard position through no real fault of your own.

How to protect yourself in choice of group members? Common sense is still safeguard number one. Do the person's words and deeds match up reasonably well. For example,if all agree to help with caching firewood, does the person do their share, within any obligations or restrictions they may have? If the person claims prior military experience, do they demonstrate a good grasp of basics such as physical security in conversation and in the "field"?

If your group has members of varied religious or ethnic background, does the person's language and behavior toward the various group members appear respectful and do they appear capable of cooperating with those who don't agree with them or look like them? Does a cursory check of the person's background and “introduction story” match? Or does the person appear to be a mere “survivalist poseur” or, worst of all, an agent provocateur or potential “confidential informant”?

Operational security is as important to the individual survivalist, or group, as it is to the police or military unit on campaign. Always be wary of what you tell someone. Always be careful of expressing your plans or your personal ideology to someone else for you might hear them narrated into the court record some day with you in the docket. Thoroughly research new survival friends or group recruits. This will go a long ways toward preventing entanglements with those too mentally ill to cooperate. “plants”, and those whose lack of work ethic is coupled with disruptive manipulative or Machiavellian dreams.

It is human nature to give more weight to the statements of those we have known for a long time or to members of our primary family or birth family. But even here danger lurks. Just because you have known someone for twenty years does not magically mean that they always speak the truth. Soap operas run for years based on deceit by intimates. I know from personal experience that family members or long-term friends can lie if it will give them a crucial advantage in a stressful situation.

Imagine the damage in a SHTF disaster when one group member tells a lie to cover an error they made, blaming a newer member. In a situation where you must all cooperate to literally live, the snake has entered your Garden. Discord has been sown because you will probably believe your long-term friend over the “newcomer”. Trust goes down the hydro flusher, group efficiency falls when you can all least afford it, survivability goes down.

Beware when one group member complains to you, sub rosa, about another group member. Keeping confidences, is one thing but in this case you need to analyze the social dynamics which lead to this quasi-gossip and work together to eliminate this incipient problem. Those who work in business know this lesson instinctively; when a problem arises, the marketing department's spin is of less use than getting engineering and the impacted parties together to work out a real, practical solution.

And you must strive to ensure that lines of communication stay open always for rumor and morbid speculation thrive when truth is not exchanged. The classic example is the call to Tech Support. The Support person runs through a problem solving algorithm, the caller resents the highly structured communication (“stupid”, “talking down to me”). The Support person resents the “stupidity” of the end user (“luser”) because the Support person cannot understand that the end user only wants to get their work done, not tinker with arcane configuration files for an hour (as the Support person would do if they were the one with the software issue). No communication possible here if both parties don't truly try to see things from the other's perspective.

The same applies, when lives not software, are at stake, in survival group interpersonal interactions. This resource, though written from a military perspective, can help the survival group coordinator assist group members in good interaction both before and during a disaster. Chapters 3 and 6 are on point for survivalists.

More on this subject in a future post. Study hard, train hard, survive easier.

NRA Refuse To Be A Victim Class Change

2009-07-19T00:15:00.004-06:00

RTBAV class will be held at Lewis and Clark County Library (120 S. Last Chance Gulch, Helena in the large meeting room) this Tuesday, the 21st from 615PM-830PM rather than on Wednesday, the 22nd.

Sorry about the change; room was not scheduled, luckily I checked. No publicity done either. So if you are in the Helena, Deer Lodge, or Butte area, come on down for this class which deals with security issues related to survival. Network, exchange tips with each other, learn from the experiences of those who have faced living in high crime areas and learn some opsec tips for SHTF.

Again, class is free of charge. You get a good student book too.

For those outside SouthWest Montana, try these websites for tips on surviving the coming "Change and Hope":

http://www.corneredcat.com/TOC.aspx#FirstGun A site for women, authored by a woman, on armed self defense. Very good on the mental aspects of surviving violence, light on technical minutae of bullet weight and esoterica of powder choice.

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread237760/pg1 Blog article on defending your supplies from looters and the State. Ignore this aspect of survivalism at your peril.

http://www.defendu.com/articles.htm Defend University. Great name, great articles on crucial aspects of self defense and situational awareness.

http://www.selfsecure.co.za/html/making_your_home_risky_for_cri.html Site has a few good articles on crime prevention from a country which made our recent mistakes, from 1994 on; so read this material to prepare for our descent into the abyss when SHTF here. Solid advice from a place which makes Oakland or Detroit look like heaven.

http://www.tactical-life.com/online/category/tactical-medicine/ A few good, brief, articles on what to do when SHTF and your side has WIAs! Practical articles that will appeal to the survivalist medic looking for ways to prepare for beyond Check Call Care first aid.

http://www.opfors.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=41 100 things that you need to be prepared. The comments at the end from a survivor of Sarajevo are both instructive and chilling when you read them.

Be safe. Be prepared, be strong in faith (of your choice).

