Neo-Survivalist

The news is full of “unrest” it seems like.  We have the mosque going in at ground zero.  We have a pastor in Gainesville, FL that is looking to do a public burning of Korans.  The Gainesville pastor has gained international attention at every level – truly amazing.

Furthermore, pastors from other churches now are possibly looking to mimic the Gainesville event.  All of this adds up to further unrest.  I’m not going to comment on the acts themselves because I think they’re a little over played now anyways, but the point is that unrest is everywhere these days.

I recently talked about the Gainesville guy with one of my friends who said he shouldn’t do it because it will prevent people from peacefully living together.  I thought to myself since when have people lived peacefully together?  The world has and will continue to be chaotic.  The world is full of various people groups and controlled by various interests – tension is the constant reality in the world.

As a young man with a young family, I can’t help but notice what is going on in the world.  Couple these things with the growing economic uncertainty and it makes me take action.  It makes me want to do things that people consider weird and extreme in the name of protecting my family.  Buying a gun, buying some extra food, etc. these things are viewed by many as extreme and even more as unnecessary.  Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t, but I don’t think I’m willing to risk it.

After all, the insurance that comes from “prepping” doesn’t cost much yet might be incredibly valuable in the right circumstances.

Side note: the Gainesville pastor is making a political statement.  Whether you agree with it or not, I don’t exactly think that it should be the focus of a pastor to be making political statements.  Not exactly preaching the gospel if you know what I mean.

America, Christianity, General Preparedness

I have seen a connection somewhat between the survival community and Christianity.  I mean somewhat because what I mean here is that many who are into survivalism are professing Christians.  Now without getting into a long discussion here on my belief that most people who claim to be Christians are not followers of Christ (and such a claim is Biblically based), it’s important to keep this in mind when discussing such a connection.  Note: if you want to discuss this previous statement further, leave a comment or contact me – I’m happy to discuss further.

Now, let’s get this out on the table, I’m a Christian.  I believe the Bible is the Word of God and I believe Jesus Christ is the only path for salvation for mankind.  As I’ve grown in my faith, much over just the past year, I’ve really wrestled with my tendencies to embrace “survivalism” as most “survivalists” define it.  Like many things in life, as we read the Bible, God reveals things to us and confronts us with things and makes us question areas of our life, namely things we hold onto over God himself.  This is the process of sanctification and is an absolute part of life for any true believer.

Here are a few areas that I’m wrestling with:

Isolation

A main point of the survivalism crowd is isolation.  Famous survivalist, Rawles of the survivalblog.com website (who is a self professing Christian) lives somewhere out in Idaho in his isolated “retreat.”  I understand the reasons behind such a move, but how does a Christian reconcile this with the commandment given by Christ himself to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20)?

Hoarding

Hoarding is another major point of survivalism.  While the Bible does discuss saving up for hard times to be a wise move, the Bible also clearly condemns hoarding when so many individuals have nothing.  Did you know that approx 3 billion people on the planet live on $1-2 per day?  Read the account of Lazarus and the rich man in Luke 16 for a chilling example of someone who is rich.  Again, I don’t have the answer here, but this is something I wrestle with.  I personally have some stored food for potential hard times, but I am personally convicted about the desire to continue to pile up more and more for myself while I completely ignore literally billions of people who have absolutely nothing.  How will I answer to God when I’m called to give an account for my resources (again, read Luke 16)?

I thought that this was an interesting discussion to open up to people interested in survivalism, especially since I seem to see a common inter-weaving between survivalism and Christianity – some Biblical, some maybe not so much?  What do you think?  Do you wrestle with these things?  As Christians, it’s important to read the Scripture for what it is.  We far too often twist the Scriptures to our own liking according to our culture, our desires and our wants.

I hope you will add your input to this discussion.

Christianity, General Preparedness Christian

There are a range of items you can purchase and accumulate in order to prepare for uncertainty in your lives.  None might be more important than a water filter.  We all recognize that water is the most important thing for us to have.  We can go much longer without food than we can without water.  We need it and we need lots of it.  Unfortunately, water is bulky and tough to store large quantities of.  And, no matter how much you store, you will eventually run out depending on the circumstances.

A water filter guarantees acceptable drinking water as long as we can find a water source.  Where I live in Florida this really isn’t too difficult.  For me, I already had some stored water and some purification tablets.  Adding a water filter essentially completes my water preparation strategy.

I chose to purchase the MSR Miniworks Microfilter since it is one of the most popular water filters on the market, and it is relatively inexpensive.  At this point, I felt it was necessary to add the item to my preps.  Down the road, I may consider adding a Berkey Water Filter or one of the Katadyn water filters.

