Failing to Prepare is Preparing to fail

"Surviving to Fight means Fighting to Survive"

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Sunday, 31 August 2014

Show Contents 31st August



Show Notes
This week I start the show with When You Know What Hits the Fan, then the The Ultimate Paracord Survival Bracelet Review, the Blizzard survival 10% Discount Offer, RITN Review, Support these companies, The threats we Face, The Ribzwear 30% Discount Offer, Survival Cooking Risks, The Wilderness121 10% Discount Offer, How Safe are You at Home? The Field Leisure 10% Discount Offer, More companies to support, The Buggrub 10% Discount Offer, The Benefits of Dandelions, The Hunters-Knives 10% Discount Offer, How much do you know? Having Problems Prepping? Your Bug-out Plan, Further companies to support, Worms and the Threat the Represent, Finding Water in an Urban Area.

When You Know What Hits the Fan
A recent study noted that the majority of people have enough food in their pantries to feed their household for about three days and that seemingly stable societies are really just nine meals from anarchy. With most of us dependent on just-in-time transportation systems to always be available, few ever consider the worst case scenario.
Future News Report
For tens of thousands of citizens that worst case scenario is now playing out in real-time. No longer are images of starving people waiting for government hand-outs restricted to just the third-world.
In the midst of crisis, once civilized societies will very rapidly descend into chaos when essential infrastructure systems collapse.
Although the army was on the streets before the event happened, there is simply no way for the government to coordinate a response requiring millions of servings of food, water and medical supplies
Many coastal residents who failed to evacuate or prepare reserve supplies ahead of the storm are being forced to fend for themselves.
Frustration and anger have taken hold, as residents have no means of acquiring food or fuel and thousands of trucks across the region remain stuck in limbo.
Limited electricity has made it possible for some to share their experiences
I was panicking to get food…there were massive queues but when I got there was no food left.
I’m not sure what has shocked me more, all the communities around me destroyed, or the 8 hour queues for fuel and food.
I have not really slept or had anything to eat for a week. I hope things start getting better around here soon.
These days a lot of people are impatient because they’re used to fast things. Fast food, fast internet, fast lines and fast shipping etc.
The smell burning houses is everywhere. People fighting for food. Pitch darkness, things are starting to become horrific for the unprepared, as food queues stretch for miles and Meals-Ready-To-Eat are in short supply:
A simple 72 hour survival kit and some basic hurricane preparedness would have prevented days of heartache for residents of stricken areas.
The vast majority of those waiting in mile-long long food queues, rummaging through the rubbish bins, and criticizing their government officials for a slow and insufficient response have no one to blame but themselves.
This may be harsh – but it’s true.
Disasters have happened before. And will happen again. Prepare or suffer the consequences.
The Ultimate Paracord Survival Bracelet Review
This bracelet far exceeds my expectations in every way. It is very well made I mean the quality is superb you can tell that it is meant to last and that a great deal of thought has gone in to its design.
If it looks rather deep there is a reason for this you see built within this paracord bracelet is a well thought out survival kit.
The kit is sealed in a waterproof flat plastic tube and includes the following
2 fishing hooks
1 artificial fly
Braid
1 Safety pin
Snare wire
2 quick release swivel clips
3 split shot
2 Puritabs
2 pieces of easy fire tinder
Just the basics but enough to put food in your belly and that is what I want any survival kit to do.
With this survival kit and some basic survival knowledge and in a survival situation anyone could provide food for themselves.
Having more than one hooks is really useful as if you put different baits on different hooks increases the chance of catching something to eat.
Remember to catch fish you must go were the fish are, so fish under or near structures under over hanging trees is a great place as fish wait there for falling grubs and insects etc.
If you have no luck fishing on the bottom (ledgering) then float you line down the river or float in on top of the water in a pond etc.
Night lines (illegal) pre SHTF can be used, this is absent fishing but you must fix it tightly to the bank and check it regularly.
Please consider getting one of these paracord survival bracelets, they are under £20 and well worth the money.
Simple email your requirements and you will receive a very fast delivery indeed. lastchancesurvival@hotmail.com


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RITN Review
In spite of Rite in the Rain's durability, it is totally recyclable as standard paper, which is untrue of synthetic, or poly coated papers. Simply recycle Rite in the Rain as you do other white or printed papers.
Rite in the Rain All-Weather Writing Paper is a patented substrate created for use in outdoor writing situations. Since this paper is designed for use in extreme conditions it is manufactured with the most durable yet recyclable components available.
This being said, the wood fibres we utilize for Rite in the Rain are purchased from FSC Certified sources. By doing this it insures our product is manufactured with high environmental and social standards and practices.
WHAT IS RITR IN THE RAIN?
Well it is patented, environmentally responsible, all-weather writing paper that sheds water and enables you to write anywhere, in any weather.

HOW DOES IT WORK?
This 100% recyclable wood-based paper sheds water, moisture, dirt and grime and myriad of other substances allowing you to continue to write on your notepad or copier paper. Ensure your project stays productive and insure your data!

DO I NEED A SPECIAL PEN?
A pencil works best. A pen that will work in wet environments will also work fine on RITR. Using a pencil or all-weather pen, Rite in the Rain ensures that your notes survive the rigors of the field, regardless of conditions.
CAN I COPY OR PRINT?
Yes! Copy and laser print your own all-weather forms and documents on Rite in the Rain Copier and Laser paper.
