Dan F. Sullivan How to Bug In Forever ...the best chance at survival. Preparedness evolved from the concept of survival. If you ask me, being a survivalist is hard for the average

Dan F. Sullivan ● How to Bug In Forever ● www.SurvivalSullivan.com

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http://www.SurvivalSullivan.com/


HOW TO BUG INForever

by Dan F. Sullivan

with many thanks to Tara Dodrill

www.SurvivalSullivan.com

ISBN 978-973-0-23334-6

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DisclaimerNo part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. It is illegal to copy, distribute or create derivative works of this book in part or in whole, or to contribute to the distribution, copying or creation of derivative works of this book. This document is copyright © 2016 Lando Vision SRL from Cluj-Napoca, Romania, and Dan F. Sullivan. Dan F. Sullivan is a pen name.

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information regarding the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services.If legal, accounting, medical, psychological, or any other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. The author and publisher specifically disclaim any and all liability arising directly or indirectly from the use or application of any information contained in this publication.

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Table of ContentsDisclaimer............................................................................................................................3

Table of Contents.................................................................................................................4

Introduction.........................................................................................................................5

The Basics of Bugging In.......................................................................................................9

Choosing Your Bug In location............................................................................................24

Preparing Your House to Bug In.........................................................................................29

Prepare Yourself to Bug In.................................................................................................59

Building a Stockpile............................................................................................................63

Getting Food Post-Collapse................................................................................................95

Getting Fresh Water.........................................................................................................106

Generating Your Own Electricity......................................................................................113

Information and Communications...................................................................................118

Survival Skills for Bugging In.............................................................................................124

You Bugged In. Now What?..............................................................................................133

Issues and Controversies..................................................................................................152

Urban Bug-Ins..................................................................................................................161

Bug-In Drills and Inspections............................................................................................164

Misc..................................................................................................................................170

References.......................................................................................................................173

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IntroductionBugging in vs. bugging out is one of the mosthotly debated topics in survival andpreparedness circles. If you are concerned aboutprepping for either a short-term disaster or aSHTF doomsday event, you are going to have tochoose one as your primary objective – and theother as a detailed and practiced back-up plan…if you want to give yourself and your loved onesthe best chance at survival.

Preparedness evolved from the concept of survival. If you ask me, being a survivalist is hard for the average family, because it focuses on surviving with almost nothing.

Tough if you’ve never been in the army.

Preparedness, on the other hand, is all about being prepared. And, sure, it includes bugging in as well as bugging out scenarios, but the vast majority of people will bug in, including veterans and Navy seals.

Why? It’s all about maximizing one’s chances of survival...

Social unrest, EMP, economic collapse, martial law viruses... all of these are to be expected on a regional, national or even a global scale... but none of them require you to risk your life bugging out into the wilderness. If you prepare right now, that is.

Bugging in may mean you will literally stay inside during the initial stages of a SHTF disaster, but eventually you are going to have to go outside – one of the many reasons location is such a vital part of the preparedness equation.

Unless you are a millionaire, the long-term food and water supplies will eventually be depleted – if the disaster lasts for more than three months. Cultivating your own food andgarnering firewood, requires venturing outdoors – live somewhere safe so taking care of your family’s basic needs will not place you blatantly in harm’s way and take you from them prematurely!

Bugging out is risky.

When you’re out there in open space (or the woods, as some people suggest), any number of things can go wrong

You can be attacked or ambushed

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Your path may get blocked You might get injured or killed You might get sick You will get tired You might run out of food or water (because there’s only so much you can carry

in your backpack or in your car’s trunk) You may run out of batteries and be unable to communicate or light your way You may run out of fuel ...and much, much more

Are you willing to take those risks? The answer depends from prepper to prepper, but I would say that in 90% of the cases, the answer is “no”. For most of us it’s better to hunkerdown, just like a turtle inside its shell and wait for the whole thing to be over.

In what follows I’m going to give you all the information you could possibly need to bug in. My goal is simple: whatever may hit you, I want to minimize the chances of you having to evacuate and maximize the odds of you being able to stay inside your own home.

We’ve all seen what happens the moment people hear about a snow storm. They rush like cattle and empty the supermarkets, sometimes even fighting with each-other. In fact, this way of “shopping” has become tradition ever since Black Friday. It’s disgusting to say the least, and it says a lot about our level of education.

In what follows, I’m going to show you how to do this the right way. When the time comes, you’ll be safer than 99.99% of people. You’ll run for safety while your neighbors will fight each-other off in supermarkets for the last cans of tuna. Classic example, right? I know, but it can happen.

There is a catch, though... when those neighbors find out about the empty shelves in those supermarkets, they might turn your attention to you because they might know you’re prepping. In cases like these, people react in different ways... some may feel sorry for them and help them, of course, which could lead to the rapid diminishment of their supplies... others will refuse them, getting themselves in potential (armed) conflicts.

What is the best reaction? To be as discreet as possible about your preparedness efforts, so your neighbors never know you’re fully stocked.

What this course is not

This course is not about becoming an expert at bushcraft. If you’re bugging in, youwon’t need to know how to start a fire using the bow drill method, how to purify water with sand and charcoal or how to make shelter out of branches and moss. There are other courses covering those. If you’re bugging out as a means of last

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resort, hopefully you have a vehicle and a place to go to. If you stockpile things inside your car’s trunk and at your bug out location (BOL), you should be fine, if you and your family have also mastered some basic bushcraft or outdoors skills.

This course will not make you a master at homesteading skills. Fishing, making dough, sowing... these are things that have been discussed in numerous other books and ebooks, and are too vast to be covered here. I will point you in the right direction when the time comes, don’t worry.

What is this course about, then?

We’re going to go deep down the rabbit hole and talk about how to make a stockpile thatwould keep you and your family well-fed for at least a year, we’ll talk about defending your home, gardening, communications, harvesting rainwater, dealing with people, setting up evacuation routes, bug in scenarios and much, much more.

Is Bugging in Expensive?

It can but it doesn’t have to be. Think of it this way: every dollar you invest towards being prepared is going to increase your chances of survival. You don’t need a bunker, you don’tneed expensive survival food, you just need to take tiny steps for your survival.

The less people read, the more they spend on preps... and that’s because the survival industry is full of alluring advertisements, doing everything they can to get you to buy.

If you can spare $10 a week per person, week after week, you’re well on your way to being prepared. If you allocate even more, you’re going to move a lot faster, of course.

What if I’m Too Old?

It doesn’t matter. We’re talking about bugging in, which is to say, staying inside your home until thedanger passes. It’s something anyone can do. In fact, you’d be amazed about all the things you can do to prepare for one scenario or another.

If you’re thinking you’ll never be able to be fully protected, here’s some breaking news for you: noone can be 100% bulletproof from any disaster nomatter how much they prep. But every little thing

counts, every lighter you buy, every can of tuna you stockpile, every old sock you find in your attic.

What About Bugging Out?

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This course is by no means my way of saying that bugging out sucks. It’s just that bugging out is downright dangerous. Camping in the woods with minimal gear and no chance to resupply? Not that easy for someone who’s not a survivalist. Surviving on the supplies youhave in your bug out bag? Better make that an INCH bag if you want to last more than 3 weeks in the wilderness – at most. Bugging out for days to reach your bug out location? That might not be an option if the roads are blocked.

For most people, bugging in IS plan A, bugging out is plan B. You DO have to prepare for both. What if your house catches fire? What if your town is bombed? What if...? We’re going to talk about bugging out towards the end of the course.

In short, what do I need to do?

To put everything into perspective, you will need to: upgrade your home to withstand SHTF events start a stockpile consisting of food, water, medicine, tools and gear,

means to stay warm, to light your way and to cook and consume your food

protect yourself have renewable food, water and energy sources learn the bug-in skills necessary to survive (first aid, canning,

gardening, being a gray person etc.)

Ready to do this? Great.

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The Basics of Bugging Inn case of SHTF events with long-term consequences, you may have to hunker down for months or even years.I

Now, I’m not by any means one of those crazy prepper who think we’ll never leave the house or bunker for months or even years. One case this might happen would be if Yellowstone erupts. If that happens, they say two thirds of the United States will be covered in ash, meaning that, unless you bug out in time (and that might be dangerous), you’ll have to stay inside for months on end.

The basics of bugging in are the same ones for bugging out. You need air, food, water and shelter. The “rule of threes” states that you can survive up to 3 minutes without air, 3 hours without shelter, 3 days without water and 3 weeks without food... however, your body will start to deteriorate long before those 3 days or 3 weeks are over. In order to survive, you need to be in tip-top condition, both physically and emotionally.

First thing’s first...

Know Your Unique Situation

Maybe you already made some purchases, only to find yourself flooded with information and news of possible dangers. Maybe you have a massive stockpile of gear, but have never even opened the boxes and have no practical experience using or repairing the products and weapons. Maybe you didn’t do anything and want to do it right. Regardless, the first thing you need to have is a plan. This way, you’ll save a lot of money on tools, food and gear.

For example, did you know that there’s a better filter than the LifeStraw (not that there’s anything wrong with it), one that can filter 100 times more water? It’s called the Sawyer Mini and it’s smaller and lighter. But don’t rush to buy it just yet... Using a straw is not thebest solution for bug-in situations. Straws are suitable for bug out situations, which is why, for bug in situations, something like the Sawyer Water Bottle is ideal. 100,000 gallons is a huge amount of water and then you also have the water bottle.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. What you need right now is a plan, and the way we’re going to make it is by looking at all the variables involved.

Essential Survival Variable to Consider

Your age Whether you’re a man or a woman

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Your location (urban, suburban, rural, wilderness) The type of home you live in (apartment, house, duplex, tiny home etc.) The space available to have a traditional garden Whether or not you have a fresh water resource on your land (river, creek, well) The size of both your immediate family and how many in your extended family

are likely to show up on your doorstep when the SHTF. The attitude of your family members towards prepping – and the assets they will

be able to contribute, but tangibly and in skills, to the survival of the household. Whether or not you have pets Whether or not you have small backyard livestock or medium to large livestock,

on your property Medical conditions for any living being in the household (allergies, asthma,

arthritis etc.) Climate – this factor could be critical during the domino effect stage of either a

man-made or natural short-term disaster or doomsday disaster Size of the town or city Location of your home inside the town or city Whether or not you have a bug out location (BOL) or more Whether or not you have a BOV – bugout vehicle, and how likely it would be to

survive an EMP event Whether or not you’re in a prepper group (mutual assistance group) or a prepper

network The budget per family member you have at your disposal

We could go into even finer detail but these are the main ones... so let’s take them one ata time...

Age

How old are you? The good news is, the older you are, the more likely that you’ll have to bug in. Bugging out when chaos breaks loose is going to be tough. If you’re over 55 years old, evacuating to the forest is going to be a suicide mission – unless you are in prime physical condition with a lifetime of survival or outdoor skill under your belt. Keep in mindthat trained army soldiers have trouble marching with a bug out bag on their backs. Now, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a BOB; bugging out deserves attention regardless ofage.

An even better solution would be to move out of a large city to the suburbs or even to a smaller town. If this is something you’ve been thinking about, I suggest you make it a top priority, because until you do it, you won’t be able to put your bug in plans into action.

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Making a living until the SHTF is of course, a major concern for nearly ever prepper. Commuting from the suburbs into the city for work is not the best option, but it will at least remove you from a densely populated area where violent civil unrest and panic will most likely occur quickly and offer the ability to grow your own groceries, stockpile the maximum amount of food and supplies.

Moving to a rural area will offer the best chances of surviving a disaster. There are fewer jobs in the low-crime and low-cost of living rural regions of America, but telecommuting to work is becoming almost commonplace in many careers.

Taking a lower wage job is never a pleasant idea, but with the lower cost of living in rural areas and ample opportunity to enhance your bottom line by making money off the land you own, the financial bite might sting less than you may think.

Storage Space

How much room do you have available for stockpiling? Do you have an attic, a garage, a pantry, a basement, a root cellar? How about a tool shed, trees and a place to dig inside your back yard? Maybe you even have the resources to dig or have a company dig your own bunker.

For now, it suffices to say that if you don’t have enough space, you’re going to have a lot of trouble bugging in for longer periods of time. What some people do, particularly city dwellers, is they rent storage space. If there is storage space available close to where you live, I suggest you consider it. Don’t forget to include going back and forth to this location in your bug in and even your bug out plans.

Family Commitment

Are your family members interested in prepping? If not, it’sgoing to be a problem. Stockpile as much as you canbecause, when it hits, the arguments you have with themright now won’t matter. We’re going to talk about gettingyour loved ones on board, but there’s no guarantee you’llconvince them. Still, if you can get ONE family member todo it, you can convince the others in time.

Gender

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Are you a man or a woman? A man living alone will have a More threatening presence, typically, than a woman. In recent years a massive increase in the number of women garnering their concealed carry permit and taking firearms training courses clearly indicate a growing number of women are unwilling to become a willing target and will be better prepared to handle a threat than any generation of American women who have come before.

Prepping families should make it a priority for all their female loved ones to follow this trend and learn how to protect themselves and their children or grandchildren. A single mom will be responsible to keep both herself and her beloved offspring safe – the time tolearn or enhance self-defense skills is now – when the SHTF it will be too late. Relying on the men in the family to keep you safe will be a death sentence if the husband or other male figure is killed or becomes injured or ill during the disaster.

Home Size

How big is your home? Can you stockpile for everyone? This is a little tricky to figure out, but the more space you have, the better. Even if your home and backyard are huge, it’ll be hard making a one year stockpile if you don’t have a basement or a root cellar. So keepin mind that space isn’t the only issue. You get bonus points if you have or can have a freezer, but keep in mind that it may stop working if the grid goes down.

If you live in an apartment, for instance, I can help you survive for 3-4 weeks tops. Due to space restrictions, you’ll be unable to store food to keep you well-fed for longer. Everything else can be done “in miniature”, so to speak: you’ll be able to grow some food in containers but not a lot, you’ll be able to harvest some energy using tiny solar panels, you’ll be able to harvest some rainwater but not too much.

We’re going to discuss the topic of how to bug in if you live in an apartment building a little later.

Question: Do you live in a bad neighborhood? Also, are you downtown orclose to it? If so, you might consider moving before you start stockpiling. In caseof social unrest, your home is going to be in the middle of it. This means you’ll be to get out, and you might even risk a home invasion and looters going for your veggies and fruit trees. Every minute you hesitate and wait to flee, your chances of survival

decrease – sometimes substantially.

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Do not plan to simply “bug out to the country.” Suburban, and especially rural residents, will not want you – they will be too busy taking care of their own and will not want to share natural resources with strangers.

Bugging out to a state or national forest is not a survival plan either. First of all, thousands– possibly tens of thousands, of urban dwellers will have the exact same idea. Natural resources will become overly taxed quickly in such a scenario. The competition for shelter, food, and water will make the woods as dangerous as city streets in mere days.

Unless you possess expert-level bushcraft and wilderness skills, bugging out to such an area would be a death sentence – even if you find a secluded spot away from the rest of the panicked hordes fleeing the city…which is highly unlikely.

Do any of your family members have any medical conditions? In addition to the basics of a first aid kit, you’re also going to have to store specific medication as well as medical gear to deal with this. Getting antibiotics won’t be easy but there are ways to deal with this.

Medications have a shelf life. Even though most medications, prescription or over-the-counter do not necessarily go bad after the use by date expires, they potency of the pills will be reduced.

Insulin and other types of life-saving medications that require refrigeration will go bad…and quickly.

Finding natural substitutes or aids to help with various medical conditions is a must – not just for the chronically ill, but for everyone who could become sick of injured during a long-term disaster…meaning everybody.

Learning how to grow, preserve, and dose natural medication alternatives and how to make home remedies to treat common illnesses or injuries are homesteading skills you should possess to enhance your chances of surviving a doomsday disaster.

Do you have pets and farm animals? If so, you’ll have to make arrangements for all of them. Cows, for instance, eat and drink in “industrial” amounts. Stick around to find out what to do. You will also need to become your own veterinarian. You will not be able to call a licensed domestic pet or livestock professional during a long-term disaster. Keeping your meat and egg producers healthy so you and your loved ones do not starve to death must be a top priority in your bugging in survival plan.

What climate do you live in? If you live in a cooler climate, you may think that storing food in your attic is a good idea because of low temperatures, but did you know temperature variations also affect shelf life? Also, and this may sound trivial, but you’re

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going to need to put more thought into heating yourself. For example, you may want not one but two kerosene heaters. They aren’t that expensive and are easy to operate.

Set Your Priorities

Priority #1: Choosing your “bug in” location.

As I previously said, the first thing you need to think about is whether or not you can move. If you’re older, you might sell and find something cheaper somewhere far away from the madness of a city. I can’t tell you where to go, but I can point you in the right direction. We’re going to tackle how to find a safer place to live, right now I just want to set the priorities straight.

Priority #2: Water

The survival rule of threes says that the next thing that’s more important after shelter is water. How much water do you need? As much as possible, but keep in mind there’s anentire list of things you need to stockpile besides it. Don’t store too much of and neglect the food aspect. A 6 months water supply will be useless if you barely have

enough food for a few weeks.

There are two aspects when it comes to water, you need a stockpile and will need ways to procure it. During the first few days to a few weeks after a disaster, until the dust settles, you’re better off consuming your stockpile but, after that, you need to think aboutgetting a fresh supply.

The rule of thumb about your food and water stockpile is that you want to hang on to it as much as possible and rely on renewable sources as much as possible.

So if you have a garden, even an indoor one, you’re going to want to consume whatever itgives you before your long-term shelf life food. Now, I’m not saying you can’t open it, youobviously want variety in your diet, but you have to ensure you’ll have food to put on your table for years to come.

Priority #3: Food.

Food is a huge topic and we’re going to talk a lot about it. If you haven’t stored anything, I’m gonna tell you right from the start to start stocking up for at least 72 hours. That’s the bare minimum that even FEMA advises. Of course, if you could get a one week stockpile for each member of your family including pets, you’ll sleep a little better tonight.

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Focus on adding to your food supply stockpiles, by various means, one week at a time. This will make your progress easy to chart and keep the all-important task affordable and prevent it from becoming overwhelming. When people become overwhelmed they panic,make mistakes, and ultimately fail at reaching their objective.

I’m going to give you the complete list of foods that are ideal for stockpiling purposes in a moment.

Priority #4: Medical Supplies

Though I am not a doctor, I can give you a list of things to get, including how to assemble a first aid kit for you, your pets, and livestock. I encourage you to talk with your doctor and your pet’s vet about having emergency medical supplies (you don’t have to tell them about prepping if that makes you feel uncomfortable).

Priority #5: Personal Protection.

Everyone in the family must learn how to protect themselves and learn how to quickly react, without needing time to think or freezing, when a threat emerges. Develop a personal protection plan not just for you but for each family member.

This type of training must include your children in an age appropriate manner, of course. Base upon their individual maturity level, teach the youngsters to learn to shoot – beginning with a non-lethal weapon, like a BB gun or airsoft rifle, while teaching proper firearms handling and cleaning skills and gun safety.

But, as they say, the more you sweat, the less you bleed.

Priority #6: Tools and Gear

As you start stocking up with food and water, you need to consider tools to fix your homeand your car, things to process, cook and consume your food, tools to work your garden, communications gear and so on.

Priority #7: Home Defense

The advice for home protection is standard. If you’ve read one book or e-book on the topic, you’ve read them all. This will take time and patience, but don’t disregard it just because I put it last. Everything covered in this course is here to prep you for emergenciesso everything is important.

How Safe Will Your State Likely Be When the SHTF?

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Where you are bugging in, or where you may be forced to bug out to, should be considered carefully – after educating yourself thoroughly about the threats that are likely to impact your state during either a man-made or natural disaster.

Top 3 Questions you should be asking yourself about the safety of your current address

1. How many jails are prisons are located in the state? How many are within 60 miles (a reasonable walking distance for a horde of marauding convicts) of your home or back-up bugout location?

2. How far do you live from a nuclear power plant? If a meltdown happens due to a downed power grid disaster or SHTF domino effect, are you far enough away? You should be at least 100 miles away from a nuclear power plant.

3. How much rainfall does your region get during an average year? When was the last drought or dangerous summer for farmers? How long did it last? Eventually, after the SHTF, you will be growing and raising your own groceries, not driving to the local supermarket to simply fill your cart with fruits, veggies, meat, and eggs. Your life will depend on watering the crops and livestock.

Top 10 State Statistics That Define How Safe It Will Be During A Doomsday Disaster

1. Population – This is one of the most obvious yet most important facts to consider when planning on bugging in. You should be at least 60 miles from a major city and 40 miles froma medium city to avoid the bulk of the civil unrest and strain on natural resources.

2. Rainfall and Flooding – Learn as much as you can about the average rainfall and incidents of flooding in your state and region. Research old Farmer’s Almanac to see both historic facts and details about recent years. The annual book will also serve as an excellent resource manual for growing tips, harvesting, food preservation, and weather predictions, as well.

3.

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flood map of the united states

3. Drought is a major concern annually or seasonally for portions of the West; California has been struggling with a lack of water and intense usage restrictions for almost three years. The U.S. Drought Monitor map indicates that the current drought in the Golden State is the worst in its history. California is not the only state or region prone to drought conditions. Some states in the Southwest have alsobegun to somewhat resemble the Dust Bowl of the early 1930s. Growing crops and raising livestock will be difficult in such regions, but not necessarily impossible. The inexpensive price of real estate and seclusion the land offers is drawing some preppers to the desert region to begin an off-the-grid existence.

drought preparedness

4. Snowfall averages should also be factored into any relocation or preparedness plan. Sure, many parts of the United States get a hefty dose of snow in the winter, but in recent years the cold white stuff has begun to arrive early and stay late in many states and regions. Growing crops year-round via an indoor greenhouse could become more difficult if the temperatures dip too low for an extended amount of time. The hills of Appalachia are often regarded high on the list of ideal places for homesteading and prepper retreats, but enhanced preps for longer winters must be taken into consideration to live in the region during a disaster. For one thing, you must factor

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in an increased use of wood to warm the home, boil water, and for cooking. You must also consider cold-weather transportation and added livestock feed costs if you’re making a home in the hills of Appalachia or similar regions in the United States.

snowfall in the united states

5. Violent crime does not usually occur in rural areas, even though most residents own guns and many live in the same level of poverty similar to that of their urban peers. Even if your dream homestead orprepper retreat is located in a bucolic small town away from the city,make sure it is far enough away that the violent crime often associated with cities does not wind up on your doorstep just weeks after an economic collapse or other SHTF disaster.

states with the most violent crime

6. Tax rates in rural areas are commonly far lower than the amount of money suburban and city dwellers are forced to pay to governmental entities. Choosing to live “out in the country” has a multitude of benefits to offer the five million or so prepping families in America, but states that do not levy an income tax at all are an even better choice.

7. Nuclear Power Plants exist in a grand total of 32 states. Even states that are not home to such a power plant are almost certainly located across the border from one. Nuclear waste disposal facilities are also located in a vast number of states as well. A strong storm after a nuclear event could cause winds to blow about 125 miles away from the plant and right into the homes of folks who mistakenly felt they lived too far away to be exposed to radiation

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from an accident or meltdown after a power grid failure. The Fukishima nuclear plant meltdown in Japan clearly illustrated the reach and negative impact the fallout from a nuclear disaster can have on not just a single nation, but the entire world.

nuclear reactors united states

8. Tornadoes can happen virtually anywhere, but they are prone to some regions more than others. Living in some regions of the spacious West could leave you vulnerable to a tornado. Concerns about tornadoes are not reason enough should not solely impact a prepper’s homesteading or relocating decision. But the potential of such a natural disaster should serve as reminder to ready the home for the likely possibility of a Wizard of Oz style weather system. Fully realizing what type of natural disaster can occur in your region helps you to not only safeguard against them, but also helps to garner a clearer grasp on what type of natural resources you would be able torely on during a long-term power-grid-down scenario and therefore better plan for needed barter items.

tornadoes map of the united states

9. Earthquakes are also prone to certain regions more than others, but that does not mean that a massive ground-shaking cannot occur in states where such occurrences are unheard of. As with tornadoes, stockpiling items in preparation for the mother of all earthquakes will help you sleep better at night, but don’t count on Mother Naturebeing predictable. Even if you live in an area where only a mild ground shaking has happened in the past 15 years, keep the

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possibility of an earthquake in the back of your mind when evaluating your preparedness plan.

earthquakes preparedness

10. Guns are of course essential to our survival during any type of disaster for both self-defense and hunting. Living in a state, or even a city, that fully respects and protects the Second Amendment rights enumerated by the Constitution could truly be a matter of life and death. If your region does not permit or strictly limits the ability to open carry or engage in the concealed carry of handguns, you could be left exposed and vulnerable during a disaster. If you assume that you can safely enter a store or office while leaving your pistol locked in your vehicle, you are wrong. Imagine the risk of being unarmed and at the mercy of a mass shooter — and that is a mounting risk these days. If you are at a movie theater or shopping mall when an earthquake, tornado, or flash food occurs, will you even be able to locate your car and get to it in order to retrieve your weapon and protect yourself and your family? That is a risk I am just never willingto take. If my gun can’t go somewhere, I do not go either.

What Can Possibly Go Wrong?

Many people prepare for disaster scenarios but few like to imagine the kinds of restrictions they will have. The possibility of Martial Law being enacted is perhaps the most disturbing aspect during the immediate aftermath of any disaster or national security threat.

The restrictions imposed will dictate how you prep and the kind of tools and gear you’ll buy. You should expect to face many of these obstacles during either a short-term naturaldisaster or a long-term doomsday disaster event.

No running water No Internet No electricity – which means no heat or air conditioning or way to cook your food

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No gas – which also means no control of the temperature of your home or way toprepared food

No supermarket to buy supplies All roads may be blocked No trains or public transportation No cable TV No radio (in case of an EMP, all electronics will be fried) You may not be allowed to leave your home (like the authorities forced the

people of Boston after the marathon bombing and in Brussels during the manhunt for the Paris terror attack suspects

Mobility issues Number of people living near you Whether you’re in a rural or an urban setting Age and health-related issues

In addition to the above, you need to be aware of the things that my affect you and your family. They aren’t pleasant, which is why I think many people avoid considering. Let me start off with these, then you can come up with more on your own:

You could die. Does your family know what to do if this happens? Cross-training isthe key to surviving a SHTF disaster.

One or more of your family members could die. Will you be able to go on without them? How will you dispose of the body in an effort to show proper respect and to prevent the spreading of disease?

You or a family member could get injured (for instance, if you break your leg, you’ll be unable to do many of the homesteading tasks you’re going to plan for, might as well add some wooden crutches to your stockpile – and a walker, and wheelchair, just to name a few of the crucial medical supplies that should be factored into your survival budget.

People (neighbors, gangs) might find out you’re a prepper or may already know this. Your neighbors, knowing that you’re a prepper, might try to steal from you. This is one of the reasons location is perhaps the most important part of your preparedness plan. Urging others who live near you to become more self-reliant could not only save their lives, but yours as well.

Your (prepper) friends might betray you. When you have a hungry family to feed, you’d do anything to see your kid and spouse smiling again. That’s what every parent would do. Careful how much of your bug-in plans you reveal to others. If you’re in a mutual assistance group, particularly if it’s offline (meaning you meet local preppers face to face), you never know which one will have the balls to come to your house in an SHTF situation. Being a part of a group has

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many advantages, but you have to be very selective about who you include. Forming your own group comprised of extended, like-minded close friends, and non-preppers with vital skills, is the best option if not going the lone wolf prepping route.Furthermore, even if you’re only active online on blogs and forums, revealing your preps along with your location could be fatal. If you’re a member on prepperforums, you know that your location (the one you set up when you join) shows upunderneath your name and along with every post that you publish. Never put sensitive information online if you don’t need to (passwords, CC info, connecting different websites to your Facebook etc.).

In addition to the above list, each disaster will bring with it its own set of challenges. We’re going to talk about each of them in detail soon enough.

Final Considerations before We Begin

The following is a list of things that will shape how you put your bug-in plan into action. They’re things not many people consider, which is why they make this course so valuable.

#1. You should also prep for bugging out

You see, some of the things you do are useful in both scenarios. Getting in shape, for example. Some preppers don’t worry about it because they don’ plan to bug out when, in reality, you need to be fit to bug in as well. Think of all the hard work you’re going to do for your garden. Think of the long miles you might have to walk just to get clean water.

Needless to say (and I’m going to repeat this throughout the course), if you live in the city, you MUST have a bug out location (or more).

#2. You’re never done prepping.

Prepping is a lifestyle. It’s something you embed within your current lifestyle, making sureyou still live your life. At least that’s how I see it. But you’re never done prepping. Some ofthe things that are “recurring” include:

Rotating your food, water and medicine stockpile Improving your bug out bag Finding new deals on tools and gear Practicing your skills so you don’t forget them and to improve them Modifying your home to be able to accommodate even more preps Selling the tools and gear that were prepping impulse buys and not truly useful Accommodating for changes within your family (new pet, more pets, new kid,

permanent medical diseases)

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Being on the lookout for a new place to move (just sayin’... you can always find something better)

Focus on the “one is none, and two is one” prepping philosophy when it comes tonot only essential tools and gear but survival skills as well.

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Choosing Your Bug In locationefore you spend time and effort bugging in, you should ask yourself whether you’re in the right place. If not, consider moving before you start stockpiling. Reasons to move out and find a better place to live in include:B

Living in a (tiny) apartment and don’t have enough room to stockpile You don’t have escape routes from your town or city You’re in a bad neighborhood You’re too close to the center of your town or center, where social unrest is more

likely to occur You’re close to a nuclear facility (cities such as Pittsburgh, New York City, Miami,

San Diego and Philadelphia are less than 100 miles from a power plant) Your workplace is far from home, making it difficult to bug in if something

happens while you’re working You’re renting, so it’s not that big of a deal to move out

Finding a home suited for bug-in purposes is similar to finding a bug out location. There are potentially life-saving factors to consider when choosing a bugging in address for yourhome.

Bug In Location Tips

Privacy (the less neighbors the better, but many times in an emergency, having a neighbor could make the difference between life and death)

How well you can defend your property from all cardinal points Whether or you’re able to bug out in any direction from the place (depending on

which routes are available and the direction the disaster is coming from if applicable)

Having natural resources on the property (a river, creek, springfed pond, or a wellas a sustainable water source, wild edibles, trees, natural sunlight, wood)

whether or not your home is visible from the main road Protection from natural disasters (is it protected from flash floods, is there a

respectable distance between the house and trees that could catch fire etc.) Ability to raise livestock (and can you make it so without anyone knowing you

have them)? Is there enough pasture and water for the small, medium, or large livestock you

intend to raise? How will you feed them during the winter months? Proximity to your survival and mutual assistance group

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How will you provide fuel and heat for your family? Can you chop your own firewood or harness solar, wind, or hydroponic power?

The only real downside to living in a rural area is proximity to employment. Make a list of pros and cons about relocating to a small town or the countryside to determine how such a move would truly impact your way of life both now and after the SHTF.

Even if you don’t want to leave everything behind and go live in a small town, you should still consider moving to the suburbs. Yes, it might take you longer to get to work but it’ll be worth it. Not only are land and houses cheaper but you’ll be away from the town’s hotspots AND you’ll be able to bug out quicker if need be.

If the land you’re buying doesn’t have a house on it, this means you can design it in any way that you want. Consider the following before starting to build it:

Having a basement, root cellar, garage, or outbuildings putting together a solid rainwater harvesting system and have a place for your

water storage tank(s) Saving space for a survival garden using permaculture techniques or maximizing

the available space for vertical gardening, container gardening, or growing frames/greenhouse.

Planting trees that could provide shade during hot summer days, camouflage form nosy neighbors.

Planting natural fencing shrub and trees to garner more privacy for your home, topen livestock cheaply and to serve as a food source for the animals.

