Prepare: The New Years Prepper

Happy New Year.

Like many, you probably have a list of resolutions underway like "Quit Smoking", "Pay off Credit Card" and so on.

But there is a good chance you also were bothered by the state of the world and thought, "I need to do something and this is the time to get started". Good for you.

The first thing people do when they are want to get prepared is go on the internet and search for "prepare for disaster, survivalism" or something similar. The problem is the glut of information. Its overwhelming. Should one prepare for nuclear war or famine or civil disorder? Preps for one month, six months, a year or a lifetime? Should one bug out or stay in? Its a lot to consider.

The best thing to do is step back and prepare for what you can. Also, start with the broadest solution rather than the smallest possibility. Here are some suggestions to get started.

Food - I don't care what the scenario, if you don't have food, nothing else matters. Food is easy. But securing a one year supply of food seems impossible. There are three ways to get started.

1. Go the grocery store and buy double what you normally eat and use. Four cans of tuna instead of two. Two packages of spaghetti noodles instead of one and so on. One trip and you have an extra week's supply of staples. Do this for a month and you have two. Just remember to rotate the oldest to the newest and don't eat all your preps without replacing them.

You can improve on this by also buying shelf stable (does not require refrigeration) alternatives to perishable foods. Canned meat and vegetables for fresh for instance.

2. Go the warehouse store or a food wholesaler and buy several months of food at one time. Cases of canned vegetables, fruit, meat, powdered milk, etc. It will cost more than a few cans a week, but one can quickly get a three month supply of basics put away right now. Don't forget to get staples like flour, sugar and cooking oil.

3. Leave the hard part to someone else. Go to the Nitro Pak link on the right or the Mountain House link at the bottom of the article and purchase a one, six month or one year supply of long term storage food. All you have to do is put it away. Yes, the cost is more, but the peace of mind of having a one year supply of food with a twenty year or better shelf life is incredible.

Water - No water means no life. One gallone minimum per person per day for drinking and cooling. Cleaning means adding another gallon per person per day.

1. Get some two liter soda bottles, clean them and fill with water and one dropper of bleach. Put them in the closet or pantry. Do two or three a week and in about a year you will have enough for a family of four for a few weeks. Takes a while.

2. Better is to get several large 5, 10 or 55 gallon drums from one Nitro Pak, fill and put in the garage or basement. Yes, they are heavy, but having enough water is a good thing.

3. Plumb a well on the property if possible. Or get several large rain barrels, bleach, a heat source and collect water for filtering. Or put in a cistern to collect rain water. Same idea and a better long term solution.

Protection - In a SHTF situation, all the above food and water will make you a rich person. If you can't protect it, someone will take it from you and probably will hurt you and your family in the process.

1. Get a shotgun, 12 or 20 guage. A pump is better, but a single shot breakdown is better than no gun at all. Get at least 250 rounds for your new shotgun.

2. Get a rifle. .22 is a good starter, but move to something with some more hitting power as soon as possible. .223, the same caliber used in the military's M16 and M4 rifles is nice, but the stopping power is dubious in some cases. Go for something in a 30 caliber, .308 for instance, if doable. A 30.06 is also good as the caliber is common. Get at least 500 rounds of ammuntion for any rifle.

3. Get a handgun. For trip away from home where stealth and a low profile are required, a handgun is the way to go. A minimum of .38 is required. However, due to their popularity and thus, availability of ammunition, a 9mm or .40 caliber is preferrable. For stopping power, the .45 cannot be beat. Again, at least 500 rounds of ammo for any handgun.

Get some real currency - Dollars may lose their value in the post-SHTF world. What is a good substitute? Junk silver coins and gold are nice. But get some trading tangibles. Extra fuel, hygeiene products, food, growing supplies, anything tradable which someone else might want and is willing to give you something valuable in return.

That includes skills. Think about it.

OK. Food, water, protection, currency. Get started in those four simple areas right now. Those suggestions will prepare most for 90% of the problems out there. But there is more to cover later.. Until then.

Prepare: Nuclear War

I watched this clip on You Tube this morning. There are several others related and like it on their so there is plenty of depressing footage available if you are so inclined.