Civil Unrest #1

2009-06-30T18:59:00.017-06:00

Today's post deals with the issue of civil unrest, here meant as the disruption in everyday society from a crisis such that the danger of crime and excessive State action (beyond that needed to cope with the emergency) rises sharply.

I am not trying to rehash theories and espouse activities related to the New World Order, rise of Dear Leader's centralization of power, or silly ideas such as RAHOWA. Though it could come down to such happenings. What I will try to do is sketch out some possible scenarios for civil disorder in Montana. This post will sketch out the three most likely: Party cadre trying to undermine Montana society to the level of California's Party controlled areas or of Party controlled Massachusetts, the wake of a major disaster here, and ultimate State power grab.

I believe that we can ameliorate the effects of civil unrest here through just focusing on what sets us apart from the mob; religion-based decency, cooperation with neighbors,etc. and our belief/action on the founding ideals of our country. We must be prepared for the civil unrest that goes with disaster or other crisis and not just rely on having enough supplies to see us through the crisis.

I do not advocate violence toward any group, except in defense of loved ones. I believe it is necessary for all of us to work together in crisis, not become divided by race, creed, or other orientation. Here endeth the disclaimer. Now to scenarios one and two.

We in Montana know that civil unrest is something that will pop up in California or New York or even Chicago, not here. We really don't have the "critical mass" of members-of-historically-disadvantaged-groups (MHDG) that Cali' or Michigan have. We are generally rational, get-along people here. So it can't happen here, right? Wrong.

We unfortunately have some members of the "professional agitator" cadre, followers of Saul Alinsky who seek to bring about the Glorious Revolution, in our cities and even a few in our State Legislature. These types are the ones who will not, in the words of Dear Leader's Chief of Staff, "let a crisis go to waste".

I was in Cali' during the Rodney King riots and I saw these professional revolutionaries, all White "radicals", firing up the crowd of MHDG to riot as I left work, for three days running. The riots followed within one hour of the "consciousness raising". These types are the ones who push for "cap and trade" in order to cripple our economy and make the peasants forced to rely on the State. These are the types who you will see agitating amongst First Nations people here in Montana if there was a disruption in food and fuel deliveries here or in the aftermath of an earthquake.

Their aim always is to balkanize the "peasants" so that the Party can gain more and more control. Instead of encouraging cooperation, as we all would do in a crisis, these Party cadre, and nascent looters, will try to turn one group against another for the sake of causing further disruption.

The easiest response to these warmed over hippies is to answer their "ringing rhetoric" with truth. Refute their lies as they speak them,write to the papers to counter their propaganda, don't spread their agitprop rumors, spread the truth, refute them, ridicule them publically (but beware their latter day SA toughs). If they succeed in setting off a riot, stay low until it burns itself out. Then support the Americans in cleaning up afterwords.

A good book for all decent Americans is Confrontational Politics, written by a former California State Senator who here provides good advice on how to keep our country out of the hands of these overaged "radicals" who haven't gotten over their juvenile dream of seeing their hero Fidel's revolution recreated here. The book is filled with advice that can be applied by the average citizen with the aim of neutralizing the Party's cadre and minions who seek to destroy our country during times of crisis.

But the best resource of all to use against these skollies and quasi-communists is just simply being a good person; maintaining good neighborliness, respect for those you deal with daily, and living your religion and the ideals upon which this country was founded. Again, Montana does not possess a "critical mass" of MHDGs for these human roaches to incite to riot on a large scale. Any attempt to do so in, say Bozeman, should result in normal Montanans quickly quelling the Marxist petrol-soaked rhetoric with common sense and appeals to the listeners' links and common values with the American and Montana communities. The more we focus on our commonalities, the less likely we are to fracture along partisan lines.

Enough Red baiting. Now let's consider the most likely civil disruption that could occur in Montana, post-disaster disruption. This is the hardest to deal with as it involves conflict with our dearest ideals and regression to primal levels. I am talking about how we will deal with hungry fellow Montanans who did not lay in supplies or make family emergency plans. And, of course, dealing with the looters.

We need to do more than just lay in the wheat, beans, water, and firewood in preparation for the coming disaster. We need to do more than just game potential family emergencies during earthquakes or wildland fires. We need to consider how we will answer the pleas of the unprepared after the Big One, and yes, we need to game how we will deal with those who will seek to "redistribute the wealth" of our supplies by force after the SHTF.

Some survivalist authors suggest giving until it hurts. This is in line with the highest ideals of Christianity and several other religions and will certainly help increase the force of Good locally in the event of a disaster. But it will be important to give in such a way that you are not directly marked as the Horn of Plenty. If this happens, your OPSEC is gone, making you vulnerable to State confiscation of your "horded supplies" or, even more likely, return visits by those you helped with many more mates to help gather your supplies for the sake of the horde. Perhaps giving through your church, if it is still standing? Or maybe supplies placed outside your perimeter as if "dropped" by a passing group.