General Preparedness water

Despite the misconceptions surrounding the term insurance these days, insurance is primarily a financial tool used to accomplish a few things which we will get into in a minute.  These days insurance, due to the recent health care debates, is used incorrectly.  Health insurance is more used to mean health coverage, where insurance means something much differently.

Insurance is a financial tool.  It is used to accomplish the following:

1. Mitigate Risk - By paying an insurer, you are offloading risk onto the insurer.  You essentially pay a little on a regular basis to mitigate the risk of a major expense down the road
2. Protect Your Assets - Your assets might mean possessions or your family.  Insurance protects your assets from future uncertainty.  This might include life insurance, homeowners insurance, liability insurance, etc.

Insurance is a very smart tool when used appropriately.  Most of us accept this and we all have various forms of insurance in our life.  I think prepping is very much a form of insurance, yet the participation rate in this “insurance plan” is much lower than the other forms.

Preparing for future uncertainty now while you have the ability and time to do so is a wise move.  Most people would admit to you that they are uncertain about a number of things in life and society as they look forward, yet you’d be hard pressed to find people doing anything about it.  Prepping is what we neo-survivalists are doing to mitigate future risk.

We are concerned about the well being of our assets.  By assets, I’m first and foremost speaking of my family, and my home and possessions thereafter.  The items I buy each month to prep are akin to premiums paid into an insurance plan.  The time spent learning skills now that might help me later is also akin to premiums paid.

Turning specifically to precious metals for a second, investing in gold and silver is definitely another form of insurance.  By owning physical precious metals (not a gold/silver ETF), you are buying insurance against inflation and against a currency crisis.  A very wise move considering the economic policies of this country (and the world).

Do you have insurance?

Financial Preparation, General Preparedness

An interesting Newsweek article published in December of 2009 shows the growing trend of neo-survivalism or mainstream survivalism.  You can read the full article here.

The description of the neo-survivalist as stated in the Newsweek article is interesting:

Bedford is what you might call a modern-day survivalist—or, as she describes it, a “prepper.” Far from the stereotype of survivalists past, she owns no camouflage, and she doesn’t believe that 2012—the final year of the Mayan calendar—will be the end of the world. She likes modern luxuries (makeup, air conditioning, going out to eat), and she’s no doomsayer. But like the rest of us, Bedford watched as the housing bubble burst and the economy collapsed. She has friends who’ve lost their homes, jobs, and 401(k)s. She remembers Hurricane Katrina, and wonders how the government might respond to the next big disaster, or a global pandemic. And though she hopes for the best—the last thing she wants is for something bad to happen—she’s decided to prepare her family for the worst. “We never set out to go build a bunker to protect ourselves from nuclear fallout; I have no idea how to camp in the wild,” Bedford says, laughing. “But as all of this stuff started hitting closer to home, we [wanted] to take some steps to safeguard ourselves.”

How many of us identify with that?  I sure as heck do.

I encourage you to check out the article, then come back here and let us know what you think.  For me, it’s interesting to see this trend being recognized in the media and by “normal” Americans.  I hope this website can be a tool for these folks.

General Preparedness

Times are tough in many households, yet while discretionary income shrinks, it seems like our awareness and uncertainty is increasing.  Sometimes, it can be discouraging when you think of your state of preparedness or ability to withstand various events in the future, but it’s important to remind ourselves that this is a process, a continual process.

I think it’s important to do a few things a month.  Our lives our busy with keeping our jobs, paying our bills, spending time with loved ones, keeping up with our house, etc.  It is encouraging, however, to see how impactful doing a few things a month can be.

For example, I try to pick up some silver coins each month.  I try to purchase a bulk food item for my storage each month.  I try to read up on some new skills each month.  I try to practice shooting each month.

The goal here is a long term adjustment to what we’re planning for.  Over the long term, we shall be more ready for uncertainty.  It’s easy to freak out when you join the “survivalist” club and think you have to do everything in a matter of days because TS is about to HTF, and while this might be true, it’s more of a “steady as you go” approach in my opinion.

What do you think?

General Preparedness

In the case of a true emergency, it’s good to have plans to evacuate your primary residence if need-be.  For me, someone who lives in the Suburbs with really no place to go outside of my area, I wonder how realistic a “bug out” is for me and my family.  I brought up the question to Net Ranger, a frequent contributor to the site, to get his thoughts.  His thoughts are below:

If I am anything, I am resourceful. Transplant me into the suburbs, the inner city, doesn’t matter, I’ll make it with whatever I can. Don’t get me wrong, I’d prefer to be way, way out as long as I have resources. The problem is that there is a REASON there are no houses out in the middle of the desert: its very difficult to live out there.

