Show Notes
As usual I begin with
the Blizzard survival 20% discount Offer then move on to, What is the goal of
EDC gear?, What I Carry Daily-My EDC, Grow
your own Grub, Cute and Cuddly but-deadly?, Support these companies, Butchered
Sheep – Empty Shelves - No Power, The Get-Home-Bag, Minialarm device with an
ultrabright white LED Review, UK Rules on Wild Camping, Survival Thoughts, Here
are some more companies to support, The BOV, Dirty Bomb Attack, The RIBZ Front
Pack Review, Travelling with Vehicles during a Crisis or Survival Situation, A
Tough Question, Poaching is Not What it Was, Further Companies to Support
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What is the goal of EDC gear?
I think the goal of EDC gear is to increase your quality of
life.
Every piece of EDC gear should work toward that end. Using EDC to increase your quality of life is
an ambitious goal, but there are a variety of ways to achieve that goal. Your EDC gear can increase your quality of
life by:
Increasing your self-reliance
Increasing your security
Increasing your comfort
Increasing your safety
Everyone has
different goals -
People place varying amounts of emphasis on the different
aspects that relate to quality of life.
What is important to one person could be trivial to another.
Some people are supremely concerned about safety. Because of
this, an investment in a defensive tool would dramatically increase their
quality of life.
Others aren’t that concerned about safety, but having
something on hand to listen to or read makes their life much more enjoyable.
Some people gain supreme enjoyment from not having to rely
on others. They have their pen ready when the cashier rips the receipt from the
till. They have their torch ready when the power unexpectedly dies in the
restaurant.
Some people would go nuts if they didn’t have a pen and
paper to write down an idea that popped into their head.
Some people are constantly worried about how they would cut
a seat-belt if they were in a vehicle accident or how they would treat someone
with a medical issue. Simple tools could help to alleviate those worries and
dramatically increase their quality of life.
Maybe you plead guilty to all of the above. Maybe you are
thinking of something totally different that I didn’t mention. Perfect!
That’s the idea. Think about YOUR
priorities!
You will never be satisfied with EDC gear that caters to
someone else’s needs, wants, and goals!
It’s easy to look at someone else’s gear and try to copy it
for ourselves, but it’s not the right way to go about it. You have an intricate combination of personal
priorities that are different from anyone else in the world.
It takes some thought to arrange these priorities and
properly apply them to your gear. For now, let’s figure out what your goals
are!
What I Carry Daily-My EDC
So what is EDC?
“EDC” is an acronym for “Everyday Carry”. EDC refers to the gear that is carried on
your person or with you all the time. This normally includes gear in your
pockets, backpack, briefcase, etc.
Most EDC gear I think is carried for one of the following
reasons:
Security - Defensive
tools, keys for example
Convenience - Mobile, torch, wallet, pen/paper
Style - Watch
Comfort - Handkerchief, breath mints
Entertainment - MP3 player, e-reader
Job/Legal Requirements - Identification
Health/Safety - Medical gear, water bottle, medication
A person’s choice of EDC (everyday carry) gear is intensely
personal and for that reason, people often take great pride in the EDC gear
that they have chosen. EDC gear should
be chosen based on your individual lifestyle, environment, and individual
needs.
Everyday carry gear philosophy varies widely. Some approach EDC gear with an emphasis on
minimalism, while others want to have equipment on hand for every possible
situation.
Typical EDC (Everyday
Carry) gear can include:
Mobile phone
Wallet
Watch
Keychain
Writing tool
Flashlight
Pocket knife
MP3 Player
USB Key
Water bottle
Defensive tools(impact weapons, etc)
GPS
Paper
E-reader
Laptop
Medical Kit/First Aid
Mints
Medical
Sunglasses
Camera
Child care products
Handkerchief
So everything in that list is normal and things that most
people already carry and the difference between them and what I carry is not
only the quality but the fact that my EDC has multi-purpose uses.
For example my tactical pen writes and my tactical torch lights
up the dark and even my Timex e expedition watch tells the time as well.
Firstly I have my Timex Expedition E-Instruments Compass
Tide and temp chronograph Watch T45601which is waterproof to 100mtrs or in old
money 333ft on my left wrist and my 550 paracord bracelet from paracord.com on
my other.
Depending on what I am wearing I could have my Black Hawk
web duty belt with the True utility multi-tool +lite and a Stoppa Red marker
spray on it which I carry whatever belt I have on.
On my key ring I have the kaufmann-mercantile.com EDC steel
tools including a mini lighter and on my feet a pair of Regatta Mens
Ad-Scursion Boots which are completely waterproof and offer total protection
and comfort.
In my wallet is a Tool logic survival 11 credit card
A Matthew Martin Tactical Pen in my personal planner
On my back or in the car with me I carry the 1 Person BASIC
Backpack Survival Kit from More prepared .com supplemented as it is designed to
be by additional kit to make it what I call complete.
That kit is
A UK motorway map and two local OS maps
A Purificup
Elzeta ZFL tactical Torch
A SOL Bivy bag
The Solo Stove with cotton wool and Vaseline balls stored
inside
A Nano fire starter
i-shields
My own survival meals, tea, 3 in 1 Nescafe coffee sachets,
Toilet roll
So what do you think is it too much? Is it not enough? You
know whatever you think will not change what I carry just in case, for the what
if’s and oh no’s.
Have fun designing
you EDC and remember multi-function and quality.
Grow your own Grub
Domestic rabbits are highly valued for their low fat, low
cholesterol and high quality protein.
Rabbit meat compares very favourably to chicken, turkey and
some fish for its beneficial health virtues and its palatability.
3 to 4 litters of 5 to 10 young can be thrown by a healthy,
mature female (doe) each year.
One male (buck) can service up to twenty to thirty does, but
in order to keep the gene pool healthy, you should have one buck for each 5
does.
Make sure you keep records of which does are bred by which
bucks, and keep rotating the animals to keep the gene pool as large as
possible.
One good breed is the Flemish Giant. The young from this
breed will be ready to butcher at 3 months, yielding a very tender meat.
Most consider the Flemish Giant unsuitable for a meat
rabbit, due to the meat to bone ratio, also the amount of food consumed to meat
ratio.
It is okay to cross
with a New Zealand for meat production.
Get the right pen. The pen should be a minimum of 5 feet by
6 feet for this large breed, but slightly smaller for the smaller breeds.
Rabbits need space! The floor should be made of a sturdy
wire mesh with about 3/4 inch square holes to accommodate droppings and urine.
Do give the rabbit
someplace else to stand, however.
Standing on wire full time can hurt a rabbit's feet. A full
tray or box the full size of the floor of the pen with all four sides about 2
1/2 inches high should be slid under the pen to catch the animal waste.
This tray should be emptied once per week and rinsed with a
disinfectant. Be careful when using bleach, as it will react with the urine and
give off a harmful gas!
A solid compartment about 1 1/2 feet long and 1 1/2 feet
wide should be included in the pen to give the doe privacy while she is having
her young.
This will keep
mortality of the young down to a great extent.
Be sure there is plenty of dried hay in the pen when she is
"due”.
Know that female rabbits will conceive at any time they have
an "encounter" with a buck. There is no set oestrous period.
The young should be separated from the mother at about 6
weeks.
The doe is ready for breeding immediately after separation
from her young.
The rabbit pregnancy period is 28-30 days, with the doe able
to mate within hours of giving birth.
Rabbits reach maturity somewhere between 6 and 10 months of
age depending on the breed. Smaller breeds mature quicker than larger ones.
The following breeds
will weigh approximately this much when fully mature;
Netherland Dwarf 2 1/2 lbs., Jersey Wooley 3 1/2 lbs.,
Holland Lop 4 lbs., Mini-Rex 4 1/2lbs., Dutch 5 1/2 lbs., Havana 5 1/2 lbs.,
Florida White 6 lbs., Mini Lop 6 1/2lbs., Rex 9 lbs., Palomino, 10 lbs., Satin
11 lbs., New Zealand 11 lbs., French Lop 12 lbs., Flemish Giant 13+ lbs.
So why not hop on
down to your nearest breeder and enjoy a great source of tasty food.
Cute and Cuddly but-deadly?
A new generation of killer diseases set to hit mankind could
come from cats and dogs, a study has found.
Scientists say human beings will soon be infecting serious
illnesses which have spread from their domestic pets.
A report found the risk to humans from animal-based
'emerging diseases' has increased as pets have moved 'out of the barn' and into
homes.
Researchers say that domestic pets such as this Afghan Hound
could be the source of the next major diseases to jump between animals and
humans.
People are becoming more and more at risk because pets are
increasingly part of their owner's lives - including sleeping in their
bedrooms.
The report says diseases in humans started by animals will
be increasingly virulent - like canine rabies which kills around 55,000 people
in Africa and Asia each year.
It calls for global monitoring of these 'zoonotic' diseases
- spreads from animals to humans - so medicines and vaccines can be developed.
The study was led by Michael Day, Professor of Veterinary
Pathology in the School of Veterinary Sciences at the University of Bristol and
published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases,
He says cats and dogs are a 'large potential source' of the
new generation of diseases set to hit mankind.
Professor Day said:
'The number of small companion animals is significant.
For example there are an estimated eight to ten million dogs
living in up to 31 per cent of UK homes and in the USA, 72 million dogs in 37 per
cent of homes.
In developed countries the relationship between man and dogs
and cats has deepened, with these animals now closely sharing the human indoor
environment.
The benefits of pet ownership on human health, well-being
and development are unquestionable, but as dogs and cats have moved from the
barn, to the house, to the bedroom, the potential for disease spread to humans
increases.