We also have, Weatherjet, an ink-jet version, available.
After a year of running a notebook through its paces I was impressed however a simple 30 second test you can do yourself will impress you more.
I took one Rite in Rain notebook paper and one sheet of ordinary note pad paper. I put them both into a bath of warm water but in around 30 seconds the ordinary paper was really a mush when I tried to pick it up, while the RITR paper was totally unaffected and without even drying it I was able to write on it, I placed it back into the warm water for a minute and the writing was perfectly readable and un-smudged.
That is marvellous I hear you say, but how often do we have a warm bath in the woods, well that is very true, so I took the RITN notebook and placed it in a local stream that was of course cold water and after a minute I removed it and again wrote on the paper and once again put it back into the cold water for another minute, the result was of course totally readable and un-smudged as well.
This RITR paper is really amazing and really does work even having been submerged, which meant that any previous notes will not be destroyed if it falls into the water and even if it does the product is not affected in any way and is useable just like new.
OK it was not mean to be submerged just be able to RITR so I got my lad to direct the garden hose at me on sprinkler, i.e. rain and as I knew all was well and I was able to write without any problem at all.
Having waterproof paper is one thing but how do you write on it?
Well what you need is a tactical All-Weather Pen, it writes at any angle, upside down and even under water as well.
The ink is permanent and in face was the pen used on all manned space flights, so you just know it will work well.
And it is perfect for use on RITR notepads and paper.
It also offers itself up as a tactical pen as its construction will withstand a high impact strike, I know this because I was jabbing it into wooden pallets without any problem at all. Refills are very easy to get for this pen and together they rock, so if you are fishing, hunting, prepping or surviving the RITR paper and the all-weather pen are an absolute must for your BoB and prepping kit.
If you are looking for some new kit then please Support these Companies
The following companies have supported this station and I will support them they are:
You will never need to boil water again
For I-shields UV Protection
For top quality 550 Paracord
For Survival Knives and Survival Kits
For the Nano Striker fire starter
For tasty MX3 Meals
The Lifesaver bottle
For the Knot Bone Lacelock
For the Wild and Edible Nutrition E Book
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
Day Ration Pack
Vango Storm Shelter 400
myFC PowerTrekk
It runs on water, it really does
The Paper Shower
The Life Straw
Purinize is a 100% all-natural solution of concentrated mineral salts and purified water.
Is a solar powered phone charger really useful in the UK?
Recharge via mains usb, PC, Car usb and in addition, Solar
Hold charge for months, even when in a pocket
Any direct sunlight will trickle charge the battery.
Get more charges per given capacity and very useful in an emergency
The threats we Face
For years we have been warned loads of times by different people that in order to distract and cover up the extent of the upcoming economic crash, there must be war, military action which would prop up the failing economy, global and domestic, and what we are seeing right now is a massive all-out war campaign.
This past week alone we have seen Ret. Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney warning of a coming 9/11/14 terror attack, United States General Paul Vallely issuing a dire warning that ISIS/Al-Qaeda sleeper cells are already in big US cities, preparing to launch attacks upon the transportation system, the electrical grids and shopping centres.
Ex-CIA Official Mike Morell saying “we need to worry about a 9/11-style attack by ISIS and that he wouldn’t be surprised if ISIS showed up to a US mall with an AK-47.
Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe is saying ISIS would blow up a major US city, which followed Senator Lindsey Graham’s warning of “America in flames” House Homeland Security Chair Rep.
Michael McCaul stating that ISIS is intent on hitting the west, and this is just a small sample of this all-out push and campaign being conducted by the US government, using mouth-pieces on talk shows and interviews, in a campaign to persuade Americans to support all-out war.
You can bet that if this is happening in the U.S. then it will follow here too. We are also targets for ISIS soft target attacks, we have a reputation of harbouring Islamic extremists and allowing them to spread their hate without worry of arrest.
We even allow terrorists to walk our streets freely under the stupid assumption that it is OK as we are following them to see who they talk to and were they go.
And worse of all we allow trained combat hardened terrorists back into our country even though we know what they have done.
The UK government is like a turkey voting for Christmas.
Make no mistake, the threat of ISIS attacking us is very real. They have provided ample evidence that they here, they are in our cities and on our streets and planning their attacks now,
The problem is though those very same terrorists and/or supporters of ISIS, will not just go away or magically disappear once military action against Syria and Iraq begins.
We will face this threat for decades and we as preppers and survivalists must prepare, we have no other choice in this.
Perhaps we should begin with keeping our eyes open and reporting anyone/thing that is strange or out of the norm, write down car numbers, carry an EDC when out and about perhaps a GHB.
If you think I am being paranoid then let me tell you this.
Bloody Friday is the name given to the bombings by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) in Belfast on 21 July 1972. Twenty-two bombs exploded in the space of eighty minutes, killing nine people (including two British soldiers) and injuring 130.
If my Father had not told me not to go into Belfast city that day I would not be here now as I would have arrived at Oxford bus station at the same time as the bombs exploded.
You and your family must have a plan, if GOD forbid you are caught up in such an event, as I believe that we in the West are facing our own Troubles and on a very much larger scale.
30% DISCOUNT FROM RIBZ
A front pack is a pack or bag that allows for access of equipment from the persons chest. Front packs first and foremost allow for easy access of gear without the removal of any equipment.
In many adventure outdoor activities it can be critical to the sport to have the ability to reach essential gear fast without the removal of a backpack. Simplicity is the foremost purpose of the front pack but there are many additional benefits as well.