If possible, don’t make your house more than 1 story high, you don’t want it to attract attention

Design a safe-room and make sure it has a window (you will later on add a collapsible ladder so you can escape from it if need be)

Insulate the attic (for two reasons: one because it’ll keep the temperature inside your home constant, and two, because it won’t get too hot during the summer, astemperature variations can slightly affect the non-perishable foods you can store there such as books)

The architecture of the house should ideally match that of your neighbors, so it doesn’t stand out

Consider digging an underground bunker, but pay special attention to how you design the air vents (if someone finds them, it’ll be easy for them to smoke you out by putting a vehicle’s exhaust pipe next to it and turning on the engine)

You also don’t want to paint it colors that will make it stand out have a nice spot for you to place an aluminum bath-tub to warm water on

summer days, so you can take summer baths without using fuel to warm water

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If there’s a flood risk, make sure you take proper measures, isolate it, dig trenchesin strategic locations and so on

If there are many trees on your property, consider the possibility of them catching fire and whether that will affect the house. Fire should also be a factor when deciding what material are used to build or rehab an existing home to makeit a true prepper retreat.

One more tip... if you live in a place with heavy snow such as Idaho or Alaska, installing rain gutters for rainwater/snow harvesting won’t work. The gutters will just fill with ice, which will affect them in the long run – if you do not maintain them properly.

First off, you need larger, non-rectangular tanks than people living in warmer climates,

who are only concerned with rain water. The reason is simple: larger tanks that are roundas opposed to rectangular take longer to freeze. Needless to say, all pipes as well as the tank need to be insulated, so the water doesn’t freeze inside it. If your tank is buried underground, there should be an insulating layer at the top to keep the cold out and prevent the water from freezing as a result.

Next, let’s talk about the roof. The angle of the roof should be bigger, to allow the snow to fall off easier. It also needs to be stronger so they don’t give in under all that snow. Usemetal roofing to make the home more fire-resistant. Fires will be even more of a concern after a SHTF disaster when calling the fire department is not an option.

How does the water get into the tank? Without the help of gutters, the only thing you cando is use gravitation. Just imagine where the water would go after it falls off the roof and starts melting, then install the tank into the appropriate place and clear the path for the water to get to it.

If this sounds like a lot of wasted space that could otherwise be used for gardening purposes, how about you also designate the route for evacuation purposes? You’ll need ways out of the house, anyway, and this could be one of them.

Some Preppers Move into “Tiny Homes”

If you haven’t yet heard of the tiny house movement, that’s ok: it’s not that popular. Everyone wants a bigger house, including preppers, to accommodate their increasing stockpiles, but these homes that are between 100 and 400 square feet have their own advantages, and it may be something to consider looking into.

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Let me give you a few reasons why you’d want to move into one:

You live alone or it’s just you and a pet – you don’t really need that much space You save money by selling off your bigger house It’s harder to notice from the main road It’s less likely to attract “zombies”, who’d rather target bigger homes that look

like they have rich owners Mobility (if your tiny home is, in fact, a trailer)

Will there be enough room for your preps? That’s going to be a problem, but what you can do is employ tricks to maximize storage space. Now, it’s pretty clear that a tiny home isn’t ideal for bugging in purposes, but it might be ideal for someone who wants the mobility and is willing to focus on the skills as opposed to gear.

All in all, tiny homes are really for someone with the bug out mentality, someone who’s strong enough both physically and mentally to move from place to place and someone who’s more concerned with survival skills than with accumulating a large stockpile.

Let me ask you a question...

Is Your Home Really Yours?

Do you own your home or the place you’re looking to buy? Or does it belong to the bank?In case of an economic collapse, who knows who might come and try to take it away fromyou... we’ve all seen what happened in Greece and, beyond the hundreds of people who died there, beyond the lies and deceit, there’s one lesson to be learned: get out of debt. Pay your mortgage and make that home truly yours.

Paying off your debts is one of the most powerful things you can do to prepare, but don’t stop with your mortgage. Pay off any other debts you may have so you have less things toworry about when SHTF.

When you owe people money, they will come to you in case of an emergency... and sharing your preps and money with them is the last thing you want... not because you don’t really want to help, but because it will not only decrease the amount of time your own family can survive. Plus, if word gets out that you have supplies, it’s only a matter of time until others show up on your doorstep, asking for some.

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Preparing Your House to Bug Inlthough I encourage you to start buying food and supplies after you finish reading the course, logic dictates that we must talk about creating the right environment for them. You can have all the food, water, medicine, tools and gear in the world

if your food spoils, if your water grows algae and bacteria, if someone loots your garden and if your roof is torn apart by the hurricane.

AOnce again, you must go back to the list of disasters you’re preparing for so you set your priorities.

Is your house near a forest and you’re afraid it could catch fire? There’re plenty of things you can do. Are you lacking a safe room? You’re going to improvise one (maybe your second bathroom). Are you afraid that a flash flood is going to wreak havoc your basement and destroy your stockpile? Are you worried that the solar panels you want to buy won’t get enough sunlight? Or that passersby will notice your garden and, hungry as they’re going to be, they’re going to steal your crops at night?

Let’s figure out all of these scenarios, as well as ways to tackle them. This way, you’re going to feel like you’ve done everything you could to protect your stockpile.

Heavy Snow

Heavy snow is probably one of the easiest disasters to prepare for... unless you happen tobe trapped inside a car, that is. But if you’ve done even a passable job at prepping, you should have more than enough supplies to hunker down for a few weeks.

Of course, the other thing you need to worry about besides the snow is freezing to death. Here’s what you need to do:

Insulating your home, attic, garage and pipes Having back-up heaters on kerosene and propane Having thick wool blankets for everyone Getting everyone into one room where you can all sleep and keep each-other

warm Prepare your vehicle for get home scenarios (having a solid shovel, preferably

non-folding, tire chains etc. Stocking up on hand warmers

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Stockpile rock salt to use on driveways to help melt the ice (you don’t need to worry about shelf life because salt is a preservative and has no expiration date); sand will also work to improve traction and avoid breaking a leg

Download apps to alert you of heavy snow and other weather-related emergencies in your area

Have a place to keep your pet warm inside the home. Stockpile straw to keep your livestock warm. Animals that die during the winter

cannot be used for meat or eggs. Horses will be a vital mode of transportation and an asset for working the land after the SHTF. They must have ample hay in their stalls over the course of the cold weather months to survive the winter.

Make sure you can go out the window if the door is stuck, to get to your supplies (sometimes, snow can be more than a couple of feet in height)

Add blankets, clothes, thermal underwear, socks, weather-resistant boots, and hand warmers to your car as well as to your survival bags.

Check every battery you have in your house, including the ones for smoke and COdetectors

Stock up on fuel to heat your home, of course

You bugged in, now what?

Waiting can be painful, particularly when you have no Internet or electricity, but it’s the best thing you can do, so long as you have enough food and water. I know it might be tempting to go to the supermarket or see a friend, but don’t do it. Better safe than sorry.

If you can go outside, at least in your garage or backyard, you may do some activities that will help, such as shoveling snow from the driveway... but keep in mind that the more energy you waste, the more food and water you need to consume.

Tornadoes

800 yearly tornadoes kill 80 people and injure another 1,5008, though other websites report over 1,000 yearly tornadoes in the United States.

Perhaps the most important thing you can do to avoid dying in a tornado is to always be on alert. You should always have a TV or a radio on a local channel that will give you an early warning should one be near you. Keep in mind that tornadoes form all year round, not just in spring and summer.

Another thing to keep in mind is that storms may be an indicator that a tornado is about to form, especially since, in the early stages, it’s hard to spot them. Wind is invisible, you only start seeing the tornado after it starts to gather a certain amount of debris. Even after that happens, the tornado could be hidden behind rain and clouds.

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If a storm meets favorable conditions for a tornado to form, the NOAA weather radio will then issue a “tornado watch”. No tornado is formed at this point but it does warn everyone to stay tuned for further news.

When a tornado is actually spotted, a “tornado warning” is quickly issued.

So how can you prepare your home for a tornado? The best thing to do is to have a safe room, a basement or a root cellar that will act as a shelter. Basements, however, have windows, which will break and kill you if you happen to be in their vicinity. If this is the case, you may want to replace the windows with plexiglass and reinforce them.

What if you don’t have a basement or a safe room? If that’s the case, then you need to designate a room that’s possibly at ground floor, one that’s as close to the center of the house as possible. The less windows it has, the better.

And don’t forget that your ears can get damaged by the noise. Having a few earplugs stashed away in a survival bag inside your safe room is a good idea. If you get a pack with more than a few pairs, spread them around your house and even inside your car. If you don’t have them, you should definitely cover your ears with your hands as you crouch down.

One other thing you can stockpile is a good hard hat. This will work in case of an earthquake as well to protect your head from falling objects and debris.

Can you tornado-proof your house? We all know what a town looks like after a tornado has hit. Literally every building is down to the ground. Now, I’m not trying to say these will work regardless of the structure of your home or the size of the tornado, but there are things that you can do to maximize your chances.

The most critical part of the house is the roof. When the roof goes (and that’s usually the first thing that does), the walls lose lateral stability and the house becomes a lot more vulnerable.

To do this, you can do a few things that aren’t at all expensive, especially when you compare then to the risk of having your entire home destroyed. Here’s a few suggestions...

Hurricane clips. These make sure your roof is better attached to your home. The Simpson Strong Ties are dirt-cheap, but well-worth the investment. Just keep in mind you also have to include the cost of labor. Needless to say, these will make sure your roof withstands hurricanes, not just tornadoes.

Fortify doors, garage doors and windows. Install stronger windows, preferably made of Plexiglas and don’t forget to also have plywood ready for all exterior windows. The

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plywood can be fixed in place using windows clips, no need for nails. These should be marked with marker in advance, so you know which one goes where.

Next, you should better attach all exterior doors to their frames, by using deadbolts and three hinges. This is something you would do against home invaders, who’d try to break down your door in an effort to get inside. Also, you need to better anchor the frame itself to the wall, by using longer and stronger framing nails.

Ground your entire home structure. This can get expensive, and is probably not worth the investment. Instead of spending a small fortune on improving something that was weak to begin with, maybe you can buy some land and make your own home from scratch, the way you want to? Making a home with the survival aspect in mind will not only mean it’s more likely to withstand tornadoes, but it will allow you to easily do other things such as installing a rainwater harvesting system, a water distiller and so on, all of this without sacrificing the way it looks.

Of course, I should also mention that you could be eligible for tax breaks when looking to invest in storm shelters. Check with your local authorities to see if that’s the case.

What if you live in an apartment? Well, first of all, I hope it’s as close to the ground level as possible. If not, your best bet would be to hide inside the garage below the building or, better yet, inside the pump house.

Ultimately, the ideal place to survive a tornado is below ground.

Hurricanes

Hurricanes are traditional disasters in the United States. They happen every year and there’s no actual way to stop them from forming. The only way ensure they never touch you is to move out to some other state where they don’t occur... but if that’s not an option, let’s see how you can prepare your house to bug in.

First off, the advice given in the previous subchapter about tornadoes will also work for hurricanes. You need a roof that’s fixed in place and won’t take off during high winds. Youneed to reinforce your doors and windows and garage door.

In addition, hurricanes will bring floods, which means your basement or root cellar could get filled with water, compromising most of your preps.

How would one go about solving this problem? Well, first of all, I suggest you keep every one of your preps in waterproof containers. Make sure you test them to ensure they seal properly. This could be part of your yearly inspection. 5 gallon plastic buckets or some other plastic container could work.

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Next, you should look into all possible ways in which you could get flooded. The first thingyou should check is where the water that falls off the roof goes. If the downspouts are clogged or unable to handle large volumes of water, this could cause water to accumulatein other places and eventually make its way into your basement. This means that your basement could get flooded even in case of heavy rains, without the need for a hurricane.

Next, I your foundation waterproof? If you already have mold inside your basement, it probably isn’t. One of the easiest ways to waterproof your foundation is to use a spray-onsystem that seals the pores of your foundation.

What if your basement still gets flooded? There’s no such thing as a waterproof basement, so the two best things you can do are:

Keep some of your stockpile in other places (in a pantry around the house, in a root cellar dug in some other place on your property that is less likely to get flooded).

Never hide from a flood or a hurricane inside your basement or root cellar. Also, as the hurricane is about to hit, move as much stuff you can away from the

ground floor to the first floor.

Where should you hide when the hurricane hits?

An underground shelter is ideal but, as I said, if it gets flooded, you risk getting trapped inside. This means that a basement that is at least partially underground has two entrances is better than a root cellar. The latter can be a death trap in my opinion.

On the other hand, if you have a basement, it would be ideal if you had one entrance thatleads outside and one that leads inside to a second safe room inside the house. This way, if you the basement gets flooded, you could reach your safe room without going outside.

The exterior door can be useful if, say, you have a burglar inside the house and your only way to hide is inside the basement. You could leave your house through the basement before the attacker realizes what’s happening.

What critical preps should you have for a hurricane?

You can start with the ones below, but be prepared to hunker down for at least a couple of months. After it passes, it’ll take some time for people to rebuild their homes and for shops to start functioning again.

Here’s the list:

A three-month food and water stockpile Emergency radios + spare batteries + solar chargers – stored inside a Faraday

cage in case the disaster is sparked by an EMP attack or solar flare. A HAM radio

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will help keep you in touch with the outside world – the information shared couldalert you to civil unrest, a wild fire, or emerging pandemic in the region that would impact the safety of your family or mutual assistance group.

flashlights (you can never have enough) Lots of candles (but watch out because they pose a fire risk) + waterproof

matches Solar lights – they can be moved indoors at night and used as a light source. Weapons (to defend from looters) A generator and fuel. But a multi-fuel generator so you are not totally reliant

upon gasoline and gas stabilizer. Gas will go bad far more quickly than diesel fuel or propane. Buy a solar-generator as a back-up power source.

Stock up more water than you think you need – odds are you will eventually run through it all during a long-term doomsday disaster

An indoor cooker (maybe one based on alcohol) An inflatable raft or canoe, just in case the flood threatens to come inside the

house Have a rabbit ear antenna, so you’re able to tune in to more channels if your

cable company stops working ear plugs for your ears Multiple large tarps and straps or sturdy rope.

The hurricane’s about to hit. What do you do?

The first question to ask yourself is: should you bug out? If you can, you should indeed evacuate. I wouldn’t want to get caught anywhere near a Katrina-like hurricane. When the next one hits, there will be plenty of news about the magnitude of what’s to come. You’ll also have time to load most if not all your valuables and go someplace else. The only thing you need, of course, is a place to go.

The place to go doesn’t necessarily have to be a fully-equipped bug out location. You can temporarily move to a relative who’s out of state, or even to a piece of land that you havein a place that’s far away from the storm. In theory, you could build your own shelter on the property the moment you get there, or you can even camp there if you have a 2-person tent.

Another thing you should do (unless something urgent comes up) is to inspect your preps.We talk about this towards the end of this course, but everything needs to work: your flashlights, propane stoves, generators. Don’t forget to check that your food is edible (the can are not bulging or rusted, there’s no mold or funny smells, the water doesn’t smell or taste funny etc.). You should also stock up on as much water as you can. Turn on all the

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faucets and hoard it in every container you have lying around the house (a water BOB willwork great for your bath tub).

Tip: fill plastic containers (such as 2 liter water bottles) and freeze them in the freezer. They will allow to keep your fridge and freezer cold for a longer period of time, extending the life of the foods they contain. Don’t fill them all the way up, though.

Check that all ditches and culverts are clean. You want the water to flow freely.

Fill 2 liter water bottles or Ziploc bags with water and freeze them. They will keep the foods in your fridge or freezer longer.

Last but not least, don’t forget mental preparation. Watch YouTube videos of hurricanes so you know what you’re getting yourself into... and visualize yourself surviving the days and weeks to come. I know it sounds cheesy but it works.

House Fires and Wildfires

The things you must do to prepare your house for a fire aren’t that hard, so I’m not going to beat around the bush with theory. I’m just going to give you the list of things to do.

Fire extinguishers. The bigger the house, the more you need. Keep in mind they have an expiration date of about two years, though they might still work after that. You can use the ones that expire in drills if you want.

Living in a home with a metal roof, poured concrete or cinder block walls, and built upon a poured concrete foundation WILL help safeguard your home during a fire. Barns and other outbuilding that house small livestock and essential tools, hay/straw, and gear, should be built out of metal or retrofitted with metal coverings, as well.

Which ones to get? Well, it first depends on how strong you are. If you’re not that physically fit, using a large extinguisher to put out a fire might be impossible.

You can also opt for a disposable or a rechargeable extinguisher. The former is cheaper but the letter will cost you less when you recharge (so, if you plant to replace them every couple of years, you’ll end up cheaper). If you’re serious about fire hazards, the second option will save you money, but make sure you ask how much it costs and where you can recharge. Something to put on your to-do list.

I left the part that’s most complicated last. There’re several types of extinguishers and they’re all good in different scenarios:

Dry powder (most versatile) Foam (use them on wood as well as flammable liquids)

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CO2-based (work on electrical wires but it’s also likely that the fires will reignite) and, of course, water-based (these are cheap, they are used for class A fires but

they’re no good if the fire’s been started by an appliance)

Which one to get? The ones based on dry powder are best, though a little bit more expensive. Now, in addition to them, you should get a few things that will ensure you get out of the house alive should a fire happen.

How about some smoke detectors? These will warn you in advance of a fire. Some of them will also warn when they sense carbon monoxide (CO). Very useful if you’re going touse a wood stove. Carbon monoxide is extremely dangerous as it’s colorless, odorless, which is why it killed so many people without them realizing that they’re going to sleep for good.

Where should you put them? According to the 2009 International Residential Code® for One- and Two-family Dwellings, anywhere where you’re sleeping and anywhere you use wood as fuel.

Next, how about a fire blanket? This is a useful thing to have in the kitchen and works for small fires. However, it might save your life even in case of bigger fires, you just never know.

It’s a good idea to install these sensors in every room of the house to test for both smoke and gas fumes, including your bathrooms, your basement and your safe room (if you haveelectrical wires in them).

Also, if you keep your water stockpile in the basement (because it needs a cook, dark place, right?), why not keep an empty bucket handy and at least one 55-gallon barrel within reach? You may be able to put out the fire using the water you’ll store for emergency anyway.

In fact, if you don’t have any issues with people coming into your home and judging you for being a prepper, you might as well keep a water container (not necessarily a barrel) in every room of the house; it’s one way of spreading your stockpile.

You should get a few fire-retardant tarps that you could use to escape a burning home. Though some claim they will start to burn once they’re exposed to flames, they’re better than nothing as you’re running, or, even worse, as you’re crawling out of it (to avoid the flames and the CO). In many cases, these tarps will start to melt instead of catch fire. Tarps have many other alternative uses too, so they’re worth the investment.

Bugging In Fire Preparedness Tips

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How many flammable materials are inside and around your home? Conduct a fire hazards inventory and make all necessary adjustments. Flammable materials are classified in three separate categories - Class A, Class B, and C. Flammables in the Class A category typically include mundane combustible materials like: wood, paper and plastic. Class B flammable include: items various types of grease, fuel, fuel accelerants, and other combustible liquids. Class C category flammable materials generally include electrical appliances, tools, and machines.

Remove all tree branches, pine needles, leaves, and bushes at least 10 feet away from your home, structures, porches/decks, roof, and chimney.

The chance of wild fires is greatest during hot and dry periods or times of drought. When such conditions are present, wet down both the roof and all sides of the home – even if it is built of metal to deter a spark from bouncing or sliding off of the metal and onto an unprotected area of the structure.

Make sure the screens around your chimney or exterior furnace vents are not larger than half-an-inch wide to help prevent any burning material from dropping inside. Encase such area with ½-inch hardware cloth as an extra fire prevention measure.

Never store either straw or hay bales piled closely together. Spontaneous combustion can, and does occur, during extensive heat conditions – and the bale will fuel the flames of any fire that reaches or starts in your barn. A 1-foot spacingin between round bale and separating stacks of square bales is highly recommended. If at all possible, do not store hay or straw bales inside the same structure are your livestock.

Routinely clear the underbrush and select cut trees near your home and auxiliary structures to reduce the chance of wild fire and to deter its spread. All tree branches should remain at least 10 feet off the ground.

Dig or built (with brick or cinder blocks) a fire break around your home. Never store spare fuel in the basement of the home, an attached garage, or next

to livestock pens and stalls. Only keep a very small amount of firewood stored next to or inside your home –

except during the early phases of a disaster when safety is the primary concern. Take a course in basic firefighting skills either online or at a professional

workshop. Most volunteer fire departments will pay for the training and gear of new recruits – you do not have to be a 20something to be a volunteer.

Search online and at surplus stores for used bunker gear. Fire departments often sell their old gear when it is too used to pass state standards, even though it still has a lot of life left in it. The firefighter outerwear will help protect you if forced to bugout through a wild fire area or when fighting a blaze to protect your home.

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Invest in multiple “Indian packs.” The portable (over the back) water packs with attached hoses will allow you to fight fire that is threatening your home without buying hundreds of feet of hose – any may be your only option when water stops flowing from the tap during a long-term doomsday disaster.

Power Outages

Power outages cause thousands of Americans to bugin every year. Many are already used to this andhave prepared. These aren’t by any meanscatastrophic events, but they do cause unpreparedpeople to take supermarkets by storm and even tobeg their more prepared neighbors for supplies.

The good news is, power outages are probably theeasiest emergencies to prep for.

They are, obviously, temporary and they don’t kill people. Not directly, at least. Everyone knows that things will go back to normal soon.

Of course, one side effect could be a temporary increase in crime rate, since looters will take advantage of the darkness, but so long as you’re at home, have means to protect yourself and are able to light your way, I doubt any of them will take you by surprise.

However, flashlights could stop functioning, batteries may not be enough and so on. There’s a “survival bag” that’s specifically targeted for blackouts. Called a blackout box, it’s just a place to keep various things to light your way, such as flashlights, lanterns, batteries packed in such a way so they don’t touch each-other, chemlights, solar chargers and so on. You can even go as far as adding a small first aid kit inside, for redundancy’s sake.

Of course, if the container doesn’t act like a Faraday cage, all your electronics will be friedfrom an EMP, but let’s not worry about that for now.

The moment things start to get interesting is when you’re in a blackout and experience extreme temperature. Heat waves and extreme cold can be a pain in the you-know-what to survive when you don’t have electricity. We’ll talk about those as well in a moment.

Heat Waves

As I’m writing this, it’s 88 degrees F outside (31 Celsius) outside and, although I have my fan working almost non-stop, it would be hotter if electricity ran out. I don’t have an AC,

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unfortunately, but the house I live in does have some pretty thick walls, so it’s stays prettycool.

Heat exhaustion or stroke occur when the body becomes so hot and dehydrated perspiration cannot take place properly. When a person is hot but stops sweating and thebody is “clammy” to the touch, heat exhaustion is likely occurring.

Victims of heat stroke and exhaustion often becomes confused, lethargic, or lose consciousness completely. If this occurs, loosen the victims clothing, dab their extremities, face, and head with cool, but not cold, water.

When hooking the person up to an IV of fluids is not possible, remove them from the heatas best as possible, keep rousing them as firmly and gently as possible while cooling their body and get them to sip – not gulp, on cool water. Drinking something infused with electrolytes, like Gatorade or Pedialtye, is also recommended.

Three Ways to Beat the Heat

a. Keep the window blinders down at the room that’s exposed to the southb. Open the windows at night, when the temperature outside is lower than the

inside (and, of course, close them back in the morning when the air starts to heat up again)

c. Make a “swamp cooler.” A solar-powered fan connected via a plastic hose to a cooler filled with cold water can help cool a room quickly.

In what follows, I’m going to give you all the tips you could ever need to survive heat waves. Yes, many of them are trivial but I have to include them for newbies. Besides, evenfolks who know about them neglect to do them.

Here we go:

Wear a hat or stay in the shade when you’re outside. Even better, stay inside when temperatures are unbearable.

Drink plenty of fluids. No alcohol, please, just plain water, carbonated water or juice.

Wear sunblock if you’re going to spend more than 10 minutes under direct sunlight.

Wear loose-fitting clothing. Soak a bandana in cool water and tied it around your head, forehead, or neck.

In addition, you may want to take advantage of your solar distiller to generate clean, potable water using nothing but the sun. You can also warm up bath water to avoid using

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energy to warm it, not to mention you can use a solar cooker to cook a wide variety of things.

Trick: position your fan to blow over a bowl of ice, the air will be much cooler.

Another trick: if there’s no power, go to your water stockpile in the basement and use some of that relatively cool water on your wrists and on the back of your knees. This will cool you off a little bit. Even better, consider turning your basement into a room youcan spend your time in and even sleep when the inside of your home is too hot.

Dealing with Extreme Cold and with Heavy Winters

Extreme temperatures can do more damage to the human body than you think. For example, did you know that it isn’t just your limbs that can freeze, it’s also your eyes’ cornea? Your skin and muscles begin to freeze as well, causing your body to shut down.

Not-so-fun fact: cold weather kills 20 times more people than hot weather.9

Now, I’m assuming you’re not looking to prepare in case you get lost on a mountain, having to survive inside a quinzhee (a smaller version of an igloo). Instead, I’m going to show you how to protect yourself and your home from extreme cold.

Needless to say, the first thing you should worry about is insulation. A well-insulated home, garage and attic can keep a comfortable temperature inside. You can spray polyurethane foam, for instance.

Next, check all doors and windows for cracks. They will be responsible for much of the heat leaving your home.

Besides your home, here’s my cold weather checklist I recommend you follow to the letter. It doesn’t include the basics that you would do for the other emergencies, those have been covered in other places throughout the eBook:

Stock up on wood, propane and kerosene to heat your home Make sure your CO detectors are working Stock up on clothes (either wool or synthetic, not cotton), blankets, winter hats, wool

scarves and thick gloves, for example:o RefrigiWear Iron-Tuff -50 Coverall Suito Wool Sweaterso Rothco M-65 Field Jacketo thermal underwear

Get some space blankets just in case – including Mylar thermal blankets

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Get a sleeping bag for each family member, maybe even a double sleeping bag so youcan keep each-other warm

Keep your clothes clean and dry Stock up on hand warmers and foot warmers Try to get everyone to sleep in the same room, to keep each-other warm and, of course, avoid sweating.

Keep in mind that most of your body heat is lost through the head, so don’t be embarrassed to wear hats indoors – survival is not a fashion show! This may very well save you fuel if the extreme temperatures will last longer than expected; many preppers stock up on less fuel than they end up using in an emergency.

Knowing how to prevent and treat both frostbite and hypothermia may save your life – orthe life of someone you love. Blood flow becomes restricted when the human body is exposed to unusually cold temperatures. The extremities are usually affected first in such situations. When we are exposed to either cold weather or cold water for extended durations of time, ranging from minutes to hours depending upon the temperature.

Body heat is lost at a rapid rate during such situations and the heat naturally generated by the body under normal circumstances ceases to function properly, causing at first, frost bite and ultimately, hypothermia .

The effects of hypothermia can range from mild to extremely severe – even death, if proper aid is not rendered quickly. The vital organs – the heart and lung, are usually affected first in cases of serious hypothermia.

Recognizing the symptoms of hypothermia quickly enhances the chances of thwarting thecondition and the possibility of the victim making a complete recovery.

Signs of Hypothermia

Nearly uncontrollable shivering – even when placed in a warmer area. Loss of coordination The presence of a sense of apathy by the victim Shallow breathing or loss of consciousness Hostile behavior by the victim while you are attempting to help them

Prevention and Treatment of Hypothermia

Remove any cold, damp, or wet clothing. Pat the victim’s body dry – do not vigorously rub the sensitive skin Put the victim in dry clothing or blankets – use leaves, dry soil, or a tarp if clothing

and blankets are not available.

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Two naked body hugging close together can help generate needed body heat – if no other options are available. Attempt to make direct skin to skin contact with the hypothermia victim on the head, neck, and chest.

Move the victim out of the cold weather and near – but not too close, to a heat source. Be mindful of any potentially injuries to the person and adapt your relocating actions accordingly to prevent further pain and injury.

Rub the victims exposed skin and covered skin gently. Give the victim something warm, but not hot, to eat and drink. Use the thermometer in your first aid kit to consistently check the victim’s

temperature. If the temperature falls beneath 95 degrees, death could occur.

Frostbite

Frostbite is not lethal, like hypothermia, but can often cause the loss of not just fingers and toe, but the hands and nose as well. Frostbite causes the death, or freezing, of tissue and often first presents in the extremities, ears, and nose.

Decreased flood flow occurs when the human body is forced to struggle to maintain it core temperature. Wearing a hat, gloves, and thick socks, along with thermal underwear, when exposed to cold temperatures period of time can help prevent frostbite.

Do not assume the pain from the early stages of frostbite will wake you up at night, that isnot often the case.

Treatment of Frostbite

Wet gloves and socks can increase the chances of frostbite. It is far better to remove the wet or damp garments and expose bare skin to the cold while drying the gloves, socks, and hats, than to leave them against your skin.

Warm your hands, feet, and head by rubbing them and staying near the heat source used to dry the damp clothing to help increase blood flow and the core temperature of the body.

Signs of Frostbite

“Frostnip” is the early or mildest form of frostbite. When dark red patches appear on the skin, combined by throbbing, frostnip is likely occurring. As the aching feeling continues, the skin turns numb and white – indicating frostbite is now affecting the body.

As frostbite becomes more severe, the skin often becomes blistered and gray or black in color. At this stage, the skin frequently both looks and feels waxy – a loss of feeling is nowapparent to the victim.

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Warm water until it reaches about 100 degrees and soak the affected skin area in it – or with is via a cloth if the nose, ears, or head are frostbitten. Do not use water hater than 100 degrees, it can scald the skin and cause potentially extensive damage to the effected tissue.

Skin to skin contact with the victim if heating water is not possible, will help also. If you are alone, tuck your fingers into your arm pits or toes into knee pits, to help soak up the available boy heat.

Always pat the skin dry after treating for frostbite or frostnip, apply some antibiotic ointment and wrap in a gauze bandage to deter infection.

Regularly pinch your fingernail to check the blood flow to extremities while exposed to cold temperatures or water. Count the number of seconds after the pinch that it takes normal coloring (indicating proper blood flow) to return to the skin.

Let’s talk about surviving heavy winters for a moment. Most survival shows always depict SHTF scenarios taking place during the summer... but what if this go down south during the winter? There are two cases here:

1. You’re faced with an SHTF event (such as the Yellowstone erupting or a nuclear meltdown) during the winter

2. Or you have to survive the heavy winter itself

Since you’re going to get prepped to the teeth to bug in, it doesn’t really matter than much what’s going on outside, so long as you have everything inside... You only have to keep in mind the particularities of each disaster. For example, if Yellowstone were to erupt, expect to stay indoors for weeks on end plus to deal with the problems caused by the ash (pressure on the roof, it getting inside and so on).

Leaving other disasters aside, surviving a long winter shouldn’t be that hard, so long as you have a stockpile. Just remember to stay warm as you go outside to get more firewoodor supplies, and remember not to spend too much energy shoveling snow. The one that accumulates above the roof should be taken down and you will need a snow shovel roof rake. Here’s some more things you should consider:

Snow shoes A good pair of insulated and waterproof boots Gaiters Extra snow shovels Insulated coveralls

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There will be sunny days, so make sure you open the window when temperature rise to get some of that free heat.

Make sure the roof is steep (at least 50 degrees). You may even be interested in metal roofs.

There’s a bright side to surviving a long winter, too: you get to keep some of your foods cold without using electricity.

Flash Floods

If you watched some of the flash-flood newsevery year on TV, surely you noticed the sameregions or even towns getting flooded multipletimes.

If you live in such a region, the best thing youcan do before you do anything to prepare for aflood is to sell. You probably thought about it,maybe you even realized that your home isn’tworth as much because of its vulnerability... buthow much would it cost you to get your life back to normal after it’s been completely flooded?

You don’t have to move to the other side of the country, you just have to find a place thatwon’t get flooded as easily.