Researchers say the increased number of owners who sleep
with their pets has increased the risk of diseases spreading from them to their
owners
The report was backed by The World Small Animal Veterinary
Association (WSAVA), One Health Committee, the US Centres for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the
World Health Organization (WHO).
The report said international health agencies largely
monitor diseases spread by livestock - not domestic pets.
Professor Day added: 'For example, the WHO monitors human
influenza virus infection through a network of 111 centres in 83 countries.
In contrast, there is no such monitoring for the infections
that may be transmitted between small companion animals and man.
If you're feeling bad and think you're sick as a dog, you
might have put your finger on the cause, researchers say.
There are more than 200 diseases that can be transferred
from animals to humans, and even man's best friend can be unfriendly when it
comes to staying healthy.
Almost every animal
is capable of passing some type of disease or sickness to humans.
Dr Leon Russell, a veterinarian in Texas A&M
University's College of Veterinary Medicine who teaches a course on the
subject, says ailments range from near harmless to downright deadly. The
technical term for such a transfer is zoonosis, which means any disease that is
communicable from animals to humans.
Most of those 200 or so diseases that can be passed to
humans are fairly rare and don't occur much in the United States. But there are
a few dozen that are very common and can be even be killers.
One of the worst is salmonella
which we have all heard of.
Salmonella's a bacterial disease found in poultry and eggs
and uncooked meat. Worldwide, it kills thousands of people every year but can
be one of the most preventable.
Its bacterial cousin -- campylobacter -- can also be
acquired from poultry, but young puppies have been known to pass the disease.
If you cut up chicken and then use the same knife to cut the
bread or salad, you're asking for trouble. And it's best to clean off a cutting
board you're using, too. Just one drop can make a person very sick.
You must wash your hands after handling raw meat or poultry
to prevent transfer of these bacteria to other food items." Snakes and
other reptiles are capable of passing salmonella, too, he says. "If a
youngster has handled a snake or other reptile and then eats without washing
his hands, it gives salmonella an open door to invade the body," he says.
Toxoplasmosis
Being pregnant is not the best time to be cleaning out the
cat's litter box, either. Russell says toxoplasmosis is sometimes passed from
cats to humans and can harm a woman's fetus during pregnancy, possibly leading
to birth defects.
It's best to let
someone else change the cat litter if you're pregnant, he advises.
Eating uncooked meat, such as pork, mutton or beef, is
another way of transmitting toxoplasmosis," Russell believes. Cows -- and
dogs -- can pass along leptospirosis to their owners.
It affects the liver and kidneys and can become very
serious. It can be similar to infectious viral hepatitis in humans, Russell
points out.
Animals urinating in surface water such as ponds, tanks or
even small puddles is a hazard, he says
Brucellosis
Brucellosis can also be passed from cattle to humans, and
although it is not as common in the United States as it used to be, other
countries still are dealing with the problem.
It often comes from impure raw milk and can cause a high
fever and affect bone development.
Roundworms/hookworms
Children who ingest dirt that is used with dogs who have
roundworms can get roundworms and can get ill, and hookworms from an uncovered
cat's sand box cause skin lesions on humans.
Cat Scratch Fever
Cat Scratch Fever is not a myth -- it's real and when
kitty's claws come into contact with skin and blood, it can result in flu-like
symptoms and swollen lymph glands.
Nationally, about 1 per cent of all emergency room hospital
admissions are due to animal bites or scratches that figure may sound low, but
it adds up to between 1 and 2 million people a year."
Rabies
The dreaded disease of rabies has been around for hundreds
of years, and skunks and solitary bats are the most frequent carriers, the best
advice: Use common sense and stay away from wild animals, and if you see a bat
on the ground or a wall, leave it alone.
And remember that
rabies is transmitted by animal bites, not by skunk scent or flying bats."
Histoplasmosis
If you're a bird lover, watch out for histoplasmosis. It
comes from bird droppings that are often seen on the footpath or on cars, and
if you inhale it long enough, it causes conditions that resemble tuberculosis
and can become very serious.
Psittacosis
Parakeets can give humans Psittacosis, commonly called
Parrot Fever, which can cause flu-like illness and eventually may affect the
heart and lungs.
Tularemia
The Easter bunny can be soft and cuddly, but if it is a wild
rabbit it is capable of passing along Tularemia, which causes skin lesions,
high fever and swollen lymph nodes Lyme disease/Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.
Ticks on animals can make them sick and the results can be transferred
to humans in the form of Lyme disease or Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, both of
which can be deadly. Lyme disease starts out as a skin rash, evolves into
conditions resembling arthritis and in its final form, can cause serious
neurological problems.
Deer ticks have been known to pass along Lyme disease and
dog ticks spread Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever to humans.
Encephalitis
Horses can develop Equine Encephalitis and the same
mosquitoes can pass it to their owners. Although horses and humans can be
victims of mosquito transmitted Encephalitis, horses do not directly transmit
the disease to humans.
Ringworms
Most mums know a young kitten or dog can have ringworms, a
skin ailment that while not usually serious, can be extremely unpleasant.
Ferrets can be cute and playful, but some have a nasty habit
of biting small children which can cause various types of infection.
And what about the
reverse? Can animals get diseases from humans?
Tuberculosis can be passed both ways -- from animals to
humans and vice versa. If people use common sense, they should not have much to
worry about when it comes to animal diseases.
Washing your hands after handling animals and pets, not
kissing dogs or cats near their mouths, treating bites effectively, keeping
clean litter boxes and bird cages -- all of these things can go a very long way
in easing any worries an animal or pet owner might have.
Don’t forget the various bird and swine flu’s coming out of
China.
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The Lifesaver bottle
For the Knot Bone Lacelock
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Browning Night Seeker Cap Light RGB
Multi lite Multi-tool
For the Ghillie Kettle
For the Blackbird SK-5 or his handmade leather sheaths http://www.hedgehogleatherworks.com
For the Farside Outdoor Meals
The Survivor knife
For the Chris Caine companion survival tool
Butchered Sheep – Empty Shelves - No Power
Starving scavengers forced to the brink by the recession are
targeting sheep in a remote beauty spot and butchering them in fields for their
meat, livestock protection officers fear.
Experts have reported that animals are being dismembered on
Dartmoor, Devon - or stolen alive to be killed later.
Sheep have been found where there joints like the legs and
shoulders have been carefully cut away. They’re the sort of joints you’d have
in a roast dinner.
Could the traditional Sunday roast dinner become a thing of
the past?
Thousands of families
can no longer afford to cook the traditional Sunday meal
Sheep have been found in peoples back gardens and it could
be that they’ve been taken home so that people can butcher them there - and
then have lost heart and don’t fancy doing it - or the sheep have got away.
I think we all know
it’s because times are hard and people are struggling to put food on their
table. This is the 21st century; this is a 1st world country, what the hell is
going on, why are our people taking to poaching to survive?
Well it is the economic policies of the traitors at the
houses of treason that have designed this mess in which we are forced to exist,
where 25,000 elderly people died of winter related diseases last year, “winter
related diseases” is government speak for hypothermia.
Our elderly are being
forced to choose between Heating and Eating.
But it is not just the elderly that are being affected,
teachers at a school in Bristol have been forced to buy breakfast for more than
130 pupils because parents send their children to lessons ‘hungry and
malnourished’.
Staff at Knowle DGE
School in Bristol are supplying the youngsters with the food at a weekly cost
of £280.
The teachers refused to let their pupils go hungry and are
buying cereals, bread and fruit juices - so pupils will no longer complain they
feel 'sick' and 'angry' with hunger.
Spokeswoman for the school, Joanna Greenwood admitted
teachers felt it was ‘unfair’ that they had to pay but refused to let the
children go hungry.
She said: ‘We feel it’s really important that a child has a
good start to the day. Hunger and thirst is a very big trigger for negative
behaviour.
And in the United States according to a new survey of public
school teachers released by Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign,
childhood hunger remains a serious obstacle to learning.
With nearly 1 in 5 U.S. kids facing the threat of hunger
this year, teachers across America are seeing its effects.
3 out of 5 teachers say they have children in their
classrooms who regularly come to school hungry.4 out of 5 of those teachers say
these children come to school hungry at least once a week.
A majority of
teachers who see hunger as a problem believe the problem is growing.
Teachers commonly help families enrol in free or
reduced-price meal programs (71% of the time) or refer families to resources in
the school (54% of the time).
More than half of teachers (53%) say they purchase food for
hungry kids in their classrooms. One in ten of these teachers buy food every
week.
I ask again what is happening in our 1st world countries and
what can be done to counter the effects of these economic policies that are
destroying us as a civilisation.
You know perhaps it is up to us as preppers and survivalists
to enter our schools and talk to the kids about nutrition and food planning and
preparation and give them information sheets to take home to their parents.
Surely with our knowledge of survival food we can help in
our own communities and by doing so change the perspective in which we are
held.
I believe that these warning signs should be responded to,
we as preppers and survivalists may have to survive not a war, not a terrorist
attack, not a natural disaster but a food shortage.
Recently the following crops have been reported as failed
and or ruined en-mass Honey, wheat, Potatoes, Apples, Peas, pumpkins.
News of a pork shortage began sizzling after a report
claimed that pig herds around the world are “declining at a significant rate.”
The report also said that the high price of corn, which is used to feed pigs,
is hurting farmers. Britain’s National Pig Association, a group that supports
farmers, issued the report. Richard
Longthorp, the group’s chairman, declared the problem “unavoidable.”
Wheat prices have also risen, more than 50% in the past six
weeks alone. All of this leaves us teetering on the edge of another food
crisis.
The chief culprit has been the devastating US drought, which
has withered more crops than any weather pattern since 1956. As climate change
grips, such extremes are becoming the norm.