What struck me are the people either standing around with their mouths open or panicking like morons. Yes, I have never been in a nuclear war, but these are actors and the directors/producers obviously wanted to create an image of how people would react in this scenario.

I know a bunch of people who would go into "ready mode"; that never gets portrayed in films though.

For instance, I have my computer up most of the time. The TV is almost always on and I carry a Blackberry 20 hours a day. If something happens news wise, I am usually on it. Example: During Sunday's Easter Egg hunt, I was the one who informed the other party goers of the rescue of the Maersk Alabama's captain moments after it was announced.

So, I find out that nuclear missiles are being launched. The internal clock in my head says "twenty minutes max" until something lands nearby. Let's get started!

Where is everyone?
Locate the wife and kids. If kids are at school, my butt is on the way to get them now. School is on speed dial. Call school, get my kids into the front office now.
Kids at home? Good. Get them in the house and get ready to go.
Wife not at home? Call her cell, tell her to get her butt home now.

Start loading water
Water is the most important product we will need. Start filling the bathtubs after throwing a splash of bleach in the bottom. Two tubs in the house, both will get filled.
Next, grab the jugs and bottles kept in the kitchen and put the kids to filling them up. Do the same with any and all tupperware and other type containers in the cabinets as well.

Start getting the food together
We keep food all over the house. Canned goods, pasta, buckets, you know like the rest of you. I am going to be stock piling all of it in my shelter in place (we will address that in a second).
Most will come as it is in plastic covered cartons, but loose cans and other stuff will be thrown into laundry baskets and storage containers.
And the contents of the fridge will be put into that giant ice chest sitting under the shelf in the kitchen along with all the ice and some of the frozen foods too.

Get the cars into the garage
And disconnect the batteries and ground the vehicle. I want this thing to start afterward if possible.

Close the windows and shutters. Lock up the house.

Get the family into the home shelter. Pile as much additional stuff around us as possible for mass. You can never have enough mass protection from fallout.

Get radios, gloves, masks, tools and other stuff. Most of it is already pre-positioned inside the home shelter, but I have a tendency to borrow stuff and use elsewhere.

Bring in the phone. Call anyone one last time.
This is crucial. Let's say you have friends or family away from the zone of damage, but close enough to drive too. If they know you are prepared and sheltered, they may be in a position to come to you afterward or expect you once the radiation levels have tapered off.

Now, what is the home shelter and shelter in place? It would be swell if we all had a swanky underground shelter with twelve months of supplies, blast door, filtration systems and multi entrance/exit hatches and room for forty. But let's face it - who has a couple of million around to buy one of those?

However, any of us can build an expedient fallout shelter in our home with enough time. The best bet is to have it laid out now and have the necessary materials on hand. First, google Nuclear War Survival Skills. Second, go to RadMeters4U and read this whole piece on What To When Nuclear War Is Imminent.

Our home shelter is in the center of the house where the most mass is located (We do not have a basement). The attic above the space has several large full storage containers. The surrounding walls comprise with bathrooms, closets or other inner walls.

Heavy materials such as storage containers, full drawers, boxes and other stuff will be put along the walls. I have several doors and pieces of plywood for the over head. These will be layered with additional storage containers, clothing and other stuff for mass protection.

The hallway has a right angle which will serve as the air flow port. Another is designed on one side.

I have already purchased dosimeters and KI for additional protection and detection. After the radiation levels have dropped off a couple of things will happen. We will leave and go to friend away from here or we will try and make a go of it here.

Is this plan fool proof? Of course not. If it were up to me I would have 15 acres one hundred miles from the nearest 7-11 complete with an underground shelter and storeroom. I would also have wings, could read minds and could shoot like Alvin York. Wishes and fishes. I have to work with what I have and where I am. Adapt and overcome.

A few more things...

The chances of an onslaught of nuclear warheads raining down from Russia are far slimmer than they were in 1982. Times have changed. So have our adversaries. Those nuclear weapons may arrive in rented u-Hauls or shipping containers today.

Why did I not mention running to the grocery store? You have to do that now. All of us should have food and water stored. Last minute water can and should be obtained because you can never have enough.