So how do you prepare your house for a flood? First of all, let’s keep in mind that your home can get flooded due to groundwater. To tackle this problem, you should isolate your basement and to keep everything high above the ground. You should at least keep things like your freezer and washing machine on wooden pallets, to protect them from minor floods. Even better, move them to the first floor of the house.

Needless to say, you should NOT keep all your stockpile inside your basement. One thing you can do is to make sure you put everything in airtight containers.

One very important thing you must do is install slice valves or, at the very least, buy wooden or rubber caps that you can use to clog your pipes and avoid a rush of water from flooding your home.

We had this problem when we moved into my current location 12 years ago. The very first torrential rain flooded our basement kitchen and bathroom. A valve fixed the issue, but even today we’re careful not to flush the toilet during or immediately after a strong rain.

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Before you buy these caps, you have to know which size. Make an inventory of all the places you would need them, then measure the diameters of each pipe.

Next, you’ll definitely want to consider cinder blocks and sand bags. These will not only help you keep water away from your home and yard, but can also be used to protect certain strategic positions during a shoot-out.

Last but not least, you’ll want to keep a generator plus extra fuel on hand. With all the utilities shut off, you’ll need a way to cook, keep yourself warm and light your way.

It’s happening. How will you protect your home from the coming flood?

If you decided to stay because you heard that the flood is going to be minor OR if you have a few more hours before you evacuate, you’ll want to make last minute preparations to ensure your home will make it with minimum damage:

Shut off all utilities Plug all the drains and turn your slice valves on Unplug the washing machine drain hose and cap the drain pipe If your rain gutters are connected to your house’s sewer, make sure you

disconnect them Remove the toilet bowl and insert a plug in the drain (this is something you’ll

want to try beforehand) Move your car to higher ground (unless you’re going to use it to evacuate) Ensure all your ammo is sealed Put as many things as you can as high above ground level (on kitchen cabinets,

closets etc.) because you never know how high the water level is going to be Start moving your sand bags to strategic locations Lock all doors and windows and place thick rolled towels around their seals, to

prevent water from getting inside

What if you have to evacuate?

There’s no telling how long the aftermath of a flood can last. It can be hours, it can be months. In the first few critical hours, as you’re evacuating and looking for higher ground, keep in mind that some animals such as the cotton mouth snake will do the same.

Second, whether you’re going by car or by foot, you should never assume the water level is where you want it to be. The water could be much deeper, which means you’re putting your life in danger.

In addition to deep water and a rushing under current that you may not realize at first, the water can be filled with other dangers as well. Downed power lines that are still active

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could electrocute you while wading through the flood water – especially if the storm winds have not yet dissipated.

Debris, sharp and rusty debris can cut you as if rides through the water on the currant. Raw sewage that overflowed into the flood water can cause serious to potentially deadly bacterial infections.

Depending on where you live, the threat of alligators being present in the flood water is also a very real possibility.

Never drive your car through water and never venture in flash flood water unless you really have no choice (and, preferably, something inflatable to keep you afloat).

Tip: although one thing you’ll have plenty of during a flood is water, don’t attempt to drink from it before filtering and purifying it first. With so much debris and other things floating in it, you don’t want to risk your health.

Volcanic Eruptions

Mauna Loa, South Sister Volcano, Mount Hood Volcano and Mount St. Helens are just a few of the U.S. volcanoes that would case dozens or even hundreds of billions of dollars indamage. Not to mention the Yellowstone caldera that would cover, in theory 2 thirds of the country in ash, and live as we know it in the United States would end.

Preparing for a volcanic eruption largely depends on your location. If you’re close to the Yellowstone national park, for example, the only solution if the caldera erupted would be to bug out. This is because the ash would be so dense, that the only way to survive would be to have a bunker where you could lay low for months on end, or a well-insulated home. Of course, the best thing to do would be to move far away from that place.

Tip: get a hazard map from local authorities, to see the areas that are most likely to seelava or mud flows.

In 2015, Chile’s Calbuco volcano covered several cities in inches of ash. Everyone evacuated, which is obviously the safest thing to do if you have time. Of course, if you did a great job protecting your house, you might as well stay inside.

Here are some of the things you can do to:

Get goggles and respirators (preferably N100 instead of N95) Get extra air filters for your car Get tarps to cover your vehicles Invest in air masks for the entire family – the debris can fill the lungs and cause

serious illnesses – even death.

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Grow a large food stockpile and preserve it properly (because you’ll most likely spend months inside the house)

Stockpile as much potable water as possible. Ensure you can grow food indoors, although sunlight is going to be a problem) If you have a chimney, consider removing it (you don’t want the ash coming in)

It’s happening, now what?

The first thing to keep in mind is that the bug in or bug out decision should be made on the spot (this is why doing the drills at the end of the course is so important).

If you’ve done a good job isolating the house and if the authorities are not ordering an evacuation, you should probably stay. Keep in mind that, when authorities want to evacuate people, they’re doing it because most people are unprepared. You, on the otherhand, should be able to survive a volcanic eruption when most people won’t.

Still, evacuation should also be an option for you, because you never know how many eruptions are going to follow in the coming days, weeks, months or even years.

Now, in order to make this decision as quickly as possible, you should have your emergency radio on hand to hear the latest developments. If the volcano doesn’t stop, you might eventually be forced to flee after a few days, who knows...

So don’t assume that the worst is over after a few hours.

Depending on how much time you have left, you may or may not be able to do the following:

Shut off utilities Lock all doors and windows and fill in any draft spots with a thick and damp towel Make as much ice as you can, so you can use it to keep the items inside your

fridge or freezer cool as long as possible. Open the refrigerator as seldom as possible to persevere the cool temperature – the more full the fridge is, the longer the child will last. Fill plastic bottles with cool water and place inside to fill in any gap on the shelves.

Put your livestock inside their shelter and isolate it before leaving them there (unless you can take them with you should you evacuate) and leave them as much feed and water as possible. Leaving the gates open so they can flee to safety and hopefully return themselves to the barn after the threat is over may also be necessary.

Start hoarding as much water as you can before it runs out (you will need plenty of it for washing)

Cover your vehicles (to prevent ash and debris from getting under the hood)46




Turn off the AC and fans Change clothes, get long pants and long sleeves (wear work gloves, your

respirator, goggles and even ear plugs) Get everyone inside the safe room Prepare to clean the ash form the roof because it will weight it down (even

better, strengthen the roof beforehand so it handles the weight) – keep in mind that ash is heavy: 10 centimeters thick (or 4 inches) could collapse the entire roof!Hose down to roof and sides of all structures.

If you’re away from home when an eruption occurs, stay away from rivers and go to high ground

Insulate windows to make sure no ash particles get inside (caulking, weatherstripping, draft snakes, plywood on the outside and heavy curtains on theinside are all good barriers to put between you and the ash)

Beware of the side effects of volcanic eruptions...

Mudflows and floods are two of the disasters that could follow. If you live near a volcano or if you’re prepping for the Yellowstone eruption, keep them in mind. If you haven’t been preparing for a flood because you didn’t think one was possible where you live, think again.

Bottom line:

Regular volcano + reasonable distance + well-equipped home = stay Regular volcano + reasonable distance but no insulated home = leave Supervolcano eruption + reasonable distance = go Supervolcano eruption + close proximity = bug in and pray

Earthquakes

Earthquakes are obviously a good excuse to bug out of your home, but that doesn’t meanyou need to go far. So long as you’re not in or near a building, you should be fine.

That’s not what you can say about your house, which may or may not be able to handle it... Italy was rocked by a series of earthquakes in August and October 2016. The ones in August weakened the buildings, while the ones that followed in autumn finished the job of collapsing many of them. One Italian who was interviews said it would take as long as 7years to recover... and that obviously doesn’t count for other earthquakes happening in the meantime.

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It was sad to see people running away with clothes and valuables thrown away in plastic containers that they were carrying with both their hands. Completely impractical, they were obviously not prepared.

Ok, first thing’s first. If your home’s foundation is weak, it could collapse in case of a strong earthquake... regardless of how thick and strong the walls are. So the first thing you may need to do is to strengthen your foundation, and you do that by constructing sheer walls around it. Since you’re doing this, you may also want to insulate your basement against floods.

I won’t go into the how-to, the University of Hawaii has a great tutorial on how to build sheer walls (if you want to do them yourself, that is).

Even if you have a newer house, you should still worry about this. Many construction companies do try to save money by not putting all the effort and materials they should when building a house. Your best bet would be to get a structural engineer to evaluate the house and check some of the following:

Check that the piles are standing upright, that they are not cracked or weakened in any other way

Check that the timber frames supporting the floor are ok If necessary, reinforce your masonry walls Make sure that the heat pump is mounted securely Check that your chimney is ok, you may even want to remove it if you’re not using it

Protecting Your Home against Intruders and Home Invasions

This is, by far, the most important aspect, and for good reason: burglars won’t wait for a collapse to steal your valuables. It can happen at any time. According to the FBI, there were over 8.2 million property crimes in the US in 2014 5, which include burglaries and carthefts but also larceny theft.

There are a few factors you need to consider when making your war plan:

The size and location of your property The natural landscaping around it The number of people in your household Who in your home is not able to fight The locations of your stockpile All the ways in an out of your property (including tunnels) All the ways in an out of your home (such as through your attic or basement)

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http://www.hilo.hawaii.edu/~nat_haz/earthquakes/protecting.php

http://www.hilo.hawaii.edu/~nat_haz/earthquakes/protecting.php



All the places not directly connected to your house where someone could hide (eitheryou, to get a better shooting position, or a looter): tool sheds, root cellars, chicken coops etc.

Consider doing the following as part of your home defense plan:

Make your home look abandoned by avoiding to paint it on the outside, keeping junk in your front yard or even painting the front wall with graffiti

use sand bags to protect its walls and yourself in a shootout If possible, dig a tunnel from your basement or cellar to your house, so you have a

way out when surrounded Designate fox holes in key places, so you’re able to defend your home without getting

shot Create and LP/OP – listening post – observation post, so you know well in advance

about any threat coming near your home. Designate all the places you can sit in and shoot outside invaders Control how an attacker would try to break into your home by making it hard to go

through all other places except one – where you’ll be waiting . Install early warning signals such as bells in key places, so you know when someone’s

coming Invest in bullet-resistant windows, doors, and shutters. If in the budget, set up security cameras to monitor key areas

Warning! One other thing you need worry about is the legal aspect of it. Even in case of a disaster, shooting someone, even if it’s an armed villain on your property, can get you into a lot of trouble. Become familiar with Stand your Ground laws and Castle Laws in your state so you are fully aware of both your rights and responsibilities.

Preparing for an EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse)

Long story short, an EMP is a short burst of electromagnetic energy that would instantly fry all electronics, from satellites to mp3 players. You wouldn’t fee a thing if it happened, it would not affect your body. Some of the things you might notice, though:

The TV, internet, and cellphones will stop working The lights will go out – and might never come on again Your car’s electric system will shut down (which might cause you to lose control) Airplanes will go down – crashing into homes and businesses and starting fires

that will rage unchecked Public transportation will cease to function

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Grocery store and pharmacy shelves will empty within hours with no chance of resupply

Hospital equipment will be destroyed and care will only exist on a basic level – at least until the gas-powered generators run dry

The short-term consequences, are going to be panicking, fights at the supermarket to get supplies, and, of course, other nations rushing to help (hopefully). According to NASA, theodds of a catastrophic solar storm by 2020 are one in eight4, but even if it doesn’t happen by them, it still can after that.

EMPs can be natural or man-made. A natural EMP would come from the sun. The last solar storm that affected electrical circuits took place in 1859, known as the Carrington Event. when there wasn’t much of an infrastructure4. The telegraph, the most advanced form of technology at the time, was fried and papers on the desks of telegraph operator’scaught on fire due to the strength of the Earth-directed solar flare.

Of course, the effects were nothing compared to what would happen if such a storm stroke today. Our overly-taxed power grid, often referred to as the “glass jaw” on infrastructure in the United States would fail – and repairing it would take months if not years.

The parts necessary to replace transformers and other essential parts of the nation’s electrical grid are not stockpiled by the federal government and housed inside Faraday cages. Nope, the parts that will be needed to turn the lights back on are not even made inAmerican anymore.

The American Society of Civil Engineers, grades vital pieces of infrastructure in the country every few years. The power grid has consistently scored either a “D” or “D+” grade. Not very reassuring mark, is it folks?

Literally every aspect of our lives is run by electricity. I really don’t want to paint the picture of what could happen, because I want to focus on the how to prepare for such a disaster.

I just want to talk about the other kind of EMP real quick. A man-made EMP is also likely to occur in case of war, or even if a terrorist group would want to try it. Though it’s not as easy as some people claim, we should still talk about this.

There are theories stating that electronics protected by Faraday cages will survive. However, there’s a lot of confusion about the best way to make a cage that would withstand the pulse. Because such a disaster has never occurred in modern times, Faraday cages have only been tested in laboratory simulations.

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If you don’t want the hassle of protecting from such a threat, I get it. Beside the Faraday cage, there isn’t much you can do, other than learn to live without electricity, like our ancestors did. Some of the things you can do:

Become self-sufficient to tackle the food and water issue Have other means to light your way besides flashlights (such as chemlights,

candles etc.) Don’t invest too much in solar panels if you’re prepping for this, you might want

to redirect the money to other aspects If you do manage to salvage a couple of ways to generate light, remember to

keep this information hidden from neighbors

How to set up a Faraday Cage

A lot of people think that microwaves or even cars are good faraday cages. This is simply not true. If you put your phone inside your microwave and it rings, you know it’s not EMP proof. Similarly, since you can listen to your portable radio from inside the car, it means the waves are getting through, and so will a devastating EMP pulse.

No one is 100% sure which solution works, but let me just tell you the best one I’ve come so far.

Step #1: You put everything inside a big metal ammo box or trash can with a firm-fitting lid

Step #2: You keep the electronics in their original packaging (including the batteries).

Step #3: Wrap electronics in aluminum foil but make sure they don’t touch it. If they’re in original packaging that won’t happen but if you don’t have that, you can use foam bags.

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Step #3: You put the electronics in smaller ammo boxes that go inside the main box (this layering will increase the odds of your electronics surviving the attack)

Step #4: You insulate all ammo boxes with lots of cardboard (this will ensure that the aluminum foil will not touch the smaller ammo boxes but also that the ammo boxes won’t touch each-other.

That’s it! Nothing to it...

Some of the things you’ll want to EMP-proof include:

Flashlights and lanterns Batteries Solar chargers Walkie-talkies Power tools Repair parts for vehicles and ATVs CB radios HAM radios AC adapters Medical equipment – breathing machines, oxygen machines Electronic scales and thermometers Heaters and fans that could be powered by a generator Cell phones Tablets Jump drive and thumb drives containing essential documents, family medical and

contact information, and photo.

Recommendation: watch the TV series Revolution and Jericho to get a glimpse of what a world without electricity would look like. They are no longer on the air but available in DVD format and on live-streaming services. Read William R. Forestchen’s prepping cult classic book, One Second After, to discover the shocking impact an EMP would have on the way of life as we know it.

Building or Designating a Safe-Room

One of the survival myths that’s out there is that a safe room is safe. Heck, it’s in the name, right? Well, the problem is, a safe room isn’t necessarily the best option. Just like, in most disasters, the solution is to bug in, bugging out is recommended when dealing with situations where a safe room is a viable source.

Here’s why...

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A safe-room is a last resort, can we all agree on that? Tornadoes, hurricanes or home invasions are all reasons to use it... unless you can bug out. You’re better off running awaythan having to deal with a tornado that will bring your home to pieces and HOPE that the safe-room stays intact. You’re better off bugging out when you’ve got a gang of angry looters waiting for you to come out. Yes, if you properly equip it, you can stay there for weeks, but what I they try to smoke you out? What if they wait there until you’re ready tocome out?

This is an extreme scenario but I’m trying to make a point here: all the situations in which a safe-room is a life saver are best survived by leaving your home. The safe room should be used when that’s not an option.

With that in mind, let’s see what you can do to “make” your own place where you can make a last stand.

You basically got two options, you either make one when you build the entire house or you repurpose one of your existing rooms or bathrooms.

The first option is the best case scenario. You get to make the safe room in any way that you want.

The first requirement is for it to have as many load bearing walls as possible. Load bearingwalls are the ones that support the structure of the house, while non-load bearing walls are the ones that are most likely to crash first.

What about windows? Well, this is yet another debate with pros and cons. If the safe room is in the middle of the house, it might not have a window, which I one way of keeping people out. At the same time, you yourself can’t go out, which might be a good idea once you’re inside. If your attackers are waiting for you outside the door, you may beable to use a collapsible ladder to climb down and escape.

Now, I know what you’re going to say:

But Dan, you just told me that bugging out is dangerous. Why would I do it?

I’m not saying you’ll have to do it, I’m saying you should have the OPTION to do it. What ifyou’re only dealing with one attacker and you could leave the safe room before he tries something radical to bring down the door?

As long as you can reinforce the small window from the inside and, possibly, make sure the safe room is on the first floor, you can be reasonably certain no one will try to get in through there.

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Speaking of which, the second thing you must do is reinforce the door and window. The sturdier the door, the better. If you have the money, you can opt for a security door, especially since some of them are fire-resistant.

House fire is yet another case when you want to take shelter inside your safe room AND ty to get out using your window if possible. If you’ve seen footage of people trying to escape fire, you know that every second counts. Heck, I witnessed a couple on my own street (not our house) and even got to one of them before the fire department.

Now, if you want to do this yourself because you can’t afford a luxury door, you should worry about two things:

The door itself (the thicker the better, something made of reinforced steel would work both against fire and bullets)

The deadbolts (install double cylinder deadbolts)

A word about deadbolts. I’ve read this article1 about double cylinder deadbolts which saidthat there’ve been cases of people not being able to get out in case of a fire. The reason is, they needed a key to get out, but you won’t have that problem because you’ll have a spare set of keys on the inside, ready to be used. In fact, you’re going to have a lot of preps and that’s what I want to talk about.

What kind of survival items should you keep inside your safe room? It’s really not that big of a deal. Most of the items are what you’d already keep in your bug out bag or INCH bag or around the house. Food, water, medicine, a hand crank radio (because if you don’t have a window, you can’t charge it with a solar panel), a self-defense weapon... these should all be there. Just buy a little more of what you’re already getting.

The thing with safe-rooms is that you might have to spend days or even weeks (extreme scenario, yes), inside them. This means more water, more food, but also a place to poop, have you thought about that? Have you thought about what you’re going to do with the smell?

If you have a window, you can just throw it out. The other option would be to repurpose your second bathroom to be your safe room because all the pluming is already there. You’ll even be able to take baths if you remember to stockpile a waterBOB.

Having a window inside your safe room is both a good and a bad thing. It will allow you toevacuate in case of a home invasion or a house fire, so long as you have something like anemergency ladder. However, in case of a hurricane or a tornado, that window could break. And when high winds enter your home, the odds of the structure collapsing increase. If you can install plywood over that window in case of a tornado or hurricane, you will increase the odds of it not breaking.

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Before we wrap up the chapter about safe rooms, I’ll leave you with a full-list of things to keep inside:

Food Water First aid kit Emergency radio Hard hat or helmet (to prevent large objects from falling over your head) an emergency whistle (hopefully, your neighbors will be able to hear you) Blankets to keep you warm Flashlights and headlamps Batteries Guns and ammo Your valuables kept inside a safe that’s hidden from plain sight CO sensors Security camera to be able to catch the bad guy on tape if he manages to get

inside Iodine tablets (good against nuclear radiation) A couple of gas masks Medications Spare glasses or contacts Comfort items – books, toys for children, puzzles, etc. Maybe even a small freezer, to be able to keep some of your supplies that

wouldn’t otherwise last at room temperature

What Else Can You Do?

We talked about a lot of specific things when it comes to home preparation, but we’re farfrom being done. The things that I’m about to reveal will make sure you can stay inside your home for weeks and even months without outside help.

Of course, if you feel that things are heading south, you should definitely evacuate, but you may as well hunker down and wait for the whole thing to be over. To be covered for all scenarios, I’m about to give you some pretty amazing golden nuggets on what you can do.

Install a sink and a toilet inside your basement.

Do this even if you already have a safe-room somewhere else. You never know where you’ll end up. If your house is destroyed, your basement might be the only “room” you can take shelter in and, besides, that’s where most of your stockpile is.

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Your basement could be your second safe-room.

Of course, if you’re going to spend a lot of time there (hiding from WROL gangs, waiting for the hurricane to be over so you can start rebuilding your home, then you’re going to need ways to warm yourself without heating the entire room. If the temperature rises, your food stockpile will last a lot less, and that’s not a gamble you’d should take.

The best ways to keep yourself warm in a cold room WITHOUT warming the room are to:

Stockpile thick wool blankets and lots of extra clothes Or to separate part of the basement into a second room, one that you can isolate

and warm up, while the rest of the basement stays cool

Tip: keep in mind that tight clothes restrict blood circulation, which, in turn, will mess with your body temperature. Wear loose fitting clothes at all times.

I’m not sure if option two is something you can do, but I’m 100% confident that you can stockpile some of your old clothes down there. If you have or if you anticipate having a mold problem (and even if you’re not), you should keep your clothes in sealed plastic boxes. Some moths can go through plastic bags including Mylar bags to get to food, for instance, so thicker plastic boxes will do the trick.

Turn part of your basement into a guest bedroom.

If you’re in an environment where prepping is frowned upon and you don’t want a basement that will raise suspicion, you can make your basement (or part of it) look like a guest bedroom. At least that’s what you’ll be telling friends and relatives. Of course, this also means they’ll remember about the room when SHTF and may ask to stay there, but whether they can come or not is something you’ll figure out when the time comes.

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Prepare Yourself to Bug Inrepping your home and having a stockpile mean nothing if you and your family aren’t physically and mentally ready for it. In this chapter, I’m going to challenge you on a personal level. Some of the things we’re about to discuss aren’t

expensive... a few of them are even free, in fact.P

Medical Issues

First thing’s first... take care of your medical issues. Post collapse, an aching tooth or a bad back might be tough to take care of. Start fixing them now by paying your doctor a visit, running some tests and do whatever needs to be done.

For example, even though it costs extra, I recently started going to the gym that also has apool. Given that I have a bad back and bad knees, swimming is a great way for me to startrecovering. Obviously I can’t lift as much weight as I did back in college, but the key to success is consistency. I paid for a one year subscription and I’m planning on sticking to it. After almost 2 months it’s so far so good.

In addition, you might have to do joint mobility exercises, get massages and even take medication. Meds will be hard and expensive to take post-collapse, so the sooner you do this the better.

Learn how to grow and make natural remedies to deal with common health issues – moreon that in the skills section in a later chapter.

The better take care of your body today, the less trips you will have to take outside post-collapse.

One other thing that I started doing is improving my eyesight. On my last medical exam, the doctor said my vision has started to get worse so, instead of opting to go to see an eye doctor as she recommended, I decided to do eye exercises as well as get more daily vitamin C. I have a friend who teaches seminars on the topic and I’m not a fan of glasses. Taking care of your eyes is easy but, since this is an eBook, I have to recommend you see your doctor about it before you do anything.

Purchase some basic exercise equipment as a stress reliever and to help develop a strong body for what comes next. Losing weight will help decrease stress on your back, knees, and joints. After the SHTF, you will be doing a lot more manual labor to accomplish simpletasks. Plan on being confined inside your home for days to weeks, perhaps even a month.

Mental Preparation57



This is one of the hardest things you can do. Not seeing close combat or even being in the army means your brain is just not used to critical events. On the other hand, if you HAVE BEEN in critical situations (maybe you’re a Katrina survivor), then you probably remembereverything like it was yesterday. Still, being in a critical situation one time is not good enough from a mental standpoint.

You need to train your brain just like you would any other muscle: in time, following a plan and increasing the intensity.

So how would one actually work on their mindset? Here are my best suggestions below:

Start taking self-defense lessons to practice being in critical situations (multiple attackers for example).

Watch at Youtube videos of people surviving and imagine what you would do if you were in their place.

Close your eyes and put yourself in the middle of various survival situations. To make everything seem more real and fool your brain, imagine sounds, other people touching you, and even smells. Hone all of your senses to increase your chances of surviving the doomsday disaster.

How bad do you want this? Think about all the possible reasons why you need to survive. Do it with every chance that you get so your brain gets the message. Is it your kids? Your spouse? Do you really want to live and hate the thought of you dying? Feed your brain with reasons to survive and he’ll find the strength to keep you alive when everything seems lost.

Practice your preps with drills to learn how you and your loved ones deal with thesimulated survival situations, stress, and how they utilized their skills. Evaluate the scenario, discuss, retrain as necessary, and repeat on a regular basis to improve the family’s disaster readiness level.

Preparing Your Family to Bug In

Since bugging in means you’re gonna start doing a lot of things on your own, each family member should have a set of skills that they are good at. This will enable each of you to become really good at something.

For example, your wife could become a kick-ass off-grid cooker, you can be an ace in plumbing and home repair, while your son can be in charge of communications. Of course, these examples are somewhat stereotyped, you’d have to cross-train the set of bug in skills (which we will discuss at the right time) with the things each member likes to do or would like to try.

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Begin teaching your children about preparedness at a young age so the concept of self-reliance is not new or shocking to them when disaster strikes. Everyone, regardless of their age, will have jobs to do after the SHTF, teach your children to be responsible, the importance of completing assigned chores, and how to adapt both mentally and physically, when something doesn’t go as planned.

The better you become at something, the easier it will be to barter that skill for other goods and services.

Develop a Prepper Group or Mutual Assistance Group

When disaster strikes, you may have a few minutes or hours to bug in. If you’re not awareof what’s happening when it’s happening, other people might. This is why you should develop relationships with likeminded people: they may give you early warnings of when things are gonna go down south.

So long as you can communicate with each-other (phone, walkie-talkies, CB radio), you can warn them and they can warn you. These communication channels will also be useful post-collapse, when you’re going to want to know what’s happening in different parts of town.

So how do you build such a network? Well, first, you have to know your neighbors. Organizing poker night or doing something together for the good of the community is a great way to start. Folks who are involved in neighborhood watch, are currently or have served in the military, law enforcement, fire department, medical, field, or been a prison guard, are a great place to start.

Once you start talking, you should notice who among them are more concerned about personal safety – these will be your next best friends. You don’t have to start talking about survival just yet, just try to show your concerns about the way things are going and,sure enough, some of them will agree with what you’re saying.

Concerns about personal safety and OPSEC (operational security) are both commonplace and valid, when thinking about forming a mutual assistance group. Relationship building BEORE discussing forming a prepper group is a must. Do not let panic over prepping aloneor with just your family convince you to take a shortcut through the relationship building stage, the end result could be devastating when disaster strikes and the people you did not research thoroughly enough or get to know as well as you should have – take control of your group/home, steal from you, or turn the bugging in location into an area of constant strife and second guess all of the decisions you make.

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Building a StockpileK, this is it. This is the chapter you’ve been waiting for: how to build a long-lasting stockpile consisting of food and other things such as water, medication, tools, gear and even board games to entertain yourself post-collapse. We’re

going to tackle all of them in what follows but the first thing we need to figure out is how much to store.

OOf course, the more the better, but a large stockpile means you need to rate it, you need more space and so on. I’m going to assume you either got these problems handled or youplan to. Otherwise, without a solid stockpile, your other two options are to live self-sufficiently or bug out.

Stockpiling Food and Water

Question: who are you stockpiling for? Are you alone, do you have family or pets? Is your family on board with this or are you trying to figure out how to convince them to join your efforts?

If they think you’re crazy, it’s practically impossible to have a long-term food supply. You need the space, you need the budget and you need to rotate it. I’m no miracle worker and it’s going to take time on your part to convince them to do it.

I’m assuming you’re ready to stockpile, so how do we start? Now that you know the number of family members and the number of pets, it’s time to do some math.

The average person needs about 2,000 calories a day under normal circumstances. Women typically need less than men, so do children.... But let’s keep in mind that, post-collapse, your needs might vary. If you’re in a bug out situation, you’re going to need more.

If you’re bugging in, it depends. If you’re “trapped” inside your home and all you do is sit around, you might need less. If you’re active on your farm or in your garden, if you have the freedom to meet people, barter or if you have to travel 2 miles every day just to get fresh water, then you’re going to need more. To this let’s add the fact that you’ll need to impose some caloric restrictions, because you don’t want to give others clues that you have food.

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Bottom line is, you’re going to need at least 2,500 calories per day per grow-up. This is a good rule of thumband we could go into finer detail but Idon’t think it’s necessary. Suffices to have an idea of what you need, enterthe calories and formulas into your Excel and let the computer show you how many days’ worth of supplies you have.

We need to have a similar discussion about water. The rule of thumb is 1

gallon per person per day but that’s the minimum. Let’s make it 1.5 gallons because you’re going to need the extra water for things like:

Showering Doing the dishes Doing laundry Cleaning wounds Baby formula Making herbal remedies

Of course, the more stressful the situations and the more calories you burn every day, themore water you need for your body to function properly. Planning to function with the bare minimum of food and water could expose you to disease, colds, the flu and weaken your body. As you can probably imagine, being sick is the last thing you want in a survival situation, particularly one that spans for more than a month.

So what should your first step be? Should you go ahead and stock up on beans and rice? You could, but, as long as we’re doing this, let’ do it right. And by “right” I mean “in layers”.

Your first priority when it comes to your stockpile is to be prepared for short-term emergencies, which translates to enough food and water for 72 hours. That’s 3 days, or 7,500 calories per person.

Next, aim for a week, then 3 weeks, 3 months, 6 months and so on. The reason you may want to do this as opposed to randomly stockpiling is that you’ll make sure you don’t have too much food and too little water, for instance.

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Which foods to get? Let’s see the full list. There’s a table after this showing the shelf life of various foods. This will help you better choose the staples which, by the way, will be different for every household.

Canned Food

Let’s start with canned food. You’ll be amazed at all the numerous things you can water bath or pressure can:

Beans Chicken Veggies (tomatoes, zucchini, pumpkin, carrots) Fruits Beef Fish Jams Crackers – dry canning in oven

What’s the best way to stock up on these canned food? To make them yourself, of course. Now, there’re two canning methods: water bath and using a pressure canner. Justto be safe, a pressure canner for all your canning endeavors.

Another thing to keep in mind is that you can get a 2-in-1 pressure canner and cooker. Pressure cookers are great for bug-in situations because they don’t allow smell to get out and they require less fuel.

Canning is a vast topic, I won’t cover it here. It can be dangerous if the cans are bulged or if there’re bubbles coming from under the lid, and this could lead to a terrible disease called botulism... but if you follow each recipe to the letter, you should be fine. Just remember to throw away immediately any cans that look suspicious and, if within budget, to use a pressure canner.

To learn A-to-Z canning, you can read the following books:

JeBouffe Home Canning Step by Step Guide (second edition) Revised and Expanded

Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving The All New Ball Book Of Canning And Preserving: Over 350 of the Best Canned,

Jammed, Pickled, and Preserved Recipes or this starter article on the blog

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http://www.survivalsullivan.com/pressure-canning-101/


One thing I can do that I believe is relevant is to give you a list of the canning equipment you may need. Since we’re talking about your stockpile, you may want to add these itemsto your wish list and monitor them for discounts:

Canning Supplies to Stockpile

Pressure canner jars of different sizes Canning lids in both wide mouth and regular mouth sizes (keep in mind these are

NOT reusable, if you do run out of them, my grandparents and my parents used cellophane and rubber bands to seal the cans – but the food will not be as shelf-stable.

Canning rings in wide mouth and regular mouth sizes – you can re-use these Pickling salt Sugar Distilled White Vinegar Apple Cider Vinegar Mason jars – quart, pint, jelly, and half-gallon sizes 5 to 7 quart non-reactive metal water bath canning pot Canning funnel Pectin – for making jam. You can also make your own pectin by using various

fruits, apples and lemon work best. A jar lifter A canning ladle A lid lifter

Beans

Beans are amazing for long-term storage. They’re high in carbohydrates, have some protein too (though it’s lacking all essential amino-acids) and are rich in vitamin C, iron and calcium. I myself am interested in getting more vitamin C because of my deterioratingvision.