Livestock farmers are warning they won't be able to afford
to feed their animals due to the lack of feed stuffs and the hiked price of
what is left on the market, and if they cannot afford to feed them then they
will cull them, reducing food production ability for ever.
Today supermarkets are warning of shortages of British fruit
and vegetables and higher prices after the recent torrential rain left fields
waterlogged.
Retailers are struggling to keep shelves stocked, and some
are putting up signs apologising for the fact that their produce is not up to
normal standards.
So I say that now is a good time to look into keeping a few
chickens, rabbits, sheep etc. and also into growing your own vegetables, if you
cannot manage to do this on your own then join with someone else or form a
local group to obtain some land and then produce your own food.
But you must do something otherwise we could see our very
food culture change beyond belief, in fact in one paper they were predicting
that by 2050 the UK would have become a vegetarian country.
And as if all that
was not enough
Britain is likely to run out of energy generating capacity
in the winter of 2015, Ofgem warned today.
The energy regulator said spare capacity could fall from
current levels of 14 per cent to just four per cent in three years.
This will make the country ever more reliant on imported gas
- which will likely lead to huge price increases while also risking Britain's
self-sufficiency.
Ofgem said closures of coal-fired power stations before
schedule and EU legislation was behind the reduced capacity and urged
investment.
Ofgem also warned that uncertainty over the government's
plans to revamp the electricity market meant it was unclear whether new,
cleaner plants would be built to bridge the gap.
The lack of spare capacity would leave the country little
leeway if any plants were to suffer unplanned outages or if supply of power
imports from Europe were disrupted.
Nine UK-based coal and oil fired plants with a combined
generating capacity of 11.5 gigawatts (GW) are due to close by 2015 or when
they have completed 20,000 hours of operation for coal-fired power stations or
10,000 hours for oil-powered facilities, under EU legislation aimed at limiting
emissions.
It really is time to
start Prepping now.
The Get-Home-Bag
WTSHTF maybe you are prepared for an extended survival
scenario away from civilization, but you have to get out of the city first
(maybe). In a disaster situation that might not be so easy. However If you have
these three things in place you will greatly increase your chances.
Get Home Bag(GHB)Imagine for a minute that you work downtown
in a large city; maybe you take the underground or take a bus to work every
day.
You are in a large office building with many floors,
thousands of people, and you are on the fifteen or twentieth floor.
If a disaster strikes, how are you going to get out? I mean
literally.
If there is an earthquake or a catastrophic man made event
how are you going to get out of your building? How are you going to get down
the street? How are you going to get home?
Do you want to be one of the people covered in dust
wandering around in shock? I don’t.
But I have my Bug out
Bag you say!
Oh really, where is it? Even if it is in your car it is
useless to you at this point. The car park is at street level and possibly
hundreds of yards away. That could mean life or death in this situation and you
need to act now.
Even if you could get to your Bug Out Bag, how much good
would it do you in this environment? Most people’s B.O.B. is packed for
survival with wilderness Camping gear, food, clothing, etc.
A Get Home Bag contains an entirely different set of tools
and serves one purpose: To get you from wherever you are to your Home.
How to Choose an
Urban Survival Bag
Your GHB should contain things that are going to get you out
of the building like a crowbar. Things to help you make it through the
aftermath like water and breathing masks.
Things you might use to help rescue others like flashlights
or radios. Things that will help you on what could be a very long walk home
such as food and maybe shoes.
Clearly a GHB is not a Bug Out Bag. Sure they have some
overlap, but a GHB can be much smaller, less weight conscious, have more
specific tools, and be planned for one purpose. Do you have one cached in your
office or place of work?
Gear for your Get Home Bag:2. A Bug Out Plan So you made it
home, now what? Let’s assume that the SHTF out there.
You have surveyed the situation and determined that the city
is in mass chaos and you need to get out now. What do you do? Again, you have
your Bug Out Bag, but you still have to get out of the city.
Do you have a Bug Out
Plan?
For our purposes here, let’s assume that your Bug Out Plan
needs to get you from your home to your serious survival cache or Bug Out
Location outside of the city.
I understand that not everybody has caches hidden in various
places, and even fewer people have a dedicated Bug Out Location. While you
should probably be working on that, you still need a Bug Out Plan.
There’s no way I can go through all of the various problems
you might encounter while trying to bug out of your city so you will have to
plan for yourself.
What I will give you are some questions to consider and one
rule: Contingency. Is your way out double, triple and quadruple backed up?
If the motorways are shutdown do you have an A road route?
If no roads are passable do you have an off road route?
If driving is out of the question do you have a planned
walking or riding route?(Do you have maps of your area in your Bug Out Bag?)
Do you have a
rendezvous point with other family members?
A Bug In Plan Let’s back up a minute. Pretend you just got
home again, but this time you surveyed the situation and decided that you are
not in immediate danger but are still not at situation normal.
Now what do you do? A Bug In Plan is for emergency
situations where you can stay in your own home but have to rely on your own
preparations to survive.
This might just mean that you will be without power or water
for an extended period. Maybe it means you actually can’t leave your home at
all for whatever reason.
What plans do you have in place to live like this? A Bug in
Plan should include food and water preparations first and foremost.
What will you eat since all of the food in your refrigerator
is going to be bad soon? Do you really want to live on the backpack meals out
of your Bug Out Bag when you don’t have to?
How much water do you have stored? Do you have a sewage
system set up? (No water=nose wage: it’s always the little things….) Do you
have unprepared neighbours’ to worry about? (To help or guard against?)
Starting out in a survival situation in an urban environment
is almost an immediate set-back compared to those bugging out from more rural
areas, but with a Get Home Bag, a Bug Out Plan, and a Bug In Plan you are
better off than most people.
Survival Preparedness
is a process or a condition of being prepared to survive.
To Survive. The phrase could be taken literally – that is,
to stay alive. The words, ‘to survive’, could also be interpreted less
literally – more like staying healthy or healthier than otherwise.
In the context of survival preparedness, some will describe
this notion to its very basic core – like the ability to survive in the
wilderness without any modern help whatsoever, you are on your own, life and
death circumstances, black and white.
Others will describe survival preparedness more-or-less in
the context of living within today’s modern society parameters, and utilizing
the modern tools available today in order to prepare or be prepared for various
problems that may occur tomorrow.
What I’m trying to say is that there are some ‘survival
preparedness’ “preppers” that are more hard-core than others and I’ve noticed
that the movement has been coined with two labels in an apparent attempt to
delineate their core values.
I’m not so sure that I agree with labels and definitions,
knowing that there are all sorts of ‘shades of grey’, but having said that, the
two labels are Survivalists and Preppers.
Survivalists are the hard core while the Preppers are the
soft core. Again, I do not agree with the labelling here, but the fact is that
it exists.
The Prepper is thought of as someone who is fully
functioning within the system of modern society, preparing for minor
disruptions that may come their way, while the Survivalist is considered to be
on the edge, perhaps already hunkered down in their bunker or survival retreat
– ready for Armageddon.
As in all walks of life, there are truly the extremes, and
lots of in-between.When it comes to survival preparedness, I believe that the
spectrum is all pretty much OK, so long as it’s within the law of the land.
Since there are so very many different types of people,
personalities, skills, and interests, there will likewise be a multitude of
variety when it comes to how one prepares, and what they are preparing for.
People will interpret risks differently from one another and
people will be in varying vicinities of the risk themselves. Some face much
higher risk than others based on their geographical location, their occupation,
their own current financial and preparedness situation, etc.
Personally, I think that it’s great how more and more
ordinary folks are waking up and realizing that things are not all Rosy out
there and that there are very real risks facing us all as the world’s economic
systems are teetering on the brink of failure while the rumour of wars fill the
air.
There will always be ‘newbies’ to survival preparedness and
there will always be veterans of the same. There’s room for everyone.
Just remember this…
by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.
Minialarm device with an ultrabright white LED Review
This extremely loud alarm can be activated by pulling a
little safety pin that is located at the bottom of this tiny device.
This device is especially intended for those who, because of
the context in which they live or work, for reasons of personal safety, or some
kind of medical problem may require urgent assistance from those around them.
German Technology.
Batteries included and ready to go.
Manual in several languages, including English.
This small personal alarm comes with a lanyard so you can
wear it around your neck if you want or you could use its key ring to attach it
to a belt look or handbag clip.
Basically it is a small black flattish egg shaped piece of
black plastic with a small button to operate the small LED torch light that it
comes with.
This alarm is designed to draw attention to the user who
could perhaps have suffered a medical emergency, been robbed or in the case of
a prepper or survivalist waiting to be rescued a very loud alarm signal.
The alarm is activated by removing the pin which attaches
the alarm to the key ring and to stop the alarm signal you simply replace the
pin, once the alarm is activated the LED light begins to flash as well.
I like it and as it costs only £7.76 it is worth considering
getting one for those lonely walks home, for an elderly or sick family member
or to take with you on your next training session.
You can get yours from http://www.saferlifemarket.com/
UK Rules on Wild Camping
Camping in a camp site is fine, but there are many who want
to get even closer to nature.
They enjoy wild camping, which is pretty much what it says
on the tin, camping away from civilisation, and without the modern conveniences
of the camp site.
It’s not for wimps, since this is real 'roughing it', but
those who have the taste absolutely love it.
The thing to remember, though, is that all the land in the
United Kingdom is owned by someone, meaning that there are laws that apply to
wild camping, those that apply in England and Wales, and different ones in
force in Scotland.
Wild Camping In
England and Wales
For the most part there’s little problem with wild camping
in England and Wales, although if you’re going to be relatively close to a
farm, you should make sure you’re above the intake walls, and it’s probably
best not to advertise your presence.