Backpacking is a sport where in many situations it is critical to both minimize and maximize the contents of your load for a longer or lighter duration of stay. The ability to move small amounts of weight to the frontal region significantly reduces overall stress on a person’s shoulders and back.
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. All sports where fast and easy access of gear is essential, a front pack is your best solution and as you can imagine it is going down a storm within the prepping and survivalist community.
Your summer code is "TRAILBLAZE" and can be used in the coupon section within the Store. http://www.ribzwear.com/store/    Have a Great Summer!
Survival Cooking Risks
So when the brown stuff hits the fan your will bug-out. You will build a shelter, light a fire, hunt, trap and fish and then sit around the fire singing “gin gang gooley” as your food cooks.
It just sounds idyllic doesn’t it?
But according to recent figures this could be the most dangerous aspect of survival camping.
A shocking 94 per cent of more than 2,000 people questioned for a Government survey admit to at least one barbecue habit that is a health risk.
Food poisoning is a real risk at barbecues
FSA Chief executive Catherine Brown
Twenty-one per cent believe they have been ill due to something they have eaten as a result, the poll for the Food Standards Agency found.
Almost a third admit to not checking burgers, sausages and even chicken are cooked all the way through.
The FSA has released a list of tips to cut food poisoning, with the first being to pre-cook meat in the oven and finish it off on the barbecue for flavour.
Chief executive Catherine Brown said: “Food poisoning is a real risk at barbecues and we are reminding people to take good care of their families.”
Survival cooking is bar-b-q cooking is it not? When the shtf there will be no chemist, health centre, doctor or NHS to go to to sort out food poisoning, stomach upsets and diarrhoea, all of which will dehydrate you and reduce your physical ability to provide and survive.
OK I do not want to teach my grandmother to suck eggs by it never hurts to get back to basics.
Charred doesn’t mean cooked, cook your barbecue food thoroughly until you are sure that your poultry, pork, burgers, sausages and kebabs are steaming hot, with no pink meat inside.
Avoid cross-contamination by storing raw meat separately before cooking, use different utensils, plates and chopping boards for raw and cooked food. Always wash your hands thoroughly with soap and hot water and dry them before handling your food for the barbecue and after handling raw foods including meat, fish, eggs and vegetables. (You should of course wash your hands after touching the bin, going to the toilet, blowing your nose, or touching pets.)
Don’t wash raw chicken or other meat, it just splashes germs. Cooking will kill any bacteria present, including campylobacter. On the other hand, washing chicken, or other meat, can spread dangerous bugs on to your hands, clothes, utensils and by splashing.
Turning meat regularly and moving it around the barbecue will help to cook it evenly. Charred on the outside doesn’t always mean cooked on the inside so, it’s always safer to cut open and check your burgers, sausages and chicken. If in doubt –keep cooking.
Keep plates and cutlery away from raw meat and fish, never serve your guests cooked food on a plate or surface that’s had raw meat or fish on it, and don’t use cutlery or marinades that have been in contact with raw meat. There’s no point in serving up food with a flourish if you’re adding bugs back into the mix.
Wilderness121’s 10% discount
The new supplier of Purificup to the UK is Wilderness121 and they really mean business, having spoken to the director Rob Williams he has agreed to offer you dear listener a 10% discount just by putting the letters UKPRN into the code box it is that simple.
Now pop along to www.wilderness121.co.uk and check out their great range of survival related products.
How Safe are You at Home?
One of the scariest things that can happen is to find an intruder in your home. When it occurs, it’s frighteningly sudden. Often, there is little or no time to react.
By the time an intruder is in the house, it could be too late to effectively keep him at bay. He may be there to rob you and quickly escape, or he could have other intentions, including kidnapping or rape.
The absolute best way to deal with a home invader (or a burglar if no one is home) is to make him decide — while he’s still outside — that your home is not one that he should try to enter.
If you can convince that burglar as he’s scoping out your neighbourhood that he will have a very difficult time accomplishing his goal in your house, you might actually save your life and that of your family members.
Some people believe that their home will never be the target of a burglary because there are more expensive houses in the immediate area that contain more expensive items to steal.
The problem with that kind of thinking is that fact might not matter to a burglar. A burglar is equally interested in determining which houses he can get in and out of quickly without being detected as he is in what kind of loot with which he can escape.
And a more expensive house is more likely to have a more elaborate security system that the burglar doesn’t want to mess around with.
Your choice — before something like this happens — is whether to make it easy for the burglar or very difficult for him.
Before I tell you what you can do to make a burglar decide to bypass your home, including locks, lights and landscaping, there’s something everyone should know.
The weakest link in your home defence could be you or another person living in your home.
Yes, some home invasions begin when a burglar busts through a front door or breaks a window and crawls through it. But many others start with a seemingly innocent ringing of a doorbell.
The burglar might pretend that he’s making a delivery or that he’s collecting money for a charity or informing you about a power cut or water or gas leak, or is just a person in distress who needs to use a telephone or bathroom.
When these deceivers find someone who buys their story, even for just a moment, they can either push their way into the house after the front door has been opened, or perhaps be invited in by a kind-hearted but naïve householder.
Once they’re on the inside, you’re pretty much at their mercy because they will probably have a weapon and there will be no tell-tale sign of a forced entry that a neighbour or passer-by might spot.
So, you and your family members should have a plan in place for every time someone rings your doorbell or knocks on your front door.