What will the world look like after a nuclear attack? Who knows. It will stink come to think of it. But I would rather prepare for my kids than sit at home watching them starve and wishing I had done something now.

Good luck and get off your computer and get some fresh air.

SHTF: The Road Novel

I posted not too long ago about The Road by Cormac McCarthy and how to survive the conditions described. What I did not do was give my opinion and review of the book.

The Road has generated some heated discussions on most of the survivalist forums and boards. The reactions take two courses and are polar opposites;

"I hated The Road. Worse piece of writing I ever read".

"The best book I have read recently. Haunting. Incredible story of love in a horrible world".

I will warn you now. I am in the second camp. Is The Road the best book I have ever read? No, but it is a very good book.

If you have not read The Road yet, here is the synopsis. Later, there will be some spoilers, but none that you could not have read elsewhere on the internet.

The Road takes place in some unamed time years after a apocalyptic event has take place. The story follows a man (identified only as the Man) and his son (the Boy) as they travel by foot southward in an attempt to avoid the bitterly cold winters set upon the land of their time.

The world has grown cold, dark and devoid of most life. The air is constantly filled with ash from burning dead trees and other plant life. Ash filled snow and rain fall and the sun is obscured by the cloud cover.

People are few and far between. Most have survived by resorting to eating each other or scavenging from the ruins of homes and buildings. It is a pretty gross world.

The Man and the Boy are trying to reach the ocean believing there might be life and warmth there. They have no possessions save a salvaged grocery cart containing some canned goods, blankets, a tarp for shelter and a revolver with two cartridges.

The trip is harrowing as they encounter and do thier best to avoid gangs of scavengers and cannibals, theives and sub-human behavior of every type.

The Road is a real SHTF survival story. There are no well stocked hidden retreats, no best friend sheriffs who are always around, no wise old people full of practical knowledge and no cardboard bad guys with names like Scrag or Greasy.. just a man and his "world entire" the boy and their never ending perilous journey.

The story is depressing, especially if you are like me and have children. And I could not help but think that the Road portrays a world that most people will end up in if the SHTF. Homeless, wandering, hungry, cold, and carrying all their possessions in some jerry rigged form of transport.

The Road does not end entirely well. There is death and loss, but there is hope in the end. And like so many other critics and fans have mentioned, The Road is about love and sacrifice. More so than most other survival themed books I have read.

Not a pretty story, but a good read and a good book. The writing style and format take some getting used to, but The Road is definately up there in survival fiction writing in my opinion.

Best option, check the local library for a copy or order the paperback online.

SHTF: Survivalist New Years Resolutions

I hate New Years resolutions.

Most people do not keep them and it is a symbolic waste of time.

They pack the gym and buy the bikes. They put in the big order to Jenny Craig or Nutrisystem. They clean the "fat clothes" out of the closet. They make lists and stick them on the refrigerator door.

Come February, they are parked in front of the TV watching American Home Idol with the Stars and stuffing their faces with Twinkies and Diet Coke. The exercise bike holds clothes and the fridge door is covered with kid drawings and coupons.

However, with the new year staring in less than a week, it is time for all of us to take stock where we are today and what we need to be preparing for in 2009.

How about a Survivalist To Do List for 2009 rather than a bunch of silly resolutions?

1) Start building up a cash supply
Cash will be the mode of exchange for days, weeks or months before the ax finally falls on society. Even afterwards, some fool will still take a Ben Franklin for a can of beans or roll of toilet paper long after the fall.

Start cutting lunches and coffee out. Stop buying treats at the 7-11. Take your lunch to work. Quit smoking. You know, all the little ways to save $20,50 or 100.00 a week.

Put that cash in a jar or envelope in the house somewhere and don't touch it. Stick your pocket change in another jar, sort it for junk silver and roll it for more green backs. Put those back too.

2) Build that food supply
Food is king. And food is cheap. Cheaper than that rifle or truck you want. Food is readily available at the corner market or Super Wal Mart.