Which type to store? Doesn’t really matter: pinto beans, black beans, lima beans, chickpeas, lentils – you name it.

Remember, you might need a pressure cooker to cook beans that’ve been stored for more than a few years.

Corn (Dried or Canned)

Dried corn has an amazing shelf life. If kept in a proper environment, it can last 20 years or more. Use it to make cornmeal, soups or to feed your chickens.

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Baking Soda

Baking soda has a huge number of uses for survival such as cleaning floors, brushing teeth, putting out a fire, to relieve sunburn, to be used as shampoo, to clean oil stains andeven as deodorant!

Baking Soda Uses

Livestock Health - Given free choice to livestock, goats in particular, to prevent illness and to maintain a healthy digestive system.

Mouth Sores – Mix a half teaspoon of baking soda with one cup of water and gargle to heal and prevent mouth sores and gum problems.

Insect Stings – Mix together equal parts of water and baking soda to form a pasteto apply to bee stings and other insect bites and stings to heal the wound and reduce swelling. This paste will help heal poison ivy as well, but you may need to reduce the water content just slightly to make a thicker paste.

Minor Pain Reliever – Mix together equal parts of baking soda and apple cider vinegar, stir thoroughly and the mix with a half-gallon of warm water. Massage the mixture onto sprained, pulled, or strained muscles to reduce swelling and ease pain.

Splinter Removal – Mix together 1-part honey and 2-part baking soda to form a thick past and smear over the wound. Wrap with a bandage for at least four hours to allow the drawing salve to bring the splinter to the surface.

Chicken Pox – Alleviate the itching common to chicken pox by mixing 2 parts baking soda with 1-part water – preferably Luke-warm water, and gently rub ontoeach pox mark.

Seeds

Seeds will guarantee that you’re going to have something to plant in your garden, to havelong-term food supply. Of course, once you start consuming your seeds, you can replenishthe seed vault from your yield.

You can start with heirloom seeds, or you can just get them from your local farmer’s market.

How to Harvest and Preserve Heirloom Seeds

1. Pick seeds or pits from ripe fruits and vegetables2. Wash the seeds in cool water, if at all, and wipe free any pulp from the seeds – or

pits.

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http://www.survivalsullivan.com/seed-storage-for-survival/


3. Spread the seeds or pics onto a screen and allow to air dry at room temperature or in the sun. A second or other breathable cover will need to be place on top of the first screen to prevent birds from stealing your seeds.

4. The seeds can also be dried in the oven or in a dehydrator at 100 degrees. The process typically takes about four hours.

5. Place the seeds in a Mason jar, plastic container with a fitted lid, or sealed in a vacuum-sealed bag and store in a cool dry place until ready to plant.

Dried Hazelnuts

Hazelnuts are a great source of healthy fats, protein (though incomplete) as well as some carbohydrates (including fiber). Only problem is, they need a really cool temperature in order to last for at least a couple of years.

If you can’t do that, that’s ok. You can still rotate them once a year by consuming them. One of the benefits of stockpiling real food instead of MREs.

Freeze-Dried Food

There is one exception to the commercially-available survival food, and that’s freeze-dried. It’s pretty pricy, so don’t expect to count on it to be a staple in your stockpile but, nevertheless, it’s something to keep in mind.

The best brand is Mountain House, and they have a wide variety to choose from. If you make sure you check them out on their website and Amazon, you’ll surely get discounts.

This is how the scramble eggs and bacon look like:

Once you add boiling water inside the bag and stir well, it’ll look like this:

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...and this is Chili Mac with Beef (yummy):

Freeze-dried, along with energy bars and hard candy is great to have in your bug out bag due to the fact that it’s lightweight. It won’t weigh you down than if you carried beans or canned food on your back.

Comfort foods and Drinks

Once the dust settles, people are going to look for anything to make their lives a little easier. It won’t be easy living in a world that’s much worse that what they’re used to, particularly if you lose a friend or a family member.

Stock up with comfort foods and drinks not just for you, but also for bartering purposes:

Honey - it has a virtually unlimited shelf life and copious amounts of natural remedy properties

Cocoa powder Hard candy (also good for your bug out bag because it’s light) Protein bars / granola bars etc. Tea Jelly beans Chocolate chips (can last for 6-8 months in the fridge, 2-3 years in the freezer, but

you can increase these numbers if you vacuum seal them) Twinkies (they are claimed to last decades)

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Coffee Regular M&Ms (they have a one year shelf life, though Peanut M&Ms will only

last half that time) Alcohol (whiskey) Popcorn Dried fruits

What Are the Foods With the Longest Shelf Life?

Check this table, I think you’re going to like it... and it’ll make you forget about MREs and overpriced survival food (except freeze-dried which is nice to have for variety and buggingout)...

I sorted the items based on shelf life, so all you have to do is focus on the ones towards the top.

Keep in mind I haven’t actually tested these myself, I found them online on reputable sources, most of them are from www.eatbydate.com. To ensure you get the maximum shelf life from a food, always store it in the best conditions possible.

Food Shelf LifeWater Indefinite, although it may grow algae and

bacteria that you can purifyHoney IndefiniteSalt Indefinite (salt is a preservative)Sugar IndefiniteBaking soda Indefinite, although it will lose potency as time

goes byExtra virgin coconut oil Indefinite (though some websites say 2-5 years)Dry powder jello mix IndefinitePopcorn (not popped) IndefiniteVinegar IndefiniteHard tack 50+ years (no concrete evidence, just rumors, but

it’s more than enough)Freeze-dried apple slices 30 yearsTwinkies 30 yearsDried corn 20+ yearsFreeze-dried or dehydrated apple slices

20+ years

Lima beans 15-20 yearsSpelt 12 yearsOlive Oil 2-3 years (even after it’s open)

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http://www.eatbydate.com/




Chili powder 2-3 yearsCloves 2-3 yearsQuinoa 2-3 years in the freezerGround cayenne pepper 2-3 yearsCocoa powder 2 yearsBouillon cubes 2 yearsCanned corn 1-2 yearsCranberry sauce 1-2 yearsCanned soup 1-2 yearsJelly beans 1-2 yearsCanned veggies 1-2 yearsCanned fruit 1-2 yearsCanned dog food 1-2 yearsJam 9-12 monthsEnergy drinks (Gatorade etc.) 9 monthsWhite flour 6 to 8 monthsDried dog food 2-6 months

Do I need a lot of money to buy survival food? As you probably already know, I’m not a big fan of most survival foods, MREs in particular. If you know what to look for, you’ll be able to buy delicious foods for a fraction of the cost. For example, this is what you can buy for $100:

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In the above photo you can see water, soup cans, ramen noodles, mac and cheese, beef stew, canned fruit, spaghetti sauce and noodles, rice and, of course, beans. Not bad for $100, right? If you purchase generic version of these same foods, you will likely cut the grocery bill by up to 75 percent.

All we have to figure out now is how to store everything...

Storing Food and Water inside the Basement and/or Root Cellar

Why the basement and root cellar? Because attics and garages can get pretty hot. Even if they don’t, temperature variations can still greatly affect the shelf life of most foods.

If you have a basement or a root cellar, you have the perfect place to store most of your non-perishable stockpile. I say most because you shouldn’t keep all your eggs in one basket and keep some food in other places such as a pantry, your bug out bag or some other place. Why? Because if your basement is looted one night, you’ll have nothing else to eat!

The vast majority of survival foods should be stored in a dry, dark place, away from pests, at a constant temperature between 50F and 70F. I’m talking about canned food, freeze-dried food, grains and so on.

Avoid freezing temperatures. Anything that needs them can be stored in a freezer and consumed first in a grid-down situation.

What if you live in a very hot climate? In that case, you should consider digging a root cellar and go a little deeper into the ground than normal. This could end up costing you more but think of it as a long-term investment.

Keep in mind that temperature is not the only food storage enemy. You also have to take care of oxygen, humidity, light and pests. Each item is more or less susceptible to them, which is why we need to take care of them one by one.

Many of the dried food items such as beans, rice and pasta should be stored like so: you put them in airtight Mylar bags, you add oxygen absorbers, seal the bags, then place them in 5-gallon plastic buckets. If you have or are worried that you might have rodents, you can put those plastic bags in slightly larger metal buckets.

You can find plenty of Mylar bags as well as O2 absorbers on Amazon.

Canned food doesn’t need Mylar bags or oxygen absorbers but, if the cans or lids are made of metal, you should watch out for rust. If you can rub off the rust with your finger, then you can safely bet the contents is safe to eat... but if there’s heavy rust, holes or

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bulging, you have no choice but to throw those cans away. Eating spoiled canned food can lead to a terrible disease called botulism that’s difficult to treat at peace time, let alone in a malfunctioning society.

To ensure you always eat the food that’s closes to expiration date, you need a can rotatorsuch as this one. If you’re looking to store cans in the hundreds, I recommend you make your own can rotator, because the ones on the market are pretty pricey, at over $500 bucks.

Of course, this only works for cans. The rest of your food should be labeled with the expiration date or, at the very least, the date it was stored.

Honey . Honey doesn’t go bad and doesn’t need refrigeration, but it will begin to crystalize. Store it in a place that’s cool as possible, preferably closer to 50F than 70F.

Another thing you should do is put on a tight lead. Honey can absorb some of the air moisture and start to ferment. Not something to worry about, you can still eat it.

Salt and sugar. Both of these ingredients can be stored in Mylar bags but you don’t need to use oxygen absorbers.

Cooking oils. Store them in a place as cool as possible, whether it’s a root cellar or a basement. The closer to 50F the better. One extra step you might want to take is move the oils from plastic to glass bottles and avoid chemicals getting into it over time. You should also avoid metal containers.

Non-Perishable Items

When people talk about a survival stockpile, they usually mean food and water. Unfortunately, it also includes the tools and gear that you would use in bug-in situations, but the good news is, they’re easy to stockpile. You don’t need to care about temperatures or light and, with most items, you don’t even need to worry about rodents (except for clothes).

So let’s talk about these items one by one...

Kitchen Utensils

You’re going to need means to cook and consume your food. As far as cooking, one of thebest investments you could make is a pressure cooker. They’re great for cooking beans that’ve been in your pantry for a while. They’re also great for cooking without letting too much smell out (since they are sealed, it will stay trapped inside but the trick is to not open them until the food inside cools off). The third benefit is that they require less fuel to cook because they maintain a much higher temperature.

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The Instant Pot is an Amazon best-seller, though it will cost you over $100. Another smartthing you can do is get a 2-in-1 pressure cooker and a canner, that will help your canning efforts both pre and post-collapse.

Next, you might need a manual grain grinder. If you store whole grains such as wheat berries, something that works without electricity will help you make flour, which you can then use to make various dishes.

Tip: the resulting flour has more water content than store-bought flour, and it’s also not as fine as the latter. You’d need to adjust your bread-making recipe and add less water.

Do you really need a grain grinder? Right now, you might not see the need for it, but if stores will be out of supplies for extended periods of time, this is a

cheap way to grind whole grains and even nuts. In the long run, you also save money because you’re willing to do some of the work and bypass some of the intermediaries in the production chain.

Warning: keep in mind that the “dust” released by the grinding process could affect people with allergies.

One last thing I need to point out is that you need to have the right table to clamp your grinder to. Post-disaster, you might be in a pickle if you don’t have one, and might be forced to do some woodworking, so this is something to consider today. Heck, why not give your grain grinder a try? If you get used to using it, you’ll be on your way to eating healthier.

Cordage

You might think Paracord is only useful in the wilderness, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. It can help you tie anything, from the branches you bring home with you to make fire to your tools when you go out to work the field, and so on. Something tells me there won’t be much Paracord hanging around, along with every other non-perishableitem we discuss in this article.

Since now you’ve got the choice, get the mil-spec kind, it’s guaranteed to withstand up to 550 pounds of weight. In fact, there are stronger ones that will hold 750 or even 850 pounds.

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Kitchen utensils. You probably already have enough spoons and forks for your family’s needs, but if you don’t have any extras, you might consider getting new ones. Who knows, maybe you’ll have more people for dinner (though some say it could be dangerous in a WROL situation).

One thing to keep in mind is that they need water in order to be washed after you use them. This is why it’s good to stock up on disposable plastic utensils, just in case water is going to be scarce.

In addition, consider the following kitchen utensils to help you cook:

Grater Potato press Potato masher Garlic press A whisk A manual can opener (or more, as they have barter value) Corkscrew Funnels of various sizes Mortar and pestle

Next, how about a mechanical kitchen scale? It’s EMP-proof and will allow you to better follow the recipes, thus making better food.

Plus, you may want to consider getting the following:

Buckets Backyard and gardening tools and equipment (hand trowels, hand forks, snow

shovels, weed forks, wheelbarrows, work gloves, chicken wire, funnels, rubble sacks etc.)

Woodworking tools (circular saws, hammers, screwdrivers, power drills, hand saw, jigsaw, marking gauge, marking knife, spokeshave)

An emergency radio (such as this one) Binoculars or monoculars (great if you want to see what’s happening outside your

home) Black curtains (to be placed on all windows so no one sees you have electricity or

that you’re home) Cell phones A CB radio A Fresnel lens (useful for starting a fire) Candles (be extra careful with them and teach it to your children)

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Bleach (can be used to purify water but be advised that it has a shelf life of about 4 months – you’ll need to rotate it frequently)

Water purification tablets A solid tarp (can be sued for a variety of things pertaining to bug in situations:

providing shade, blocking windows, you can use them to slaughter an animal and on and on)

Sleeping bags (use them if you’re unable to or can’t afford to heat your home) Clothes (pretty much anything, keep in mind you may already have some of them

in your attic, so you don’t have to spend all your hard-earned money on them) Blankets Tinder (to start a fire easier, keep in mind you might have to do it in your

backyard) Dryer lint works great – keep a basket in your laundry room to collect all the lint for the woodstove, fireplace, or outdoor fire.

Headlamps (will make it easier for you to climb up the attic at nighttime) Lanterns (the LED kind will light up the whole room) Solar phone charger (or any device such as your phone, tablet or Kindle) Emergency whistles (you’re going to need them for your bug out bags, in fact,

many of the items here will fit in your survival bags) Hygiene supplies (toilet paper – can fit inside the attic, by the way, tooth brushes,

nail clippers, feminine hygiene supplies, shampoo, bars of soap, floss – very important - and so on)

Nails (you’re gonna need to repair your home and furniture) Hammers Duct tape Cast iron cookware – you can cook indoors, outdoors, and even water bath can in

a well-seasoned cast iron pot.

How do you find the best items online? Most of them are on Amazon.com for good prices. When you type something in the search box, the website will give you the items with the highest ratings. The links I’ve placed over the items are all leading to the website.In general, either one of the search results on the first page are top notch items.

Stockpile useful items in bulk so you can use them for barter later. The domino effect of any nationwide SHTF disaster WILL include an economic impact – possibly a complete collapse that would make the dollar nothing more than a worthless piece of paper.

Top Post-SHTF Bartering Items

Hand tools Heirloom seeds Firewood

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Cast iron cookware Camping items Ammo – but be very careful who you trade with! First aid items – both natural and commercially manufactured Solar power generators and less expensive charging portals and mats Firewood Water purification tablets and filtration kits Footwear and shoe laces in all sizes – especially boots Diapers – if you can sew, make some re-usable cloth diapers for future needs and

barter Alcohol – for both stress-relief and medical needs Morning after pills and condoms Fuel of all types and gas stabilizer Canning supplies Sewing supplies – needle, thread, patches, buttons, and fabric Coat, hats, gloves, thermal underwear, and rain gear in all sizes Toiletries – buy travel sizes for quick and cheap barter Nails and screws Lumber and metal sheeting Puzzles, toys, books, and games Batteries Lanterns, lamp wicks, camping propane canisters, candles, and flashlights Heavy-duty work gloves and outerwear in various sizes Hay and straw bales Precious metals and gems – even semi-precious varieties of each should make

great small bartering “currency.” Blankets Gardening supplies Livestock – buy an incubator to breed poultry eggs

Where to Find the Best Deals on Bartering Items

Garage Sales /Yard Sales – Shop either locally or virtually online through the numerous Facebook local auction pages to score cheap items from this list and many other great preps and bartering items.

Auctions – Scan the newspaper and local auction webites for estate sales and Amish auctions. Prices can sometimes go high, but definitely not always. Old-fashioned manual tools, kitchen gadgets, camping gear, etc. can usually be found

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a great place to find where and when yard sales are occurring in the tri-county area near your home. Simply type on the term “yard sales” in the text box on the right side of the page and leave the standard “search all for sale” category selected and a list of happenings will soon appear on your screen. Entire websitesare now devoted to listing yard sales in every state in the nation. The aptly titled, Yard Sale Search website is perhaps one of the largest such databases currently on the web.

Flea Markets – You can both buy and sell at great prepping items, homemade off grid supplies, and clothing at flea markets. Wait until the last day of a weekend ormonthly flea market event for the best deals – the vendors will not want to pack any more items home than absolutely necessary. Browse early and take notes of items and price and then go back shortly before closing to score cheap deals.

Craigslist – The classified sales website also has a section not just for bartering, but for freebie giveaways as well. Make sure you meet to conduct any transactions in a public place, in daylight, and never go alone.

What if you run out of some of these items? Well, how about you make them yourself? You can make your own primitive tools as long as you have the necessary equipment.

Some of the tools you could make:

mortar and pestle (carve a wooden bowl and shape a wooden club) wooden forks and spoons grain grinders (made of two stones, one that’s larger and carved on the inside and

a second one that’s smaller; however, keep in mind that the resulting flour will have traces of rock in it and will damage your teeth)

a primitive stone hammer (split a wooden pole with your knife or an axe, insert a flat rock and secure it with cordage)

If you do a good job at stockpiling, though, you probably won’t need to make them yourself... but this doesn’t mean they’re not fun projects you could do with your kids.

Tape

We all know that duct tape can fix a lot ofthings, but did you know there are othertypes of tape that you will need? Gorillatape, for instance, is better and stronger.Gorilla tape does have more glue on it,

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which tends to melt if the tape gets warm. One of the best duct tape brands out there is Duck Brand Duct Tape.

You’re also going to need electrical tape for damaged cords and wires.

Means to Light Your Way

“Means to light your way” may sound a little corky but, as you’re about to see, I’m trying to encompass a variety of ways to light your way post-SHTF. One of the biggest worries preppers have is an EMP pulse destroying the entire power-grid. So here are my suggestions for both EMP and non-EMP scenarios...

Candles. They’re cheap and they’re not affected by anEMP, which many say would fry all electronics,including your flashlights. Big or small, it doesn’t reallymatter. The nice thing about them is that they alsogenerate small amounts of heat and, depending onhow things will unfold, you may or may not need that.

The only thing about candles is that they can start a fire, so you need to keep a close eye on them and, if possible, not leave them unattended. To minimize the risk, you should also avoid leaving them with your children (though candle and fire safety is something they need to learn) and make sure you always use a candle holder. Needless to say, keep them away from anything that might catch fire.

Lighters. Bic or Zippo, up to you. I’m not going to debate which one is better, the only thing I recommend is that you have as many as you can, spread them out in your survival bags and in various places around the house, and don’t forget to check them periodically to make sure they still work.

Flashlights

Lanterns. We already mentioned them when I gave you the basic list of non-perishable items. Also make sure to stock up on lantern wicks and lamp oil. Vegetable and coconut oil can be used as fuel when the commercial oil runs out. You can also make your own wicks out of cotton scraps of fabric. Soak the wicks in apple cider vinegar for three hours to make them burn almost twice as long. Hang them up and allow them to thoroughly drybefore storing or using.

Chemlights

Lawn solar lights. They’re great for two reasons: they work on solar power and they’re cheap. The ones in the photo below do one extra thing: they recharge AA batteries (very useful in bug-in scenarios):

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Where should you keep all of this? Some preppers prefer to keep most of the items that have to do with blackout situations in a blackout box. The box can be anything from a pouch (possibly MOLLE compatible) to an airtight plastic box:

Stockpiling Medicine78



Before I give you my 2 cents about this, let me assure you I am not a doctor, so please don’t take the following or any advice in this eBook for that matter as medical advice. Thisis for information purposes only.

The things you need to stockpile are no different than what you need to get for your bug out bag’s first aid kit. First, you need the standard things (covered below), then you need to worry about personal needs for each and every family member.

If you or a loved one has asthma, you’re going to need more inhalers. If you think you might need antibiotics, you should discuss with your doctor to see if he or she can give you more (though the answer might be “no”).

Here’s the list of all the things you might consider stockpiling:

Bandages of all shapes and sizes (they’re dirt-cheap, too; gauze, triangular, H bandages, tube bandages, elastic bandages, butterfly bandages)

Anti-inflammatories (ibuprofen, aspirin etc.) Analgesics (paracetamol) A first aid booklet (and one in e-format for every device you have) Sharp scissors Hemostats Cotton balls Hand sanitizer Rubbing alcohol Antiseptic ointment Burn cream Quick clot bandages of some type of major wounds Witch Hazel Poison ivy cream Benadryl Sunburn cream Wet wipes Thermometers (the digital ones are good, but you may want to have a back-up

that works with mercury and, of course, be very careful with it because Mercury can pose a great hazard if it breaks)

Non-latex gloves (preferably nitril) Instant ice packs Apple Cider Vinegar Instant heat packs Tourniquet

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Tea tree oil – nature’s antibiotic, great for preventing infection on wounds of nearly any type.

A blood pressure monitor Hydrogen peroxide Turmeric Activated charcoal Over the counter pain reliever Coconut oil Honey N100 respirator masks A CPR breathing mask Anti-diarrhea medication

These are the most important supplies but, in addition, you may also want to consider things like a snake bit kit, a bee sting kit, iodine tablets (if prepping for nuclear meltdownsand explosions) or a saline solution.

Apple Cider Vinegar First Aid Uses

1. Throat Pain – Mix together a bottle of water and 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar and gargle to relieve sore throat pain and swelling

2. Swelling – Dampen a paper sack in apple cider vinegar and wrap around the inflamed area to reduce swelling.

3. Warts – Mix together equal parts apple cider vinegar and glycerin to dry out and shrivel up warts.

4. Infected Wounds – Mix together two parts turmeric, one part honey, and two part apple cider vinegar to draw out infection and help heal mild to moderate wounds, bites, and stings.

5. Psoriasis – After washing and patting dry the problem area, wash with apple cidervinegar up to three times per day until it disappears.

6. Stomach ache – To relive common stomach pain, mix together 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar with 1 cup of water and drink up to two times per day until the pain dissipates.

7. Blood Sugar – Help prevent blood level spies by drinking up to 2 cups of apple cider vinegar three times per day. You can mix the vinegar with juice to help reduce the nasty after taste. This mixture may also help reduce gout pain.

8. Insect bite and stings – Place a small dab of apple cider vinegar onto the sting or bite to reduce pain and swelling.

9. Diaper Rash – Mix 1 part apple cider vinegar with three parts coconut oil and pat on diaper rash to help dry it out and soothe broken and inflamed skin.

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10. Blisters – Ease the swelling and pain of blisters and tired feet by soaking them in asolution of equal parts apple cider vinegar and warm water.

Homemade Flu Shots

Germs and sickness will spread quickly during a SHTF situation, especially when a lot of people are bugging in together inside the same house or survival retreat. Stockpiling cleaning supplies and regular hand-washing will help keep sickness away, and this homemade flu shot could also help prevent people from coming down with a bad cold when they can’t call a doctor.

Ingredients

2 cups of warm fruit juice 4 packets, or 1 ounce, of gelatin 1 cup of apple cider 1 ½ teaspoons of healing herbs – use one or mix in several to hit the total amount

needed. Suggested healing herbs (many of which you could and should grow yourself) include: oregano, cinnamon, peppermint, ginger root, turmeric, and citrus zest. Essential oils can be used as well, but cut the amount used by half.

2 tablespoons of honey

Instructions

1. Place the fruit juice, apple cider vinegar, and herbs in a pot and simmer for about 10 minutes.

2. Pour the gelatin in slowly, or sprinkle the powder into the mix – stir until it is fully dissolved.

3. Pour the homemade flu preventative and herbal remedy into a pan and allow to cool for at least three hours.

4. Cut 1-inch cubes out of flu remedy and give them to the patient to chew, suck on,or cut into smaller bits and wash down with some water.

5. Only give to children 12 and younger in half doses. 6. Adult can take the flu medicine twice each day and children only once.

Before you start buying, I highly recommend you talk with your doctor about what you can or cannot buy. You don’t have to tell them you’re a prepper if that’s your concern, just tell them you want to have an emergency first aid kit for everyday emergencies. I’m sure he or she won’t mind that you’re talking an interest in this. Most people don’t and that’s why they’re unprepared for most emergencies.

Honey Medicinal Uses

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Immune System Booster – Consume 1 teaspoon of honey each morning to bolster the body’s immune system. This may also increase blood flow in the body – which will be helpful during the cold winter months, especially when working outdoors.

Antiseptic – Put honey on a wound of nearly any size to help draw out infection and enhance the healing time. Honey will also help soothe and heal burns.

Natural Energy Drink – Put up to a 1/2 teaspoon of honey into your drink to benefit from its high glucose levels. When the honey is absorbed into your bloodstream the chances of becoming fatigued usually decrease. This may also enhance colon health

Parasites – Mix together equal parts honey and water to help remove parasites from both humans and livestock.

Throat Pain – There is a reason, beyond taste, that honey is such a popular ingredient in commercially created cough syrups and drops. The nutrients found naturally in honey help reduce inflammation internally as well as externally. Makea honey cough serum by mixing it in a 2 to 1 ration with lemon juice.

Cold Sores – Place a small dab of honey on mouth sores to help heal them and to prevent them from spreading.

Homemade Honey Cough Syrup Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup of water 2 tablespoons of citrus zest - orange and lemon work best 1 cup of honey ½ teaspoon of ground ginger ½ cup of lemon juice

Instructions

1. Mix together the citrus zest and ginger in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.2. Reduce the heat and allow to simmer for five minutes.3. Strain the mixture into your measuring cup using a kitchen strainer or cheese

cloth.4. In a clean pot, warm the honey, stirring carefully so it does not scorch, on a low

heat. Do not allow the honey to come to a boil.5. Mix all the ingredients together, stirring frequently until they form a thick syrup –

like the consistency of pancake syrup.6. Remove the syrup from the heat and pour into a Mason jar and seal.

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7. If store in a refrigerator or in a cool dark place, the cough syrup should last for up to 2 months.

Dosage

Adults and children over 12 – up to 2 tablespoons every four hours Children ages 5 to 12 – 1 to 2 teaspoons ever four hours Infants to children aged 5 -give ½ teaspoon every four hours.

Witch Hazel Medicinal Uses

Poison Ivy, Stings, and Bug Bites – Dab witch hazel onto the infected area with a cotton ball to reduce swelling, itching, are soreness.

Wounds and Bruises – Witch Hazel can be dabbed or poured onto wounds and bruises to reduce swelling, chances of infection, and discoloration of the skin.

Sunburn – Gently rub witch hazel onto sunburned areas to take the heat and foster healing.

Turmeric Healing Uses

Turmeric and tea tree oil have been used to prevent infection and a host of health issues since ancient times. The only known drawback to using turmeric is the distinct orange cast it WILL leave on your skin when treating wounds.

Strains and Sprains – Mi one part salt, one part warm water, and two parts turmeric and pour onto a bandage to wrap are injured area to reduce swelling and soothe pain.

Swollen Lymph Nodes – Make a poultice using equal parts turmeric, honey, and warm water and apply to the side of the next to soothe pain and decrease swelling, The poultice can also be use externally on the jaw of face to soothe gum and tooth pain.

Ear Infection – Mix together equal parts garlic oil and turmeric and gently swab inside sore ear to reduce pain and swelling.

Stomach Ache and Arthritis – Taking a turmeric supplement daily may aide both conditions, and according to some studies, help prevent cancer, cirrhosis, and heart disease.

Tea Tree Oil Medicinal Uses

Tea tree oil can be used to treat both human and livestock injuries and medical issues. The amount of the essential that is recommended for use in animals varies by weight. Using too much tea tree oil on livestock could result in diarrhea or in the worst case scenario, nervous system problems – either temporary or permanent.

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Asthma – Heat three to five drops of tea tree oil in a sauce pan on medium heat after filling it to the top with warm water. Heat the mixture for about four minutes, do not let it come to a boil. Remove the pot from the stove and have the asthma sufferer lean their face over it with a towel draped around their head to lock in the steam. Breathing in the mixture should help alleviate the symptoms of a flare-up.

Bruises, Minor Wounds, and Burns – Apply a drop or two of tea tree oil to the wound and allow it to be fully absorbed into the skin. Rub the oil gently onto the skin if treating a bruise. The essential oil will help prevent infection, swelling, and enhance the healing process.

Bacterial Infections – The natural antibiotic will help draw out or prevent infection. It has been used to treat MRSA successfully when traditional antibiotics are not available. Using a cotton ball or clean rag, pour on just enough of the oil to coat the infected area – or pour several drops directly onto the sore or wound. Wrap the skin lightly with a bandage after it is no longer wet to the touch. You can also mix the oil in equal parts with coconut oil to further enhance the healing process and to alleviate swelling and itching.

Bronchitis – Mix together once ounce of a carrier oil (coconut, glycerin, or almond are recommended) with 7 drops of tea tree oil. Rub the mix onto the throat and chest of the patient to help alleviate congestion and soreness – repeat up to three times per day in adults and twice daily for children under the age of twelve.

Ringworm - Mix together one drop each of tea tree oil and lavender oil. Gently rub the home remedy onto the area of the skin where ringworm is present – use a cotton ball or clean cloth, do not touch the ringworm infection with bare hands. Tea tree oil can be used alone to help alleviate the symptoms of most skin rashes and abrasions, as well.

Cinnamon Medicinal Uses

Stockpile plenty of cinnamon or cinnamon oil as part of the growing your own pharmacy bugging in plan. Better yet, grow your own cinnamon tree!

Diabetes – Adults and children with blood sugar issues or type 2 diabetes could benefit from consuming small amounts of cinnamon on a daily basis. Cinnamon could help the human body process insulin better and help to stabilize blood sugar levels. Some of the natural nutrients in the spice may neutralize the enzymes that impact insulin receptors. Consume up to ½ teaspoon of cinnamon daily to help normalize blood sugar levels.

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Coronary Disease – Anti-inflammatory compounds in cinnamon may help keep the arteries and heart functioning properly and fight bad cholesterol. It could also help repair damage tissue in the vital organ and help stave off a heart attack.

Cancer – Some studies indicate cinnamon could help decrease cancer cells already present in the body and help reduce the growth of new cancerous cells.

How to Grow a Cinnamon Tree

Cinnamon trees can grow year around in agriculture hardiness zones 10 through 12. Preppers who live in colder region can grow the tree in a pot and move it indoors during the winter months if they have ceilings at least 8-feet tall.

The trees need full sun up to 12 hours per day to flourish. While cinnamon trees are a hardy version of edible landscaping, they are sensitive to moisture and must be planted ina soil that drains easily – sand or sandy loam tend to work best. If growing the tree in a pot, it must be 12 to 24 inches in diameter.

Fertilize the tree about once every four to six weeks from spring through autumn. Fertilizethe cinnamon tree every 10 weeks during the winter months if growing indoors and keep the tree in room that never dips below 60 degrees.

Warning! Keeping your medicine in the medicine cabinet inside your bathroom is far from optimal. Moisture will significantly reduce shelf life. Treat your meds as you wouldyour food, by keeping them in a cool, dry, dark place, such as your basement. Also, check each of them for the recommended storage temperatures.

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Last but not least – and I cannot stress this enough – the most important things you can stockpile are basic medical and first aid skills. Take a first aid course... you’re going to learn some of the most valuable things in your entire life.