Others counsel giving nothing out, essentially applying the paradigm of the lifeboat to one's survivalist encampment. I have problems with this one as I know I could not say no to hungry fellow citizens, especially kids. Which means that I, and the many others who have way too much compassion, will probably end up in numerous firefights with hordes of looters after acts of charity post-disaster. So the lifeboat gambit has definite validity. One author suggests "playing poor" so that you appear to be as destitute as everyone else, neat trick if you can pull off shamming the African famine look.

You need to think through your responses to civil unrest in times of disaster now just as you must think through your family emergency plan and defensive use of firearms before the event if you hope to respond in an effective way.

If you hand out food to unprepared residents you will drastically increase the risk of looters at your compound (those you help will not keep your kindness a secret) but you will have done the humane thing. On the other hand, if you choose to keep your supplies to yourself with no provision for charity for the less fortunate, then you had better mentally get used to the necessity to turn away or even shoot fellow citizens whose only crime was not preparing for crisis--this includes turning away or shooting women and children.

Of such decisions are madness made. Think about it, a family is starving after SHTF, they know you have food. If I was the head of household, I would consider taking you out so my family can survive. Maybe I'd feel guilt about offing you and your mates but, if I'm a Christian, I will know that I am forgiven so you will be dead, reduced to a wan memory of the Hard Times after the crisis is over. The converse of this is you driving off the unprepared so you and your family can survive, shooting as necessary in defense of your family, then maybe having nightmares for years.

Whatever you decide to do in re: the unprepared post-SHTF is your choice. Just make sure you can live with it by thinking it through now. As far as preparing for serious social work with looters; mentally rehearse your responses to robbers and burglars. Shoot targets depicting real bad guys not circles. Read some good books on defensive preparedness by Gabe Suarez, Mas Ayoob or others who deal with the mental aspect of self defense. Consider taking a force on force class to get a chance to practice under real world conditions. In general, maintain good physical and mental health to better deal with the stresses of social disruption.

Part #2 will deal with the sociology of civil unrest and that beloved NWO takeover scenario. Until then, plan to survive, plan to maintain a good society no matter what.

ATTN: Ham operators

2009-06-19T23:16:00.002-06:00

This ham is the head of the communication committee for Preppers Network. He is working on a commo' net. Let's help get this one up and running. His message follows:

"CQ CQ CQ MTPN CQ CQ W4DMH CALLING CQ QRZ OK now I have done it in true DX fashion for all you HAM'S out there. I know others that read this will be real confused now but I would really like to hear from you HAM'S out there so I figured I would write in a language you would understand. We need to get HAM'S involved here so we can try to get a net going to help with off the grid communication among the prepper networks. I know there are many Ham's already involved in the prepper network and many more that read so please come forward and help us with getting this going. Now that all the people that read this (that are not HAM'S) are confused let me add one more slang that only the HAM'S will understand.

73 de W4DMH

PS Please email me so we can get to work on this. wvsantaclaus@aol.com_________________God Bless all from the Wild and Wonderful West Virginia Santa"

Fourth Horseman Arrives #2

2009-06-14T12:04:00.011-06:00

Again, time to dust off your epidemic disaster plan. Today, let's briefly go over good shopping for epidemic handling gear in re: killing the little monsters that threaten to wipe us out. A shopping tip; buy hospital grade disinfectants. These are disinfectants that can kill "tough" or common dangerous pathogens such as tuberculosis (hard to kill), salmonella, pseudomonas (common cause of "stenches" and wound infections), and e. coli. Check the label to see that it kills cold/flu viruses, polio (tough to kill), hepatitis B (also tough), etc.

First, let's get on the same page. For our purposes, there are three levels to epidemic germ killing: sterilization, disinfection, and sanitizing. Sterilization kills all microorganisms but it is nearly impossible for us to sterilize an area except for using a flamethrower or nuking the site from orbit. What you do need to sterilize are surgical instruments that will be introduced into normally sterile areas of the body and wound dressings.

Disinfection kills all except spores. Read labels to find out how long a disinfectant must be [wet] in contact with the surface to kill the germs. For survivalists, disinfection can be done if enough time, usually about ten minutes, is available. But if you need to disinfect quickly, use an disinfectant such as Discide Ultra wipes that does the job in about a minute or two.

Finally, there is sanitizing, killing a significant number of germs on the surface. This can be done relatively easily and quickly. Remember that precleaning the surface is important and allow enough contact time, per label directions.

Proper usage of disinfectants is simple, dangerously so. Label directions must be followed; if it says it kills the pathogens after a ten minute contact time, then you must keeep the surface wet for ten minutes, not just swipe the surface with the magic potion and rag. If you need a product which kills pathogens in under one minute, buy that product. Examples follow below. Gloves should be worn when disinfecting; all of the ingredients which follow are damaging to skin, opening the way for infection of the operator.