In theory the farmer could tell you to move from his land,
but as long as you’re being careful and responsible, there should be no
problem.
Generally wild camping is quite acceptable if you’re more
than half a day’s hike from a camp site, although, within the UK, that’s
generally unlikely.
Within the National Parks, wild camping is a right. However,
there are certain limitations.
It has to be on access land (and not all land in a National
Park is access land), more than 100 metres from a road, and you must use a
tent, not a caravan – for pretty obvious reasons.
But in Dartmoor the right allowing wild camping is enshrined
in an amendment to the Countryside Act of 1949.
There will also be exceptions at times. In the Peak
District, for example, wild camping has often been banned when the moors are
dry to avoid the danger of fires which can be difficult to put out and can
easily destroy acres of land.
When wild camping, you do need to observe good camping
etiquette, by leaving the land just as you found it, taking all litter with
you, making sure there’s only a small group of you, and ensuring that your
toilet is more than 30 metres from any water, taking care to carefully bury
your toilet waste – so be sure you have a small digging implement with you.
You should never spend more than two nights in the same
camp, whether on private or National Park land.
Wild Camping In
Scotland
New laws about wild camping in Scotland came into effect in
2005, and set out exactly where it’s permissible to camp.
What it largely boils down to is that wild camping is fine
except in building sites, schools (and their grounds), around houses, in areas
where admission is charged, quarries, golf courses, sports fields (but only
when they’re in use), and around buildings.
You also need to be more than 100 metres from a road (there
are exceptions here with sites close to lochs, for instance, that have
traditionally been used for camping but might be close to roads).
Where no access rights exist, wild camping is not permitted
without specific permission, so you need to be very aware of where you are and
what kind of land it is before trying to set up camp.
You should not exceed
two, or at most three, nights in any one spot.
Survival Thoughts
We not only risk natural and man-made disasters, we risk
financial, commercial, political and social collapse. Things can go wrong
slowly - or things can go wrong very quickly.
Without trade, transport, banking or manufacturing, life
could quickly diminish to desperate subsistence. It would be uglier than most
people can imagine, and in the worse scenarios, you and your unprepared family
will likely die.
Do you see your lifestyle as a birth right? Do you believe
that you deserve perpetual prosperity? Will you choose a sustainable lifestyle
and reduce your standard of living? You may be forced to make these changes.
A societal collapse would be fast and deep, and would hurt
developed countries the most.
Yet survival will
have little to do with luck.
In 1977 New York City suffered a power failure for one
night. Over 3,000 arrests were made for looting, 400 policemen were injured,
500 fires were started, more than 25,000 emergency calls were placed and four
times the usual number of hospital emergency cases were admitted - all
following one lightning strike.
Civilization is a
veneer.
Many empires have declined and fallen. Persia, Greece,
Egypt, Rome, Turkey, Spain, China and Russia ... and many of their collapses
were self-inflicted, not from being attacked but more often from attacking
other countries. Wars are always costly.
American politicians wanted to police the world while
maintaining its people's lifestyles beyond their ability to pay.
America is losing its
wealth ... like so many countries before.
America's military
options seem to increasingly focus on exit strategies that are not too
humiliating.
So what can you do? An economic collapse will likely hurt
the richest countries most, although many if not all other countries will be
affected. Survival in any country will require broadly similar strategies.
Decide to live - choose to survive!
Be prepared - most people will do nothing!
Get yourself healthy and understand the risks!
Learn what to do before, during and after a collapse!
Read, read, read! Perhaps start with Global Research
Your best insurance? Decide to survive and stockpile
essentials!
Professor Sir John Beddington, (UK government chief
scientific adviser), says that the world faces a perfect storm of climate
change impacting food, energy and water.
Will your Social
Parachute Open?
Little information about the risk of collapse and the
difficulties of survival is available in any media. Despite the risk, survival
training is nearly non-existent. Government agencies tasked to prepare for and
mitigate disaster have been exposed as ineffective. I suggest that you assume
that you will be on your own.
Rule One: Don't trust
your government to protect you. You can trust them to protect themselves.
At best, life in the coming decades will become increasingly
local and smaller scale. This can happen if cheap energy decreases smoothly, if
people act intelligently and if global competition for food, water and oil does
not trigger world wars or financial hyperinflation.
At best, energy-dependent enterprises and cities will
gradually contract as the supply of cheap power (also cheap food, cheap
medicine, cheap communication and cheap education) dwindles.
At best, cheap power gradually vanishes, taking industry
with it. As cities are products of an industrial revolution based on cheap
energy, expect city and suburban homes to lose value catastrophically. Expect
people who invested in suburban mansions to lose their illusions of equity.
Expect the disruption of urban infrastructure to create
logistical nightmares for people stuck in cities.
At best, after years of collective paralysis, political
expediency and social upheaval will gradually increase. Your community probably
depends on electrical machines, electronics and computers ... how fast will
your community die without electric power?
At best, expect populations to migrate away from cities and
threatened areas, with food, oil and water shortages limiting movement. Greatly
reduced food production will result in vastly increased prices.
Expect a return to
rural values - and increasing interest in self-sufficiency and small family
farms.
Here are some more
companies to support
72 hour survival pack
Blizzard Survival jacket
Survival Ration Packs
SOL Complete Survival Kit and SOL Bivy Bag
The answer to rough ground sleeping
Simply your EDC supplier
For all your military equipment needs
NEW MRE’s
The Fire Piston
Great tasty MRE’s
The 95 Puukko Survival Knife
Gold Standard Whey Protein Isolates which are 90% pure
protein by weight
My Guest tonight is a very well-known youtuber with 70
videos posted in his name, he is a Prepper but with a small P he say’s and he
is into guns, hunting and shooting in general, my guest tonight is Mr
Fermanaghman.
Mr Fermanaghman
interview
The BOV
The Bug out Vehicle
is supposed to be the vehicle used to escape the city when disaster strikes.
While some events may force you to do so, what I want is a
vehicle that could be used for such a scenario, but also covers both several
other scenarios that are more likely, and at the same time works for the usual
everyday use.
Maybe “Survival Emergency Vehicle” would be a broader
definition, one that includes the possible bug out scenarios but takes into
account other considerations.
Financial Crisis considerations already being a fact and not
a “what if”, there are certain points to keep in mind so that your vehicle
responds to the economic crisis part of the equation as well.
The vehicle should be affordable. I suppose few of us have
money to throw away. Without compromising on quality, buying used tends to save
you lots of money that can be put to better use.
As a rule of thumb if you buy a vehicle that is three or
four years old and has less than 40.000 miles you’re still looking at a
relatively new car that has many years ahead of it, and you’re buying it for a
fraction of what it costs.
10.000 miles a year tends to be standard, be suspicious of
cars that have much more or much less than that and check that the general wear
of the car insides matches the miles it’s supposed to have.
Of course the vehicle
should be known for its ruggedness and reliability.
Repairs should be easy to make, hopefully you’ll be able to
do at least some of your own, so easy to understand car mechanics and engines
would be best.
The model should be popular enough so that mechanics are
familiar with them and spare parts are both easy to find and affordable.
Regarding efficiency, this will be a vehicle that you’ll be
using mostly for driving on good roads. Maybe it doubles as your daily car as
well, so good millage is very important so as to be affordable to keep it fed.
Even in some evacuation scenario or emergency that requires
driving long distances, fuel efficiency means you get to cover more miles with
less of your scarce fuel resources, or using whatever you manage to scrounge
around.
If possible a manual gearbox would be preferred. It uses
less fuel, it’s mechanically simpler and you tend to have more control of the
vehicle. In some situations such as when
wounded or when there’s a driver with no experience with manual transmission,
perhaps then automatics are an advantage, so both have their pro and cons.
It should be able to deal with some off-road driving, drive
across mud, snow and sand. Even if this vehicle will be dealing with paved
roads 95% of the time, you don’t want to get stuck during an emergency or if
you ever have to drive around traffic or blocked vehicles.
Because of this, the vehicle should at least have the option
of 4WD. The chances of you needing it aren’t high, but if possible it would be
good to have that alternative. Here we will have to compromise to a degree
because off road capability, good road driving and efficient gas millage tend
to be mutually excluding.
Don’t forget that a fuel efficient people carrier may take
your entire family and gear twice the distance a fuel thirsty 4.0 4×4 can. Not
to mention that it’s much cheaper to driver on a daily basis. Think small 4x4
road capability, you don’t need a monster rock climber.
The vehicle should be small enough so as to manoeuvre around
debris, car wreck, or whatever may be blocking the road. You want a car that
has some muzzle, but agility makes for a more convenient vehicle for daily
driving and when you need to move fast during emergencies as well.
At the same time, it should be big enough to fit your entire
family and your supplies. Again we’ll
have to compromise and go for some medium sized vehicle, not too big, not to
small, but something that seats 5 with room to spare.
You might get away with a smaller 3-door 4x4 if you’re on
your own but always plan on needing some room later on.
You could always consider a smaller vehicle but add a
trailer one advantage would be that a trailer could be left camouflaged while
you take off on a mission where speed and agility might be the order of the day.
Dirty Bomb Attack
A Dirty bomb attack is now a 'real threat' to Britain as
nuclear waste smugglers swap tips online, Foreign Office warns
Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt used a speech in
London to warn of the dangers posed by a rise nuclear weapons being smuggled
around the world.
Alistair Burt said countries around the world face a 'real
and global threat' of a nuclear terror attack. South Korean radiologists have
been pictured taking part in an exercise in dealing with a possible radioactive
terror attack at the Kimpo airport
He warned that
information freely available on the internet combined with nuclear material
becoming more widely available means an attack, once ‘unthinkable’ is not a
‘real and global threat’.