Start buying an extra 6 cans of something, 10 pounds of rice, a bag of sugar or flour and so forth every time you go to the market. Put everything into a five gallon bucket you can get at the hardware store. Label it, close it and stick in the back of the closet.

3) Keep your car filled
Gas runs the world despite what all the renewable blabber mouths say. Remember Katrina? All the people with a quarter tank of gas stranded on the interstate? Keep your car above three quarters of a tank. Now it is easier than ever that gasoline has dropped in price.

If you want, and this is your risk if you do, keep a five gallon can filled in the garage or car port.

For sure, get 3,4 or 5 empty gasoline containers and put them in the garage. I carry an empty five in the back of my truck for just in case.

4) Plant something you can eat
A corner of the yard, ten big containers, the flower beds out back, heck, the whole backyard. Plant some food as soon as the weather permits.

Grow tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, carrots, anything that can be eaten and is good for you.

While you are at it, plant a fruit or nut tree on your property as well if you can. Plant something now before next fall when the stores are empty.

5) Start cleaning out your house and getting rid of the clutter
Sell your surplus junk and make some extra money for preparedness supplies. Have a garage sale, Craiglist or Ebay it. FreeCycle for that pile of stuff nobody will pay you for. Someone will want it and free is good.

6) Start a real health and fitness program
Eat right - fruits, vegetables, whole grains and less red meat, fats and stupid carbohydrates (beer, cake, cookies, junk).

Go the doctor and get a full physical. Do what he says (short of loading up on prescriptions).

Start walking every day. Buy a second hand bike and ride it to work once a week if possible, and to the grocery store.

Integrate exercise into your daily life and you won't quit.

7) Get some more clothes
After the SHTF the most valuable asset after food will be clothes and shoes well fitted for the post-SHTF world. My kids love their video console, but the price of it, I could have bought 4 pairs of good jeans, or two pairs of work boots or a couple of sets of Carhardts.

Jeans, coats, work shoes, socks, underwear, etc. will be worth their weight in gold in the month after the big one. Go buy a few extra things as money permits.

8) Get a bug out bag for the car and office
Stock an old back pack or duffle with the following:
- change of clothes
- pair of sock
- walking shoes or boots
- 6 .5 liters of water
- A Camelback (1.5 liter)
- 6 protein bars
- 4 Ramen noodles
- 4 Oatmeal
- 6 tea bags
- Condiment packet including sugar, salt, pepper
- Lip balm, sunscreen and bug spray
- rain coat, folding poncho
- tarp
- matches or lighter
- flashlight
- multi tool

Keep it in your office and another in your car.

9) Buy a gun
A .22, 9mm, 12 guage shotgun, bolt action rifle, etc.
Take it to a public range and practice shooting.
Buy enough ammunition as needed - 500 or 1000 rounds or more.

While never preaching that violence is best, having the means to defend your family and home is irreplaceable.

10) Water
Not a specific action, but a list.
Stock water in bottles and containers.
Get a good water filter and replacement cartridges.
Find alternate sources of water where you live.. well, spring, creek, river, rain barrels.

Water is essential to life and you never have too much when you don't have any.

10.5) Start learning
Make an effort to learn new skills.
Learn to fix things yourself.
Learn to build things yourself.
Learn to do things like canning or gardening by putting practice into action.
Start reading things that will help you and your family survive and thrive in the new world.

Resolutions are a waste of time, but resolving to do better in the new year is not only smart, but may save your life.

Happy New Year

SHTF: The Road

Unless you have been under a rock or in your bunker for the past two years, you have heard of The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Forget that it is an Oprah book club book, whatever, rather that it is a masterpiece of literature.

The Road describes a world where everything, all life, people, animals, plants, are dying off after a cataclysmic event. (Although the book does not say, to me it is obvious an extinction event, such as a massive meteorite storm or comet strike has taken place. Other reviewers love to pontificate, incorrectly, that the the story describes "nuclear winter" after a man-made nuclear war).

Amongst this ruin, we have a man and his son, both unnamed, traveling across this blasted and cold land moving south where they hope there is warmer temperatures and food.

The story is about survival, but it is more about love and keeping hope in the darkest of times. Something we here understand and appreciate all too well.