My Layered Approach to Stockpiling

When starting a stockpile, the way most people go about it is they start to randomly buy things. Beans, cans of food, maybe a hammer and some bandages that they find on sale. Unfortunately, this approach doesn’t remember one thing: that disaster could strike right this minute.

If that happens, your 10 buckets of beans won’t help you bug in for too long if you don’t have enough water. This is why it’s important to stockpile the most essential items first, and the best way to go about that is to do it in layers.

Ask yourself: what would I need right now to survive a 3 day snow storm... or a 1 week flood? Worry about these before you think about buying dozens of cans of tuna or hundreds of rolls of toilet paper.

My layered approach makes it easy to stockpile by splitting it in 4 layers:

Layer #1 will get you covered for 3 days Layer #2 – 3 weeks Layer #3 – 3 months Layer #4 – 1+ years

Now this doesn’t mean you can’t buy things that pertain to the next level if they’re on sale.

So how do you go about tackling these layers? Let’s start with the first one.

What are the basic necessities for a 3-day heat wave that will prevent you from going outside the house? How much food and water would you need? What about stockpiling basic medicine? Then, you can worry about communications. This would also be a good time to make sure your vehicle is in check and that you have enough fuel to make a run for it if need be (even if it’s temporary).

One you take care of all these details, you can move on to the second layer. You will need a bigger food stockpile. Hopefully, you already have a cool place to store it. You’re gonna need more water too, and don’t forget to store extra for things like laundry or watering your plants.

Layer #3 is doing more of the same, really. You need to buy more food, possibly in bulk, which means you need to start looking for sales and discounts.

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How do you monitor for discounts? So long as you have your wishlist in an Excel or Google Docs document, you can go to each item and add a few blank rows under. Next, search the item in Google and amazon, find the best websites that sell them and save the links you find in that excel sheet.

Doing this will allow you to find better prices, monitor for sales periods and even group items together when you order form the same website (and save when it comes to shipping).

Rule of thumb: always buy from a list. Never buy things just because they seem to have a good price. Discounts are the norm today, so even if that sale is over, you’ll surely findthe same item at the same price somewhere else. Only buy what you need.

When you start doing layer #3, I also suggest you worry about renewable water sources. Maybe you planned to dig a well or maybe you can set up a rainwater harvesting system. Or maybe you have a river on your property and you need to get a large water tank to save water. You should also worry about your energy needs that go beyond having a few flashlights.

Rotating Your Stockpile

Many people are afraid of a large stockpile because they think it’s hard to rotate it. That may be if they buy a lot of emergency food, but if they were to stock up on the foods we discussed, it’ll be a lot easier to incorporate them into their daily routine.

The first thing that needs to be done to make sure you always consume the oldest package is to label it. If it’s store-bought, it obviously has an expiration date. If not, the best you can do is label them with your own guesstimate as to the expiration date.

We should also note that the expiration date is not always an indicator of whether or not a food is good to eat or not. If you do good job with your basement, your foods will last a lot longer than what they last for most people.

Where to Keep It

I think a better question would be: where shouldn’t you keep your stockpile? I promise you, you will be shocked at some of the creative places you could keep your stash... but before we talk about hidden places, let’s start with the one that will keep your perishable supplies the longest: basements.

As you know, most foods need a cool, dry, dark place to be stored, and most basements meet those conditions. Sure, you might have a humidity problem in your basement, in

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which case you’re going to need some way to ventilate it. You might have a temperature problem, and even if you can’t dig any deeper, it’s still the best place to keep your stuff.

The next best place is a pantry. Now, if the pantry is inside your home, you might have a temperature issue. To solve it, you might need to install an AC unit or one or more freezers. Both options require electricity and will increase the monthly bill, unless you’re willing to install some solar panels or wind turbines (which you would need anyway). If you’re dealing with high temperatures, you probably live in a place with lots of sunshine, so having a few solar panels is probably a great investment.

Another great place to keep your supplies is the safe room. If you have no choice but to stay there, you’re going to need food and water for hours, maybe even days. If you don’t have enough space for a dedicated safe room, a second bathroom or a pantry will also work. You just need to have the right supplies and to strengthen the doors and windows to prevent anyone coming in.

Last but not least, one of the most spacious places to keep suppliesis the attic. As you might expect, high temperatures and temperature variations make them poor choices for storing food, but anything else that’s non-perishable can be kept there: old clothes, blankets, tools, gear, books, board games etc.

Other Places to Hide Your Stockpile

I’m sure you know some of these locations, but they’re still worth mentioning. Many newbie will read this eBook, so it’s good to think about them as well. I’m sure I’ll be able to surprise you with at least a couple you didn’t know.

Under the stairs. Lots of available space there, you just need to cover it so no one will seethat’s inside. Another thing you can do is to remove the wooden stairs that you have and replace them with pull-out drawers. Make sure you give instructions to make it resemble normal stairs – you don’t want anyone figuring out there’s something there.

Inside closets. Lots of space in-between your clothes, right? Also, you can store a great number of things inside the POCKETS of the clothes inside those closets.

Inside doors if you hollow them out. Just not the exterior doors, you need those to be strong enough in case someone wants to knock them down.

Under the bed. Lots of room there. If you’re thinking about storing food, keep in mind you’ll have to rotate it more often. The bedroom is going to be too hot for most foods.

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Some preppers go as far as removing the bed frame completely, putting 4 buckets in the 4corners where the legs used to be, put the box springs on top, and then the mattress.

Inside your car. If you’re going to bug in, it’s going to sit in your front or back yard, right? You’re probably going to prepare it to act as a bug out vehicle, anyway, but that doesn’t mean you can’t add even more stuff to it, either on the backseat or even inside the seats! Also, make sure the tank is always as full as possible. Over the long run, it shouldn’t cost you more to do this, unless it tempts you to drive more.

Inside your front and back yard. Talk about storing things in plain sight! Trash bins and cardboard boxes can be filled with useful stuff and topped up with junk, so no one will ever think about sticking their hand in there.

Inside your TV. The new ones are too think to be able to hide anything in there but the old ones could fit a few valuables.

Warning: storing your food across the house could mean that you forget about some of it.Due to higher temperatures and the fact that you need to rotate it more often, you might wake up with spoiled food. If you don’t have a choice, at least maintain an excel sheet with all the places you have it so you remember to rotate it.

Speaking of beds, if yours is too close to the floor or if you want even more space, you can install leg extenders.

Inside vases and at inside hollow lamp bases.

Behind a false walls.

Inside false plumbing. How many actually know this?

Above kitchen cabinets. The challenge here is that no one should see what’s on top of them, regardless of where they are in the room. Keep in mind that some of the people who might walk into your kitchen are taller than you; just because you can’t see them.

Install shelves on the back of the doors. They won’t be hidden but this space is seldom used.

Under sinks and bath-tubs. Lots of space there, but keep in mind that the bathroom is one of the worst places to store food and meds because of the humidity. Also keep in mind that if a sink leaks at some point, it could damage whatever it is you stored there,

Behind books. This one is easy: you just bring all books closer to the edge of the shelf so you can make room behind them to store anything you want.

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Inside furniture. This is somewhat extreme and I don’t think I’ll personally do it, but somepreppers prefer using the space inside their sofas and armchairs. An easier way to store things would be to buy or make a coffee table that has built-in storage space. It’ll be obvious to anyone but it’s also a normal place to store things.

Remove the base plates at the bottom of your kitchen cabinets and store items directly on the floor.

Install fake air vents (preferably as high up as possible), so nosy burglars won’t be tempted to check them out.

At the top of your bed. You can always install a few shelves there, and use them to keep items you might need if the emergency happens while you sleep: a weapon, a flashlight, maybe even a small fire extinguisher.

In your back yard. Get some PVC pipes, add the items inside and make sure you seal them on both ends. Write down the exact locations where you’ve hidden them, so you know where to dig.

Inside or behind bushes. Just make sure the container is green and keep in mind that when theleaves start to wither, your container will become visible.

Inside the frame of your bike. If you plan to use it as your bug out vehicle, you’ll be able to carry more stuff than other preppers who think of bugging out on a bike.

Up in trees. This way you get to practice how to climb one, very useful in both urban and rural environments, when animals such as dogs are on

your tail.

Warning! You may think some of these locations are weird but remember that you’re not the only one knowing them. Professional thieves have internet to, and they do their homework. The best places inside your home to hide your stockpile are the ones that aren’t found in other houses... and the only way to discover them is through a thorough inspection.

Where shouldn’t you hide your valuables?

This one is easy: keep the things you value inside the places that are least likely to be checked by potential thieves. Bedroom closet drawers, under mattresses, in nightstands

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and any other place that’s within reach and looks like it could hide something. Don’t get me wrong, to store a growing stockpile, you need every cubic inch of space you can use; just don’t keep critical items in them.

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Getting Food Post-Collapseven if you did and amazing job with your stockpile, you’ll still want to find renewable food sources. Let’s say the dust has settled. For now. Instead of eating away from your stockpile, why not anticipate that things can take a turn for the

worst and work on finding new sources of food?EIn this chapter we’re going to talk about gathering from a variety of sources. Some of them are on your property, others require that you venture outside.

Bartering and Negotiation

Bartering is a quick and easy way of getting just about anything, so long as it’s available. It’s also pretty risky and it also implies that you have to give something in exchange, whether it’s money, gold, tools, gear, supplies or even your skills. Skills are the best thingsto barter with because you still have them after you give them away.

One thing you need to learn is how to tell good food from bad food. Otherwise, you may end up with produce that’s not worth what you paid or gave up for it. For example, to tell pineapple is good to eat, you have to smell it. If it smells vinegary, it’s too late. If it doesn’t smell like anything, it’s unripe. The ideal pineapple should feel frim in the hands and have a “sweet” smell.

While many preppers are concerned with fishing and hunting, I for one thing you can do without them. Why invest so much time into this skill if you find little attraction to it and you have so many alternatives?

The trick to getting fresh meat and fish through bartering is to stock up on plenty of supplies in advance... So long as you have comfort foods (whiskey, vodka, tobacco, tea, coffee), skills or even items that will be hard to find, getting meat shouldn’t be a problem.

The other obvious option is to eat your own chicken, goats, cows and so on. So long as you have couple of roosters, for example, you can regularly cut birds from your flock and still ensure your flock will live on. Never, ever, eat your breeders. Unless you are starving, and I mean literally starving, do not ever eating your breeding pairs or backup female livestock.

Plus, if you have a river with fish on your property, you might think you’re lucky. In a survival situation, everyone will figure out pretty quickly that lakes and rivers can not onlyquench their thirst but also fill their bellies. The fish you’re counting on might vanish if a few dozen people are fishing nearby... so the biggest issue would be that you’d have to leave your property to do it. This takes us back to personal security.

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Just like in the case of hunting, if you want to learn how to fish, I recommend you read books, join fishing clubs, and practice with friends and family who are good at it. If you haven’t talked with your cousin in a long time, this would be a good opportunity to cement the friendship (without telling him that you’re prepping, though).

Will you end up in a situation where you won’t be able to use a fishing rod, hooks and baitto do it? Probably not, but you might still want to learn how to do without them. The point of survival is to know how to do something in less-than-ideal conditions, so you mayalso want to learn how to catch fish:

With your bare hands With a pole (maybe even an improvised one) Using a bow (bowfishing) Using a Hawaiian sling With fish traps Using a drone Or even a boomerang!

Ok, those last two aren’t that important, but you should at least learn how to make fish traps, in addition to making a fishing rod and even your own hooks from pine needles or bones. Of course, if you do a good job at stockpiling, you’ll have plenty of fish hooks available.

Trapping Small Game

Learning how to capture small prey can help feed your family when your stockpiles are running low or when you are forced to bugout. Simple survival traps and snares do not require advanced bushcraft skills or expensive supplies.

Snares and traps either choke, crush, or live trap wild animals. You should learn what animals frequent your location and how to identify their tracks and sign so you can set your snares in the best possible location to catch your dinner.

Always check your traps frequently so the prey does not get away, the meat does not spoil, and to garner the wild game for your meal as humanely as possible.

Simple Snares – This is just about the easiest trap you can make. Simply make a noose out of a material strong enough to snare the intended prey using wire, chain, or thick string/rope. Hang the snare with the noose just large enough to allow the animal’s head to slip inside. As the animal tries to free itself, the noose pulls tight and chokes it. Use a material at least 3/16 of an inch thick to catch raccoon, fox, and squirrel.

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Dead Fall Pit – This type of trap is designed to snare large prey. Dig a hole in the ground too deep for the chosen prey to jump or climb out of in an area near a water hole or the prey is known to frequent. Wild hogs and deer tend to remain in the same territory their entire lives. Bear frequent the same travel patterns throughout their lives as well.

Cover the opening with branches are other natural items to hide the dead fall trap pit. Tied the branches together loosely so they do not roll or blow away before an animal happens across the area.

This trap can be re-used time and again and could be very useful if you have to bugout or when riding out the apocalypse in a rural or even suburban, area.

Gardening

Gardening is yet another vast topic that applies to bug in situations. Since giving you hundreds of pages of information about how to grow each plant, I feel it’s a little bit off-topic so, instead, I’m gonna focus solely on talking about it form a survival perspective. More specifically, from a bug in perspective.

However, feel free to apply the advice to your bug out location garden if you have one, it’s the same thing.

You see, there is this gardening concept that I’ve stumbled across not too long ago that caught my eye... and the reason it did is because it’s perfect for preppers. It’s an alternative to mainstream gardening techniques and, since it’s not as popular, you can imagine it has its drawbacks.

Still, many people who’ve discovered it are happy with it and I have a feeling you’re gonna love it. It’s called permaculture.

To put it short, permaculture is letting plants take care of each-other in something that simulates a natural eco-system. As you can imagine, literally every plant you can have in your garden has survived for thousands of years without anyone tending for it. Plants thatcan help each-other, grow together.

Modern agricultural techniques, whether organic or not, have come a long way to maximizing yield. And they’re fine. If you want to start a traditional garden, I strongly encourage you to.

Let me give you a quick round-up of the advantages, then I’ll continue with the disadvantages. Last but not least, I’m going to tell you how to set up your (permaculture) garden from a survival/bug in standpoint.

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Concealment. This is by far, the most important benefit that concerns us as preppers. Permaculture gardens don’t look like gardens at all. You can literally be a few feet away from them and never realize it.

Requires little care. You don’t need to take care of your plants because they can take careof each-other just fine.

Protecting the nature. Although this isn’t that important considering the survival context,it’s still something. We all feel we need to do our part when it comes to taking care of Mother Nature, and permaculture is one way of doing that.

It’ll cost you less because you won’t need that much of. Pesticide will be hard to come by post-collapse, anyway. If you plant the right plants, they will attract the right insects.

What about traditional gardening?

That works too, if you’re not concerned about concealment Maybe you live somewhere ina remote place and you’ve got plenty of ways to protect your property. If the head count is low and you want a bigger yield, no pests and more control over what you eat, there’s ahuge number of books and e-books you can read.

Although permaculture is a great alternative to gardening, traditional gardening is still a viable option. Just look at these zucchinis and squash:

Tip: if you have a weed problem in your garden, one idea that worked for many was to add a thick layer of plastic over the garden like so:

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This will ensure those annoying weeds won’t grow if you leave it there for e few months. Your seeds should be fine, though.

Next, you should definitely consider raised beds. They have some good advantages over atraditional garden, in that they are good barriers to weed and pests. They’re also easier towork with if you have a bad back and knees. The only small problem for us preppers is that, due to their elevation, they’re can be seen from a distance... but that doesn’t mean you can’t find ways to hide them from nosy neighbors and hungry people.

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The amount of light and the indoor temperature are two of the biggest factors. Don’t forget that plants need photosynthesis in order to grow. Ideally, you will want to put them near a window but, if that’s not possible (say you have a whole room dedicated to indoor gardening), you’ll have to get some incandescent indoor lights.

Use cold frames. These will maintain a steady temperature for your plants by creating a microclimate. Thy have the same downside as raised beds, in that they are easily visible from a distance. You need to figure out ways to hide them.

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That being said, let’s talk about the point where gardening and survival meet. Whether you took the permaculture path or the general gardening path, one thing is certain: you’re going to start yourself a survival garden!

So let’s see what you can actually do...

DO hide your garden. You obviously have to put it in a strategic place, preferably in your back yard, where no one can see it. Maybe you’ll have some people over at some point tofinish a bartering deal. They will notice your garden if it’s in plain sight.

DO save seeds. Seeds will ensure you can literally bug in forever, as the title of this courseproposes. Make sure you stockpile on the things needed to maintain those seeds. In fact, it wouldn’t hurt if you started your stockpile of seeds right now.

DO ensure some of your rainwater is used for your garden. No point in wasting perfectly good water. You just need a rainwater harvesting system.

DO grow plants in pots inside your own home. I’m not trying to be pessimistic here, but what if you can’t go outside? What if a hurricane destroys your garden? What if your looters find your garden despite all your efforts to hide it? What if...

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Some of the edibles that can grow indoors are:

Carrots Garlic greens Salad greens Basil Oranges Lemons Oregano Broccoli Strawberries Tomatoes ...and even corn. Take a look at these babies right here:

Of course, the climate you live in dictates which of these you can grow, but that’s the whole point of using containers: to overcome a difficult soil.

DON’T let your plants be visible from the outside. You definitely don’t want any tomatoes visible form across the street. Hopefully, you have windows on the other sides of the house.

What priority should you assign to your garden in the bigger scheme of things?

Well, your stockpile is definitely your priority. Growing food takes time and you need to be covered for short-term emergencies first.

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If you just want to get your feet wet and want to see something actually coming out of the soil, how about you start with some potatoes?

You don’t need fancy containers, you can grow them in plastic buckets, like these:

All you have to do is keep you buckets in the sun all day, and make sure the soil is moist. Ifyou can’t leave them under the rain, you’ll need to water them every other day or so.

The beauty of growing things in buckets is that, if you have a bug out vehicle with a trailer, for instance, you can just take them with you when you evacuate. Even if you don’t flee, you still have the flexibility of moving them around depending on circumstances.

Now, if you want an even smaller container that will work for growing your own food, youcan even use tin cans. Of course, you can only put plants that have shallow roots, but it’s still something to consider if you live in a small apartment or... even if you don’t.

Foraging

Though this is what I believe to be unlikely, you might want to consider urban foraging. Plenty of nutritious plants grow in city parts that you didn’t know were good for you. Sure, they’re not as tasty as the veggies in your garden, but if you don’t have a garden, beon the lookout for dandelion greens, clovers, ground ivy, wild spinach, malva and so on. Here’s a few photos so you can recognize them:

Dandelion greens:

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Clovers:

Ground ivy:

Malva:

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Ramsons:

...and many more. Just keep in mind that not all of them are good to eat, some of them have medicinal uses and some may be only be used externally! Check a specialized book or ebook on the topic, it’s somewhat beyond the scope of this one. You can try Backyard Foraging or Wild Edibles: A Practical Guide to Foraging, with Easy Identification of 60 Edible Plants and 67 Recipes. These books will be useful for bug out situations as well.

Though the recommended courses go into much more detail, can’t wrap this subchapter up without warning you to stay away from any wild edibles that has thorns, beans inside pods and a bitter taste. You don’t need stomach aches and you definitely don’t want to poison yourself in a time when doctors and hospitals may not be available.

A few more rules of thumb...

Thoroughly wash any plant you pick up before eating. You just never know... Also, never forage plants that are close to busy roads, they have traces of exhaust system gas from allthe thousands of cars that’ve passed them by.

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Getting Fresh Waters you can probably figure out, your water stockpile is going to deplete very quickly in aprolonged SHTF situation. A good rule of thumb is, if you don’t have a renewable water source on your property, then that house is not a good place to bug in.A

So let’s see what renewable water sources you have or may need to set up as part of yourbug in endeavors...

Rainwater Harvesting

Though rain water is 100% free, you should do your homework and find out if and how much you can collect. Depending on how serious the droughts are where you live, there might be state laws forbidding you to do it. Even if that’s the case, you should still at least consider it, since, in case of an emergency, the rules might change. So it’s not a bad idea to at least prepare your harvesting system.

The first things you’re going to need for yourrooftop collection system are rain barrels. Theyaren’t cheap, at around $100, but they’re a stapleof any stockpile, so I suggest you add them to yourwishlist.

Of course, if you’re looking to save, any containerthat can hold at least 50 gallons of water will do. You don’t need an expensive one on Amazon, maybe you can find something cheap at the flea market? Of course that the ones that are pricier also have UV protection, which inhibits algae growth and so on, but if you can purify the water before use, you should be fine. Remember that water filters such as the ones made by Sawyer can process up to 100,000 gallons of water, and they’re pretty cheap at 20 bucks (at the time of writing). They remove 99.99% of bacteria, protozoa and algae.

Not all rain water needs to be filtrated, though. The one you’re going to use to water yourgarden and fruit trees, flush your toilet or do laundry is fine to use without filtering.

The next thing you’ll need is a collection screen. This way you’ll prevent bird droppings and insects from reaching the barrels. Next, you’ll need pipes. Pipes that will collect the water from the roof and direct it to the rain barrels.

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Last but not least, one other thing you may want to have is a first flush diverter. This is used to discard the first few gallons of water that are usually dirtier. The first flush diverter is a separate pipe that has a ball inside it. When the rain starts, the diverter is thefirst one that starts getting filled with water. As the water level inside it rises, so is the ball. Once the ball reaches the top, it blocks anymore water from coming it and redirects the rest of it to the tank.

Now, at the bottom, the diverter has a small hole in it for the dirty water to be discarded. The hole is small because we want the water to evacuate slowly. If we didn’t have this, you’d manually have to empty to first flush diverter itself each time it fills itself with water.

This doesn’t mean you don’t have to clean it, you just don’t have to do it after each rain. The small water at the bottom can get clogged from debris.

Last but not least, you’ll want to handle the overflow of water. You could just leave the tank open and allow the water to overflow naturally, but that would be a waste of resources and it would also mean you’d leave room for mosquitos and other insects to enter the tank. Not a problem if you’re going to filter it, anyway, but there’s a better way to handle this.

What you can do is have a hole in the tank at the top and a pipe that leads to either a second tank or even to a place of your garden that needs watering.

If you want to learn more about designing and then making your own rainwater harvesting system, the Australian Government has put up this comprehensive guide on their website.

What if you don’t have the budget for such a complex system? Well, you can stock up on water in pretty much any containeryou want. Plus, you can come up withcreative ideas on how to repurposesome of the items you already have inyour attic or garage.

For example, you could use an oldumbrella to gather water into abucket by turning it upside down andpunching some holes at the bottomlike so:

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Digging a Well

Digging a well should be ideally be done before anything happens. If you have a back yardand never thought about the idea of drilling or digging for water, this is one of the best things you can do.

Of course, you first need to make sure you can do that. As many other things related to homesteading, digging a well may be illegal in some places. Post-collapse it won’t matter but it does matter today.

The next dilemma you’ll want to figure out is whether you want to drill it yourself or start digging. That all depends on how deep you need to go and, to figure that out, you need an expert. The type of soil and whether or not there’s water to be fund under your property is what ultimately dictates how deep you should dig, if you should dig.

The depth? If you want to hit the purest water possible, you should dig deeper than the 15 or 20 feet that will allow you to get to water. If you have the resources, that is. If you can afford to drill to 100 feet, by all means, do it. If not, even digging yourself to 20 feet and getting some water is better than nothing. You should also make sure the place you dig is at least 100 feet away from any septic tanks or sewage systems.

And if you want to make the most of your well digging endeavor, why not build a well house (shown on the left).

This will allow you to cache some of your preps, incase everything inside your home is destroyed (house fire, for instance).

Other Places to Find Water In

Besides the water falling on your property, you may also want to consider rivers, lakes, ponds and, of course, digging a well on your property. You should prepare in advance with containers to gather this water. So long as you have a filtration system to purify it, you don’t really need fancy BPA-free containers, though it wouldn’t hurt to have them. Any container will do and, if you buy a lot of commercial water or soda, you may consider saving some of those jugs. Place them in your attic or some other place where your perishable stockpile wouldn’t last.

If you live in the city, there are other places to find water, such as:

Gyms Zoos

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Swimming pools Decorative fountains at public buildings and even on top of the roofs of certain buildings, where rainwater can

accumulate

As a general rule, keep in mind that running water (e.g. from rivers) is better for drinking purposes than still water. You may or may not have a choice (and this may seem obvious) but always go for the clearer-looking water possible.

Caveat #1: stay away from water in the vicinity of a nuclear explosion or nuclear meltdown. According to Forbes, the best way to purify radioactive water is through a process called reverse osmosis. Not something you can do on your own, so better safe than sorry.

Caveat #2: Sea water is not safe to drink even if you purify it using a personal water filter and even if you boil it. The best way to go about it is to distil it (we’ll talk about that in a moment).

If you’re bugging in because of a nuclear meltdown, the best thing to do is use your waterstockpile. Then, when the dust settles and it’s safe for you to go outside, the best thing you can do is move out. There’s no reason staying anywhere within a 100-mile radius, as this can affect your long term health, as well as the health of your unborn children on grandchildren. In fact, make that 300 miles just to make sure, the more distance you put between yourself and a radioactive site, the better.

Filtering and Purifying Water

Filtering and purifying water may seem like an unknown territory for most people runninginto these concepts, but it’s really not that complicated. Unless you want to make your own water filter using charcoal and sand, but that’s something suitable for wilderness scenarios.

By applying the advice in this eBook, you’ll never have to make one of those filters which, between you and me, don’t look safe at all. I would never drink water resulting from them, so let’s see what some of the most reasonable solutions to make crystal-clear water that you can drink are, without worrying about your health.

First thing’s first. The things you should consider removing from water before drinking it are:

Dirt and debris Insects Leaves

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bacteria algae parasites (such as Giardia lamblia) heavy metals chemical compounds viruses (these are the smallest ones at less than 0.1 micros in size, making it

impossible to be filtered using conventional water filters)

Filtration and purification need to happen in this order. The first one is all about removingthe larger particles, such as dirt and sand. It can be skipped if there aren’t any visible particles or insects, but it’s practically mandatory if there are. You definitely do NOT want to clog your water filter, and all you need is a piece of cloth such as a bandana.

Tip: The tighter the weave of the cloth you use to purify the water, the better. One other thing you can do is fold the cloth into multiple layers to catch even more debris OR you can do it 2-3 times.

Simply pour all the water through a bandana into a clean container to filter it. Step 2 is to purify the resulting water, to remove even the smallest particles such as bacteria and algae.

Can you make your own water filter? One quick way that’s taught in the army is to use Paracord. Simply take a piece of this cordage 1 foot in length and put the dirty water into a container that’s lightly more elevated than the one that’s empty and clean. Put one end of the rope in one container and the other in the second container. Keep in mind this will not remove bacteria and other smaller particles.

Now, to purify water, there are 5 ways, and I want to talk about each of them.

1) Water filters. The most popular choice for preppers is the LifeStraw, but that’s not really ideal for bug in purposes. It’s uncomfortable to drink water using a straw every time, and you don’t really want to share your straw with other because it’s not really hygienic, particularly in an SHTF situation.

There’s a much better filter called the Sawyer Mini. Not only does it filter 380 times more water (yes, you read that right) but also come with some really useful accessories. It removes any particle smaller than 0.1 micros but does not remove smaller particles such as viruses, nor does it remove heavy metals. LifeStraw or Berkey filters don’t remove them either, by the way.

Heavy metals can be removed using Brita water filters, though replacements are pretty expensive.

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2) Boiling. It’s a cheap yet very effective method to water but, surprise: it doesn’t remove heavy metals, nor does it remove salt. This means you can’t use it to turn salt water into drinking water. The other downsides are that, one, you need fuel and two, some of it will inevitably be lost in the process. Still, it’s bulletproof

purification way without having any fancy equipment.

Tip: you don’t need to boil the water for minutes on end, you’ll just be wasting it. Once it reaches a rolling boil (see picture above), it’s should be to drink. Keep in mind that this process does NOT remove heavy metals so, if you think this is a concern, limit the water intake and try to find a better water source.

3) Distillation. This is the mother of all the purification techniques we discussed so far. It not only removes algae and bacteria but also heavy metals and even viruses. There are many ways to do this, but the general idea is to allow the water to turn into steam, then let the steam condensate back into water.

One way of doing it is to put a cup inside another cup, put the dirty/salt water into the bigger container, then seal it with a lit kept upside down.

If you’re not sure which containers to use and have 40 bucks to spend, you can get this water desalinator kit with stainless steel components. It’s more efficient than something you would put up on your own at catching most of the resulting steam. It’s simple and it works over a camp fire (though you’ll probably not use one for bugging in purposes).

It’s worth mentioning that this also works with a pressure cooker and even the solar still method, which implies that you use the heat form the sun to do this.

Now, if you live near the ocean and you have enough land on your property, you might consider making your own solar still that you can use to distil larger quantities of sea water. This is a fun project to make and is perfect for bug in purposes, for preppers living near the shore.

I won’t go into the details of how to make one, I’ll just leave you with this YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m408EZTGD64 .

Of course, this works with any kind of water, not just sea water. Most of the filters on the market do NOT remove heavy metals because they’re designed for backpackers who venture into the mountains, where river water has acceptable levels of these metals. However, for and SHTF situation, if you live near a river that you know is contaminated,

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m408EZTGD64


you will need to distil the water, use reverse osmosis or use a filter that has activated charcoal in it.

Keep in mind that your well water may also have metals in it that are bad for you, despite the fact that underground water is better than surface water. One thing you can do is testit for arsenic, iron, copper, as well as other things such as bacteria and even the pH.

4) Bleach

One common way of purifying water (without removing heavy metals, tough) is to use regular, non-scented bleach. You should put 2-4 drops of bleach for every 1 liter or 0.25 gallons of water.

Stockpiling bleach is trivial but its biggest problem is shelf life: 6 to 9 months if you store itat the right temperature, below 70F or 21C. This means you either have to rotate your stockpile often, or simply use a personal water filter to achieve the same result, minus thetaste of chlorine which I personally don’t like.

Still, you shouldn’t disregard chlorine. You can use it when before you fill your 5-gallon water barrels to ensure that no bacteria will develop over time.

Even better, you can store the bleach in a container that has a built-in dropper such as Children’s Tylenol. This will make it easier to get the right number of drops. Also, you maywant to write the amount you should use on a label, it’s likely you will forget.

5) Water purification tablets

Tablets are similar to chlorine when it comes to the level of purification. They kill bacteria and pathogens but are useless against viruses and heavy metals. Still, they have two big advantages: they have a longer shelf life (some brands claim up to 5 years) and they are lightweight, meaning you can keep them in your bug out bag, get home bag and even in your EDC for emergency situations.

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Generating Your Own Electricityooks and courses have been written on the topic of generating your own electricity. I won’t attempt to give you every little detail in this course, but I’m sure as heck going to do a great job in pointing you in the right direction.B

Whether or not you will get hit by an EMP, the power grid may be down for an indefinite amount of time. We already know the US power grid is old and could be taken down by an EMP but that’s not even necessary. The number and the length of blackouts appears to be on the rise.

Let’s not waste time worrying about statistics, the best thing we can do is figure out how we can generate electricity for ourselves. As I said before, if you need to ventilate a basement, if you need AC in your pantry to keep your preps at the right temperature, a solar panel or a wind turbine will save you money in the long run.

Solar and wind power are the best two ways but they aren’t the only ones. Let’s talk about each of them and see what’s right for you.

Solar Panels

If you’re thinking about the fact that an EMP will fry the panels as well as every circuit that’s not protect by a Faraday cage, you’d be right. It’s a risk you have to take. After all, solar panels will start saving you money from day one. The more energy you need, the more you will save in the long run. They’ve also come a long way over the last few years, being more efficient.