There are several ingredients that are effective disinfectants. Alcohol “kills all” if given a long enough contact time. Under real world conditions, the only ways to provide the contact time are to either immerse the piece in the solution or soak the surface with alcohol, then lay alcohol soaked paper towels or rags onto the surface and then let them dry naturally. For disinfection, a 70% solution works better than a 91+% solution. The downside of using alcohol is: the flammability, poor contact time, and severe hand drying when used as a hand sanitizer.

Quat ammonium compounds are the most common disinfectants in the USA. They “kill all” pretty well , are relatively non-toxic, and most are also detergents. On the downside; it is imperative that the surface to be disinfected be vigorously “scrubbed” as these agents have poor penetration, just spraying the surface and leaving it to dry will at best sanitize and deodorize the surface. Popular brands: many, Lysol IC brand is a good brand, Cavicide is another, Discide Ultra is a quat ammonium plus alcohol for fast knockdown.

Phenol based compounds have some great advantages: they are active even in the presence of [some] soil or blood, they have a residual action on the surface, and tend to be capable of killing the “worst of the worst” such as hepatitis, polio, or TB easily. On the downside; they are very toxic, especially to infants and felines, and they tend to have the worst smell compared to other agents. Examples: Lysol IC's spray, Citrace ( made by Caltech, an exception to the fetor downside), Precise (also by Caltech, a cleaner-disinfectant), LpHse (Gemco Medical, a concentrate).

Chlorine-based, the superstar of the day! The 10% solution is the best choice, 1:9; bleach to water. Very inexpensive (ca 8 cents/gallon or less), good “all kill”, easy to mix from concentrate. The downside; must be mixed fresh daily—especially if exposed to sunlight, tends to corrode metal, damage fabric, irritate hands, is a common asthma trigger,and is notorious for being inactivated if any organic matter remains on the surface to be disinfected.

CDC and the like recommend use of it, but think about it, they ask you to rely on an agent which is easily inactivated by organic matter, unless used in a strong 1:9 solution, so then you might cut corners when using it, it is then ineffective, more contagion results, more die, the NWO wins, we lose.

Good infection control practice also requires good habits. Clean and de-germ surfaces between patients/events. Universal precautions are the standard, treat everyone and everything as if they are a carrier of an infectious disease. In normal everyday life, this would rapidly cut our productivity. Under normal conditions, we must at minimum, use good handwashing procedures and keep common surfaces clean and sanitized. Under pandemic conditions, then we treat our living space as if it is the waiting room of a clinic which sees TB, AIDS, plague, and ebola patients regularly.

The other important practice is simple detective work. What surfaces might the individual carrier have touched? Plenty of sunlight in rooms and good ventilation help put paid to TB and flu. Consider using disposable covers on commonly contacted surfaces; for example, put plastic bags over door handles, discard and change bag after event is over or newspaper on dining tables. Remember that there are only three ways to reliably sanitize laundry: wash with bleach, dry for at least 20 minutes at 190° in a dryer, or hang out in full sunlight for 12 hours or more after thorough washing.

Here's a relatively low key infection control (IC) protocol as an example: when going into town, wear a pair of gloves for your errands. Either change gloves between stops (and sanitize car/truck door handles, gear shift, etc.) or remove the gloves before re entering your vehicle and sanitize the gloves between stops. If eating at a restaurant, santize your tabletop and silverware yourself. Get a table at least 6 feet from any one else. have monies easily available from a pocket for paying bill, etc. Use hand santizer before re entering your home.

Plan for IC, plan for nursing care, practice healthy habits (handwashing, etc.),and focus on good intelligence (not wild rumor). Here's a link from CDC to help get you started with your plan. And remember, it is up to you to save yourself and your family, not Dear Leader nor the Ministry of Truth. Stay up to date on new information, implement your plan early as the flu has a "lag "[incubation period] time.

Fourth Horseman Arrives

2009-06-12T09:01:00.003-06:00

Now that the WHO has raised the Level to 6, we are in a [flu] pandemic. It is time to start implementing your epidemic disaster plans. Yes, the novel H1N1 flu has a very low lethality and high infectivity, but there has been talk of the possibility of its crossing with the dread avian flu which has a 60+ mortality rate but a low human infectivity currently.

Plus, simple math tells us that the more cases that develop, more serious cases or fatalities that will occur. Please go to your local video store and check out the 1975 BBC series Survivors for a good treatment of the aftermath of a pandemic that results in TEOTWAWKI.

On the practical side, let's review some basic infection control (IC) measures. Handwashing, for about 15+ seconds as a minimum. Stock up on disinfectants. Bleach solution works well; it is cheap, kills "all", but must be mixed fresh daily and is relatively inactivated by "organic material" (read: clean first, then disinfect). The next step up is the Lysol or other disinfectants that you can find at the store; just make sure that the product has an EPA registration number on the label (shows that it has been proven as a disinfectant).