Heavy handedness aside, let's get down to practicality. If you have read The Road, you probably thought what I did - "How could I have survived in that situation?"

As I read The Road, I figured out these few lessons:
- Be prepared - duh. But really prepared with food for several years, ways to grow more and preserve it in adverse conditions, to have a retreat well off the beaten path and obscure from passers by and have plenty of ammo for your weapon.

With that in mind, is there anyway anyone could survive that cold desolate world described in The Road? I'd like to think there is, after all, there were communes and survivors who had not yet degenerated into cannibalism and despicable acts.

To get started..

Don't be a refugee - Lesson one. The Man and Boy are wandering with all their worldly possessions. Around every corner is death and destruction waiting for them. Rather than walking to death, we know to have a retreat ready before the day happens.

Retreat location is everything - we don't know how the disaster took place, but we do know from The Road that pretty much everything above ground was affected. So having an underground shelter would be advantageous. Further, the shelter should not be too far north (colder), near an earthquake zone (falling asteroids could trigger a quake) or near the sea (flooding). So somewhere in the southwest or lower Plain states would be nice.

Our shelter must be over a deep aquifer for our well to go. Something with water for years and unaffected by the elements. So a well is mandatory and having the pump run on wind or another renewable power source is mandatory

Next, our shelter must be large, very large to house what we are going to stock it with.

Food,food,food - the characters in The Road are starving most of the book. We will need to stock our shelter not for a few months, but for years. That means the some sort of list of foods and schedule of consumption:

Year one, two - canned and packaged food.
Year three - long term storage food such as grain, rice, beans, powdered milk, honey, cooking oil.
Year four through seven - more long term grain, powdered milk, honey and oil. Retort foods such as Emergency Essentials, Meals-Ready-To-Eat for variety and as a treat.
Year eight and on - Underground food production garden with grow lights and hydroponics. Continued use of grains. Small scale animal production such as pygmy goats and chickens.

That was my estimate, so I went to the food calculator and entered in my data. Here is what I got..

First, I figured in seven years worth of food with four big people and one little person consuming - so that (7 x 4) + (7 x 1) x the estimated annual amounts.

That would mean
Grains - 9436lbs
Fats (oils, etc) - 413lbs
Beans - 1848lbs
Sugars - 1883lbs
Milk - 2359lbs
Plus a bunch of cooking essentials like baking powder, yeast, salt, etc.

Using this same calculator, I would increase the number of years I plan to stay in the shelter and stock accordingly.

It is a lot to consider, but think about the core food, grain. Only 10K lbs would feed five people for 7 years.

So the shelter has to be huge. I figure that I would have to buy a truckload of grain at a time, although I think a grain truck carries about 20,000 lbs so one would be enough. Just having a place to store it would be a chore.

With food and water covered for our post-The Road world, we need a few other essentials.

Power - Solar is out and the electric grid is down. The wind still blows and wind power may be are only option. We have to keep the wind mills running in all the dust and ash, and discovery will always be a problem. But if the windmills are running outside and our shelter is underground hidden from view, other refugees and bandits will pass them by hopefully and move on.

The windmills would store their power in deep cycle batteries and would power cooking, heating and lights.

The other option would be to have several thousand gallons of propane stored underground around my bunker. It could be used for cooking, heating and powering a generator.

Wood and coal fire would be out as the smoke would have to be expelled and that would attract others.

Washing, toilets and personal hygiene - all I wanted to do when I was reading The Road was the desire to take a shower. Having wash facilities would be crucial as would be toilets. The waste would have to be used for fertilizer in the growth rooms for vegetables and fruit productions.

Water from the bath/shower would be reused for watering the plants. Waste from the animals would be used for earthworm production and fertilizer.

What else would we need? Clothing, including changing sizes for children as they grow. Shoes too.

Vitamins as our diet becomes progressively more limited. Medicine as the chance of minor infections spreading becomes a real issue in our closed bunker environment. Having a sun lamp or tanning bed for artificial sunlight and vitamin D production would help too.