Of course, whether or not you should put them or if you should rely on other means of producing energy depends on other factors as well. These factors are:

Whether or not you have enough sunlight throughout the year Whether or not you have a place to put them that doesn’t get any shade during

the day Whether you have the budget

See, many energy companies have false advertising because they only mention the cost of the actual panels, neglecting that of the bank of batteries necessary to charge. Sure, right now, you have to connect your panels to the power grid because it’s the law, and you don’t really need batteries, but what will you do after collapse? You’re going to need a way to store energy that you can use during the night or cloudy days.

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If you don’t want to spend money, you should know that there are people who’ve made their own generators. You can read such a report here, with great results. Still, you shouldn’t attempt to do this unless you’re an experienced electrician or if you know someone who can help. Don’t forget you’ll also need an inverter and a voltage regulator.

How can you get your feet wet with solar panels?

A good place to start would be to get a couple of 45 watt solar panels from Harbor Freight. They’re $199 at the time of writingthis, but the prepper blogger I know got it awhile back for $150. If you’re willing to wait, you can add the item to your wishlist and monitor for discounts. Next, you’ll need a 1000 watt invertor to convert from DC to AC, a couple of 160 amp hour

batteries and you’re done! Well, you still need to be extra careful how you wire them, butit’s a solid start.

How much power can these panels generate? To build up on our example, you’d get 90 watts from the two panels which should be enough to power car batteries and even TV sets. Needless to say, charging your phone, laptop, kindle, tablet, rechargeable flashlight batteries and lanterns will work.

However, this won’t be enough to power a freezer, you’re gonna need a little more powerfor that.... but there’s a trick you can do. You will need your freezer as well as an ice maker. You can power the ice maker with your solar panels, then dump the ice into the freezer every day. This does mean that you have to spend $200 on an ice maker and that you have to not forget to put the ice every single day... but it will work and it will save youmoney.

Are Solar Panels EMP Proof?

Though I am not an expert in solar panels, I’m amazed at some of the discussions I find onthe Internet of people stating that the solar panels will be ok in case of an EMP. What makes them think that, in a scenario where the entire power grid, every car, every flashlight, every TV set, every portable radio will be fried, that their solar panels will makeit?

I don’t know what will happen in case of an EMP but I’m willing to bet solar panels will NOT make it, unless you put the entire system into a Faraday cage.

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http://modernsurvivalonline.com/homemade-portable-solar-generator/

http://www.harborfreight.com/

http://www.harborfreight.com/




Now, this shouldn’t prevent you from getting solar panels. If you get the $199 (or $149 if it’s on sale) solar panel kit form Harbor Freight, you should be able to generate your own electricity and save money on your power bill starting today... With the money you save after you recover your initial investment, you can use it to get another kit and keep that one in a Faraday cage as back-up. Just keep in mind that, although this kit is very popular among preppers, you still need to purchase the 12 volt storage battery and the 300 watt power inverter separately. This would mean a $300 investment, plus or minus.

Rule of thumb: whether you purchase this kit or get your solar panels someplace else, you shouldn’t pay more than $1 per watt.

This will not be enough to power a freezer or an air conditioner. This is more of an emergency back-up solution, not something you want to use 24/7. The problem isn’t just the low output, it’s also the fact that inverters such as the ones from this kit will affect your battery over the long term.

So what can you do if you want more power? More solar panels, of course, but it’ll cost you. The batteries that are used with this kit are too strong for the two starter panels, so what you need is get more of them. Just be advised that this isn’t the most cost-effective way.

There are other ways to preserve food (smoking, dehydrating, freeze-drying etc.) and there are other ways to keep yourself cool during hot summer days (such as using a fan and a bowl filled with ice cubes). As preppers, we must get creative to save money.

Generators

Having a generator is another great way of generating electricity, right up there with solarpanels. They both have their pros and cons, so let’s start with that...

Unlike solar panels which use the sun to generate electricity, a generator uses fuel. When the fuel is gone, so is its ability to power your appliances, and, possibly, to keep you warm.

Solar panels are pricier, they generate less power and also require a battery, which also doesn’t come cheap. Generators are easier to set up and work with, they don’t draw attention to your house unlike solar panels, but they will make noise. Another thing to keep in mind is that generators will NOT last for 20 to 25 years of daily use, like most solarpanels are guaranteed.

Ultimately, whether or not you want a generator is up to you but, just in case you want one, let’s talk about how to get it and how to use it.

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http://www.harborfreight.com/45-watt-solar-panel-kit-10-pc-kit-68751.html


So... if you want a fuel-based generator, you’re going to have to choose between diesel, bio-diesel, gasoline, propane and natural.

They all have their advantages and disadvantages. For example, gasoline is much more flammable than diesel, although it’s highly recommended you don’t store them in or nearyour home. They also have a shelf life, up to two years in the case of diesel and one year for gasoline. This is a very important consideration because, if you’re planning to bug in for years on end, you’re going to have to figure out a way to get more fuel.

Wind Turbines

The second most popular way of generating green energy is to use a wind turbine. Works well, as you can expect, if you live in a place with strong winds.

There’re many who are making their own turbine at home, but, in general, the yielded results are poor. Ideally, you want to get the parts yourself and assemble them yourself, though some people prefer using recycled materials. Instead of spending 150 bucks on the blades, you can make your own from cheap PVC.

Of course, for bugging in purposes, such a turbine is a signal for other people that you have energy! Bad idea for bug-in events but let’s not forget that this is a worst-case scenario. As I’m writing this, Venezuela is struck by financial collapse, people are eating dogs, cats and pigeons but no one is killing for clean water or energy. No matter how much we strive to simulate what will happen, things will probably look totally different.

The problem is the tower. To catch strong, constant winds, the blades need to be as high up as possible, which not only means higher costs for the tower but also require pre-SHTFpermits, not to mention it puts a bigger bull’s eye in your property.

Still, the benefits of a wind turbine shouldn’t be neglected. Free energy so long as there’s wind, regardless of whether there’s sunshine. A 1000 watt turbine is not impossible for your household’s basic energy needs.

To get started, you can get this 400 watt turbine kit on Amazon, then get another one if you like the yield and need more power.

Using an Exercise Bike

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Although in a post-collapse world, one would need to conserve energy, it’s likely that you’ll be able to have plenty of food. What if you could burn those calories into electricity, without solar panels or wind turbines and without leaving your home?

You will need a regular bike (though an exercise bike will also work), a car alternator, a 12 volt battery pack, an inverter, a digital multi-meter and some light woodworking to mountthe bike on a stand.

There’s a 6 minute youtube video showing how to do this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVAZIDFMRXY

Making a Water Wheel

If you have a river on your property, you have yet another way of generating electricity. The best part is, it will work 24/7 so long as the river keeps flowing (only a drought could stop it).

The problem is that the amount of electricity is small, but you can still use it for a variety of things. You can use it to charge things or you can set up some lights around your property to be able to see trespasser.

The set-up is a little more complex than in the case of a bike, here’s a video explaining how to do it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNltaZ4RE2o

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVAZIDFMRXY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNltaZ4RE2o


Information and CommunicationsPrepping isn’t just about the things you do, it’s about the things you know as well as about the things other people know. Knowledge is power, it’s always been so, so we need to figure out how to store and protect it. We’re also going to talk about keeping your prepping endeavors a secret, because you just don’t know who you’ll be able to trust post-collapse.

Storing Your Survival Knowledge

There’s A LOT of survival information out there. Heck, even I have hundreds of articles written on my blog, not the mention the eBooks, free PDFs and bonuses I released over the years, plus the articles I’ve written on dozens of other websites. It’s impossible even for me to remember all of this stuff.

We need ways to store it for when SHTF and, since we don’t know whether or not we’ll have electricity, we need to prepare for both scenarios. Here’s a few tips on how to organize and store survival and preparedness-related information:

Back-up all your files on an external hard-drive. My buddy who’s in the army bought afew years ago one that’s resistant to shocks. Gave me quite the scare when he dropped it on the floor on purpose. If you’re looking for something budget-friendly, a USB stick will do. Sticks are way smaller in size, though (they can be around 32- to 64 GB, while hard-drives are around 512 GB).

Get a Kindle, especially if you love reading. It’s lightweight, you can read very well under sunlight and eats very little power. You don’t need to get the most expensive model, of course. It works with every Kindle you ever purchased, or you can upload your own eBooks (including in PDF format).

Store some of the most essential items on your phone. This way you’ll have at least part of the knowledge with you the whole time, as part of your EDC.

Start a survival library of printed books. You can start with:o SAS Survival Guideo The Prepper’s Blueprinto The Survival Handbook: Essential Skills for Outdoor Adventureo Secret Garden of Survivalo The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse

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o Emergency/Survival Hygiene- a Prepper Cookbook for Making Survival Hygiene Products

o Will to Live: Dispatches from the Edge of Survivalo The Doom and Bloom Survival Medicine Handbooko U.S. Army Survival Manual: FM 21-76o Surviving an Urban Disastero ...plus anything else related to the skills and knowledge you want to absorb

(homesteading, gardening, raising chicken, permaculture, woodworking etc.) Get printed copies of the survival courses you purchase. Some of them, such as this

one, are only selling in electronic format, which is why you should print out yourself. Others you can get in hard copy on Amazon.com. However, doing the printing yourself is pricy. There are cheaper ways, such as loading your ebooks on a USB stick and going to a FedEx print center or Kinkos. Another way would be to use an on-demand printing service such as www.Lulu.com. If you’re looking to print them out yourself (and you have a lot of), the most efficient way is to use a laser printer and do 2 pages per sheet. If you have good eyesight and/or you have a magnifying glass or a Fresnel lens, you could try squeezing 4 pages on each sheet of paper, thus reducing the amount of ink you use. Tip: buy pre-punched paper to save money.

Careful how you store your books: rodents, insects, mold, humidity and light can damage them. Although you can keep them in hot attics, you should at least put themin thick plastic bags or plastic boxes. You don’t want any insects or mice anywhere near them, which is why you might consider doing the same thing you do with your foods: put them in thicker containers, preferably metal, so no rodent can get to them.Also, what you can do is store each book in a newspaper or paper towel, to avoid dustaccumulation. Tip: not that you didn’t know this but the heavy, hardcover books always go at the bottom, while the lighter, paperback books go at the top. Of course, you can always store books in your living room, along with books on other topics. According to the Art institute in Chicago6, the ideal conditions for storing books is at a 40-50% relative humidity and at a temperature of about 70F (21C). Of course, we all know that books will last a long time at higher temperatures, long enough to be usable in a post collapse society that is.

Keeping Your Information Secret

As you can probably imagine, you do not want anyone to know what you’re up to. The less people know, the less likely for them to show up on your doorstep, begging for food and water... or trying to take it by hook or by crook.

Who would want to know more about you? Lots of people, in fact, though don’t get me wrong... walking around every day, paranoid that the Government is out to get you is

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http://www.Lulu.com/


NOT a good way to live your life. Neighbors, burglars and regular people who turn into looters when they have no choice are the three categories of people you should be weary of. Now, I’m not trying to say you shouldn’t be friends with your neighbors, just be careful of the things you reveal to them about yourself.

Here’s the dilemma many preppers have: should they let people know about their prepping endeavors (to get help, feedback and learn new things) or should they keep everything quiet and hope to survive on their own when the big one hits?

Both options seem reasonable and both options have their problems. The solution is somewhere in the middle. Once again, balance is key.

So how do you know who to trust? A good approach is to assume no one you talk to is interested in prepping. 90% of Americans aren’t – what a shock. Once you start talking to people, you'll figure out if they’re preppers or if they’re interested in prepping. If they’re not, you might as well forget about it. Your job is to prep, not to convince others to do it.

If you do find someone you can talk to, you should be very weary of what you tell them. Revealing certain information about your preps could backfire. Let’s make a couple of listsof things you can talk about that are ok:

Bug out bags and what’s in them Medical conditions you may have (allergies, blood type) Survival skills

And here’s what you shouldn’t talk about unless you have a really good reason:

Location of your survival retreat Your emergency escape routes Where you keep your valuables Your cache location ...and anything else that might give them a reason to pay you an unexpected visit

when SHTF.

Ok, let’s talk a little bit about a few important concepts that pertain to information security.

INFOSEC stands for information security and it’s got to do with protecting your passwords, your credit card information, your bank account info and so on. It’s become a cliché to say that the power and the Internet will be down post-collapse, so you don’t have to worry about your passwords. That’s just one scenario, what if they will continue to work?

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The next level is PERSEC, or personal security. We all know we need to print personal information to have with us in our survival bags and for grid-down scenarios, but have you ever wondered if it got into the hands of the wrong people?

To give you an example, if you print out phone numbers, someone might use them to blackmail the owners. If you have a phone number printed inside your dog’s bug out bag in case someone finds it, if it happens, the finder will have leverage. If you print out the phone number of a contact information such as your aunt in a different state, someone getting into its possession in a WROL information could try to blackmail your aunt, tell heryou died and so on. I’m not saying you shouldn’t print emergency info, just that you needto be aware of such scenarios.

COMSEC, or communications security is all about you making sure that what you talk about with other people doesn’t get intercepted by other people. If you’re an active prepper online, you might, in fact, be monitored by the Department of Homeland Security.

Needless to say, website such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram are like openbooks about you that anyone can read. Online communication apps such as Skype are secure against hackers but they do provide data to governments.

Ultimately, the best way to protect your information is to say less. You know what you have to do, the survival information is there and, part from specific questions you may want to ask on blogs and forums, you don’t really need to talk about prepping online.

How to Communicate During and After a Collapse

Knowing what’s happening outside after you’ve bugged in is crucial. You may want to go outside and find fresh food or water. You may need medical attention. You may want to leave and see a sick relative, attend a funeral or even help fight to restore balance in your community. Whatever it is, you need news from the outside and multiple ways to get them.

The first level of communication is your cell-phone.

Of course, if you’re smart, you should have back-up cell phones around the house, possibly kept in your survival bags. One thing I did when I bought my latest phone a month ago (besides saving a lot of survival information and survival apps on it) was to put my old phone in a zipper bag in my BOB. This way, if my current one breaks, I have a back-up. Ideally, you want all your phones to be unlocked so you can put SIM cards belonging to any carrier in them.

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Caveat: you might be tempted to get a satellite phone. While they are certainly better than traditional cell phones when it comes to coverage, they come at a higher price. Plus, if the satellites are down, communication is down. Still, they will work in case of hurricanes, for instance.

Do you need them? I would say “no”, because a cell-phone plus the options I’m about to give you will suffice.

Level 2 of communication: short-range walkie-talkies.

The phone lines will either be slow to function or completely dead in a disaster. It happened during Katrina and it happens during any disaster. You need something more reliable and that’s what the rest of this sub-chapter is all about.

The cheapest option for 2-way short-range communication is to use walkie-talkies. I say short range but you will need the longest range possible.

Level 3: CB Radio

You probably have an emergency radio and some walkie-talkies, but are they enough? There are other options, though they’re also a little pricier. One is to get a CB radio. Whiletoday, they are used mostly by truck drivers, in an emergency, you will pick up crucial infoabout what’s happening. The really sweet thing about CB radio is that you don’t need a license to operate.

Now, if you want something long ranged, you’re gonna want to look into getting a HAM radio and license. Keep in mind that there are multiple licenses and that each license needs to be renewed after 10 years. You’ll also want to pay a small fee each time.

What happens during an EMP? Well, as you probably know, in case of an electromagnetic pulse, all electronics found in its path will be fried. Now, if you managed to salvage some of your electronics by placing them inside a faraday cage, then you’ll have functioning walkie-talkies, solar panel chargers and so on... but can you use them? Since they are short-ranged, it’s likely that you won’t have a partner to talk to, unless you can convince people in your prepping network to follow your example and set up their own faraday cages.

Level 4: HAM Radio

The only thing that will allow for long-range communication is the HAM radio. A natural or man-made EMP that’s likely to hit the Unites States will not affect communications on the other side of the world. There are folks out there who suggest to harden HAM radio

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systems by adding things such as adding surge protection, but much of the EMP literaturesuggests that nothing is strong enough to withstand the pulse.

To get your feet started, I recommend you try the GT HAM radio from Baofeg:

Caveat #1: do NOT assume that you can just open up one of these post-SHTF and you’ll know how to use them. Sure, you will be able to start the FM radio, but two-way communication takes a little bit of practice. You definitely don’t want to tune into emergency frequencies unless you’re in an actual emergency.

Caveat #2: you need a license in order to use HAM radio.

Level 5: Non-Electronic Means of Communications

The sad part is, we don’t really know what will happen until it does. The best you can do isensure you have as many means of communications as possible. We talked about electronic means, now it’s time to mention the ones that don’t need electric current: using Morse code, messengers and even using pigeons. If you’re a pigeon lover, you can start looking into using carrier pigeons to send messages to some of your prepper friends who share your passion.

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Survival Skills for Bugging Inf you’re looking to learn the skills that will be of most help out you once you bug in, this chapter is for you. Now, I know the words “survival skill” may imply that you need to need to spend a lot of effort, but that’s not always the case.I

Some of these skills are easy and I’m almost certain that you’re going to grow to like some of them. This means you’re going to become good at them.

Remember, skills and practice trump tools and gear.

Here’s the skills you should focus on - in no particular order...

Cooking. Not just knowing a bunch of recipes and making delicious meals but being able to cook survival food. You should know how to...

Use a pressure cooker to cook hardened beans Use a solar oven (and even make your own from a cardboard and aluminum foil) Cooking over a propane or a butane stove Cooking on a wood stove or open flame outdoors

Contrary to what you might think, you don’t need a big wood stove to cook your dinner. You can get something like the Solo Stove, that’s very light and can be used for camping, bug out situations and so on.

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You, of course, are going to use it to cook in your back yard (you can’t do it inside due to CO intoxications). Here’s the stove boiling some water, it shouldn’t take more than 7 or 8 minutes tops, though it might do it in under 5 minutes:

By the way, you can make your own alcohol stove out of 2 pop cans, here’s how:

You will need:

• Measure tape or rule

• 2 pop cans - but a few extra would be hand to have around in case the first effort does not go flawlessly or extra simmering rings are necessary.

• Permanent Marker

• Awl

• Box Cutter

• Metal File

• Scissors

• Tin Snips

• High temperature tape - muffler tape, metal tape, etc.

Directions:

1. Use the awl to poke holes in the bottom edging of one of the soda pop cans. The smaller the hole the better hte fuel efficiency - but larger holes will heat both hotter and more rapidly. The holes must go entirely around the perimeter of the can. There is no

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perfect number of holes but spacing them evenly seems to work best. Usually it takes about 8 to 16 holes to go around the can - the holes can be of varying diameter, as well.

2. Cut the bottom on the same can with the box cutter.

3. File down the edges after cutting so they are not too rough.

4. Measure from the base of the can up towards the mouth opening. Cut an opening at the three-fourths of an inch mark to form the top of the stove. Mark the cutting spot withthe permanent marker before cutting to get an even and straight line.

5. Use the tin snips to snip the edges of the stove top to create little tabs. About eight snps are usually needed around the stove top to complete the process.

6. Get the other pop can and cut the bottom out o it. Don't poke holes in the sidewall of this can.

7. Measure up 1 inch from the bottom of the can, mark, and cut a straight line.

8. Using the scrap from the cans you have already cut, use the aluminum to make an interior wall for the alcohol stove - or use a third can to get a strip of aluminum to wrap around inside the can for an interior wall.

9. Cut halfway through the end of the trip on both sides so you can form it into a loop anduse the slits as a self-locking connector.

10. Cut three notches, near each end and in the middle of the interior wall strip to allow the alcohol fuel to flow from the interior wall to the outside wall.

11. Start putting the homemade alcohol stove together. Place the interior wall into the second can that will serve as the bottom of the stove. Tuck the tabs from the can that will be the top inside the second can as you slide them together to hold the two cans togetherfirmly. The interior wall must fit into the groove of the stove top can tightly, like a shoehorn going into a boot, or the alcohol will escape during the heating process.

12. Wrap the high temperature tape around the cans to help them hold securely togethermore permanently.

13. This is an optional but highly recommended step. In order to use the alcohol stove to bake upon, use the pop tab to create a simmer ring. Take of the tab and fold them inside the can.

14. You can place one of the can bottoms that you cut off over the top of the stove to use as a snuffer to kill the flame but keep the unused alcohol in the bottom of the DIY survivalstove if you will not be packing up and moving along before needing it again.

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Gardening. You can opt for traditional gardening methods or you can choose the path of permaculture. There are pros and cons to each, but suffices to say that permaculture is better because you’re able to hide your produce in plain sight.

Gardening includes lots of other skills such as harvesting and stockpiling seeds, testing your soil, planting, harvesting and so on.

Being a gray man. This is about trying to stand out as little as possible from the crowd. This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be quiet, especially when most people around you are angry, such as during a riot. You have to blend in and adapt to your surroundings by doing things like:

being as quiet as possible when you’re bugging in losing traces of scent (perfume, deodorant and even soap may be tip off other

people that you’re doing well) controlling your movements (you don’t want to show you’re scared, anxious in a

negotiation or when trapped in a riot) learning to minimize interactions with others and find solutions to problems on

your own, without asking (useful when you’re in a situation you don’t know who to trust)

You might even have to quit smoking or, at least, to smoke less (if people sense it,they’ll know you have a stash)... Preppers often talk about stockpiling cigarettes but they never consider getting rid of the smoke when they venture outside.

becoming aware of your surroundings and of other people

Knowing your town. This is yet another easy skill you can learn. To know your town, you have to drive and walk a lot on every street, no matter how small. This way, when you have to take trips outside your home, you’ll have plenty of alternative routes to take.

Raising livestock. Before you figure out which ones to raise, you should check for rules of regulations. You may or may not build coops if you live in the city (even if you own a house), there may be restrictions regarding how many you can have and so on.

Before you decide, you should also keep in mind your other preps. For example, cows need more space as well as plenty of food and water, but can provide lots of manure for your

raised beds or your biogas generator.

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As far as which are easiest to raise, here’s the list:

goats chicken , turkeys, geese rabbits guinea fowls

Poultry Health

Keeping the flock healthy so continue to lay eggs, reproduce, and can be used as a safe source of food is essential to not only their survival, but your own. You will not be able to call a vet during either a short-term disaster or a SHTF scenario and must learn how to prevent and cure common ailments yourself.

Coccidiosis is a disease that is known commonly as the “chick killer.” The deadly parasite infects the intestinal tract of poultry and then the fatal condition spreads from one chick, duckling, or adult bird, to another from contact via feeders, waterers, and infected feces. Chickens, and keets (young guinea fowl) can become prone to nibbling upon or eating dead members of the flock, causing the parasitic disease to spread even further – and quickly.

Frequent and intense, and sometimes bloody, diarrhea is the first sign of coccidiosis. There is really nothing you can do to stop the infection from killing a bird, but you can try to prevent it, and other poultry illnesses, from happening and spreading in your chicken, duck, turkey, or guinea fowl flocks.

Poultry Natural Remedies and Preventatives

Oregano – The spice can help prevent E. Coli, coccidiosis, “blackhead,” bronchitis,and the avian flu. Simply sprinkle a few pinches of oregano in the waterer or on top of feed as a garnish on a daily basis.

Black Pepper – This spice if filled with healthy vitamin and nutrients. The pepper helps flush toxins from the body of the chicken (and other livestock and humans) and aids in the prevention of respiratory problems as well. Sprinkle several pinches of this spice into the waterer or onto feed along with the oregano.

Cinnamon – The spice has natural anti-inflammatory properties that help keep the poultry flock healthy while boosting their immune system. Cinnamon has also been known to boost blood flow and circulation and can help prevent frostbite of the comb, wattle, and feet of poultry. Add cinnamon to your shaker of poultry spices and sprinkle onto feed or in the waterer.

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Cayenne Pepper – This spice has been known to boost both quality and quantity of egg production in ducks and chickens. It can be sprinkle into the waterer and feeder on a weekly on semi-monthly basis – a few pinches should do the trick.

Turmeric – Add ½ teaspoon of the spice to the feed or water of a broody hen thatshows signs of weakness while laying or sitting eggs. Several pinches of the spice can also be added to food or water to help prevent wry neck in chickens or bumblefoot in ducks. Turmeric also helps to boost the immune system.

Garlic – Sprinkle a little garlic powder on fee or in a waterer to repel common poultry parasites like fleas, ticks, and mites. Fresh garlic can also be tossed into the poultry area as a free-choice snack.

Apple Cider Vinegar – Add a ½ teaspoon over feed or in the waterer to help the flock absorb calcium, especially during the summer months – this will help hardenthe shells of laid eggs as well.

Respiratory Infection Tea – To help treat a bird with a respiratory infection, servethis tea once daily for up to two weeks – or until the symptoms have alleviated. Boil 3 teaspoons or oregano and 7 cups of water for five minutes and then add upto ½ teaspoon each of the following spices or essential oils” cinnamon, peppermint, chamomile, turmeric, black pepper, lavender, and cayenne pepper. Allow the tea to steep and cool before serving.

Natural Electrolyte – During the hot days of summer the poultry flock can suffer heat exhaustion, especially if caged. This salt-based recipe can help keep the flock(and rabbits) from becoming overwhelmed by heat and humidity. Combine 1 and ½ teaspoon of sugar, 1 cup of water, 1/8 of a teaspoon each of baking and salt. Serve as a cold tea to the flock or freeze (adding a treat inside will attract the birds quickly) and give as both a boredom buster and a herbal remedy.

Raising Goats

There are two types of goats – dairy and meat. You can of course eat or milk any breed of goats, but the results will not be optimal. If you will be bugging in at a location in a city or likely even the suburbs, goats will not be a viable option for meat or milk.

But if you live in a small town or on even a small rural patch of land, goats can provide food for your family and perhaps extra money from breeding the medium-sized livestock.

Pygmy goat and Nigerian dwarf goats require only a small space to graze, area easy to handle for beginners, and are usually less expensive to purchase and feed over the wintermonths. One of each will fulfill the need for meat and milk consumption and breeding. These two varieties of goat are often inter-bred without any problem. Unless you do not want to breed, do not purchase a wether – a castrated male goat.

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Goat Health

Goats, regardless of breed, are prone to bloat. This potentially fatal condition can occur when the PH balance in their rumen is not functioning at proper levels. This can be caused by exposure to non-cured hay, damp hay, a sudden change in diet, gorging on treats – especially bread, which goats tend to love, or eating too much rich clover-filled grass and specific plants – like milkweed.

The goats belly will swell up on the sides like a beach ball, with the left side (if you are facing the goat head on) appearing slightly larger or misshapen. The goat will usually show signs of lethargy, but sometimes not until the problem is severe. A similar intentional gas-build up can also happen in sheep and equine.

Catching the goat bloat early is essential – making it fairly easily curable instead of a death sentence. To prevent rumen issues, serve baking soda as a free choice snack for goats on a daily basis. They may ignore the bowl of baking soda for days or weeks at a time, but will naturally gravitate to it when their gut gets out of balance.

When a goat shows signs of bloat and you cannot but a commercially manufactured product from an agriculture supply store, you will need to “drench” the animal. If the animal is too ill or unreceptive to use a livestock bottle or syringe to get the home bloat remedy ingested, a rubber tube slide down into the throat must be used.

Mix together 1-part water, 2 parts oil (vegetable, mineral, or castor are recommended) and 1 part (or slightly more) baking soda. Typically, at least a 1 pint dose will be needed toget the gas-build up on the rumen that can put too much pressure on the heart and lungs,to start moving.

Once the mixture has been ingested, gently massage the sides only of the goat’s belly. This works best if you can hold the goat up on two legs while massaging the belly. The goal is to get the goat passing gas and/or belching to expel the gas.

It may take a second treatment later the same day or the following day to release all of the gas. If this process does not work after trying several days, old-time homesteaders push a knife into the rumen to release the gas. This is extremely dangerous, can kill the goat if your place the knife into the body too deeply or in the wrong spot, or can cause a deadly infection. This should only be considered as an extreme last resort to save the animal’s life.

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Natural De-worming of Livestock

All varieties of livestock can get, and die from, worm infections. Although the type of worms animals are prone to varies by breed, each can become deadly if left untreated – and make their meat, milk, and eggs, unsafe to eat.

Stocking up on pill or mediated feed de-wormer should be part of your livestock preppingbudget. Using natural methods of removing worms may also help stave off and cure worm infestations.

Diatomaceous Earth – The powdered substance can be sprinkled on feed is dosesrecommended for the breed or weight of the animal to help prevent worms in between medicine doses or when such supplies are no longer available.

Tannin-Rich Plants – Growing tannin-rich plants in the pasture where the livestock grazes or in pots placed inside pens may help prevent worms from setting up housekeeping in the digestive tracts of your livestock, Sericea lespedeza is a legume that grows hardily in most regions in the United States – even in dirt that is of poor quality. Goats seem drawn to it and love the taste, but sheep and horses are not quite as enthused by the plan.t Birdsfoot trefoil, dock, sainfoin, and chicory are other tannin-rich plants that could help prevent worms in your livestock.

Garden and Flowerbed Goodies – The following garden crops, flowerbed offerings, or kitchen scraps can help prevent worms in any livestock that consumes them – particularly poultry: Pumpkin seeds, cucumber seeds (toss the flock a cucumber and they will devour it in minutes) carrots, chopped onion, Elderleaves, hyssop, wormwood, or rue.

What if you have a lot of space and think of growing your farm? You can consider larger, yet higher maintenance animals such as:

sheep Cattle – Dexter cattle, a miniature version of bovine, are perfect for a small plot of

land. They require little space to house or graze and are easier to handle for beginners. Less money is spent feeding Dexters during the winter months yet you will still garner adequate meat and milk from a miniature herd.

...and even yaks!

Yaks are interesting because they’re quieter than cows and need a lot less food. Although they grow slower, pound for pound, you get more meat2. In addition, you may be able to sell the meat as it’s considered pretty exotic. Lots of ways to start a side business while working on your survival plans.

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Medium and Large Livestock Health

Colic and foundering can kill a member of your herd both quickly and painfully. Learn about the dangers of over-feeding commercial grain, uncured or molded hay (cattle can eat hay other livestock cannot) and early spring grazing dangers specific to each animal you are raising.

Which Skills are Also Useful for Bugging Out?

If you’re looking to kill two birds with one stone (pun not intended but it’s funny nonetheless), you may be interested in knowing which survival skills will help you in both bug in and bug out situations. Here’s a quick list:

Chopping wood Foraging Skinning and cleaning the food you catch (fish, game) Making primitive tools (you can make wooden spoons and forks) starting a fire (because those lighters might not work under wet conditions) Outdoor cooking using a solar cooker, wooden sticks or a cast iron skillet and a

propane stove (whether it’s in the garden or out in the woods, the skill is the same) Using a saw Knowing when bad weather is coming (without looking it up on the web, of course) Being fit and healthy (survival situations are difficult to overcome, you need to be

physically and emotionally fit) Fishing Interacting with people (bartering, negotiating) ...and, of course, first aid.

Survival Skills Education

Consider taking some of these courses now, either in-person or online, to enhance your preparedness skill set. If possible, attend a hands-on survival or homesteading “expo” like Prepper Camp to fully immerse yourself in a self-reliance environment and commune with other like-minded individuals from around the country.

1. FEMA/CERT – Although relying on the government to save you is a recipe for disaster, the training materials actually used to train first responders for a disaster can be quite useful and enlightening about the response you should expect after the SHTF. Such courses, which are free or low-cost, typically cover topics that include: disaster medical operations and victim care, fire suppression,

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disaster psychology, workplace and family preparedness planning, search and rescue, “Teen CERT” mini courses to help teach disaster preparedness to youngsters.

2. First Aid, CPR, Communicable Diseases – The American Red Cross offers certification workshops in this type of emergency medical training virtually year around throughout the country.

3. HAM Radio – Training to become a licensed HAM radio operator, and the license required to use the system in a pre-SHTF world are also offered in many places in each state on an annual basis. The class has field operation training and shares a list of frequencies to utilize during emergencies.

4. Food Preservation – Water bath and pressure canning classes are offered via county health department affiliated groups and gardening clubs.