In re: hand sanitizers, use them. Alcohol based ones work very well but under frequent use conditions, they will severely dry out your skin and produce cracks through which germs can attack you. Non alcohol based ones include Vionex (leaves skin a bit tacky after use) and Handclens (easy to use, need two pumps per use though).

More to follow in Part 2. Stay alert. Remember, a very common way to catch cold/flu is for you to touch something that has infected body fluids on it (doorknob, keyboard) and then touch your nose or eyes. Stay well.

Talking Preparedness, With the Unprepared

2009-06-10T11:55:00.001-06:00

Talking survival preparedness is fun when we get together with our fellow survivalists. We can wax darkly poetic on possible horrible scenarios and happily exchange tips and Web links with each other on how to pull our families through the Big One. It is instructive and we strengthen the social ties that will help us all pull through. So far so good.

But how about when we reach out to family and friends who don't prepare? We think the hazards are clear and the solutions just as clear, as well as being relatively easy to implement. But it is often frustrating to talk to these people as we get one of several replies: the Government will help us, that's too scary, we have supplies (1gal OJ, several old cans of food, 1.5 loaves of bread for a family of four), that won't happen (earthquake, flood, or wild land fire), etc.

I taught disaster preparedness and emergency medical classes for over twenty years so I long ago quit feeling frustrated by these retorts. I have encountered many people who literally burst into tears or fainted dead away when I covered these issues. I was very successful in “opening eyes” because I discovered what worked to get through to most of these people.

I followed good training principles by framing the problem in terms that impacted them while not raising their stress levels to the point where they spouted platitudes as a raised cross to the monster thoughts of disaster. Then, once you have their attention, then you can start to talk real world scenarios and preps without them defensively shutting out your ideas.

People pay attention to movies and books because they allow the viewer some personal distance from the stresses of disasters. Telling your friend that Helena could be devastated by a wild land fire in the South Hills is frightening as they contemplate having to flee with their spouse and kids through swirling, choking smoke. Discussing the issue in the context of the movie Earthquake lets them identify with the actors' reactions and response efforts with less personal stress.

I have found that humor works very well and gallows humor works even better. So did using mass media examples from movies and TV shows. Talking about epidemic flu preparedness becomes a little less threatening when you relate it to Dustin Hoffman's dilemma in Outbreak.

I have found two good Websites that offer disaster preparedness advice and tips in a humorous format that our non-survivalist friends can assimilate easily. Each uses a different approach; the article at the first site focuses on passing on tips within the frame of mass media horror and scifi movies while the other site, which is all preparedness info', presents information through the paradigm of a zombie holocaust.

The first site has an article that is a mad joy ride through tongue-in-cheek preparedness tips that will appeal to teens and young adults especially. The article reminds me of the Reagan era information pamphlet Meet Mr. Bomb that covered post-nuke survival so well ,and with such fun humor, that I used the booklet in a few of my courses. The illustrations and explanations in the DelSquacho article will have your family and friends laughing hard while they begin to consider the scary issues of survival. The movie allusions will keep the non-prepper's mind engaged while you start the discussion on how they can be ready for the unthinkable. The article is PG-13 or a “strong G” for language. The site is PG-13 to R for language, adult theme, and sexual content.

The second site, Zombie Squad (ZS), approaches survivalism from the standpoint of the modern myth of the zombie horde disaster. It is a membership organization that does charity work as well as conducting disaster preparedness workshops in their local communities. They even have a volunteer award program to further encourage their members to help their local community with preparedness. Membership costs $15/year and comes with the typical goodies.

Which preparedness lecture would you rather attend; the NGO lecture where you heard the same statistics and got a couple standard leaflets, or the seminar where the ZS members put on a great, fun show about how to survive when the living dead disrupt the delicate web of supply in your town and how you must try to be “The Last Girl” in a real life horror movie? They'd cover preparedness issues while keeping you strongly engaged in the show and giving you information that could mean life or death in a real disaster.

Their forums deal with standard survival issues, such as communication, as well as having one sub forum for personal survival experiences. Non-prepper family and friends can enjoy the Youtube video links and preparedness brochures from this site that mix preparedness with humor. The site is mostly G, with occasional forum posts going over into PG-13 for language.

We want to reach out to our non-prepper friends and neighbors, while keeping a low profile. Humor can do the job; it makes the subject less threatening for them and enables us to maintain some op sec as we are “only talking about crazy movies” not revealing ourselves quite so openly as preppers.

So go ahead, talk preparedness, just for laughs.

NRA Refuse To Be A Victim Class

2009-06-05T23:06:00.000-06:00

Attention Montana preppers in SW Montana. There will be an NRA RTBAV class at the Lewis and Clark County Library (120S. Last Chance Gulch, Helena) on Wednesday,22Jul09 from 1830-2045. The class is free but it is requested that you call to register at least a week before the class so there will be enough student packets. Call the Library to register: 406.447.1690.