I would want to have at least four or five families in the shelter. We would probably be down there, with very limited exposure to the outside world for 7-10 years judging from the book. At that time, most of the die off would have unfortunately happened and then we could wait for the world to hopefully heal itself.

Could you survive the world of The Road? Most likely not based upon what I read. But thinking about solutions to problems is what we should do and do often. However, some survival situations are simply too big to grasp and plan for.

SHTF: Other survivalists

Post SHTF, there will other communities with whom you will share common defenses, trade, education and exchange. Some you will argue with, others you may fight with.

In the pre-SHTF world, keep your friends close and your enemies unaware.

There are lots of good sites out there and like minded friends. Though we have never met in person, we share a similar outlook on life - being prepared for the worse of times and what may come afterward.

Check out the links on the right and visit some of these other sites if your questions have not been answered yet. You came to Prepare: Tips to survive the end of the world because you were looking for information on junk silver, precious metals, emergency survival kits, and emergency supply lists or whatever.

If it is not here, the answer may be at one of these other websites. So check em out!

In the meantime, there is still time. Not much, but you still have time.

I made my Costco run this morning. Remember, the warehouse store is attractive to first time preppers because of its size and the sizes of some of the products.

But big, is not always bigger.

Toilet paper is actually a better deal at your local grocery store I have found.

Same for towel paper and meat.

However, you will hard pressed to find a grocers with a 50lb bag of bread flour or sugar on the shelves.

Same for those 15 gallon jugs of cooking oil.

Get your shopping done now.

Notice the Christmas decorations are not moving as fast this year.

Notice how guns and ammo are selling faster than hotcakes - and for good reason.

Hang on. 2009 is shaping up to be a "make it or break it year".

Yikes.

Get ready.

SHTF: Post Election 2008

Thankfully, the longest U.S. presidential campaign in history has finally ended (nearly two years!).

I don't care who you voted for or who's fault it is that (Obama Chuck McCain Barr Paul) is or is not president elect; we deal in realities here.

In January, a new man will be sworn in along with a different Congress. Laws will be changing in short order. I predict a couple of immediate presidential executive orders as well. Might as well get ready.

With any change in government, there will be a transition. With the continued economic mess and challenges in the world of 2008, there will be pain for all Americans.

It is going to be a tough winter and spring. If the economy goes further down, there will be layoffs, cutbacks and credit shortages. Already, the jobless rate is the highest is has been in 14 years and it will be growing.

You do not want to be a burden to your family, friends or community. By building some self reliance, you will not strain private and public resources when the hard times come.

Who knows? You may be able to help others.

Don't be a hindrance, refugee or end up homeless.

It is too late to pay off your home, but try and minimize expenses and stop adding debt.

Scale back Christmas plans now.

Focus on tangibles.

Continue stocking long term emergency food.
Stock up on basics now that food prices are going down.
Flour, sugar, salt, powdered milk, cooling oil, spices.

Purchase additional canned goods. Not a few cans, but a case or two as possible.

Purchase plenty of "fillers" - rice, pasta, grain, beans.

Continue stocking seeds and gardening supplies.
Lay out your spring garden now.
Grow some winter vegetables and herbs.
Google cold frame.
Build a greenhouse.

Go on Amazon and buy a dehydrator. Go to the grocery store and buy plenty of in season fruit and dry them. Store in Ziploc bags.

Go on Amazon and buy a home canning system.

Go to the grocery and buy plenty of Ball jars - they are on sale now that the fall is here. Get lots of lids and rings.

Start canning tomatoes, cucumbers and corn.

Continue storing water. Buy some larger water containers, but get plenty of five gallon water containers as they are portable.

Get plenty of bleach and coffee filters.

Get a portable water filtration system like a Katadyn.

You already know the drill - firearm prices and ammunition scarcity are rising already everywhere.


Like it or not, guns, in the hands of responsible citizens, stop crime. It is proven every day. An armed population scares a brutal dictator, jealous invader and overbearing government.

Buy as much .22 and 12 guage ammo as possible. Buy plenty of any other caliber you own, use and depend upon whether it be for hunting or protection.