Mr Burt, who has responsibility for our counter-terrorism
policy, said the UK’s National Security Strategy identified nuclear terrorism
as a primary danger to Britain.
He said: ‘Nuclear terrorism is a real and global
threat. A successful attack, no matter
where in the world it came, would be catastrophic.
Catastrophic for the immediate devastation and terrible loss
of life, and for the far-reaching consequences – psychological, economic,
political, and environmental.
Such an attack was unthinkable just a generation ago. But it is now a possibility we need to
confront with the utmost vigilance.’
In today’s world of modern communication, information is
spreading faster. Like nuclear energy,
this brings huge benefits, but it also brings significant risks. There is more information about nuclear
weapons on the internet than there ever has been.
As is the case in cyberspace, the danger is stateless in
geographical space. It is impossible for
any national government or police force, no matter how advanced, to contain on
its own.
Global smuggling networks are thriving. Criminal cells operate across borders and
across continents.’
He said the UK has
been at the ‘forefront’ of tackling illicit trafficking of nuclear material.
He also lifted the lid on the UK’s secretive Atomic Weapons
Establishment which works on detecting the trade in nuclear material. ‘This is a rare opportunity to publically
acknowledge that their work has been central to the defence of the United
Kingdom for over 50 years,’ he said.
Mr Burt’s stark warning came as he addressed a meeting in
London of experts from around the world discussing ways to prevent a
devastating attack.
His warning comes as global experts gather in London to plot
how to thwart catastrophic attacks that could kill thousands.
Fears were high that a bomb attack would target the London
Olympics this summer. Last month Senior Foreign Office Minister Baroness Warsi
warned: ‘Nuclear terrorism remains one
of the greatest threats to our global peace and security.
The Foreign Office is working with dozens of countries to
bolster the UN Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism.
The convention allows for international cooperation in the
investigation, prosecution and extradition of anyone plotting terrorist acts
involving radioactive material or a nuclear device.
You know I believe that we cannot prevent these terrorists
from attempting a “dirty bomb” attack, but as preppers and survivalists we can
bloody well learn what to do if it does happen.
Remember that a dirty bomb is not a nuclear bomb OK, it is
in fact a chemical explosion with radioactive material and or either mixed in
to the explosive or encasing the explosive so that when detonated the blast
throws the radioactive material into the air which is then spread by the wind
downwind.
The initial causalities would be very low as the explosion
would not need to be large, and in any case the objective of the explosion is
not to kill but to disperse the radioactive material around the explosion site.
It is for this reason that I classify a “Dirty Bomb” as a
denial weapon, by that I mean denial of access to an area for some length of
time, i.e. a Dirty Bomb detonated in Dover for example with its 7,000 lorries
alone coming into the UK everyday would do what the German U-boats failed to do
in one fell swoop.
And don’t forget the
tourist and business travel from our busiest channel seaport.
The same denial effect would cause absolute economic havoc
if a Dirty Bomb was detonated in and around the City of London square mile, at
Canary wharf or indeed the centre of any major city in the UK.
The length of the denial period would depend on the levels
of radioactive materials used in the explosion and the delivery method.
By this I mean that if a Dirty Bomb was detonated in a
confined area say a ships hold or an underground car park its effects would be
reduced in relation to one that was detonated on a ship’s deck or on a street
in a city centre.
Remember that our first line of defence against a Dirty Bomb
is the wind as the radioactive material can only go were the wind blows it so
it you are upwind then you are OK.
If however you are downwind then you must react as if it was
radioactive fallout heading your way and stay indoors until the all clear is
given.
This period I would have thought would be quite short as the
radioactive material will not be blown too high in the air so it will naturally
settle closed to ground zero in any case and also it will be less intense in
radioactivity.
The RIBZ Front Pack Review
The RIBZ front pack is made of 210d water resistant rip stop
nylon. The ribs pack weighs approx. 11 oz. All components are water resistant
and have proven durability in the most extreme of conditions.
With an average storage capacity between 500 and 700 cubic
inches, you can comfortably relocate your desired weight in the front packs.
The use of a front pack repositions a portion of your weight forward which
reduces your overall shoulder stress and increases comfort, mobility, and
balance.
A front pack also creates the illusion of carrying a lighter
load. Though the RIBZ front pack was designed with ultra-light backpacking
intentions, any outdoor activity where easy access of equipment is critical is
where it proves beneficial.
RIBZ front pack can be used alone as a vest but is primarily
designed to work with your existing backpack as increased functionality.
RIBZ Front Packs are the missing link for prepper and
survivalist alike in fact they are for anyone who enjoys wild wilderness
activities from shooting and fishing to hiking and walking in fact anyone who
need easy access to the gear they need the most often whilst enjoying the
outdoors.
Made from water-resistant rip stop nylon (210d), and
weighing in at about 11 ounces while empty, the RIBZ pack can handle up to 800
cubic inches of gear and up to 10 pounds in load bearing weight,
This means that you can split part of your pack weight to
the front of your body, which makes real sense as you can keep your most used
items in the RIBZ just were you need them to hand. The pack is designed to be
an addition to a backpack, but can also be worn alone as a gear vest.
Now wearing it alone as a gear vest makes perfect sense as
you have your most used kit to hand. However it comes into its own when worn
with a backpack because to access your most used kit you do not need to stop,
take your backpack off undo it remove the item re do the bag put it back on and
start moving again.
I like to wear it just above my waist sort of across my
belly as this leaves enough room for my backpack waist belt to fit.
The RIBZ can if you want be worn higher up across your
chest. I carry my fire starting kit, torch, mobiles, high energy bars, survival
blanket, Sol bivy bag, multi tool, Survivor knife, compass, map, Purificup and
some paracord very easily indeed.
It is for me a multi-use piece of kit that the more I use
the more I find uses for it. Let me explain, when I go fishing I like to travel
light up and down the bank with everything I need to hand in the RIBZ front
pack, when I go shooting there it is again just were you need it for bino’s,
ammo, drink, knife, scrim net, bird call, the list of its uses just keeps
growing.
That’s now forgetting walking, hiking, survival training,
EDC carry, and even baby items when I’m out with the grand kids. In all there
are unlimited uses for the front pack. Front packs are the best compliment to
any outdoorsman’s gear when accessibility, functionality, mobility and
simplicity are required.
From horseback riding, long distance biking, motorcycling
and kayaking, in fact all sports where fast and easy access of gear is
essential, a front pack is your best solution.
For the serious backpacker certain tools and equipment are
essential for the trip. A GPS, map, compass, Mobile phone, first aid kit,
survival equipment and trail snacks are just a few.
These items often need to be readily accessible or placed in
a location that does not disrupt the contents of the backpackers load. A front
pack allows consistent access to these items without the removal of travellers
pack.
Placing a small amount of equipment forward on the torso
drastically improves overall balance, comfort and mobility.
The RIBZ front pack is great it really is and I’m sure that
you will find even more uses for the RIBZ front pack.
Check them out and order yours at http://www.ribzwear.com/
Travelling with Vehicles during a Crisis or Survival Situation
In case of an emergency or crisis situation it is good if
you have your vehicle in a good working condition and with some basic gear in
it.
A vehicle can serve
as transport for wounded or as fast transport during an evacuation.
A vehicle intended to be used during evacuation is often
referred to as a Bug Out Vehicle (BOV). A car with four-wheel drive is good for
getting around in off road driving and if the roads are covered with snow. Make
sure that the fuel in your car doesn’t get too low, check the tyres regularly
and maintain a good service.
Make sure to keep your windscreen clean so can get a good
view. I strongly suggest that you get some extra rear view mirrors so that your
passenger can help you keep an eye out as well.
Every year over 3,300 people die in motor vehicle accidents
in the UK alone. When you are driving always take your time and use the
seatbelt. The faster you drive the more likely you are to get killed in an
accident.
Never drink alcohol or use drugs when driving. If the
weather is bad or the visibility low adjust your speed accordingly.
Using Smartphone’s and text messaging while driving are
other activities that can often result in accidents. Remember that even if you
don’t engage in these activities when you are driving others do. Stay alert.
There are combination safety tools with a seat belt cutter
and glass breaker that is very good to have in your car in case of an accident.
Victorinox has a model of the Swiss Army knife called Rescue Tool that has a
seatbelt cuter, glass breaker and other features.
A Bug Out Bag (BOB) or Get Home Bag (GHB) in addition with
appropriate clothing and footwear should be brought along if you have to
abandon your vehicle and make it back by foot.
Vehicle Emergency
Equipment
First Aid Kit
Road Map, Compass and GPS
Things that help you stay warm; extra clothing, wool
blankets, sleeping bags. It may also be a good idea to include equipment to
build a fire and some handwarmers.
Some Water and Food
Some sources of Light; Flashlight or Headlamp and extra
Batteries (lithium). Chemical Light Sticks are a good addition if you have to
make reparations or change a tire during the night.
A signal vest is a useful addition if you have to leave your
vehicle during low visibility conditions like a snowstorm or during the night.
Extra Fuel
Folding or Compact Shovel like the E-Tool
Axe, Chainsaw or Folding Saw
Short Wave Radio or Citizen Band (CB) Radio
Jack, Spare Tire , Tier Iron and Fix-A-Flat Spray.
Adjustable Wrench, Duct Tape and Screwdriver
Leather working Gloves and Latex Gloves
Fire Extinguisher
Driver License, Insurance Information, Registration and
Repair Handbook
Windshield Scraper and Towel
Snow Chains (for winter conditions)
Towing Cable
Jumper Cables
Secure all equipment. If you are in a car crash and haven’t
secured your equipment it may cause severe damage to you. Even light weight
items may become extremely dangerous in a high speed crash.