RTBAV is a class on crime prevention through awareness and good use of simple gadgetry. Guns are only mentioned as not being covered in this course. It is especially valuable in re: domestic violence issues and SHTF personal/family safety preparedness.

Here is a link to the NRA's FAQs for this course:

http://www.nrahq.org/RTBAV/rtbavfaq.asp

Hope to see you all there.

Dental Survival Kit

2009-06-05T17:25:00.000-06:00

Most of us think of putting together a great medical kit for SHTF times. Few of us think of putting together a simple dental kit for hard times. I was a dental assistant for public health clinics, so I'd like to pass on some ideas for a dental kit that will see you and your family well through short term and long term disaster times. This is my opinion and does not constitute medical advice, use at your own risk, learn all you can ahead of time, etc. etc.

First, let's get one thing clear. Prevention of dental problems is much easier than having to deal with an infected or broken tooth. So this kit will emphasize prevention and secondarily cover dental treatment.

Your teeth are hard tissue, covered in an enamel that can easily stand heavy stresses. If you do a little preventative care. Everyone knows that you need to brush your teeth twice a day. Most know that you need to brush with a soft brush, with a gently "vibrating" motion by the gum line. It should take two minutes or more to brush your teeth properly.

For those with significant spaces between teeth or back tooth root exposure, use a proxabrush (available from any drugstore) to clean between teeth as well as floss elsewhere. Flossing should be done a minimum of twice weekly; Flossing motion is a "wipe/rub" on each side of the tooth; no snapping that bad boy floss in to teach the plaque germs a lesson.

Dealing with cavities post-TEOTWAWKI is relatively difficult and performing root canals will be out of the question. So head off problems today by using a prescription fluoride toothpaste a couple times a week. Brands include: Prevident, Ethedent, and Gelkam. All cost about $10 for a tube which will last for about 20 uses. Also, at least drink water after you have eaten candy or downed a soda. If your teeth are becoming sensitive to hot/cold or toothbrush pressure, one of these strong fluoride pastes could help. If the root of teeth start to become very abraded post-TEOTWAWKI, you can use the ART restoration listed in the references below or you could paint fluoride varnish on the abraded root surface (a very temporary solution).

Your teeth are held in place by a combination of gum tissue, ligaments, and bone, collectively, we'll call it the periodontal base. As we know from countless commercials, gum health is very important. Flossing is very helpful as is taking care of any tendencies to grind your teeth and not [tooth] brushing too hard. Using a good mouth wash, such as Listerine(r), a few times a week will help keep the germs knocked down. Remember to hold the mouthwash in your mouth for a little over thirty seconds. An alternative is to use hydrogen peroxide (1:1 with water) or collodial silver solution in the same manner.

Now to the treatment gear and supplies. The problems that you will need to deal with in a SHTF could be: crown pops off, filling drops out, tooth gets broken, brace bracket or wire comes off and has sharp edge remaining. In a TEOTWAWKI scenario, you might have to deal with: toothache or having to extract a tooth.

For a popped off crown or a lost filling, you could use one of the commercially available dental emergency kits that can be found at any drugstore. These usually include a little container of a zinc oxide-eugenol cement that can be used as a temporary cement or as a temporary filling material. Note that you must follow label directions carefully and you must not tempt fate: don't think that the patient can munch jerky or hard candy on these temporary fillings or on this crown recementing!

An alternative is to buy a product called Cavit-G and use it for replacing missing fillings. Cavit-G cost about $12 for a jar which would enable you to do several temporary fillings. Whatever agent you use to make temporary fillings, remember to do your best to make the filling "fit" by using a basic carver (see list of tools below) and using carbon paper to contour the filling so the patient is comfortable and the filling will be less likely to break.

If a tooth is broken, there will usually be associated facial injuries, and maybe neck/head injuries in the case of a bike wreck or fight injury. Use good first aid precautions in dealing with your patient. If a tooth is only chipped, a little chewing gum or orthodontic wax (available at drugstores) on the edge will help ward off cheek or lip injury.

If the tooth is fractured significantly, you need to decide if it is fractured into the dentin (most of the tooth is made of dentin) or if the fracture only affects the enamel. Take a sterile gauze and firmly wipe the fracture surface. If the tooth oozes blood and this step was painful, then the dentin is exposed. In this case, you would have the patient use the prescription toothpaste daily and avoid eating those great tasting but damaging to teeth foods such as soda, candy, and bananas. A coat of fluoride varnish would seal the dentin but won't stand up long on chewing surfaces.

If the tooth did not ooze blood, then caution the patient on diet, use orthodontic wax or gum on any rough edges and monitor the situation.