5. Gun Training – The National Rifle Association and local profit and non-profit groups offer a whole host of firearms training, ranging from beginner to advancedtactical and moving targets training.

6. First Responder Training – Take some entry level courses in EMT training, firefighting, and vet technician or assistant online or in person to enhance your emergency medical skills.

7. Industrial Arts – Learn how to do beginner and moderate woodworking, welding, electrical repair, plumbing, and automotive projects by taking an online course or attending an adult vocational training workshop.

8. Food Growing – Join a gardening club or take a course in growing native plants, herbs, in aquaponics, or miniature fruit tree growing to help boost your food supply stockpile.

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You Bugged In. Now What?ell, for one, I hope you have printed copy of this chapter for you to read. Unless you have a good memory, that is. I personally believe this is the most important chapter of the course, because it’s easier to prepare than it is to

survive.WIt finally happened. You bugged in and you’re safe. For now, at least. What do you do?

Keep Quiet

If you live in an apartment, you’ll even have to watch your step. Literally. The neighbors living below you will hear you, the ones living wall to wall form you might hear you talking, and if you have a toddler, the entire building will hear him or her. Keeping a low profile I something you need to put some thought into.

If, after a few days, you decide to go outside (to get supplies or to meet someone), how are you going to avoid running into your neighbors? I’m not saying things will be that bad,but it’s important to think about the worst-case scenarios. Living at the ground floor is better because you can quickly get in and out of the building (though you may be seen from the windows).

Tip: if you live in an apartment that’s above ground floor, make sure you walk slowly onyour tip-toes so neighbors don’t know you’re home.

Even if you live inside your own house, you’ll still have neighbors, right? Even if they’re preppers too, you still need to consider the case where you want to avoid them. In fact, it’s going to be even more difficult because they know you might have what they need, and might put pressure on you to do some sort of barter. Though I’m the last guy on earth to advocate lying, you might have to do it to protect ourselves and our families.

Some of the other things you should do:

If you have a toddler, make sure you keep him in the room that’s far away from the entry point, possibly your safe room. Crying will quickly alert people that someone’s there.

This is trivial but avoid going out as much as possible within the first week, maybe more. Only you can judge the severity of the situation and when it’s safe to go outside.

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If it’s winter and you’ve gone outside, make sure you mask your tracks in your front yard. I swiped this one from an old military book but, to make the tracks look older, pat them gently with your food.

Don’t leave trash outside your home, like you’re doing now. Either bury it in your back yard, take it to the dumpster yourself when you’re sure no one’s watching or burn at night in a hole in the ground. This way the flames will be below ground level and the smoke won’t be seen either.

If you have to cross the road, do it at a point with shadow from trees and light poles.

Untraceable Cooking

I know we discussed cooking but what we didn’t discuss is the fact that smell might attract the wrong crowd. If you live in a densely populated are, you’ve got plenty of people to worry about. This may or may not be the case, but it’s good to know a few tips on how to avoid this.

Now, if you’ve done a good job with your stockpile, you should have enough canned and freeze-dried food, plus honey, peanut butter and other edibles that don’t need cooking. But what happens when you run out of them?

Tip #1: if you must do it, do it in the middle of the night. Most people will be asleep, so they won’t sense anything.

Tip #2: cook food for the first 3 days, then switch to cans and freeze-dried, then back to cooking after 2-3 weeks. This may sound a little far-fetched but there’s a reason behind it.The first few days post-collapse, people are going to have food. Once they run out, they’re going to turn to their neighbors for it, a.k.a you. That’s when you need to avoid cooking, unless you want some “zombies” at your door.

See, it’s not just the fact that you have to say “no” to their face and break their heart. They might also be of help later on, but they won’t do it if they remember you turning them down with food. You want to maintain those relationships post-SHTF.

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Tip #3: do it in cooking bags (and keep the windows closed). This will ensure most of the smell is kept inside.

Tip #4: use an indoor cooker. There’s no need to cook outside, where people might see you and the smell would advertise your food more than half a mile away. Use a propane or a kerosene indoor cooker and keep the smell trapped inside your home. Kerosene will last longer because it’s denser, by the way.

You may wish to keep one window cracked for two reasons. First, it allows the smell go away little by little. Second, although both propane and kerosene are safe to use indoors, they do create some carbon monoxide, so you need outside air to make sure the gas doesn’t build up over time.

Of course, using wood to make fire is a no-no under these circumstances. The smoke will tip off a lot more people that the smell.

Tip #5: avoid using spices when cooking. They’ll just intensify the smell. Either add them after you cook or ignore them completely.

Tip #6: cook someplace else. Let’s forget the worst case scenario for a moment. What if you can’t cook inside your home but you can go in and out without people caring? If this is the case, you can pack a backpack with everything, go a few miles into the woods (assuming they are safe), do your cooking there and come back with food wrapped in tin foil or placed in zipper bags. Learn to think outside the box and you can come up with dozens of ideas such as these.

Tip #7: store a pressure cooker. Pinto beans, for instance, are very hard to cook because they get very hard as time passes. Boiling them for hours on end might not work. If you get a pressure cooker / canner, then you can also use it for canning purposes.

The amazing thing about a pressure cooker is that it doesn’t allow any odor out. As long as you let the food cool off inside before opening the sealed lid. Some odor will come out,of course.

Tip #8: forget pellet stoves. They run on wood pellets and they can get pretty costly, but the biggest drawback is that they also need electricity in order to run. If you want to live off grid and you’re not afraid of an EMP, you could try hooking it up to your solar panels or wind turbines. The other obvious drawback is that you’ll need a constant supply of pellets, which could prove to be a real challenge post-collapse.

Other than that, pellet stoves are easy to use and they heat whatever room they’re placed in pretty fast. Plus, they’re easier to use and maintain, compared to old-fashioned

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wooden stoves, that is. If you’re interested in getting one, one of the most reputable companies that makes them is called US Stove.

Generate as Little Garbage as Possible

Few people realize that the trash they dispose of in a survival situation is going to tip off other people of what you may have in their stockpile. Even if you do a good job about cooking smells, throwing away can after can of tuna and meat is going to show everyone looking in the dumpster that you have food.

To minimize the waste, consider:

Reusing everything: as boxes, jars and cans are perfectly good containers that canbe reused

Food leftovers can be fed to your pet Some leftovers can be used as scrap in your garden Eating less (this will also help you give off the impression that you don’t have that

much food, because you’ll look thinner)

Even if you do an amazing job, there’s still going to be some trash left. Keep in mind that nosy neighbors and thugs can get valuable insights of the kind of supplies you have, just by looking at your garbage.

You should definitely take the trash to the dumpster yourself, but not before making sure it’s safe to do so. If things are bad, there might be other people there, scavenging for supplies. You don’t really need them to see you leaving trash while they’re there to get trash, that’s an instant tip-off that you’re doing better than most.

Be Prepared to Evacuate

Bugging in isn’t just about hunkering down indefinitely. You have to be on alert 24/7 of things that may force you to bug out. Just because things have started to look better, this doesn’t mean they can’t take a turn for the worse.

If age allows it, you should prepare to evacuate every single day. Optimize your bug out bag, listen to the news to see which routes are blocked and which way you can or should go, talk to friends and neighbors to see if you can help them bug out or I they can help you. If your home becomes uninhabitable, it might go down with you in it...

Use Supplies from Renewable Sources First

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Even if SHTF, you want to hang on to your stockpile as long as possible (because you never know how long it’ll last).

Though this might be a little dangerous, you should always seek to consume external sources of food and water if possible. This will keep your current stockpile intact or, even better, you can use the new supplies to rotate it.

Why would you eat your beans if you can get fresh fruit and veggies? If you eat your beans, you won’t be able to replace them with anything so your stockpile will diminish.

Why would you want to consume your drinkable water supply when you can get plenty from the well on your property and filter it? If your well water is gone at some point, you’ll be in trouble if most of your water stockpile is also gone...

Now, when I talk about getting more supplies, I don’t necessarily mean you have to go outside your property to find them. If you have a garden, a rainwater harvesting system and backyard animals, you’ll be able to live off these renewable food and water sources for a very long time, especially if they’re doubled by your stockpile.

In case of a total collapse, it might not be safe for you to try to hunt for supplies. Everyone will do the same and you risk getting into fights that could be fatal. But after thedust settles, you should definitely try to find supplies to bring home to your family. Maybeyou have a skill or something else you could barter with?

One last thing: just because it finally hit, this doesn’t mean you should stop stockpiling. You should still can food and stockpile dried beans, corn and anything else you’re getting form your garden.

When is it Safe to Go Outside?

An even better question is: why would you want to go outside, when you’ve got everything you need on the inside. Well, as we just mentioned, you might need to get fresh supplies, you might need medical assistance, or you might be tired of sitting inside your home for so long and just need a breath of fresh air.

Before you venture outside, you need to know it’s safe. If Yellowstone erupts, it might take months or even a year until the air is breathable again... This means you won’t be able to go outside at all. Some of the other dangers that await you:

Gangs of looters who know you’re defended and prefer to wait for you to come outside so they can easily capture you (a somewhat far-fetched scenario, I know, but still)

Law enforcement officers may notice you and ship you to some sort of a concentration camp, so they can keep an eye on you

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You never know what kind of lunatic with a gun lives across the street from you and could see you as a target or even as an enemy

Even if it’s safe to go outside, it might not be safe to leave your town, so let’s talk about that for a minute. There roads may be blocked, there might be patrols spread across town, so the only place you might safe would be in your own backyard.

There might be people who think the house is abandoned, people you will prove wrong the moment you show your face. At that moment, you and your family become a target. So how do you gather information about what’s going on outside, so you know it’s safe togo there?

Here’s a few suggestions:

Install home security cameras to see not just who’s at your front door but also what’s going on in the street (this is yet another reason you should get some solarpanels).

Obviously, you need to have your emergency communications in place (AM/FM radios, CB radio and, if possible, satellite TV instead of cable etc.).

If you have a spot from which you can see what’s going on outside without being seen, spend as much time as possible scouting for problems... even if it takes you hours. You’ll be bored to death, anyway.

Do not leave your home without adequate protection and means of communication. If the phone lines are down and all you have with you is a walkie-talkie, make sure you don’t go out of range.

Finding Food and Water Post-Collapse

In what follows I’m going to try to offer you as many options for food and water as I can. This is going to be one of the riskiest things you’ll do. Everyone will be looking for food and water and some people will do anything to get them.

But before I give you the actual “how to”, I want to spend a few paragraphs talking about the timing of all of this. Conventional prepping wisdom tells us that people will be most desperate the first three weeks following a disaster. 3 weeks is about the amount of time the human body can last without food and, if we keep in mind that many will have 2-3 days’ worth of food, the first three weeks should be spent hunkering down inside your home without making a sound.

This is how the theory goes but, in practice, the scenarios can be much more varied. For example, after the Paris terrorist attacks of November 2015, one of the bad guys who escaped was said to have been hiding in Brussels, the capital city of Belgium. The entire capital city was put under lockdown and state of emergency was declared. Tanks were

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patrolling the streets, shops were closed and people were told to stay inside. This lasted about 5 days.

This was a type of bug-in that not many survival books talk about. They all portray lack of food as an inevitable consequence of bugging in. In this case, the stores remained filled with supplies, while the people living near them had to eat whatever they had.

So what can we learn from this? That your ability to acquire food and water is something to be determined after the unthinkable happens. That’s when you can figure out the oddsof you getting fresh supplies.

So let’s say you’re a resident of Brussels and you’re ordered to stay inside because of one terrorist. It’s day 3 and you’re running out of food and need to do something. What are your options?

You could risk going outside but with you can also risk being stopped by law enforcement officers. You could try all the stores in town but how many of them are likely to be open? Well, if the owner happens to live in the same building as his store, he might stick around,because he knows people need food.

In order to get food, you might do things that aren’t in any survival manual, such as browsing the Internet to find small shops and call the owner’s cell phone numbers and see if you can work something out. Maybe you can call your friends to see where they’re getting their food. I, for instance, have a friend who owns a mini-market (family business) so I know I can call him in situations like these. But what will you do?

Ok, back to the finding food and water situation. You figured it’s safe to get go out, now it’s just a matter of where to go. This may be difficult for you to do now, but in an emergency, you could get water from the following sources:

Lakes, crees, and ponds Swimming pools From vending machines scattered across town (it wouldn’t hurt to make a list of

all of them and mark them on one of your maps) Inside sprinkler systems and garden hoses you can find in public parks From your building’s rooftop (water may accumulate there) Pet stores (they may have water available) From coffee machines reservoirs Inside service valves of the water distribution systems (you can find those inside

your building’s mechanical room) From a nearby river Anywhere you can spot lush vegetation could be a sign that there’s water nearby

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lots of animal tracks or birds flying could also indicate nearby water in a wilderness situation

From dew (wake up early in the morning, tie a couple of bandanas around your ankles and walk around through the grass repeatedly and squeeze the water out)

Regardless of where you get it from, the water needs to be filtered and then purified before drinking it.

As for food, you may want to try these places, although there’s no way to make spoiled food safe to eat. Rather than getting sick, I suggest you move on and keep looking.

Check local ponds for fish and ducks You can find pigeons literally everywhere Vending machines abandoned storage places Inside dumpsters At amusement parks, restaurants, schools Pet stores (pet food won’t kill you) Abandoned homes, abandoned vehicles Local parks (you can forage for edibles such as dandelion greens, clovers, ground

ivy, wild spinach, arugula and so on) Airports (though getting in may not be easy) ...and some people even recommend zoos. There aren’t any zoos in my town but

if you think they might have food and water, go for it.

Of course, if you live close to a forest, hunting is also a good option. Since this is beyond the scope of this course, you may want to look into The Complete Guide to Hunting Series.

What if Friends, Neighbors and Relatives Want to Come Over?

Many preppers are frustrated because their pears say they don’t want to prepare because they’ll just come to their place when SHTF. I completely get that, they prepped for years, warning everyone else to do the same in vain, and their “friends” figured they can just come on over when disaster strikes.

Now, I’m not by any means an advocate of lying, so what I advise you to do is to be vague,yet clear that they can’t come over. If you decide to answer the door or phone, that is. Just tell them:

Look, we’re in a tough spot right now, you can’t come over. I can’t take you in.

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You don’t have to tell them why, you don’t have to explain yourself. Just tell them things aren’t looking good for you and that you can’t help at the moment. They’ll eventually leave and they won’t reach the dreaded conclusion that you don’t want to help, they’ll just think you can’t and that’s it.

Hygiene

Hygiene is going to be of huge importance after the big one hits. With no water, no electricity and no one to take care of the garbage, disease could spread like wildfire. This will be a huge problem in cities, where hundreds of thousands of people will be affected.

So what can you do to maintain proper hygiene? Quite a few things, actually...

Consider taking baths with rainwater. You don’t need to purify it, just filter it. I used to take baths every Sunday as a kid this way, when I lived with my grandparents. First, you collect the water in barrels. Next, early in the morning, you use it to fill an aluminum bath tub, and let it sit for 3-4 hours under the hot sun. Voila, free bath!

Use water to stay clean. Pretty obvious, right? Well, there’s something you should know. The water may be full of bacteria and you don’t even know it. If you get it from a nearby river or if it grows bacteria from improper storage, you’ll want to purify it first using a filtration system or by boiling it.

Of course, the amount of water you use will depend on how much you have available. Know that you don’t need to take baths in order to stay reasonably clean! Use a cotton towel soaked with water to wash yourself to use as little as possible.

Next, let’s talk about garbage. If you live in an apartment, it’s impossible to burn it (unless you do it little by little on your balcony). Nevertheless, this is a good way to dispose of it while staying put. If you want, you can even cook on that fire or warm yourself up.

If you’re worried about people spotting you, what you can do is dig a hole for the fire and do it at night. The flames will be hidden and the smoke will be less visible at nighttime.

What about excrements? Well, in the worst-case scenario that the toilets aren’t working, you could use some of your grey water (rainwater, water previously used for laundry etc.)to flush it. So long as the pipes aren’t clogged, then you can flush.

A last resort to disposing human waste is to use a so-called cat-hole, also known as a pit hole. The location of such a hole needs to be carefully chosen. You don’t want it anywhere near your well, for instance, unless you want to contaminate all your drinkable water. I know water filters can do wonders but filtering poo residue from your water.

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The hole needn’t be very deep. 6 to 8 inches. This is how you’d do it in the wilderness but,if you do it in your back yard, keep in mind you have a limited amount of holes you can dig. For bug in purposes, like I said, this is somewhat of a last resort. If you have a farm, ofcourse, that shouldn’t be a problem.

This should take care of #1, but what about #1? Well, as it happens, urine is a great fertilizer for your garden. It’s chock-full of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus, much-needed substances for many crops such as corn. In fact, if you want to use the urine intelligently in your garden, you should dilute it to a ratio of 10 to 1, that’s 10 parts of water for every one part of urine. Some say 5:1 or even 20:1 but 10:1 is an average that’s easy to remember.

Tip: don’t use bug spray as you’re squatting down. Once you pull up your pants, some of that substance will get trapped inside and will cause arash, maybe even a small burn.

Avoid fertilizing plants that will be harvested in lessthan a week. Also, avoid putting it on the plants’leaves.

Also, if you have a compost, you can pee on it toaccelerate the decomposition process.

Stay as naked as possible (without being cold, thatis). That’s one way to avoid bacteria build-up on yourskin and in your clothes. Let your clothes take asmuch air as possible, and do the same with your body by wearing less things.

Use hand sanitizer or soap to clean your hands. Your hands are the body parts where bacteria like to party and, given that you’ll be using them to cook and touch other people,you need to pay special attention to.

Toilet paper. You probably stockpiled some extra TP as part of your preps, but what otheroptions do you have?

Certain leaves can be used in its place, but it depends on whether or not you have grapevine leaves or maple on your property. Just do me a favor and keep your bum away from anything that has three leaflets. A bushcraft saying goes like this: Leaflets three, let it be, referring to poison ivy and poison oak.

Take a look on the right to see what poison ivy leaves look like and remember never to wipe yourself off with them.

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Taking care of your teeth. Few things are worse than having dental issues in a world with no dentists and functioning medical equipment.

I don’t want to paint the picture of what going to the dentist was like 100 years ago, but take a look at these Dutch little girls from 1935 (left photo), getting their teeth examined. I wonder if they knew what awaited them when they got cavities.

The very best way to prevent tooth aches is to take care of those cavities today, while you still can. Maybe you’ve been postponing surgery, such as the removal of a wisdom tooth.

The next level to dental care is, of course, to stock up on toothbrushes, toothpaste, mouthwash and floss. Mouthwash is good for years because no bacteria can live inside it. Toothpaste has a shelf life of about 2 years, after which it loses its potency.

But the most important of these three is floss. I’m telling you this from experience, as I’ve never had a single cavity since I started to use it regularly (and it’s been more than 5 years). Reason is, many cavities occur in places where the toothbrush doesn’t reach, particularly if you don’t brush thoroughly. Another issue is, floss will be hard to come by post collapse. Some people suggest using the inner strands from Paracord, but those might be too thick if you have crowded teeth like I do. So stock up on it because it’s cheapand takes very little space.

What if you run out of toothpaste? There’s a simple recipe you can try, and some people swear it’s better than the real deal. I can’t vouch for that but if you mix baking soda with afew drops of either water or lemon, you can make your own DIY toothpaste.

Post-SHTF Bartering

One of the reasons you may want to go outside is to barter for supplies... and this includes food and water. In my opinion, bartering is even more dangerous than getting food and water because meeting other people is a given. Other people could spell trouble, which is why I want to split this sub-chapter in two parts. The first one is about how to take precaution measures while the second one is about the actual negotiation tactics you should employ.

How to Plan and Prepare a SHTF Bartering Meeti ng

The fact that you’re willing to trade stuff can mean one of two things: one, you may not need that item. Two, you may need it but have a surplus. What would stop the other

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party from assuming the latter? Nothing. He might assume you’re loaded and try to find ways to take everything from you.

The following guidelines will ensure that the bartering or negotiation will work as smoothly as possible:

Never trade things that are in very high demand at the moment: food, water medicine. The rumors will spread and people might come for them. It might actually be safer to trade a gold coin post-collapse than a bucket of beans. You can fool people by telling them it’s your last coin, but you cannot fool them into thinking you’re giving away your last food supply. You obviously got more.

Never go alone. There’s safety in numbers and you need someone on your side tomake sure whatever it is you’re getting is what you expect. Plus, if things get heated, an extra person (and gun) can make the difference between life and death. Always trade things that you don’t need.

Make sure they don’t follow you back. The might want to know where you live to see if you have more stuff they can get... for free, if possible.

What Are The Best Items for Bartering?

The best items for bartering purposes are the ones you don’t need but, to give you some specifics, you may want to consider trading:

Your time Your skills Clothes (if you or your spouse can make them, even better) Comfort foods (people will be looking for alcohol, chocolate, coffee, tea and

candy like crazy) Items that cannot be replicated by self-sufficient means, such as canning lids

(they are NOT reusable), floss, chicken wire, zipper bags, steel wool, batteries andso on.

What you shouldn’t barter? Food, water, meds, guns, ammo and your survival knives.

Negoti ati on Tacti cs

In what follows, I want to give you some of the most successful bartering and negotiation tactics you can use. I suggest you practice as much as you can today, by going over to flea markets. Otherwise, you might not be able to get a good deal or any deal, when you needit most.

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Now, when it comes to negotiation tactics, the best people to learn from are those who’ve actually been in high-stakes situations. One such person is former president Ronald Reagan.

One such strategy is to be unwilling to negotiate. When Reagan wanted to start the “StarWars” Strategic Defense Initiative, Russian president Gorbachev got mad. Really mad. Still, Mr. Reagan refused to back down, and the reason was that the Russians have alwaysbeen unwilling to negotiate. Drawing the line with these people works so long as they don’t perceive you as weak.

We were raised to be nice, and that means we’re always looking to meet the other party halfway... but that may not work in a WROL society, when dealing with desperate people. Know what you want and don’t back down unless the other party is willing to do it first. And even when they do, it might still be wise to hold your position so they know they’re in an inferior position, one you should maintain at all costs. One thing is clear, Reagan always played to win, and so should you post-collapse.

Next, do you have a vision for what things will be like post-collapse? And will you stick to it when there’s chaos all around?

Most people today live to get by, this will be much truer when they’ll have nothing to live for... but you will, if you get a crystal clear picture in your head of how you want your life to be. It’s the only way to find the will power to go on. As Mr. Reagan once said:

“The most important thing is to have the vision. The next is to grasp and hold it. You must see and feel what you are thinking. You must see it and grasp it.”

This vision will reflect in your negotiations because you’ll instantly know if the deals you’ve being offered are what you really need. When they try to sell you something, they’ll bring many arguments that make sense... but those will be arguments from their point of view, not yours. If you have a strong vision of what you want and need, you won’t fall for them and avoid getting (good) deals on items you don’t really need.

The last lesson form president Reagan is also the most important... it’s all about going beyond the actual deal and making friends and allies with the people you deal with. See,when you successfully complete a first transaction with a stranger, the amount of trust skyrockets because everyone’s happy everything ended well. That’s the perfect time to lay the foundation and win a new post-collapse friend. As Mr. Reagan would say:

“Somebody who agrees with me 80 percent of the time is a friend and ally, not a 20 percent traitor.”

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Do your homework. This one is straightforward yet critical if you want to get the best deal possible. The more you know about the other party and their situation, the better you can negotiate. The two most obvious things you can learn are whether or not they’re in a desperate position and whether or not they have enough of the item they’re trading.

Be prepared to walk away. The best negotiations are done when you don’t need what you’re asking for. That’s true today and it will certainly be true when it hits the fan. How do you get to that position? Why, you stockpile, of course.

But what if you’re really desperate? Then you better hide that as much as you can. One good tactic of practicing is to go to the flea market and experiment with the negotiation tactics I’ve given you. As they say, practice makes perfect.

Be a good advisor. If you’re the one looking to “sell” your stuff, give the other party as much info on how to use what you’re giving them. This will position you as an expert in their eyes and will increase the odds of the deal going through. In bartering and negotiation, trust is everything.

Offer a small bonus. So long you have something you don’t really need, it might be just enough for them to take the deal. If that something is related to the main product, that’s even better.

Know what your main argument is and stick to it. Not that you shouldn’t mention the other reasons why a party should take your offer; it’s just that focusing on the main benefit works wonders. If you’re giving away some of your comfort foods, for instance, you can go on and on about how important they are to keep the spirits up in a post-SHTF society. You need to focus on the nutritional benefits too much. If they’re looking for sweets, you can assume they’ve already taken care of the food staples.

Want to be a Post-SHTF “Millionaire?”

What most folks did for a living before the doomsday disaster will no longer be an option after the SHTF and the power grid fails. Learn, or improve upon existing skills now to help improve your chances of being part of a successful post-apocalypse cottage industry or anin-demand service provider.

Sample List of Post-SHTF Career Choices

Farrier Worm Farmer – Quality soil will be in high demand when everyone is forced to

grow at least some of their own groceries. Doctors, Nurses, EMTs, Veterinarians

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http://www.survivalsullivan.com/35-post-shtf-career-choices/

https://www.amazon.com/Power-Grid-Down-Prepare-Survive/dp/1500945579


Apothecary Operator – learn how to grow your own pharmacy now and stockpile essential oils and dried herb and spices used in natural home remedies

Blacksmith Farmer Rancher Fish hatchery operator – put your pond to work for you! Engineers – Whether you have a formal degree or not, knowing how to build and

design structures, machinery, and post-SHTF infrastructure will be a very lucrativecareer choice.

Mechanics – Learn the old school way of repairing vehicle and machines so you can use hand tools to fix needed equipment.

Butcher Carpenter Mason Cobbler HAM radio operator Teacher Cooper – once again goods and food will be housed for transport in barrels Firefighter Water hauler Potter Seamstress Beekeeper – help cultivate crops and sell honey Leather crafter Gunsmith Brick maker Rope Maker Moonshiner Wood cutter - lumberjack Bow maker Tinker Nursery – Greenhouse operator Candlemaker Soap Maker Police or security force member Wheelwright – wagons will replace SUV and tractor-trailers on the road Trading post operator

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Newspaper publisher and photographer – buy film and developing equipment and learn how to use it – digital cameras will be fried if there is an EMP or solar flare.

Bugging In With Babies and Children

Preparing adults in the family to bug in for an extended amount of time can be hard, but prepping babies and children to ride out a long-term disaster is going to be far more difficult – on both them and yourself.

Routine will be an important sanity saver and anxiety preventative. Prepare homeschooling materials and lessons for children of all ages. Kid may claim they hate school now, but they will miss it when going is no longer possible. Keeping both their minds and bodies engaged will help prevent them from breaking down and being prone to throwing fits – or worse yet, trying to sneak outside or away from the home site beforeit is safe to do so. Elderly family members can contribute to the family’s bugging in plan by taking charge of the children and their academic lessons and homebound survival training.

Stock up on puzzles, board games, and books at yard sales, thrift stores, and from clearance bin as the budget allows. A plethora of free printable learning worksheets are readily available online and can be compiled in age-specific binders for each child. Grade level learning workbooks are fairly commonplace at dollar stores, as well.

Incorporate the children’s math, reading and science lessons on the family’s daily schedule – i.e. cooking, gardening, sewing, animal care, and cleaning. Cheap art supplies will also help keep children busy when cooped up inside for days, weeks, or months on end. Invest in some chalk and chalkboard paint and make your own chalkboard or paint a portion of a wall, to use for fun and learning activities.

If the home and attached garage space allows, bring the outside in by allowing children toride bicycles, roller blade, or hang a swing or set up a sliding board so they can burn off some excess energy.

Purchase small items now that can be wrapped and given as a Christmas or birthday present during the SHTF scenario, maintaining as much normalcy as possible will help keep the entire family sane and serve as excellent morale boosters.

Emergency Baby Formula Recipe – if a nursing mother becomes ill – or worse, or the baby simply needs more nutrients to survive, this emergency recipe may help fulfill the infant’s needs.

Ingredients

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1 ½ cups of boiled water 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons of instant powdered milk or ¼ of a cup of non-instant

powdered milk 1 tablespoons of vegetable oil or cooking oil you have stockpiled. 2 teaspoons of sugar

Instructions

1. Mix the powdered milk and water together2. Add both the cooking oil and the sugar and mix thoroughly until the sugar has

completely dissolved.3. Allow the emergency baby formula to cool to the desired temperature and serve

in a bottle.

Lessons from Real Survival Situations

It’s one thing to imagine what bugging in will look like, and it’s another to look at what other people have actually done. Bug in situations happen all the time, so let’s take a lookat what others have done when faced with survival situations.

Lesson #1: people could crowd hotels, not necessarily the woods, in a survival situation, as they have done so before. In case of a tornado or hurricane, money is still worth its value. For periods no longer than a week, many have checked into hotels... because it’s easier.

Of course, you will end up a lot cheaper if you prepare to bug in. You’ll not only avoid paying for a hotel and fuel, but you’ll also have less repair to do to your damaged home. Again, I’m talking about disasters where bugging in is possible. If there’s a Katrina-like hurricane, you should definitely bug out.

Lesson #2: you can never have enough water. Preppers who’ve been without it for at least a week know this very well.

Lesson #3: not having neighbors will creep you out. When everyone leaves, it will probably be pretty spooky to be the only one in your block or neighborhood. Despite the fact that the head count will be as low as it’s ever going to get, you’ll feel really vulnerable. Once people start moving back in, that feeling will diminish.

Lesson #4: evacuate if you’re being told. I’m talking about hurricanes, of course. In a total collapse and a WROL (without the rule of law) situation, you don’t have to listen to everyone who pretends to be law enforcement. Also, careful where you evacuate, you don’t want to end up in a FEMA camp. Which brings me to lesson #5...

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Lesson #5: FEMA camps are awful. The people who were crammed into the Louisiana Superdome during Katrina know it very well:

There was limited power When the power went out, the food in refrigerators started to rot The food itself was not enough for everyone Some people had their women and children sleep in the middle with them taking

watch (of fear of looters and rapists) The wind torn off part of the roof (and water started getting inside)

Lesson #6: people will help each-other out during an emergency. While laying low and not telling anyone that you’re a prepper is sound advice, that doesn’t mean you should shy away from people.

During the Texas drought and ensuing wildfires in 2011, people helped each-other out to put out a fire. They lend each-other chainsaws, shovels, rakes and worked together to make sure the fire didn’t reach their houses.

Lesson #7: in a post-collapse world, bartering networks are likely to appear. The New YorkTimes talks about them in an article about Greece’s economic crisis10. One such local network was called Volos, and you’d have to be a member to be able to barter. This ensured the quality of the people who were part of it. They actually went one step further and created their own alternative currency called TEM (Greek acronym for Local Alternative Unit).

The goods and services offered went beyond what we usually read in survival articles thatpertain to bartering. Besides basic necessities, some of the things being traded included guitar lessons, IT support and even renting one’s back yard for parties.

One other thing worth noting was that the members were able to rate their experience (since the system was online). Yet another way to push for quality and keep scammers away.

Lesson #8: WROL vigilante groups could force you to bug out. This is what happened to Pedro form Santa Rita, Colombia. In 1990, the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia took over his entire town. One day they gathered the whole town in the main square and executed 12 people, including politicians.

Obviously, those people were sick and tired too of all the BS their politicians fed them, but that doesn’t meant they did a better job at running the town.

Lesson #9: it doesn’t take a total collapse to watch your spouse die due to lack of medicine or possibility of a medical procedure. Jose Perez from Venezuela knows this

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very well. He watched his wife die from heart failure, although a simple procedure would have saved her. Unfortunately for them, the shortages in the medical industry prevented the surgery.

What can we learn from this? Two things... #1, we all need to take care of our health problems today, while we still can. #2, we need to take better care of our bodies. Just like we fight to depend less on the Government, the power grid and so on, we should strive todepend as little as possible on doctors and medical treatments. Medicinal herbs are a great way to improve your health.