And that strategy should include not opening the door until you are absolutely sure you know who that person is. Make sure that a delivery person shows you an ID, and call the company if you have any doubts about that person.
With that in mind I would now like to look at the top 10 ways that you can turn your home into a fortress. Remember, these are crucial for convincing a burglar that your home will be too much trouble for his treachery:
Always keep your doors locked, whether you are home or away. Install solid wood or metal-clad doors, as these are the most likely entry points for an intruder. In addition, upgrade your locks. Grade 1 or Grade 2 deadbolts, accompanied by heavy-duty brass strike plates that should keep doors from being kicked in.
Keep your windows locked. You don’t want windows that can be manipulated from the outside, so keep them from opening more than six inches. Consider installing mounting brackets now so that you could quickly install window bars later if necessary.
Install a security system with a loud alarm and advertise that system with signs on your property. Even before your security system is in place, a loud alarm could scare away an intruder. Post a sign regarding your alarm near the entrances. Make sure everyone living in the house knows how important it is to keep alarm codes confidential.
Make sure your front door has a peephole that gives you a good view of anyone on your porch. Your porch light should be bright enough to enable you to recognize the person before you open the door.
Keep the inside of your house well lit at night. Put your inside lights on a timer when you are away. Make sure newspapers aren’t delivered while you’re gone, and try to keep a car in the driveway.
Take a walk around your home — inside and out — and look for areas where someone could enter without a great deal of trouble. Assess these potential breach points and secure them. If there is a seldom-used door to the outside, install a 2 x 4 barricade on the inside.
Safeguard the perimeter of your home by installing motion-sensor lights on your property. A fence can be climbed, but having one might be enough to make an intruder choose a different home. Keep your shrubbery trimmed in order to reduce the number of hiding places around your home.
Whether or not you own a barking dog, plant a “Beware of Dog” sign near your house’s entrances. Dogs can be trained in defence, or at least to bark when they hear a noise outside.
Keep tools that could be used to break into a home (ladders, crowbars, etc.) away from open view.
Have a family emergency plan. Every family member should know exactly what to do, in advance, if an intruder enters the house. Getting out of the house quickly is best, but if that’s not possible, a previously designated “safe room” is where they should head.
Always keep a pair of trainers, a torch and a mobile phone by your bed.
There is clearly a threat to you and your family in normal times now I want you to consider what I have just said and imagine you are now post shtf.
What changes would you make to these peacetime plans? Then put a plan in place to do just that.
Now thanks to the Managing Director Paul listeners visiting Field Leisure - The Bushcraft & Wilderness Store    at  http://www.fieldleisure.co.uk/ can get 10% OFF by entering the code UKPRN at the checkout now Paul guarantees next day delivery all over the UK and fast European and US delivery and that is reassuring and refreshing too
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
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
The RIBZ Front Pack
The LuminAID
Your own water purification system­­­­
Nut, gluten- and milk-free foods for nearly a decade here.
The Survival Slingshot
Peter at buggrub is not only sponsoring the competition on my website he is also offering a 10% discount on all his products. So have you got the gonads, can you walk the walk, dare you, I dear you to buy some buggrub and then eat it, go on I dare you. Peter’s website is www.buggrub.com
The Benefits of Dandelions
While enjoying a cider at the Wilderness Gathering and the company of others we sat and ate some of Buggrubs edible insects and the discussion turned into what else could be eaten, I mentioned Dandelions, nettles and pine needle tea.
One of the people around the sable was a day visitor called Oliver who totally dis-believed me when I mentioned these plants.
Oliver this is for you mate.
Dandelion can be used liberally as it’s non-poisonous. Each of the parts of the plant are edible: the roots, leaves and blooms. Healthy kidney, urinary tract and liver function are helped by Dandelion. You should select plants to collect that haven’t been around chemicals or toxins or local dog walks.
Regarded historically as a hepatic herb, Dandelion supports healthful liver function. Dandelion is abundant in vitamin C and it is beneficial in the treatment and also prevention of scurvy.
Additionally it is beneficial in treating skin eruptions and warts. The white liquid that exudes from the bruised stem can be applied directly to treat blemishes on the skin.
Dandelion helps to relieve water retention in soft tissues. As it replenishes the vitamins and minerals shed as water exits your body, there isn’t the mineral depletion associated with pharmaceutical diuretics. Lung ailments that cause wasting of the body are treated with Dandelion.
Classified as a bitter herb, Dandelion is useful in treating heartburn or acid stomach due to a lack of muscle tone. It works as a moderate laxative in chronic constipation. A decoction or extract of Dandelion used three or four times daily can calm an irritated stomach. It has a very good effect in improving the appetite and promoting digestion.
DANDELION/TEA
Pour 1 pint of boiling water over one ounce of Dandelion and let it steep for ten minutes.
Strain and sweeten by using honey. During the day, drink several cups of this. This tea is useful in treating edema and nausea.
DECOCTIONS
A decoction is produced by putting an herb into gently simmering water and allowing the amount to reduce a specified amount.
1st Version
Simmer 2 cups of sliced Dandelion root in twenty parts of water for fifteen minutes. When cooled off, strain the liquid and sweeten with honey. Have a small teacup full one or two times daily.
2nd Version
Simmer a couple of ounces of the herb or root in 1 quart of water until the amount is diminished to 2 cups.