Some basic equipment can also be useful to have if you ever
get caught in a traffic jam. Especially during winter conditions people often
get stranded because of accidents and severe weather. If the weather is severe
I recommend that you either wait until the weather clears or take precautions
before you leave.
Anticipate that the travel may take much longer than you
first thought and bring extra clothing, a vacuum bottle with something warm to
drink, something to eat and water.
Make sure that you
always travel with at least two persons in every vehicle if possible.
Always travel with two vehicles or more if possible. If you
are travelling with two vehicles walkie-talkies are good tools for
communicating between the vehicles.
Make a radio check before you leave. The passenger should
act as radio operator and navigator.
Make sure to inform someone about where you are going, what
route you are planning to take, who is travelling in the party, what you are
planning to do and when you are planning to get back.
Also make sure that everyone in the party that’s going knows
this information.
Don’t let the distance between the vehicles get too big, if
you get pulled over at a check point make sure to park the vehicles close
together so that no one can get between the vehicles. When you park your car,
park in the direction you intend to leave.
Don’t leave any valuable items in plain view, for example on
the dashboard. Cover all equipment. Don’t carry fancy jewellery or expensive
watches in plain sight.
Close all the windows
and lock the doors before you go.
Don’t have alcohol containers, illegal drugs or something
else that is illegal or can be seen as suspicious in your car. Be aware of your
passengers so that they don’t carry anything illegal.
Bikes are an excellent way to get around and really good
exercise. I suggest that you get a good reliable bike that you can use every
day and a mountain bike that you can use if you want to go off road. A bike
rack for your car is a good accessory if you want to take your bike with on a
camping or hiking trip.
The most important safety feature is off course a good
helmet, When you take your bike out I recommend that you carry your Pocket
Survival Kit and Folding Knife, Swiss Army Knife or a Multi Tool. Wenger has a
special Swiss Army knife called Biker 37
A good front light and a headlamp plus a red rear light are
good when you ride your bike at night. A small GPS unit that you can mount on
your bike is available from Garmin;
The Edge 705. Gaiters are good for keeping your trousers
away from the chain.
Checklist for other
Equipment:
Puncture Repair Kit
Pump
Spare Valve
Adjustable Wrench or Barbell Spanner
Screwdriver
Helmet
Water Bottle or Water Bladder
Stick to what you know, keep it simple, think, then act.
A Tough Question
My wife asked me yesterday, what I plan to do with family
members who don’t prep, in the event of an actual SHTF emergency.
My brothers and sister and their families are some of those
non-preppers, even though they know all about my views on that subject. On a side note, does it tarnish my prepper
credibility when I can’t even convince my own siblings to prep?
I think that there are two questions in my Wife’s question,
firstly will I help them if the SHTF? how far do I plan on helping, in terms of
number of people/days? And if at all, I am going to help them in the first
place.
These are questions I feel that every prepper must ask
themselves when they start prepping, and it probably needs to be re-asked every
few years or so as situations change.
I figure the answer to the first question will depend on the
type of the emergency.
If it’s a small local emergency, like a house fire, flood or
say the loss of their roof in high winds then yes, I am of course going to help
them.
I can offer them a place to stay. I know my food preps would
feed the family for some time.
What about a major
SHTF event?
No one is perfect, in fact we all have weak points and
perhaps illness’s to. What they may not have in health, they could make up for
with experience, knowledge and skills.
Bringing extra adults (who you know) into my group would
help greatly as there would be even more people to forage food and fire wood
etc. and also allow for some sort of guard rota to be set up.
Remember if there are long standing fractions between you
and the proposed incomers then stop, think, and re-think, can you handle that
level of friction and argument? Do you need it?
Perhaps joining up is not going to be good for you, perhaps
all you can offer is some of your prepps as you decide to not let them in.
Before any of this happens and you are faced with a decision
of the heart, why not plan for what you would do IF this situation arose in the
first place.
Work out, (knowing your family members etc.) how much extra
food and water etc. You would need if they joined your group.
How long that food and water would last and where they all
would sleep. As preppers we usually only prep for our immediate family so in
this case the numbers change and we must take this into account.
Perhaps the actual question is, would I help in the first
place, are my family behind any decision I make? can I afford to provide
exactly the same quality of prepps for my extended family as I do for my
immediate family?
If I and my family agree to help then should my extended
family members help me financially in some way as it is they who will benefit
should SHTF
My sister and her family live near Birmingham 130 miles
away, one brother and his family live down south 135 miles away and the other
and his family live about 15 miles away.
Two are too far away to make it here if the SHTF, which
means I don’t really only have one to prep for. And on one level, it is not
good because I love them dearly, and want them to make it too.
I think that it might help me and my conscience if I inform
my brothers and sister that I cannot be there from them all and perhaps include
information on what to do to start prepping for themselves in the future and
explain that not to do so is very serious indeed, in fact I would go so far as
to say it would be like planning to not survive.
In conclusion I would finish by telling them that I have
planned for me and my immediate families’ survival and ask them not to rely on
knocking on my door.
As I have said many times before, this question is one of
the toughest you will have to ask and now is the time to ask it.
Gather your immediate family together and discuss it and
come up with your own answer then act on it.
Poaching is Not What it Was
Once, the poacher was a man with big pockets in his raincoat
sneaking on to an aristocrat's land to steal game for his family pot. Now he is
likely to be part of a gang from town, in it for hard cash, rampaging through
the countryside with guns, crossbows or snares.
Police in rural areas across Britain are reporting a
dramatic increase in poaching, as the rise in food prices and the reality of
recession increases the temptation to deal in stolen venison, salmon, or rarer
meat and fish.
Organised and sometimes armed gangs of poachers are accused
of behaving dangerously, intimidating residents, causing damage to crops or to
gates and fences.
Squads have also been
out in the countryside "lamping", poachers using lights to transfix
animals.
There have even been reports of drive-by poachers, aiming
guns through the open windows of moving vehicles to pick off deer or other
game. Others go about their work more discreetly, knowing that in some parts of
the countryside, if they are careful, their activities can pass unnoticed for
weeks.
Here in North
Yorkshire recently two whole flocks of sheep have been stolen.
Animals from the smallest shellfish to stags are in danger.
Last month, a survey team who visited a river in a remote part of Scotland,
were shocked to find that poachers had stolen mussels, with a potential value
of nearly £20,000, from the river bed. They were prised from the bed of the
South Esk river, near Brechin, Angus.
Freshwater mussels have been protected by law since 1998. To
kill, injure or disturb the habitat of a single mussel is punishable by a fine
of £10,000, implying that the South Esk poachers, if caught, could face a fine
of £1.3m.
A single pearl can fetch £150, and a necklace can be worth
£15,000, but the poachers may have difficulty making that sort of money,
because jewellers are banned by law from buying loose pearls.
“This was not an opportunistic half-hour in the river,"
Peter Cosgrove, the scientist in charge of the survey team that discovered the
crime, said. "We worked hard to find these mussel beds and that suggests
the pearl fishers must have made a similar effort.
They would have had to have systematically been in the river
for many days. In all my years doing this type of survey, this might be the
largest kill I've seen."
Last week, rural landowners and businesses in Scotland
launched a new campaign to get the public to report instances of poaching or
illegal hare or deer coursing.
Scotland's National Wildlife Crime Unit has records of 335 incidents
of poaching in 18 months, with the numbers now running at more than 20 a month.
During August, the
number of recorded incidents was 22, almost double the previous year's figure.
"Poaching is particularly common on the urban
fringes," a spokesman for the Scottish Rural Property and Business
Association said. "It's idiots going out into the country with guns, or
crossbows.
And there are snares
being set by idiots, really for the hell of it. Salmon poaching is on the
increase.
This is not a case of stealing one for the pot: it's on an
industrial scale. There are people trawling fish traps in the river beds that
will hold a dozen or two dozen fish."
In Hampshire, poachers have struck 14 times in the past
month, and police have met local residents and warned them about taking the law
into their own hands. Incidents are now three times as common as they were a
year ago. One gamekeeper chased poachers from a farm near Corhampton at speeds
of up to 80mph, until they rammed his vehicle to ensure their escape.
The number of incidents reported in the area last month was
three times the figure for the same period in 2007. Charlie Flindt, of Manor
Farm, near Alresford, in Hampshire, said poachers were stealing deer,
pheasants, partridges, and chickens.
Two Shetland ponies have also been stolen, though unlike the
stolen game, they may not be destined for the cooking pot.
"I was born in that house across the yard, and for the
first time in 47 years I'm keeping a baseball bat beside the back door,"
he said recently.
"I have to do nightly sweeps of the fields. We are
angry, and we are very scared, and someone is going to get hurt at this
rate."
In Wales, the Welsh Assembly launched an environment action
plan last month to combat wildlife crime, a category that covers poaching and
other offences such as the killing of birds of prey, or badger-baiting, which
used to be prevalent in South Wales although the culprits seem to have shifted
their activities to west Carmarthenshire or Gloucestershire.
One of the more unusual prosecutions brought by wildlife
officers in Wales involved the theft of 200,000 wild bluebell bulbs in North
Wales, for which two men were arrested and fined £7,000.
Yorkshire police have also warned landowners to be on the
look-out after complaints that poaching is on the increase.
This month, police stopped a van in Wetherby High Street. In
it they found four men, all from Bradford, dressed in camouflage, with three
lurcher dogs, lighting equipment, and a large number of freshly caught rabbits
and hares.
The men are to appear
before magistrates.