If a tooth is knocked out, common sense says to put it back where it came from. Handle the knocked out tooth only by the crown (the part we see in the mouth normally), rinse clean with sterile water, do not scrub the root or remove any tissue from it. Place the tooth gently back in its socket until it seats. The general rule is dentistry is: each minute the tooth is out of the socket is 1% less chance of successfully reimplanting it.

If the nearest dentist is under 20 tons of rubble, you can stabilize the tooth by splinting it. The procedure is to cement a piece of arch wire (get from your dentist) across the affected tooth and to the teeth on either side of it. Cyanoacrylate glue is acceptable for this, just remember that all surfaces must be dry first. Ensure that neither end of the wire is sharp or rough before cementing it in place. As always, get to a dentist as soon as possible.

If a tooth is broken and the pulp is exposed, you have a dental emergency. The patient will be in severe pain, will be at high risk of infection, and the tooth cannot be taken care of well in the field. If your dental kit has a zinc oxide-eugenol (ZOE) agent, this can be used to seal the pulp temporarily and this will help cut the risk of infection and relieve some pain. Even better would be to have Dycal available as this is part of the definitive treatment for an exposed pulp. It basically "scars" the area and seals the pulp from the outside world. It comes as a two tube set and costs about $45 for the set. You would then proceed to place a temporary restoration. See the reference list at the end of the article for further information.

Toothache can be dealt with empirically. You can try a pledget of cotton, soaked in eugenol (oil of cloves) on the painful tooth. It is a centuries old remedy for toothache. If a filling fell out or a crown came off and then the tooth ached, clean the area thoroughly and fix as per label directions for the commerical product. If the patient shows sensitivity to cold and tapping, not good. If patient is also sensitive to hot and/or there is fever and swelling, you need to seek a root canal doctor. But what if the nearest endodontist floated away, facedown an hour ago? Common sense says to deal with potential infection and keep the patient comfortable. In a prolonged, over a week SHTF scenario, you might have to consider extracting the offending tooth if the basic care outlined in references cited below does not work.

I will not be going into tooth extraction or gum boil care here. Read the references cited below and talk to your dentist.

Here is a basic dental kit that should see you and your group through common SHTF scenarios. Remember, this does not constitute medical or dental advice. It is a suggested kit for use only when no dentist is reasonably available.

Prevention
Prescription fluoride toothpaste, toothbrush for each member, toothpaste for each member with floss and floss holder, fluoride varnish (ampules would be best), mouthwash.

Tools
(diagnostic) dental mirror, dental explorer, periodontal probe ( is a "dental ruler" that lets you measure pockets around teeth, size of cavities, etc.), cotton pliers (also sold as college pliers; used for manipulating cotton or small items), minnesota retractor (for retracting the cheek or tongue, useful especially for child patients).

(for doing fillings) woodson (little "golf club" paddle at one end, little compactor at the other), dental mixing spatula, discoid-cleoid (for carving restorations to fit), small and large spoon excavator (clearing out old cement, etc. where you are going to fill), dycal instrument (placing filling/sealing materials in small amounts, precisely), pieces of carbon paper (ca 2"x1"), bayonet forceps ( also sold as: articulating paper holder. useful for ENT basic procedures also), mixing pad/slab (if needed for material you choose to stock).

(for extractions) Note that this instrument set will run over $1800.
Left and right apical elevators (1/each); #7 perio elevator (1); #150 and #151 extraction forceps (1/each); consider addition of cow horn, hawks beak and other molar forceps (#s 87,93, 18R, and 18L); Cryers elevators, one each, right and left. Surgical instrument as needed from wound care unit.

Dental Materials
several small (2-3mm) cotton balls, several cotton rolls (get from your dentist).

A commercial dental [filling] emergency kit and or an IRM set (liquid and powder for fabricating filling and temporarily cementing crowns. Costs about $60), [consider] Dycal (make sure you that a mixing pad comes with the two tubes of material and a dycal instrument for mixing/placing), orthodontic wax, two small pieces of arch wire (get from your dentist, preferrably from an orthodontist), bottle of oil of cloves (be careful, very irritating to eyes and skin!), Oragel or other dental [soft tissue] pain reliever.

Good luck with making your dental kit. Post-SHTF; may all your teeth stay cavity free, may your gums not bleed, and may trench mouth never develop amongst your group (hints: control stress reaction and quit smoking)!

References
http://www.noah-health.org/en/dentistry/procedures/emergency.html Good page of links for caring for dental emergencies.
http://www.hesperian.org/publications_download.php The site for the publisher of Where There is no Dentist and ...No Doctor, etc. The books are available as free PDFs online as well as for sale. ...Dentist is very useful for survivalists!
http://www.whocollab.od.mah.se/expl/art2.html Introduction to Autraumatic Restoration Technique (ART), a very useful method of doing semi-permanent restorations after SHTF.