Lesson #10: toilet paper will be worth more than gold. We already assumed this but now we have proof. In 2015 in Venezuela, before the country’s economy collapsed, toilet paper was already being rationed due to high demand11.

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Issues and Controversies Bugging in is not without its controversies. The issues I’m about to discuss have no clear answers. Nevertheless, I’ll do my best to give you as much information as possible so you can make the right decisions for yourself.

Can You Bug In If You Live in a Small Apartment?

You can, though you should prepare to bug out or move out. You can get creative when it comes to hiding your preps, but you probably won’t last for more than 1-2 weeks.

We’re going to talk about how to bug in if you live in an apartment but don’t expect to stay in it for more than 2-3 weeks without going outside. Plus, you should always have a bug out location as well as a bug out vehicle ready.

What Are Some of the Things Preppers Waste $ On?

Great question, right? I’ve seen a lot of preppers waste money on things they either don’tneed or on products that are bad. Let me reveal to you what the biggest money wasters are:

Buying the wrong water filter. As I said before, the are much better alternatives to the LifeStraw, such as the LifeStraw.

Buying the wrong kind of solar panel set-up. There’re a few on Amazon that are not only overpriced but suck (and they have the bad reviews to prove it). Get the one from Harbor Freight, it’s worth it.

Buying too much food that they’re unable to consume. It’s great that you want a large 1-year stockpile but, if you don’t properly store and rotate it, you’ll end up throwing some or even most of it away. Wasted money.

Buying too much of one thing. Buying more beans doesn’t mean you’ll survive longer. Get a variety of foods and don’t forget tools, gear and improving skills.

Buying stuff you don’t need. For example, someone on a Facebook bushcraft group put up a picture of his latest addition to his bug out bag: a hand drill. That thing is heavy! ...not to mention useless in a BOB. If you don’t have one at home, feel free to get it, but getting a second one could be a waste of money (unless youplan on keeping it at your BOL).

Buying MREs and survival food kits. They are for newbies and MREs are NOT for long-term human consumption. Not to mention they’re really expensive.

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You don’t always have to get new gear. You can find plenty of goodies at flea markets for a fraction of the price. The people selling them have no idea that the best thing they could do is to hang on to them in case of a long term collapse. One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.

Supplements. Just like the average Joe, we’re inclined towards storing vitamins and minerals for the long term, when we could focus ourselves on medicinal plants, that are not only renewable but a lot cheaper. Plus, our bodies can better absorb them than pills.

Survival and bushcraft seminars. No, I’m not saying they aren’t good, quite the opposite. The problem is, you’re paying a lot of money for things you can learn onyour own. Remember that bushcraft skills aren’t that big of a deal for the bug in prepper. Organizing a seminar that spans multiple days isn’t cheap, and the organizer passes that cost onto you.

Containers. No need to buy new containers to store your preps or grow your veggies when you salvage them or even get them for free from various places. Tincans, food-grade plastic buckets, bottles, plastic bags... surely you’re throwing a lot of them away on a weekly basis.

Water. So long as there’s rain where you live, you can harvest it and store it in aforementioned free containers. (Of course, large tanks are better.) Set up that rainwater harvesting system so you not only increase your water stockpile but you also reduce your utilities bill.

Buying certain tools and gear that are useful for bug out bags, but for extreme scenarios. Prepping for extreme scenarios gives us the illusion we’re ready for anything, but that’s not really the case. The following items can be postponed and, thus, save you for the bug-in prepper:

o An emergency whistleo A compasso Iodine tabletso Multi-toolso 9V battery and steel wool (to start a fire)o Waterproof matches (regular matches or a lighter will do for now)o Headlampo Pry baro Slingshoto Gas masko Comfort items

Again, I’m not saying the items above aren’t useful, they’re just not a priority if you’re getting started or if you’re on a budget. Survival is not just about being lost in the woods.

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How Do You Know When to Bug In and When to Bug Out?

The decision of whether or not you’ll be bugging in or out is probably going to be the toughest one you’ll have to make. Since every disastrous situation is unique, there’s no way you can know in advance how bad things will look. Man plans, God laughs, they say...

A good starting point is to have a default plan depending on the type of emergency you think you’ll face. Typically, you may have to bug in in case of:

An economic collapse Social unrest A flash flood A hurricane (if it’s category 1 to 3) A pandemic Power outages Ice storms (frequently cause power outages) Heat waves A food crisis Snow storms Drought (as long as you can get enough water from alternate sources) Terrorist attacks in your neighborhood (as the people of Brussels had to do after

the Paris November 2015 attacks )

Again, this will work provided your home is fully loaded with supplies, that you have means to live self-sufficiently and that everything else we discussed in this course is done.

The disasters that may cause you to bug out:

A tornado A hurricane - category 4 or 5, unless your home is as strong as a bunker and you

have a second floor so you can survive the flooding caused by the inevitable storm surge.

War

Now, these two lists above aren’t by any means definitive. A number of SHTF events can get you to bug in or out, depending on the circumstances:

Home invasions (depends on how many they are, on how many you guys are and how long they’ll be willing to wait, however, during a home invasion it’s better to be as far as possible from that place)

A volcanic eruption (depending on how far you are from it, on whether or not youhave time to bug out)

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Sometimes, you bug in because you don’t have time to bug out. If you don’t hear the news in time, it’s better to hunker down for a few hours or even days before you attempt fleeing. This is why every bug out plan should have a fallback bug-in plan.

Of course, some disasters require you to bug out. If there’s a category 5 hurricane and theeye could be heading in your direction and if you’re not sure your shelter will make it, having a trailer that you can attach to your car could be a life saver. You don’t need a bug out retreat, you don’t need a bug out location; you just need to load as many supplies as you can and just go.

Ultimately, the decision of bugging in versus bugging out is common sense; you just have to be ready for both.

Convincing Your Loved Ones to Prep

This is arguably one of the hardest things you have to do to bug in. if you don’t live alone, convincing the spouse and kids to prep is not going to be easy if they don’t see things the way we do. Plenty of preppers complain about this and there are ways to get our way, but they’re not guaranteed. So let’s see what they are.

Get a friend or relative to prep with you.

If your family sees you’re not doing this alone, they’ll be more receptive to it. Remember that we place more emphasis on things that are supported by other people. If you do it on your own, you’re more likely to be considered crazy, but if you have a friend, they might even join you (in time). When you talk about prepping, make sure you mention your friend or relative often so they get it in their head that you are not alone.

Dig up old news of disasters that’ve happened in your area.

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Just because you and your family don’t see the disasters with your own eyes, that doesn’t mean they’re not happening every single day. They may not care when they happen halfway across the world, but they’ll be more receptive if you show them some of the things that have happened not far from where you live.

Don’t tell them anything and start doing it yourself.

Start small and don’t worry about what they think. In time, they’ll learn to accept what you’re doing and get used to the idea of prepping. At the same time, you should also do this other thing that I’m about to talk about.

Watch survival movies, documentaries and T.V. shows with them.

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One thing, promise you won’t want Doomsday Preppers with them. That shows plays heavily on the prepper stereotype and could actually make your loved ones more reluctant to prepping. Stay away from the ones that have to do with zombies and disasters on a global scale too.

A few suggestions of what you might watch (some of them are based on real-life stories):

127 Hours (2012) Into the Wild (2007) the PBS documentary titled American Experience: Surviving the Dust Bowl American Experience: Influenza 1918 Twister (1996) World Trade Center (2006) Volcano (1997) My Side of the Mountain (1969) – great to watch for kids Wilderness Family Trilogy

Influence your kids to learn survival skills.

Now that you know the survival skills necessary to survive a bug-in situation, which of them can be learned by your kids even without them knowing it’s for survival purposes? Or, maybe they can open up a business in this direction. Here’s a list to get you started:

Medical skills Joining a boy or girl scouting group Gardening (maybe you can all start a family business?) Plumbing Woodworking Joining a 4-H group Martial arts Joining the army or the police – or a youth training program, depending upon

their age Gardening Crafts Becoming chefs/cooks

Besides these, you may also want to consider encouraging your kids to play sports. This will guarantee that they’ll be healthy and strong enough to survive anything.

Bugging In Mistakes

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Let’s try to look at things from a different perspective and see some of the biggest mistakes you could make when bugging in. Talk is cheap, here they are...

#1. Thinking that things will get better. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. Just because the worst seems to have past, that doesn’t mean things can’t take a turn for the worst at any time.

#2. Eating food that doesn’t look or smell good. If things are dire and you barely have enough to eat, you might be tempted to eat those cans that look a little odd. Don’t do it! Iknow it’s hard but you might get so sick that you’ll barely be able to get out of bed if you eat them.

Now, I’m not saying you should eat rats or baths or... some other disgusting things I don’t want to talk about. As a last resort, you could eat wild edibles, some of which you can even find in city parks.

#3. Not moving fast enough. This is very important, yet no one talks about it. SPEED. You need speed if you’re going to survive. Things will move rapidly and you need to move even faster if you’re going to survive. Otherwise, the disaster will catch on and you be... well... you know where I’m going with this.

I’ve never read one article about speed for survival. Not one. And you know why? Because most preppers are caught up in their own little reality, where things are supposed to happen a certain way.

Well, guess what, if you don’t move your you-know-what fast enough, you’re putting yourlife in danger. You need to get home fast, you need to contact everyone in record time, you need to push everyone to make last minute preparations to bug in. Fast. Everything needs to happen fast.

How do you practice the habit of being faster? Here’s a few ideas:

Start doing sprints on the race tracks Increase the pace when you’re jogging Work faster, regardless of what your job is Walk faster Talk faster if you’re a slow talker Focus on brevity when you talk (don’t be a fluffer) And stop wasting time when you could be doing something useful (cut your

phone conversations short, write shorter emails and use that time to work on your survival plans)

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#4. Thinking that a bunker is better than a house that looks abandoned. Sure, a bunker can protect you from bombs and nuclear meltdowns, but it’ll also attract the wrong crowd. And if one of those looters can find the air vent, all he has to do is smoke you out by placing the car’s exhaust next to the vent and pumping carbon monoxide until you’re ready to come out.

Sure, you might have gas masks in there but they won’t last you longer than they might be willing to wait. A house that looks like it’s already been looted will attract a lot less attention and it’ll be easier to evacuate, so long as you have your exit routes.

Thinking that the food and water will last longer than they should. Let’s think about this for a moment... when you’re in a stressful situation, your body needs more food and water to function. Plus, you’re going to need water for a bunch of other tasks such as showering, cleaning a wound, making comfort foods, washing your pet, doing laundry andso on.

#5. Not having back-up plans. Ever tried to go on vacation with minimal budget? I did andit was awful. I brought not just enough money that I thought I would spend, but maybe 20% more than that. It wasn’t enough and I didn’t even spend that much... yet it happened. Due to unforeseen expenses (ticket price increases and so on), I was this close of having to borrow money.

Same thing with your stockpile; you’ll end up needing a lot more than you think you need.Just imagine what you would do if you found out half of your stockpile’s been spoiled.

Not having back-up plans. The “two is one, one is none rule” isn’t just for wilderness survival. Let’s make some back-up plans for some of your bug-in endeavors:

Always have several means to light a fire Have means to keep everyone warm (blankets, making sleeping arrangements for

the whole family in a single room etc.) Having several means to light the room (not just flashlights, but think of

chemlights, generators, maybe even generating small amounts of electricity from a water wheel)

Have back-up communication plans Have bugging out plans (which are, in essence, back-up plans for bugging in) Have several places to forage for wild edibles, not just one place Have several exit routs, not just one Have two safe rooms instead of one (ideally, every room should be regarded as a

place to make your last stand, depending on your circumstances) Have back-up plans for your family if something bad happens to you

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#6. Focusing the stockpile on just a few foods. If you have to eat the same thing every day, you will get border and sick of it, whatever it is.

#7. Forgetting about your pet. I hope have haven’t done that. Your pet will be a huge asset post-collapse. A dog will protect you from thugs, a cat will kill and keep away rats and mice and they’ll all give you unconditional love, just like they’re doing today.

#8. Keeping all your eggs in one basket. Spread your items in lots of places. No matter how well a burglar will look, make sure he’ll miss a few items.

#9. Not having a bug out plan. Yep, you read that correctly. If your home, neighborhood or town becomes uninhabitable, you’ll need to bug out. There’s no point in being stubborn, bugging out should always be plan B.

#10. Not knowing how to handle neighbors. Yes, they will come. They will ask for food and shelter. Will you give it to them? We discussed this topic in depth in the chapter about issues and controversies. I suggest you give it some serious thought, otherwise you’re just gonna do what your heart will tell you to do... and that may be you’re the last thing you ever do.

#11. Buying too much food from the get go. It’s not that you won’t need it, it’s just that you risk throwing a lot of it away. What could happen is, you’ll wake up with a stockpile that’s close to expiration date. So start slow and don’t spend more than your budget. Also, make sure you buy other things as well, such as tools, gear and household items.

Can You Receive Extra People In Your Home?

This is another hot topic of the prepping community. Despite prepping becoming mainstream, lots of other people are still unprepared. What’s even worse, some of them are counting on their prepper friends for food and shelter if something were to happen. Needless to say, this is infuriating to say the least, since they too could start prepping today instead of planning to leech off those who’ve actually done something in advance.

Should you help family and friends with food and shelter? It depends. Some of them may be preppers themselves so you can make an agreement to help each-other in times of need. This will work the other way around: they will help you too if need be.

You should also go further with your prepping group and set up together a communications plan, an evacuation plan and even a defense plan (for example, if one were to be invaded by a gang, the others might rush in to help).

The one thing you shouldn’t do is reveal too much about your prepping plans. You never know when your lifelong friend becomes an enemy out of desperation... Preppers can be that more dangerous because they have the knowledge and the skills! This should work in

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reverse, of course. You don’t need to ask them in too much detail about what they have and make them feel uncomfortable, it’s really their problem.

What about strangers?

I’ve read somewhere about a prepper saying he created ready to go packages of food, just in case people will knock on his door in times of need. Prepping in advance for other people isn’t high on my priority list, but I can’t be against being a Good Samaritan.

The biggest problem when doing this is that you’ll give yourself away. Someone who has food to spare when there isn’t any will likely be remembered and the rumor will spread. This could put you in danger if the wrong crowd hears about it and decides to pay you a visit to see the extent of your preps.

This gets worse if you’re in a situation of receiving people inside your home. They’ll get to see everything, which is dangerous to say the least. Of course, how close you are with them is also a factor, but that’s not an iron-clad guarantee that they’ll behave. What you could do is set up the basement or a tool shed or a barn with for people to sleep in if need be. If your house burns down, for example, you might end up using those spaces yourself.

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Urban Bug-Insike I said, it’s not ideal by any means but if you have no choice, I’m going to help you out. There are a number of things you can do to hunker down for as long as possible and, if you’ve read this far, you’ve probably figured out which are feasible

and which are not. LUnder the state of emergency following the terror attacks in France 2015, many Europeans in France and Belgium were forced to bug into their own homes on short notice. Keep in mind that the state of emergency or even martial law can be triggered by pretty much any disaster if it’s big enough so, if you live in the city and are unable to move out for now, you should definitely read this chapter.

To make it easier for you, I’ve made a list:

start a bug out bag (you can use the supplies for bug-in purposes just like you would for bugging out, with the shelter being your house)

make sure you always have your fridge and freezer filled to the brim use every cubic inch of available space to stockpile if you only have one bathroom, double it as a safe-room do stock-up on fire retardant tarps, they don’t take much space and could even

help you out in case of a fire rent or buy storage space beneath the building (to keep some of your food at

cooler temperatures) get a car with a bigger trunk to store more use whatever recipients you can to harvest rainwater stock up on a small, personal water filtration system Focus on indoor cooking (get a propane camp stove, learn to cook without letting

the smell leave the apartment etc.) Get smaller versions of the most common survival items. You don’t need a large

tarp, a smaller one will do. You won’t be butchering an animal or making a lean-toshelter.

How about you rent a storage space together with one of your prepper friends? Sure, you might wake up without them but let’s not be pessimistic and make the best of the situation.

Last but not least, focus on the skills. Figure out how and where you can get food and water in an emergency. Some people think as far as getting pool water and frying

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pigeons. You may like this or you may think of other ways. One thing is clear, though, you’re going to need your health and your strength.

Let me give you a small checklist of things to look out for before renting an apartment:

Make sure it’s in a safe neighborhood. Preferably as close to the ground floor as possible. Is everything electric in the apartment or do you have gas, to be able to cook your

food if the power goes out? Are you able to bug out using multiple routes if need be? Are you able to come home fast in case of an emergency? Try to rent somewhere

close from work.

Dealing with Neighbors

This is yet another heated debate of the prepper community: do you let your neighbors know you’re there and you’re safe or do you keep quiet and hope they never discover you? The logic is, they might come to ask for supplies and, given that you don’t have that many yourself, you’re probably better off laying low.

For rural and wilderness scenarios, I believe you can do without your neighbors, but I’m not so sure about urban. And I talk from my own personal experience.

During the 1989 Romanian revolution (I was 5 at the time), me and my mom bugged out of our apartments with the help of our next door neighbors. We couldn’t have done it without them.

Keep in mind that when you’re in the city, bugging out is always a possibility, and you might not be able to do it alone. It may be safer to travel in groups, particularly if the others have a better means of transportation.

If you live in a small town, you’re probably set to live off grid for years, and you might not need neighbors... but even in this case it’s great to know you’ve got people you can rely on.

So what’s the solution? To make friends but make sure to reveal as little as possible aboutyourself. OPSEC (operations security) and COMSEC (communications security) should be taken very seriously.

Here’re two lists of dos and don’ts.

DO:

join prepper groups or mutual assistance groups

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meet preppers in person maintain relationships with preppers befriend likeminded neighbors do drills and go to classes with them (preferably not inside your home so they

don’t gain intel on how you’ve set it up)

DON’T:

tell them specifics about your preps, how much you have and so on (and don’t ask about theirs, it might make them feel uncomfortable)

show them your preps (it’s ok to just talk about them)

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Bug-In Drills and Inspectionso truly have your bug in endeavors come together, you need to practice the survival scenarios you’re prepping for. If you think buying more stuff will protect you from what may come, perish the thought. It’s what you do when the

unthinkable happens that matters.TWhen I rushed over to a neighbor’s house years and years ago because his pig shelter caught fire, I arrived there before the fire department. We all had buckets and water, but you know what I did? I was so nervous that I wasted half the water from the first bucket on myself. Due to the pressure, I wasn’t able to do a basic task. Practice doesn’t just makeperfect, it can make the difference between surviving a disaster or emergency and screwing up... So let’s talk about some of the drills you need to think about and do, and even put on paper.

Get-Home Drills

Think about all the places you could be when disaster strikes, and try to get home in record time. If you’re driving home, try not to get a ticket. Find alternate routes to get home. Also, set a timer to see how long it takes you and monitor improvements.

You can even simulate a traffic jam by stopping your car on the side of the road and continuing on foot. This will reveal if you can truly walk at a brisk pace or even run to get home.

Now, I realize people may be looking at you, so I’m not saying you should run like a maniac. I’m also not suggesting you go over the speed limit. Simply try to inflict a little bit of controlled anxiety into you... keep thinking that the hurricane is upon you or that a tornado is on your tail.

To make it more real, pull the car over the moment you see a vending machine. Try to seeif you can use some of the cash which you should have in your car’s trunk to get some water and some energy bars. You may think it’s pointless, anyone can do that, but remember how I couldn’t throw the water away from a bucket? You need to get your mind used to the scenario to minimize the odds of screwing it up.

If you get phone calls, reject them... unless it’s your family members who’re also doing the drill.

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Test your gear... communicate with them using walkie-talkies. You might be surprised that your kid doesn’t know how to use them to talk with you... or that they don’t work because you’re too far away from your home.

Imagine your car is being stopped by an angry mob, do you know what to do? If your weapons are inside the trunk, can you get to them? Not unless you can fold the back-seat. Otherwise, you may need to rethink your survival plans and keep some of the supplies with you in the cabin as opposed to the trunk.

Last but not least, remember that the key to an immersive experience is to imagine as many details as you can. Virtual reality is a hot topic these days but it’ll be a while until we can all download VR disaster scenarios to practice. We’ll have to rely on our brains in the meantime.

Imagine the main roads are blocked. Imagine you run into such a road block and you haveto turn around and find another way... so turn around! If there’s something you can do instead of just imagining it, do it.

Blackout Drills

These are the easiest to do because they’re mostly about being able to survive without light and the Internet. Ok, that’s easier said than done for your kids and nephews.

Some of the things you should consider doing as part of this drill:

testing your blackout box (checking the flashlights work, see how the stockpiled chemlights work, teach your kids candle safety etc.)

shutting down all phones, laptops, tablets and even the main power supply testing alternative heating methods testing indoor or even outdoor cooking and, of course, trying out those board games and have some fun!

Keep in mind that you’re not doing these drills just to train yourself to respond in certain ways in certain situations. You’ll also gain phenomenal insights over how well your gear works. For example, this is how the ArmyTek Predator Pro LED Flashlight illuminates during the night:

Pretty impressive for 670 lumens, but that was v2.5. At the time of writing this, you can get v3 with 700 lumens. This kind of flashlight will not only expose intruders as

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clear as daylight but it’ll also blind them and increase their chances of making the wrong move.

Fire Drills

This is more of a bugging out drill, but you can just assume you stopped the fire in time tosave the house. You’ve got no electricity but you can “bug in” for the night.

You will all learn:

how to use a fire extinguisher how to crawl out the house to avoid flames and CO intoxications and you’ll also get used to the various evacuation routes from your home how to crawl out the window using a collapsible ladder (Be very careful with this

one, you don’t want anyone falling. What you can do is practice climbing out and then down a ground floor window.)

that some of your bug out routes are blocked by a car or that you don’t have a rally point

Warning! Do NOT start a fire on purpose just so you can put it out!

Terror Alert Drills

The people of Brussels, Belgium, were ordered by authorities to stay inside for over 3 days. As you can probably imagine, not many of them had any supplies and all the stored were closed, while tanks were patrolling the streets in search for one of the terrorists.

What would you do if there was a terror alert? Some of the things to consider:

Practice a get-home scenario by asking your family members to guide you via the phone or walkie-talkie to avoid the shooting hotspots (remember that in Paris 2015 and Brussel 2016 there were multiple bombings and/or shootings at the same time).

Imagine your home is close to one of the shootings and make sure you barricade yourself inside and turn off the lights. Use a lantern and put thick black curtains on your window to not let the light go out.

Imagine your home is in a safe area but authorities are advising everyone remain inside. Would you risk going to the supermarket or hunker down directly and live off your current preps? Discuss and try both scenarios.

Back Yard Drills

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Assume you’ve bugged in and you’re free to stay in your backyard without fear of being spotted or shot. What are some of the things you would do pertaining to your survival? You could:

practice using your solar cooker make primitive tools, weapons and objects such as stone hammers, spear

throwers and baskets use cordage to climb trees target practice survey the area using binoculars (Maybe you have to climb a tree for better

visibility? Make sure you don’t get spotted though, watch what you’re wearing.)

Last but not least, practice some of the survival skills that pertain to managing your household in a post-collapse environment. How about you split some wood, for example?Maybe you can sacrifice one of your chicken to show your kids how it’s done?

Home Invasion Drills

Home invasions may sound simple, but the reality is they happen really really fast. Are you able to react to them when they do? Do you know where the best places to hide are within your home, regardless of which room you’re in when it happens?

If not, you should definitely do some of these drills. If you’re not prepping alone, this will be easy, because any one of you can play the bad guy. In fact, when you do that, you might discover ways to get in you haven’t really thought of.

If you’re alone, you should still do them. Make it a point that the next time you hear somenoise, you rush for your gun or whatever alternative weapon you have. If you have more, you should try reaching for each of them in subsequent drills. Doing this will uncover valuable insight about how fast you are and how easy it is to grab them.

Some of the home invasion scenarios you should also cover include:

bugging out using each of the designated exit routes hiding in your safe room making a stance to defend your home figuring out how many people you’re dealing with making sure there’s no one waiting for you as you’re going to safety (whether

that’s inside your home or outside) making sure you’re as quiet as possible and that you’re focused enough to hear

them advancing towards your location

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making sure you it’s them before you shoot (if you have several family members inside the house and it’s night time, you can’t just shoot at anything that moves, you’re going to at least need a flashlight)

escaping the safe room (if it has a window, if you can crawl through it and if you’re sure there’s no one waiting for you at the bottom of your emergency ladder)

Turning-Off the Utilities Drill

Everyone in your household needs to know how to turn off all the utilities in case of an emergency. If that doesn’t happen, the risk of your home catching fire or blowing up greatly increase. The gas, the electricity and even the sewer are the main priorities, but you should also learn how to secure any flammable fuel you may have stored in nearby sheds.

When we moved into the house I currently live in 12 years ago, we had a sewage problemevery time it rained hard. Since the house is on a hill, all the water would flood our kitchen in the basement. We installed a pump to stop this from happening but even todaywe can’t turn on the water when it’s raining hard.

Inspect Your Preps

Inspecting your preps is easy but it has to be done periodically. Every 6 months would be nice, but it’s up for you to decide. You should:

check all your food and water stockpile, including the one in your survival bags and your car’s trunk

check your lights out box to see everything’s working (and replace devices and batteries that don’t)

check your water supply for leaks and funny smells check your rainwater harvesting system for leaks, check the first flush diverter

and the screen guard make sure all your weapons are functional check your lighters check your fire extinguishers, CO sensors and smoke detectors

If you don’t know when to do them, how about during daylight saving time? It works for me because it’s easy to remember.

If something in your stockpile isn’t working, go ahead and add it to the wish-list and take care of it as soon as you have the budget.

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Some of the other things you might want to do as part of your inspection would be to rotate your food stockpile. Check to see which foods are closest to the expiration date and consume them. The one that don’t have such dates should be rotated depending on when they were made (something you should write on each can you make at home on your own).

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Misc.Here you can find various topics that haven’t found their place in any of the other chapters.

Preps that are 100% Free

If you want to prep but don’t have or don’t want to spend any money today, let me give you a few suggestions of what you can do. Each and every one of them are completely free, so you can return to this list whenever you don’t feel like spending money:

Sort out your old stuff. Clean your attic, basement or garage and find valuable items for survival scenarios AND free up extra space for your preps.

Work out, even if it’s just a walk in the park. There’re lots of bodyweight exercisesthat you can do without buying weights and other gym equipment.

Forage for wild edibles. Clovers, dandelion greens, mulva, ground ivy, wild spinach and many more can be in your own 100% survival salad.

Explore your town or city, to find new routes to get home or bug out if need be. The more streets you know, even by name, the more chances of survival are when you’re stranded on them.

Organize your preps in an Excel sheet. Enter all your food, water, meds and start a wishlist of things you need to purchase. Then, you can look for the best prices for those items without actually buying anything.

Print out maps of the area and start marking them. Exit routes, get home routes, temporary shelters in case you can’t come home right away, vending machines, ATM machines and more.

Read! There are plenty of blogs and forums out there that have good content. Survival Sullivan, Modern Survival Online, Urban Survival Site, Survivopedia and Backdoor Survival are just a few examples. Join a forum, like my own at www.MyPrepperForum.com

Set up a basic rainwater harvesting system. How complex, that depends on your tools, skills and what you can do. It can be as simple as setting up a few plastic buckets to gather rainwater on your balcony.

SHTF Entertainment

I think the items you’re going to enjoy stockpiling the most are... board games. If there’s no power and no internet for an extended amount of time, you’re all going to need to do something, right?

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http://www.MyPrepperForum.com/

http://www.backdoorsurvival.com/

http://www.survivopedia.com/

http://urbansurvivalsite.com/

http://modernsurvivalonline.com/

http://www.survivalsullivan.com/


Chess, backgammon, Catan, puzzles, you know best what you enjoy playing and no, they don’t have to be themed. You don’t need any zombie board games if you don’t like them. In fact, with all the chaos unfolding outside, you’re gonna want to take your mind off of what’s happening.

Another thing that will make everything a little more bearable is to stock up on comfort foods. Liquor (whiskey, vodka, wine), hard candy, cocoa powder – these will all make you feel better as well as give you an energy boost.

Last but not least, stock up on condoms. And no, not because they can carry up to a gallon of water.

What If You’re a Woman?

Feminine hygiene needs have to be considered when stockpiling preps. Purchasing all the tampons and Maxi pads all the young and adult women in the household will need for months to years after a SHTF disaster would require an enormous amount of space.

The ladies, unlike men, also need to use toilet paper every time they go to the bathroom. Storing mountains of toilet paper are just not feasible for most people.

Two viable options may remedy, or at least substantially help, in both circumstances. A re-usable feminine cup that comes in two sizes – one for women who have given birth and for those that have not, will help take care are monthly menstrual issues. The cup is use for an entire monthly cycle, then is washed and allowed to air dry until it is needed upfor up to three months. The internally inserted cups may be sturdy enough to use for six months without risk of bacterial infection if cleanse properly, but the label instructions donot recommend such extended use.

A new agricultural portable sprayer could be filled with water, or soapy water, and used like a bidet to cleanse the necessary areas of the body, for both men and women, once the toilet paper runs out.

Some women are prone to yeast infections. Stock up on over the counter medicated creams for this issue now, and research natural alternatives for treatment to use after theSHTF.

Menopause medications will also eventually run out and make the older women in the family extremely uncomfortable. Stock up on peppermint essential oil as a natural substitute. A few drops ingested daily is known to alleviate hot flashes and other commonmenopause symptoms.

What’s Next?

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Next? Put everything into practice. Everyone knows that a course is worth nothing if you don’t act on it, so I encourage you to start right now by doing even the smallest thing.

Another thing you can do is explore one or more aspects of survival in depth. There are numerous other books and ebooks courses from other authors, including one on worm farming, one on homesteading/pioneer skills, home protection, woodworking and so on.

I myself have more courses, including My Survival Farm, Run, Prepper Run! and The Amazing Stockpile Challenge.

Good luck and stay safe,

Dan F. Sullivan

Editor-in-chief of www.SurvivalSullivan.com

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References1. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/06/07/1086460240897.html 2. http://www.yakproducers.com/3-reasons-to-raise-yaks.html 3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_storm_of_1859 4. http://www.wired.com/2012/02/massive-solar-flare/ 5. https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2015/september/latest-crime-stats-released/

latest-crime-stats-released 6. http://www.artic.edu/research/book-preservation 7. http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2011/04/07/how-to-remove-

radioactive-iodine-131-from-drinking-water/#2cee795edbff 8. http://www.livescience.com/21498-tornado-facts.html 9. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/05/150520193831.htm 10. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/02/world/europe/in-greece-barter-networks-

surge.html?_r=0 11. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/venezuela/

11385294/Venezuelas-socialist-paradise-turns-into-a-nightmare-medical-shortages-claim-lives-as-oil-price-collapses.html

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http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/06/07/1086460240897.html

http://www.yakproducers.com/3-reasons-to-raise-yaks.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_storm_of_1859

http://www.wired.com/2012/02/massive-solar-flare/

https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2015/september/latest-crime-stats-released/latest-crime-stats-released

https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2015/september/latest-crime-stats-released/latest-crime-stats-released

http://www.artic.edu/research/book-preservation

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2011/04/07/how-to-remove-radioactive-iodine-131-from-drinking-water/#2cee795edbff

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2011/04/07/how-to-remove-radioactive-iodine-131-from-drinking-water/#2cee795edbff

http://www.livescience.com/21498-tornado-facts.html

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/05/150520193831.htm

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/02/world/europe/in-greece-barter-networks-surge.html?_r=0

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/02/world/europe/in-greece-barter-networks-surge.html?_r=0

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/venezuela/11385294/Venezuelas-socialist-paradise-turns-into-a-nightmare-medical-shortages-claim-lives-as-oil-price-collapses.html



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Dan F. Sullivan How to Bug In Forever ...the best chance at survival. Preparedness evolved from the concept of survival. If you ask me, being a survivalist is hard for the average