Use 6 ounces every 3 hours as a therapy for a number of maladies that include scurvy (disease resulting from vitamin C deficiency), scrofula (tuberculosis of the lymph glands most usually within the neck), eczema and all sorts of eruptions on the skin.
3rd Version
Decoction for jaundice in small children:
1oz of Dandelion root
A half ounce of each: Cinnamon bark, Caraway seed, & Ginger root
A quarter ounce of Senna leaves
Bring all to boil gently in six cups of water until it is reduced to 3 cups (1 1/2 pint). Strain. Pour 3/4 cup of honey into the hot liquid and re-heat to a simmer. Any foam that rises to the surface should be skimmed away as these are impurities. Allow to cool. Give frequently in teaspoonful doses.
Version 4
Decoction for Gall Stones
1oz each of: Dandelion root, Balm herb and Parsley root
One half ounce each of Ginger root and Liquorice root
Place in two quarts of water and gently simmer down to one quart Strain. Take in 6 ounces every couple of hours.
TINCTURE OF DANDELION
Find a place free of herbicides and pesticides to collect Dandelion plants, including roots and their tops.
Good quality dried Dandelion may be used also. Collect several more plants than you believe necessary because the plants wilt somewhat in the course of processing.
Thinly slice the roots. Place enough plant material inside a canning jar in order to fill it 2/3′s full. Pour just enough boiling water over the herbs to cover. Fill the rest of the space in the jar with vodka, 100 proof. Tightly seal the jar and shake it in order to combine the contents completely.
Put the jar within a warm spot with good sun exposure. Sunshine isn’t detrimental to the tincture. Shake the jar twice daily.
In two weeks, the tincture will be ready. Make use of a nice clean cloth or coffee filter to filter the liquid. Press the solid matter to express all of the fluid. Fill up a glass bottle which is tinted dark amber with your freshly made tincture.
Leave almost no space at the top to expose the fluid to air in the course of storage. Cap tightly. Store in a cool, dark cupboard till needed.
Take a spoonful of the tincture every day to aid with health issues.
Several herbalists utilize dandelion leaf in addition to the root to make tinctures. Dandelion leaf tinctures are usually taken by placing ten to fifteen drops into a spoon filled with water, taken 3 times daily.
This information is not meant to be taken for medical advice. This post is for the benefit of the person who reads, not instead of the care of a medical professional. I am not medically trained so I advise you to check the facts for yourself.
Nigel at www.hunters-knives.co.uk has offered you dear listener 10% on all his products simply by using the code PREP10.
How much do you know?
As a PREPPER you will need to be 100% self-sufficient as it may be that you are isolated from other survivors for years.
Here are some ideas for you to consider.
HOW many of you are constantly learning new skills?
How many are involving your children in this process?
Remember that children’s brains are like a sponge so they will absorb much more than you and at a faster rate.
How many people have a large collection of HOW TO Books? Have you got any of these books?
Books on hunting
Books on Survival
Books on growing food
Books on soil
Books on building from wood to steel
Books on how to make steel, iron, tools etc.
Books on tinctures
Books on cooking
Books on plants and trees
Books on herbal medicines
Books on human body physiology
Books on fasting
Books on Poisonous Snakes and insects and HOW to do First Aid the list goes on and on ...
How many people have done a First Aid course?
How many people know what CPR is and how to perform it?
How many people know HOW to treat a snake bite?
How many people "KNOW" how to do the following?
Woodworking
Building log cabins
Metal working
Constructing underground tunnels
Extracting Oil from plants
Making bows and arrows
Making natural glue
Make flour from different plants (not just wheat)
Make tinctures
Extracting birch tree oil
Make charcoal
How many people have several of the following?
Axes
Knives
Round wood saws
Single and double person wood saws
Many files for sharpening the above
Manually powered Wood lathe IF possible
How many people have prepared the land around their bunker or home for growing organic food?
Adding organic matter (cow manure etc.) into the soil.
Adding powdered rock dust (AKA: minerals) at least 2 + yards down into the soil.
How many people have created natural defences around their home (or know how to) using things like 2 or 3 layers of different trees with Passive Normal Trees on the outside and then a second layer inside made up of Attack Trees which are made up of plants with thorns, spines and prickles.
Then inside this layer you can run a barbed wire this way when someone runs into this at night, you will certainly know about it.
How many people have studied NATURAL medicine and this includes HERBAL medicine and pressure points?
How many people know what herbal medicine is?
How many people know that PINE Trees have natural Vitamin C and that Pine Bark is also abundant with Vitamin C.?
Did you know that Vitamin C deficiency has been one of the biggest killers of humans through our known history and yet in most cases where people had access to Pine Trees, almost no one utilized this powerful disease fighting natural medicine?
How many people KNOW that just by standing out in the sun for approx. 40 minutes a day you can get all the Vitamin D you need to stop over 90% of cancers and sickness (and it is FREE), Plus it also has been said to stop babies being born with rickets.
How many people know that by drinking RAW unprocessed cow’s milk, you can rebuild your teeth and bones? How many people have a milking cow or 3 on their land? How many actually have some land?
How many people have several EXIT tunnels from their bunker? How many even have bunkers?
There are 101 things I could list here but I hope that you get the picture.
Whatever you think you know now is NOT enough.
FINALLY:
How many of you have actually spent a FAMILY WEEK living next to a river or creek and surviving off the land so that you can make a list of all of the things you will need WHEN you really do need to KNOW implicitly how to do these things.
Having Problems Prepping?