Little Fanfare, and Even Less Regulation

2009-05-09T16:08:00.000-06:00

I heard about Montana's new gun law on Glenn Beck's radio show. He has a website at http://www.glennbeck.com/. I wanted more information, so I went looking on the internet for more information--detailed articles and opinions, conversations about gun control and like-minded politicians--that I figured would be there. Unless I was looking in the wrong places, there wasn't much to find. I only found one article in my original search, and that article can be found here: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=97265 .

That's very little fanfare for a law that says so much. However, information is information, limited as it may be, and according to said article, Montana has passed a law "that exempts from federal regulations any gun, gun accessory or ammunition made in the state and intended for use there." That is huge news buried in the web amidst posts written by people worried about firearm confiscation and possible changes in ammunition regulations. Why is this big news? If every state were to enact such a law, there would be no chance of losing our Second Amendment Rights, and it would mean more freedom.

What do Second Amendment rights and freedom have to do with prepping for emergencies? Quite a bit actually, if you read this post:
http://preparednesspro.wordpress.com/2009/05/09/firearms-in-your-preparedness-supplies/

Over at the website Preparedness Pro (http://preparednesspro.wordpress.com/) you will see many reasons why you may need firearms and also need to depend on your Second Amendment rights in an emergency situation. What about freedom? There is a lot of freedom in not having to wait for others to help you and being able to legally take care of yourself in an emergency situation where you and/or your family are being threatened by someone who is willing to hurt you with whatever weapons they have at their disposal. There is the saying in various forms about only being able to keep what you are able to defend, and that also applies to emergency supplies.

Will other states follow suit and protect state's rights? One can only hope. On a second look at the internet just before writing this post (it's taken me a couple of days to get to this) I saw this article, http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=6367553, entitled, "Utah legislators eye Montana gun law". One of the reasons I have taken awhile to write this is because I expected it to be old news by now--that everyone would be talking about it. That isn't the case, apparently. As the title of this post indicates, there is very little fanfare about this, but it's something that I think everyone should know about. No federal regulations on firearms. If one state can do it, shouldn't every state be able to follow suit?

I hope everyone takes the chance to read about this legislation, and if they agree with it, to request that their own state officials draft similar legislation. If everyone took a stand, we would be better able to ensure our Second Amendment rights. I echo part of the last phrase quoted in the first linked article-- "Way to go, Montana..."

Another Prepper (anotherprepper@gmail.com)

Preparedness Information

2009-03-04T06:20:00.000-07:00

In any survival or emergency situation, food and water are a priority. Here are some links with valuable information to assist you in your preparedness efforts.

Food Storage Facts

Water Treatment and Storage

Food Storage Inventory Sheet

Safe Home Food Storage

Herbs and Their Uses

Storage Guidelines for Oils and Fats

Be aware. Be informed. Be prepared.

Riverwalker

Montana Preppers Network

Preparedness Expo in Spokane, Washington

Preparedness Expo - June 18th - Evergreen, Montana

The river is rising

Montana Preppers Roll Call - All Preppers Please Check In

Wilderness Survival: Three Days at the RiverWilderness Survival: Three Days at the River

EMERGENCY FIELD DENTISTRY COURSE

Draw Your Line

Montana Fires a Warning Shot Over States’ Rights

Doomsday Fear Mongers Get It Right Again

Sing the health praises of parsley and sage

About the author

Uses For Dryer Lint

Montana Preppers Roll Call

We have a new members in Montana

How To Join The Montana Preppers Network

Prepper Medical Kit

Gun Rights and the Prepper News

Fire and the Prepper

Working Cats and Preppers

How to Make Homemade Dog Food

Cyber Security and Stalking

Disaster Preparedness: Working Together

Montana Weather Alert

Montana Weather Could Be Bad

A Ba le Partie Politique

Grains: Omission

Grains and Prepping

Survival New Year Movies

Merry Christmas and books

Winter Storm Coming!

Happy Thanksgiving

Personal Safety Seminar

Montana Issue and Ideas

Tea Party Express

Home Defense Drills

Flu: Deadly Lessons Learned

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(Home Security) Home Invasion #2

Survival Mindset and Personal/Social Survival

Survival Movie Review

Home Invasion #1

Children and Emergencies

Crime Prevention Conference

Preparedness Month Exercise

Self Preservation or Political Correctness?

Pain Relief and the Prepper Medic, Part 2

Immunizations

Pain Relief and the Prepper Medic, Part 1

Surviving Disasters: On Spike TV

Airguns

Disability and Prepping

Radio Communications Article

Psychological First Aid

A Novel Tool for Disaster Preparedness

Survival Group Commo' Breakdown

NRA Refuse To Be A Victim Class Change

Civil Unrest #1

ATTN: Ham operators

Fourth Horseman Arrives #2

Fourth Horseman Arrives

Talking Preparedness, With the Unprepared

NRA Refuse To Be A Victim Class

Dental Survival Kit

Little Fanfare, and Even Less Regulation

Preparedness Information