In Henley-on-Thames, in south Oxfordshire, the local MP,
John Howell, has asked police to meet farmers and gamekeepers furious about the
increase in poaching, after several dead hares and vehicles tracks were found
on two farms.
The owner of the
farms, Michael Colston, said recently:
"What I really fear is that with 10 attacks in just
three weeks, some people are beginning to talk about taking the law into their
own hands. Something could very well happen. I am very much against this, of
course, but these gamekeepers, farmers and residents are terrified."
And it is not just
rural areas that are being targeted.
On Hampstead Heath, in north London, a woman out walking her
dog last week had a scare when the animal emerged from a dip in the pond with
blood pouring from his mouth, after an illegal three-prong hook left by
poachers had caught in its tongue.
Dr Colin Shedden, the Scottish director of the British
Association for Shooting and Conservation said: "Poaching has become an
increasingly common problem over the past 10 years.
Such offences are not usually committed by local people, but
more likely by serious criminals travelling some distance.
"There are many aspects to these crimes, and poaching
can involve different species, especially those with high resale value such as
salmon and venison."
The president of the Country Land and Business Association,
Henry Aubrey-Fletcher, said deer-poaching posed a particular danger. "Many
poachers are inexperienced shots and there are risks of the animal being only
wounded and not killed outright," he said. "If they are shooting at
night and on ground they do not know there is also a raised risk of
accidentally shooting someone or something else by mistake."
Financially times are tough and they are going to get
tougher I believe so these incidences will increase and may even put the normal
countryside citizen in mortal danger.
Whatever is the outcome it can only make it even more
difficult for the “Normal” everyday poacher who wishes only to feed his family
with one for the pot.
Further Companies to
Support
Uses natural fuel
EDC steel tools
Highlander Trojan Hydration Pack – Multicam
CUDEMAN HEAVY DUTY OLIVE WOOD BUSHCRAFT KNIFE - 111L
Alum Crystal and natural spa products
Tool logic Survival 11 Credit Card
BackHawk Web duty Belt
Guppie Multi=tool
Go Survival Pack
Beautiful Handmade Catapults
1 Person BASIC Backpack Survival Kit, the back pack that
does it all
DD Hammock –The ultimate in Travel Hammocks
Elzetta ZFL-M60 Tactical Weapon-Grade LED Torch
Ultimate Adventurer Survival Kit everything in one kit
Adjustable Knife Lanyard Review
Handmade knives by James D. Sanders
How to Choose a BOL
When disaster strikes, you need a safe place for you and the
ones you care about to keep your heads down: your bug out location.
The basic idea is to get out of harm’s way to a prepared
area with supplies and gear which can sustain you. Choosing where to locate
this prepared area is an important decision that requires planning
Before getting into your personal remote location belonging
to you, it is important to note that depending on the kind of disaster and its
reach, your best bet may be to drive to another county to stay with a relative.
Your bug out location does not need to be an isolated piece
of owned property, and if you do have family connections you can leverage, it
may be your best bet.
This is one of the first things you need to consider
carefully.
At first thought, a bug out location would be as far away as
possible from your home to ensure the best odds that whatever disaster it is
will not impact you. While there are definitely some merits to the very remote
location, there are some drawbacks to consider.
First, if your intention is to stock this location with
supplies, you have to understand how difficult stocking it will be if you live
extremely far away. If it’s too remote, stocking it from the nearest shop may
also be an ordeal.
While you should have extra fuel anyway, an extra-long
journey presents greater fuel risks, and at minimum, forces you to carry a
little more.
If your location is very far from your house, you may be
very unlikely to ever want to go to it when there is no disaster.
If you are spending hard-earned money on rural land, you
should want to be able to take advantage of it as a quiet, natural holiday
space, and so if it’s prohibitively far away, you lose that advantage.
If there is a disaster where you’re on the fence about whether
or not to bug out, the pain in the bum distance might dangerously deter you
from leaving.
That said, quite obviously the location has to be a decent
distance away from your main home, otherwise there’s a risk that whatever
disaster has convinced you to bug out will impact your bug out location as
well.
Depending on where you like, a good two hour drive is
probably sufficient.
How you choose your Bug-Out-Location will depend on further
factors, such as:
Can you afford to purchase your own location?
Do you have a trusted group of people that can purchase a
location together?
Is it easy for you to get to?
Can you get there if you had to walk?
Is it safe from the same or other potential hazards?
If you’re lucky enough that you can afford to purchase your
own location or to get in on one with some other people you will want to look
for a location that is preferably in a different region from your main living
location.
The best site will be property you can purchase that also
has access to water, hunting, wood, and enough space to grow your own food.
Also take into consideration the security of the location as well.
If others can find it or know where it is, and you have
supplies stocked up there is the chance that they could be gone before you get
there or even worse taken over and occupied.
Again, as I have already said consider how long it would
take for you to get to the location. If you’re traveling alone and have the
knowhow to survive the more remote and further away you can make your location.
If you have a family that you need to take care of you MUST
consider locating your Bug-Out-Location closer and will likely have to make it
more accessible.
What if you’re not lucky enough to be able to afford your
own property? The first thing I would do is find a relative or even a friend
who lives in a remote rural location.
At the very least find a relative or friend that lives
outside of the region in which you live that will not be impacted by the same
event that would cause you to leave and seek shelter.
Once you choose the relative or friend, talk to them about
your plans, and as a start offer to set them up at your location if something
should happen to cause them the need to leave their location.
Once you agree to work together in this respect, you can work
together to get supplies and set up your Bug-Out-Location.
As a last resort you can always use the option of Bugging-In
which is when you choose to stay put and wait out any event.
Not the best option especially in a fire or flood situation
and you’ll be taking your life into your own hands.
PREPARING TO SURVIVE THE COMING COLLAPSE
A friend of mine with as you would say “a few bob”, asked my
opinion on what he should do with his cash now that he is pulling it out of the
markets.
My reply was simple: start preparing yourself and your
family to be self-sufficient. I’m far from being a doomsayer, but it is now no
longer whether hard times are coming, it’s simply a matter of when.
You can’t borrow yourself out of debt, and no matter how
much you try to nationalize financial institutions and throw good money after
bad, market forces and past mistakes that were not allowed to play out, as free
markets should, will eventually collect their toll.
The more money the bank of England prints to “save us,” the
worse inflation will be down the road. Couple all of that with a government
that wants to redistribute wealth that’s not theirs to play with, and we could
have the making of a disaster, the likes of which we’ve never seen
One thing’s for sure: this crisis has shocked a lot of
people into the real world, and they’re no longer listening to idiotic advice
from talking heads. Nowadays, learning how to survive literally is taking
precedence over learning how to survive the downturn of their 50(k).
The survival food industry is booming, training is on the
increase. In the mid-90s, the politicians and news media labelled the
self-defence advocates and survivalists and Preppers as “kooks” and “conspiracy
nuts.”
Nowadays, the white collar businessman is joining that mind-set,
buying dehydrated food and not trusting the government to assure his survival.
The populace is scared and asking “what should we do,” but no one is really
responding to them on a level they can understand.
This article is not intended to be a long-term survival
plan, since that will vary with the location, skill level and special
circumstances of the people involved. It is, however, a survival plan that will
get you through the initial stages of a crisis, since this period always seems
to be the most dangerous.
Forget about buying gold and silver with your cash. Gold is
a good investment against inflation but a poor provider of calories. It’s even
harder to trade for usable goods, since the average person knows little about
it, I would say.
The number-one priority should be buying food that can be
stored safely for a period of time. Dehydrated food and canned goods are the
way to go, since they don’t require power to keep them from spoiling when
properly rotated. How much should you buy?
The “survivalist” standard is a one year’s supply of food
for those you intend to feed. That’s a lot of food, and I’m not sure you will
actually need that much to make it through the most dangerous times of a
crisis.
The main things we’re worried about in the coming months
(years) are 1) inflation driving food prices high, 2) sporadic food shortages
due to panic (as seen recently in Iceland), and 3) a hunger-based increase in
crime.
So, I suggest a minimum of 3 to 6 months’ supply of food for
those who cannot sustain themselves from their own land with established
gardens and crops. If you can afford more, then by all means buy more, since a
proper food storage program means never wasting and always rotating.
Whatever you do, DO NOT let anyone know about your food
storage program or where it’s located.
It is also wise to have potable water stored in case there’s
a disruption to your community’s water source or power grid. Plastic water
storage barrels and common bleach for purification are the best route. Do not
use your potable water for bathing. In a crisis it should be saved for drinking
purposes only.
Hands can be cleaned and sanitized using alcohol or
first-aid hand cleaners. Water from suspect sources can be boiled for cooking
purposes and to replenish your potable water. It should also be noted that
almost every home has at least 40 gallons of water already stored in their hot
water heater.
You should take an inventory of your first-aid cabinet and
get at least a six-month supply of your prescription medications. I realize
that most people will say that they cannot do this, since their doctor or
insurance will not allow that much at one time.
All you have to do is tell your doctor you are going on a
long trip and will be away from home for at least six months and you will be
able to buy a long-term supply of your meds. You may have to pay a little more
due to your insurance rules, but it’s worth it to have a stockpile of your
medications.
Once you have your prescriptions in place, make sure you
have extra pairs of glasses and also a plentiful supply of standard first-aid
supplies, such as wound management supplies, alcohol and other disinfectants,
OTC meds such as aspirin, Imodium, cold medications, etc.
If you would like to stock up on antibiotics and your doctor
won’t write a prescription, use a veterinary supply store. Vet antibiotics will
work just as good as human antibiotics, no matter what the college boys may
tell you. (Vet supply stores are also a good place to purchase general
first-aid items.)