Places where there are no people are places that people don’t want to be, usually. Essentially what I am saying is that a happy medium has to be stuck. I realize I appear to be rambling but I am not. The deal is this, there is an optimum place to be. That place is not in the most remote, desolate, place in the country. It probably isn’t the most lush green valley either because thats probably where everyone will try to go.

Many people, such as myself, when confronted with people that intend to bug in within the suburbs simply say, “You’re dead.” They’ll simply dismiss the idea and walk away. There are definable disadvantages to a suburban bug in when compared to say, my place.

Lets first examine why the suburbs are there. It pretty easy, really. They are there because there is a city nearby. The city is noisy and crowded and stinky, however, the city has JOBS! The suburbs are there because the city has jobs but is a less than optimal place to live. However, WTSHTF, the cities are not what they were. Literally, they are no longer cities, they are nothing but the “Shities”. Really. They will be nothing but miles of human filth. Massive sewage backups when the processing machinery and lift pumps stall. So, now, the reason for the creation of the ‘burbs is gone. But, most of the people will be gone too. Guess what? Your influential neighbors that left? Yeah, you’ll have new neighbors and I’m betting they won’t be interested in helping you trim your hedge.

The biggest problem with the suburbs is that you will be a target for looting. This can be fixed by trashing your own place. Board up the windows and spray paint the crapola out of it. Make it look like the last place you’d want to either loot or squat in. Break out your associations manual. Take it step by step. Whatever they say not to do, thats probably what you want to do. Joking aside, a nice looking place amongst a bunch of trashed out places will be encircled and attacked repeatedly until they get everything they want.

Since there will be many other people around, probably from the war zone of overflowing toilets, formerly known as “The City”, you’ll need security. See my gun article. While a guy out in the wilderness could really get along with much less armament, in the suburbs, I’d go with a top level but drop the need for the longer range arms (30-06, etc) and trade it for another AR or Mini14 or other high rate of fire firearm, maybe even a 44mag pistol. Also, add 50% to the ammo stocks. You might very well need it.

I see one of the main difference between a remote bug out and a suburban bug in is that you’ll have to live inside almost the whole time. Outside the human wolves will be looking for anything they can devour. I think the thing I would do is make sure I had a basement but make it look like I didn’t. No windows, no outside access and then once TSHTF, modify the inside so there appeared to be no access. Retreat to there and just stay there until its over. Essentially, find a crack in the rock and stay there until the danger passes.

I see suburban bug in as a temporary measure only. It is doable if you have a basement or a bunker you can hide in. Maybe even above ground will work if the house is brick and you can securely board up the windows and the doors are heavy enough to secure. Once things start coming back, you’d probably be OK. If you store enough food and energy to get you through the emergency you can then come out of hiding and start working with whoever or whatever gets things under control. However, in a TEOTWAWKI situation, I do not see a suburban bug in as doable. Eventually you will run out of water, power and food. Even if you have 10 years worth, someone with bigger guns and more ammo will eventually find you and take it.

Another problem is the political implications. In the suburbs you really do have a good chance of getting a one way ticket to camp FEMA. Now, I know this is a bit tin-foil hattish, however, the do-gooder government WILL round people up. It may not be nefarious in nature (though I find it hard to believe that ANYTHING this government does ISN’T nefarious) but they will require you to leave because they don’t think you have the resources to survive, even if you do. And if you show them you do, they will confiscate your accumulated supplies, I’m sure, “for the greater good.” In the initial stages staying in your suburban bugout location will require hiding from the authorities.

If they are painting black Xs on the doors, after they evacuate people, be sure to have the same spray paint and paint yours the same one night when they get close. Then, if they still bust down the door, hide. If they find you, shoot to kill. They are invaders. One of the things you’ll find is the wolves will find ways to get army “costumes” and police “costumes” and they con people into giving their stuff up to “The Authorities”. They’ll be looking for you.

If you think good times are returning, yeah, bug in and hunker down to wait it out. But, if you think its TEOTWAWKI come on over. You can party with the rest of us… while we’re planting and surviving. Seriously, you have to have someplace to go for TEOTWAWKI. If it gets that bad, you have to go someplace. I don’t think growing a garden in the back yard will be possible. There are people out there that will not want you to make it and will destroy whatever you create (or take it for themselves). …and who can blame them? When it comes to life or death situations: Always cheat. Always win.