The thoughts that bounce around our heads can create a chain reaction of events that can either help us or hinder us all along the way.
These thought processes can also make a big impact on our prepping activities. Regardless of what part of the prepping spectrum you are on, we have certain thoughts on the kind of prepared individual we want to end up being.
When we don’t meet our expectations, we tend to grow frustrated and feel more inclined to give up. When I first began prepping, I wanted to be a hard core prepper and had some pretty grandiose conceptions of how that would be.
I envisioned being the kind of prepper who could live off the land with nothing but a blade, some snares and a water bottle. Have I met this goal? Not really. But I haven’t stopped pursuing it either. I just know that this type of goal takes time to master, and being honest it is not for me if truth be known.
When we haven’t achieved our goals in the time expected, we can begin losing focus and be frustrated. This could be because of the short attention spans our society has.
Our need for immediate results can wreak havoc on a prepper’s long term desire to be prepared. To avoid this, we have to admit at the very beginning this is not a short-lived hobby, but a long term lifestyle change that will take time, energy and an ongoing pursuit for knowledge.
It can take years of studying and practicing skills to get to the point of being a hard core prepper. Years! Anyone who thinks differently is fooling themselves and will set themselves up for failure because of these preconceived notions.
Rather than looking at the end result and growing frustrated because you aren’t at the point you wanted to be, stay focused on the starting point.
Why are you preparing in the first place?
I would say that in order to have a well-rounded supply and knowledge base, we have to start at the very beginning and layer our prepping activities in short term, longer term and sustainable increments. This is the best way to stay organized and ensure that you can succeed in a disaster scenario.
The best way to begin prepping is by making a goal. Something as simple as, “I want to be prepared for a 3 month long disaster.” By setting a goal, you can create a preparedness plan based around this, which becomes your starting point.
Moreover, when you create a goal, you have also created a reference point to turn to in case you get overwhelmed or overloaded with prepping. This reference point reminds you to remember what you’re prepping for. From there, you can gather your supplies and learn your skillsets.
Plan – Set your prepper goals (short and long term), make a strategy, create lists of supplies, make meal plans, create a financial budget to get out of debt, as well as to fund your prepping activities.
Accrue – Begin investing in supplies, practice preparedness-based skills, continue to educate yourself on prepping and ways to promote a self-reliant lifestyle
Apply – When you begin using your food stores, practicing your skills and confidently using your preps, you are applying the knowledge you have learned. Don’t forget to keep accumulating knowledge and learning better ways to prep.
Don’t Lose Focus
Give yourself a break if you haven’t gotten where you wanted to be. It’s not ok to eat, live and breathe emergency preparedness.
Each of us is on our own journey and some may learn faster than others. Learn from others and don’t be afraid to include your mistakes and failures as part of your education.
This is part of the learning curve, and a necessary one at that. Further, take your time with the material and include your family. This could be a great way to teach family members and, rather than carrying “the world on your shoulders,” this gives you some support.
Understand, there will be times when you want to throw the towel in. It’s ok to take a break from prepping. I have, and so have others. The subject of preparedness can be stressful, especially if you are reading about worst-case scenarios all the time.
Your mind and spirit will need a break, and taking some time “to fill the well” can help immensely. Spend time with family and friends, breath, pray, meditate, exercise. Do anything to put your focus elsewhere for a short time and then, when you feel better, start prepping again. This makes you more open to continuing on the prepper journey.
Remember my quest to be the hard core type of prepper? As great as this would be, that’s not where I am now. But, just because I haven’t met this goal doesn’t mean that everything I have done in between has fallen by the wayside.
I am still striving toward this, but know there is a lot to learn along the way; and I’m ok with that.
Whether your goal is to be a hard core prepper or not, give yourself kudos for taking the steps to getting your home prepared and for taking the time to learn new skills. 
We all grow frustrated at times, especially when this is a long term quest for knowledge and skills. My advice to those beginning to prepare is to be patient and remember that prepping takes time.
Your Bug-out Plan
Do you bug out or bug in this question is as old as prepping itself. There are advantages and disadvantages to each strategy, but the reality is that in order to be truly prepared for any local disaster scenario, you need to be prepared to do both depending on the situation. 
Now the first thing you need to decide when making your bugout plans is where you’re going to go. As basic as it sounds, there are a lot of people that gloss over this area and think that they’re just going to take their camping gear out into the woods and survive off the land.
I don’t want to insult anyone with this, but honestly, bugging out to the woods is probably the worst thing you could do.
Everyone will be heading for those woods, we are too small a country to be able to have a level of personal space to call our own. I promise you that when you move into the woods the animals will move out, and you will have nothing to hunt or eat. 
You should have a secured and well-supplied bugout location as it is probably the most important piece of a bugout plan.
Without it, you’re not really bugging out; you’re simply giving up your home to become a refugee.
 It’s fantastic to have a secured bugout location, the problem is this, how are you going to get there?
Obviously, if you are able to drive to your bugout location then this part will be fairly easy. You’ll be able to bring a lot of supplies with you and simply being in a vehicle will take care of most of your security concerns when travelling to your bugout location.
But when SHTF and you have been bugging-in for weeks or more, there’s a real chance that driving out of your area may simply not be an option. You could use alternative forms of transportation like motor bikes or bicycles, but for a lot of people, bugging out on foot may be the only option.