Once you have everything in place, you may have to protect
yourself, your family and your supplies from the common street thug and or a
hungry person trying to feed his own family. The best way to do this is to not
let anyone know about your survival plan.
This includes your vicar and church members, Police,
government workers, next of kin, and anyone else you would normally trust with
your life. Trust no one now and you won’t be forced defend against them later.
While that may sound a little extreme, but I’ve seen on TV
people in countries with food shortages turn on each other to survive.
The bottom line is that while we may fantasize about
defending our family and food with weapons, most people are not mentally or
physically prepared to do it. My suggestion is to have a good home defence
shotgun. Backstop that with enough ammo and you’ll be good to go. Survival
works best when it’s kept simple and basic.
Making your home a hard target is something you can do now.
Installing a good alarm system that works on battery backup and is local
(meaning the alarm system notifies the homeowner instead of some rent-a-cop
monitoring a desk at an alarm centre) is a good start.
Outdoor infrared security cameras are also great early
warning devices for the occupants. Strategically placed perimeter fencing and
hedge rows with aggressive plants such as Prickly Pear will make it more
difficult for the criminal element to operate against your home.
Burglar bars on windows (that can be opened from the inside
for escape) and steel entrance doors with dead bolts are other additions that
make your house a less-than-desirable target.
You have to remember that the common thug is not that smart.
He’s looking for easy, quick access to hit a target and
escape. If you do not live in an area that can be modified to be defendable,
then move to a better location. If you cannot move, then map out and practice
an escape and evasion plan before a crisis occurs.
How much cash to have on hand has always been a question for
which there is no definitive answer? There is no way to predict how inflation
will affect the pound’s value, but I still think that in the beginning of any
crisis, standard pounds will still be able to purchase items easier than gold,
simply due to the fact that our system, at this stage, is not set up to trade
in gold.
Keep enough cash to bribe or buy your way out of a problem
or pick up useful tools from other individuals. If I had to put a value on it,
I would say have at least a month’s wages in cash in a safe place in your home.
Other survival issues that one most look at for the long
haul are communication and energy questions. Knowing what’s going on in the
rest of the world will give the survivor key indicators on how to plan for the
future, when to move, and what to expect.
No home should be without a good short-wave radio capable of
receiving the full spectrum of AM, FM and short-wave bands. If you don’t have a
small solar charger and rechargeable batteries, then make sure you stock up
(and rotate) the batteries you will need when the lights go out.
If you live in a remote location, then having a portable
generator and extra fuel comes in real handy for long-term survival scenarios.
If you store fuel, be sure to put stabilizer in it to keep it from going bad.
Also make sure you have spare parts and tools that may be
necessary to work on your generator, well pump, vehicle and other things that
you typically call a repairman to fix. If you’re not mechanically inclined,
then your library should include the books that walk you through the basic
concept of repairing everyday items.
Lastly, one thing that most people forget about when
preparing for a self-sufficient lifestyle is the type of clothing they buy.
I suggest always buying the best work-styled clothing you
can find. Forget about all the cool looking tactical clothing, since it usually
doesn’t hold up well in long-term situations and will simply make you a target
if anarchy comes to your street.
True survival is about working your ass off. Make sure your
clothes and boots are heavy enough to fit the bill and also make sure you have
the tools to repair any and all of your gear when needed.
There is no doubt in my mind that tough times are head of
us. How tough they will be is anyone’s guess, but the best bet is to always
plan for the worst and hope for the best.
Being able to survive long-term, means knowing a little bit
about everything and preparing in advance of a crisis.
As previously mentioned, survival is hard work that must be
practiced and performed every day of your life. This will probably weed out a
good portion of lazy people as being self-sufficient when a crisis hits.
This particular segment will become the moochers, looters
and criminals, taking advantage of the crisis and resorting to violence to take
what is not theirs. So, prepare now, don’t be obvious or outspoken about your
preparations, train your family well, keep your network small and be prepared
to face things you didn’t prepare for.
Do this and you will
exponentially raise your chances of surviving whatever the future holds.
Here is a Great Offer from the Wilderness Gathering
Roger and Dom who own and run the Wilderness gathering have
decided to offer the chance of winning a Wilderness Gathering Knife to
everybody who books in advance for this year’s Wilderness Gathering
You can book here at www.wildernessgathering.co.uk
All you have to do is simply book in advance and you'll
automatically be entered into the prize draw. Existing bookings are
automatically included.
This year’s WG knife will be similar in profile to the 10th
anniversary models offered last year in the “bushtool” type profile.
Roger says they will be made in O1 high carbon tool steel.
I'm looking into handle material choices at present; I aim to make them all the
same and am open to suggestions as per the handle material. Post on the
Wilderness Gathering Facebook pages with any thoughts.
Rogers two sites are www.bisonbushcraft.co.uk and www.wildernessgathering.co.uk or
call his office on 0845 8387062 you really won’t regret it.
My Mum
It is getting really bad here in the UK food prices are
taking off and many ordinary people are unable to put enough food on their
children’s plates every day of the week, the old time recipes of Mum and Mum’s
mum have been lost or to be more accurate “Never learnt” in the first place.
A whole generation of cooking knowledge has been abandoned
to fast food junk and TV meals, to burgers and chips, to so called chicken
nuggets and chips.
When was the last time you sat down with your family and ate
a Sunday lunch?
I remember sitting around the dinner table for an evening
meal with the whole family every day, it was prepared and cooked by mum and it
tasted great as well.
But it was more than tasty, it was nutritious, healthy and
was simply meat and two veg as the old saying goes. The meals where rotated so
that there was variety and to some extent they were controlled by budget but
never the less due to Mum’s ability to
prepare and plan interesting menus we survived.
It seems to me that these days young Mum’s buy pre-packed
food for their kids and by doing so they have no control over what their
children are actually eating and therefore they ingest high quantities of salt,
sugar and goodness knows how many E’s.
Old preparation skills have also been forgotten or not even
learned, for example, how many young Mum’s can dress game, clean fish, make
soup, make pastry, make bread, buns, scones, remember these are all the skills
that Mum’s where taught by their Mum’s and passed from generation to
generation.
These skills are every day survival skills, these skills are
the very skills that we as a people will be forced to use when SHTF, but there
is now a whole generation that cannot do these things anymore.
How will they and their kids survive when the pre-packed
food and tins run out, what will they eat.
There are many different ways that my Mum used to bulk out
our meals when times were hard, she used to put barley and or lentils in to
soups to make them more filling, she used to use chicken carcasses to make
soup, she even bought vegetable cuttings to make soups as well and you know
once she had put the barley and or lentils into the soup it tasted great and
really filled you up, what I remember is that there was always enough for
seconds.
The preparing of foods and the idea of bulking it out are
survival skills that my Mum used every day without thinking; she just got on
with it and survived.
Perhaps it was because Mum had gone through the war (she was
in fighter command) and carried on her frugal ways after the war I used to
think that made her such a great cook and provider, but you know I was wrong it
was her Mum she once told me that had shown her how to go on.
My Mum’s generation all knew how to make do and they
accepted that having to do so was a way of life and nothing special.
Survivalists and Preppers alike should embrace these make do
methods as not only do they work, they are very economic too and I feel that
they should now be included in all our prepping and planning as they make
sense..
Thanks Mum, I miss you.
Here are two great
Bushcraft shows for you to attend this year
The Bushcraft Show
It’s a jam-packed, three-day event filled will amazing
bushcraft activities that will take you, your friends and family on a bushcraft
and survival adventure that you’ll never forget. Whether you come for the day
or stay for the weekend, you can try your hand at woodland crafts, fire lighting,
shelter building, tracking, foraging, woodland games and so much more. Click
onto their site to learn more http://www.thebushcraftshow.co.uk
See YOU there between the 25 and the 27th of May
THE ELEVENTH WILDERNESS GATHERING 2013 15th to 18th August
The Wilderness Gathering has over the years become a firm
date in the diaries of those who enjoy bushcraft, nature and wilderness
survival skills. The previous ten years have seen this event grow from a small
event in one field with some traders and schools sharing bushcraft skills and
knowledge to a festival of wilderness living skills encompassing
bushcraft/survival and woodland crafts.
The show has grown into an event with something for all the
family with stories and music by the campfire in the evenings and skills
workshops and activities throughout the three whole days of the festival.
The Wilderness Gathering has without a doubt become the
premier family event for all those interested in bush crafts and the great
outdoors.
The show has bushcraft clubs for all age groups of children
to get involved in plus more activities for all including den building and
wilderness skills classes for all.
There are hands on demonstrations of game preparation, knife
sharpening, basha boat building, bowmaking, greenwood working, archery and axe
throwing and primitive fire lighting to name just a few. There are talks on
survival phycology, classes on falconry and wilderness survival fishing. All of
these skills are there for everybody and anybody to participate in.
You can probably pick up information on nearly all the
skills needed to live in the wilderness and prosper at The Wilderness
Gathering.
There is a wealth of good quality trade stands that are
carefully selected to be in theme for the show selling everything from custom
knives to tipis and outdoor clothing to primitive tools. The organisers have
even laid on a free service bring and buy stall where you can bring along your
used and unwanted kit and they’ll sell it for you.
There are local scout and explorer groups onsite promoting
the World Wide Scouting Movement as well helping out with some of the classes
and site logistics.
The catering is within the theme of the event with venison
and game featuring on the menus plus organic cakes and drinks. The woodland and
open field camping facilities (with hot showers) giving you the option to visit
for the whole weekend or just to attend as a day visitor.
Check out www.wildernessgathering.co.uk
or call 0845 8387062 you really won’t regret it.