So, in summary, suburban bug out, long term, forget it. Short term? Its doable. The problem then arises when you get a temporary YOYO and you’re doing OK, but, now you realize, OOPS! This is a long term situation. Now what are you gonna do? You are trapped! The roads will be a mess. There will be people gunning for anything that moves. The only way you can probably get out is with an armored vehicle and lots and lots of gas. But, where you gonna go? River bridges will either be destroyed or require BIG crossing fees, or you’ll just get ambushed.

Seriously, if you think it might possibly by TEOTWAWKI, you’re better off coming here with me and sleeping in a cardboard box.

General Preparedness

I wrote a previous post about how I became a neo-survivalist, but I’d like to briefly mention why I started prepping.  The reality is that I’ve been skeptical on the economy for a few years.  In 2008, I became very bearish on the overall economic future of America and the more I’ve learned over the years, the more I’ve realized it’s probably worse than I originally thought.  The real tipping point was learning things like the fragility of supply chains which can easily lead to food shortages.  Additionally, learning about the fragility of society when it comes to crime, disorder, and violence.  I figured I needed some basic preparations in case things went somewhat haywire.

There were essentially three main areas that needed to be addressed.  A fourth, financial preparations, was already on my mind and I had already taken steps in that area.  The three that I needed to start focusing on was defense, food, and water.  Six months ago, I started this process.

Defense

I didn’t own a gun and I’ve only shot a few firearms in my life.  It was time to get a gun and learn how to shoot.  I took a basic handgun class that allowed me to get my concealed weapons permit in the state of Florida.  The class was great and basically went over all the laws and situations where you can defend yourself (very valuable information).  Since I had some experience with the Beretta PX4 Storm 9mm handgun, I decided to purchase it.  While there might be better options or better priced options, I decided to go with what I knew.  After all, I just felt like I needed to get started rather than agonizing over the perfect gun.  The gun is great and I’ve shot enough rounds now to be moderately skilled with it – enough to defend myself.  Next up, probably a shotgun and soon.

Food

In order to start a food supply, I decided to buy some Value Buckets from the Ready Store of some staples.  It’s not the best priced storage items, but I needed to get an anchor of my food supply.  I’ve also supplemented it with several #10 cans of various items.  All of these items have a 20+ year shelf life so you can very easily get a six month supply of food that last 20 years.  Now, that is insurance.

Water

I’ve bought a good amount of water purification tablets and also about 12 gallons of stored water – while this wouldn’t last long, it is a nice thing to have in addition to many water sources available (water heater, my neighbor’s pool, etc.).  My next purchase probably before any other item will be a water filter which is a definite must.

The three items of defense, food, and water are by no means “checked off” but you can see how a newbie to the survivalist game can go from nothing to some basic preps to where I can handle some moderate disruptions to life.  In terms of taking it to the next level, there are many things to acquire and many things to learn.  It is a journey.  Underrated in this entire journey are the skills and general knowledge that you pick up once your mindset changes on this topic.  You start to see mundane tasks differently, you start to want to learn how to do more things and increase your abilities on basic things in life.

Moving forward, I will probably continue to accumulate food supplies, a water filter, and additional firearms (Mossberg shotgun is likely).  Another item that I’ve been continuously on the hunt for is a generator.  Living in Florida with hurricane risk, a generator is a pretty good item to have.  I’m constantly trolling craigslist for such an item.  I’d like to read a few books on various topics and potentially get some basic medical training.  As always, I will continue to update you on my journey in hopes that it helps someone else in a similar situation.

General Preparedness, My Journey

America, General Preparedness

Piggy-backing off my previous post on being afraid to travel, my thought process migrated from travel to work.  What if something happens at work?  I’ve decided I should have a nice little supply bag stashed in my office.  The reality is that I spend more time at work during the week than anywhere else.  Therefore, if something were to happen, there is a very high chance that it occurs while I’m in my office.

Some supplies I’m considering adding to my work/office stash include:

1. Tennis shoes, socks, and a change of casual clothes – If I need to run home (10+ miles), I don’t want to be running/walking in my dress shoes and slacks.
2. A handgun - General self-defense, plus I work in a fairly large office building and there have been events recently (including here in my home town) of disgruntled or recently fired employees getting violent at office buildings.
3. Cash - A few hundred bucks in cash might be a good thing to have available.  What if the power is out or there is a financial system collapse?  You might be able to get a few items before those unprepared folks loot the stores around you.

Other random items that might be worthwhile are flashlights, batteries, emergency radio, granola bars, water bottles, etc.

What do you think?  Do you have a stash at work?

General Preparedness