However I that bugging out on foot is extremely dangerous post SHTF. You’re completely exposed, it’s very difficult to carry more than a couple days of supplies, and with a 50lb+ pack, the pace is going to be pretty slow for the majority of us.
To give yourself the best chance of making it to your bugout location, you need to have a plan. You’re going to have to find the best route to your location. To be honest is harder than it sounds.
Along the way, you’re going to have to take advantage of any available resources in order to survive. You simply can’t carry everything you and your family may need for a 3-4 day long hike on your back.
Even rationing water to a gallon a day is still a surprising amount of weight. A gallon of water weighs in at a little over 8 pounds. For a 4 day hike, you’re looking at around 32 pounds of weight just in water.
Not to mention, 4 gallons of water would take up the majority, if not all the space in your pack. This means that you’re going to have to carry less water than you actually need and will have to rely on sourcing water along the way.
This is an example of where putting together a well-thought out bugout route makes all the difference.
When putting together your bugout route, you need to pick a route that is not only quick, but also has the resources that you may need along the way. Below is a short list of considerations you should keep in mind when planning your route.
Water sources along your route
Availability of edible plants or hunting/fishing opportunities along your route
Availability of pre-made shelters like abandoned buildings, bridges or other emergency shelters
Landmarks to help with navigation for both yourself and anyone that you plan on inviting to your bugout location
Does your route take you close to any towns? Are there routes to get around them without being seen?
Are there any shops, restaurants, etc. on your route that could be possible re-supply points?
Are there any areas along your route that you could potentially store a cache of supplies? Is it likely to be discovered by someone else before you get there?
Are there any doctors’ offices, clinics or other medical facilities along your route? These could also be used for resupply, or again, may need to be avoided for security.
Are there any industrial areas or buildings along your routes? Places like shopping centres or obvious places like supermarkets will probably be cleaned out or could be very dangerous.
However, something like a small food distribution plant or factory, a meat processing plant, or even corner shops could have been overlooked and could be potential resupply opportunities or temporary shelters.
 This is just a small list of considerations you should keep in mind when planning your bugout route. The more thought you put into this, the more potential dangers and opportunities you’ll come up with.
The point is that the more you prepare your route and practice your route, the easier and safer it will be if you ever have to put these plans into action in the aftermath of SHTF.
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The BodyGard is the Rolls-Royce of keychain emergency tools. Its two essential (and life-saving) tools are its seat belt cutter and door glass breaker.

The BodyGard also includes a sonic alarm (to attract attention and ward-off a would-be attacker), LED flashlight, and distress flasher (a bright red flashing light).

The BodyGard is compact and smartly attaches to your keychain so it's within reach during an emergency. You owe it to yourself and to your family to carry a BodyGard.
The powermonkey explorer is not just for adventure travellers.  Compatible with the majority of smartphones including iPhone and BlackBerry, mobile phones, iPods, MP3 / MP4, PDAs and portable games consoles, the powermonkey explorer is a portable charger for your 5V devices - giving you 96 hours of standby on your mobile, 40 hours on your iPod, 5 hours on your games console, 48 hours on your PDA and 6 hours on MP3/MP4 players.
Worms and the Threat the Represent
Worms are generally a problem for dogs and cats in the UK but it was not so long ago that many parasites also frequently infected humans.
With the lowered standards of sanitation, footwear, and general health in the aftermath of a disaster, the worms would likely rise again to infest large portions of our population. Depending on the kind of worm and the severity of the infection, you may feel no symptoms at all or you may suffer from nutritional deficiencies, anaemia, diarrhoea, and general pain in infected areas.
Although this topic is one that makes your skin crawl, as a prepared person you must know how to combat these bodily invaders, and how to keep them from infesting you in the first place!
How worms infect people
Although there are literally dozens of worms that could infect people, many of them follow certain patterns that can help you to understand how to avoid being infested in the first place.
Firstly, most worm eggs are passed through faecal matter or the area around the anus in general. This means that the primary method of preventing infection is proper washing, toilet use, and sanitation.
Children are particularly susceptible to worms for this reason, since they often forget to properly clean themselves and the nutrient deficiencies common to these infections cause them far greater developmental harm.
Secondly, the eggs generally do not infect only people who have direct faecal contact with eggs. Rather, the eggs are intended to travel along hands after wiping, or on clothing or even by dust and wind.
From there, they land on food or in water sources where they are then ingested, the eggs hatch, and the parasites find their proper home to begin pumping out hundreds of thousands of eggs to continue the cycle. In some circumstances, worms can also arrive by burrowing in via tender areas of the feet or via the anus if mature worms are found in water sources.
Finally, it can be rather difficult to determine if a person is infected meaning that quarantine is usually a futile effort.
The headaches, pains, and even nutritional deficiencies caused by worms can also be caused by other viruses and bacteria meaning that the only way to definitely determine a worm infestation is by examining stool samples under a microscope.
Furthermore, many worm eggs are resistant to ph changes (in order to survive passing through the stomach when ingested), cold, and even heat in some cases making them nearly impossible to truly eradicate. The key point here being that worm prevention is a constant task for all people, infested and non-infested particularly during a disaster.
Proper hand washing, toilet use, food washing, and water sanitation will be vital to preventing worm infestations as it is always a potential hazard for any group regardless of location.
How to prevent infestations
As stated above, sanitation of food and water sources is key though each will have different sources of potential contamination.
Food, for example is usually contaminated either by dust-borne eggs or by the dirty hands of those who cooked and prepared the food. This makes prevention more a matter of cleanliness on your group’s part.
Washing hands today is often seen as a largely social thing, done for the sake of not being grossed out by nasty hands. It is imperative that every group member understand that in a survival situation proper washing and wiping is a matter of life and death, and something to be taken extremely seriously.
Water taken directly from a stream or creek can have parasitic eggs floating about in it. Make sure you filter and boil it first!
Water, on the other hand is usually contaminated by general nature since many animals will defecate in or near streams and runoff will send many, many millions more eggs coursing through rivers and lakes.
Thankfully even tiny worm eggs are typically massive when compared to the microbes and viruses that many filters can catch, making filtered water a necessity both for drinking and bathing.
To keep the dust-borne eggs out, cover all filtered water sources and boil water when possible. As a final point, you should still take pains to keep faecal matter from latrines away from water sources since adding even more eggs to the water is only going to clog your filter faster, or infest local animals that you may eat.
Finally, although worms that infect by foot are not as common they are still present and should be fought off diligently. Fortunately, just wearing solid shoes with good soles can act as excellent protection. The worms mainly burrow into tender areas such as the space between the toes, so they are incapable of penetrating even thin rubber or foam soles much less good boots or tennis shoes. Even sandals are better than going barefoot in a pinch!
Treating infestations
Unfortunately the human body fares rather poorly against parasites like these since they are designed specifically to get past your defences.
Generally you will need de-worming medication that contains certain poisons and enzymes that attack the worm allowing its corpse to be expelled properly. Generally termed “anthelmintics”, popular meds of this type include the family of Benzimidazoles, Ambacetin, Ivermectin, and Monepantel.
Be aware that not all of these are necessarily intended for human use but I listed them in case you also wished to have some on hand for meat bearing animals. I would always strongly recommend speaking to your doctor or vet about acquiring any anti-worming medication for people or animals, respectively.
If you cannot actually remove them, the next best step is to prevent reinfection if at all possible by maintaining proper cleanliness standards.
Apart from certain worms that can live for decades most die within 2-3 years at most and mild infections are generally annoyances at best. If constant reinfection is permitted, however, chronic infestations can easily kill a person as they are drained of nutrients from within or certain organs become blocked with worms.
If someone is found to have worms of any kind, therefore, they should not be permitted to handle any food but their own and all utensils, clothing, and bedding of theirs should be cleaned thoroughly apart from everyone else’s.
 Worms are nasty, but thankfully prevention is as simple as keeping everyone clean and filtering their water thoroughly. The threat will be ever-present in a survival situation however, so be sure you take the steps needed to prevent any infection.
I am not medically trained and I hope I never have to become personally familiar with parasitic infestations.
This information is to be used during SHTF situations and other manmade or natural disasters when real medical care is unavailable: if you have any concerns about parasites always speak with your doctor!
Finding Water in an Urban Area
If your taps ran dry, what kind of plans do you have in place? As with everything else in my prep plans, water is broken down into 3 phases – short term, medium term, and long term solution.
Short Term – this is your bottled water. Most people should have a couple of cases of bottled water laying around somewhere.
When the water goes stops, the bottled and stockpiled water will go first. It’s convenient, as all you do is un-screw the top of the bottle and the water is ready to drink. Most people like to take the easy way out, and bottled water is about as easy as it gets.
Medium Term – this is your water filters. This may include your bought water filters or some kind of backpacking, lightweight water filter.
But sooner or later, the filter is going to reach its lifespan, and that is it.
Long term – private water well that is safe to drink. This could include water wells on farms, or rural water wells where people do not get piped water.
So where exactly do you get water in an urban survival situation?  Don’t panic, stop and think, local ponds, streams, rivers, lakes, canals and even rain fall offer you a source of the nectar of life.
For example at the end of my road is a river and by simply walking 60 yards with some water bottles to carry the water, bring it back home and run it through my water filter. 
There are three rivers and numerous ponds within 5 miles of me.
Rain water – once those 55 gallon drums run out of water, they could be positioned under the down spout of a rain gutter.  But this only works if you live in an area that gets a lot of rain. 
If you do not have any 55 gallon drums, some 5 gallon buckets should work just as good.  If nothing else, refill those water bottles that were used when the event first started.
Waterborne diseases – As sewers fill up and start to back up, people will start doing their “business” outside. 
The problem here, is when an area receives rain fall, the sewage can be washed off the soil and into the local rivers, streams, ponds, canals etc. in fact any kind of surface water. 
If water can stand around the pipe going into a well, there is a chance that contaminated water can get into the well.  That is why it’s recommended that a cement step be built around the pipe of a well.
Possible diseases include:
Cryptosporidium
E. Coli
Shigella
Giardiasis
Botulism
Cholera
Dysentery
Legionellosis – Legionnaires disease
Salmonellosis – Salmonella (mostly foodborne)
Typhoid fever
Hepatitis A – food and waterborne
In my opinion, the ideal situation would be to have a water well with some kind of solar water pump on it, or at least a hand operated water pump.  In a worse case situation, having a well and a hand powered pump is better than nothing.
One of the big differences between urban and rural water plans, would probably be that a lot of people in rural areas already have some kind of water well in place.
Whether it’s to water the cows, horses or other livestock, or as their main water source, a lot of people who live in rural areas have access to some kind of water well.
From there, it’s just a matter of getting the water out of the well with no electricity.
As usual with prepping to survive you must firstly plan act and test.
 



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