If you do not have a defensive rifle and money is tight, consider an AK or SKS variant. There are plenty of .223 knockoffs out there. Research online and buy what you can afford. .223 is the standard among military and police.

Get plenty of magazines. Factory is best, but get what you can get and afford.

Consider purchasing a few boxes in calibers you do not own, (9mm, 38 Special, 45, 357, 30-06, 243, 270, etc). Buy no name or cheapo brands if money is tight. Your friends and neighbors will show up with a fine rifle but only ten rounds to feed it. Ammo makes a fine investment and trade item - but only with people you know and trust!.

Stock up on batteries, propane, canned camp fuel. Get a camp stove if you do not have one - camping season is over.

If possible, get a wood stove for the house. Get plenty of firewood for this winter.

I cannot stress this next section enough - hygiene and medical preparedness.

Winter means cold and flu season. If you lose your health insurance.. if the local hospital goes bankrupt and closes in February.. if a pandemic borne overseas makes its way to our shores through unmitigated migration..

Stock plenty of aspirin (generic is fine), cold remedies, and other over the counter medicines.

Get plenty of vitamins.

Stock liquids for sickness, Gatorade and Tang powdered drinks.

Stock plenty of Lysol, bleach, laundry detergent, cleaning supplies - keep your home virus and germ free!

Get a flu shot now.

Get a full physical and fitness check up.

Restock all prescriptions and eyeglasses, contacts.

Start a strength training regime now. Weights, running, walking, biking..

Eat correctly for strength, health and stamina. Keep your internals running smoothly.

Stop smoking, excessive alcohol, cut out sodas, fast food and junk food. You will save money and develop the habits needed for the world of 2009.

Drink plenty of clean water!

Invest in precious metals once food and other tangibles are taken care of first. That means junk silver (pre-1965 silver U.S. coins) and gold coins. Small denominations will be preferable for day to day transactions.

Look, I don't know what will happen in January or February of 2009. As a preparer, I am an optimist and seldom leave my fate and future to others, no matter how well meaning.

However, as stated, any transition is precarious, especially in these times.

Get ready, be ready, stay ready.

Tell me what you think!

Add a comment or click below!

SHTF: Surviving election day 2008

Like it or not, election day 2008 is about a week away in the U.S. If you live overseas, whoever wins this election will mean very little to you despite what the pundits say.

However, most American citizen/voters have very strong feelings about who wins the presidential election. And some of those feelings may turn negative if their candidate does not do as well as they personally hoped.

There are many in the U.S. who truly believe we will see mass demonstrations, civil disturbance, riots and violence regardless who wins. Further, even if one presidential candidate achieves a clear cut victory, some voters may believe their vote was discounted due to voter fraud or disenfranchisement.

Being prepared is the name of the game. Who cares who you vote for? What really matters is what to do when the results come in.

Don't draw attention to your political views!

First and foremost, keep your political thoughts to yourself. Paranoia aside, vandals and rioters opposed to your viewpoint may target your home, car or family if they know where you stand. Don't put out yard signs or car bumper stickers if you really want to avoid attention.

We still have a secret ballot in the U.S. - it was designed that way to stop pressure by opponents.

Vote early. That way you can avoid polling points which may erupt in violence.

Avoid political discussions with strangers and even some acquaintances. Who knows what their motivations or reactions may be?

What is to stop that loudmouth at work to lump you in with "Those people who cost my candidate the election!" and come over to exact revenge?

As always stock up on essentials like food, water, fuel, cash, and "safety equipment" but especially before election day. If there are civil disturbances and they are wide spread, who wants to be out at the grocery store or driving around?

Avoid urban areas, the city center and bad neighborhoods on and after election day. Rioters and celebrants have a habit of picking passersby and innocent drivers to take their happiness/frustration out on (Google: Reginald Denny).

Have your emergency transportation and communications plans in place before hand for family members. Decide who will get the kids from school, how spouses will get home from work and where to meet up.

Two biggies here: Prepare your home for riot and fire AND prepare a bug out plan now in the event you are forced to evacuate in face of rioters, arsonists and looters.

That means having fire protection equipment (extinguishers, hoses, etc.) and proper protection hardware in place before trouble rears its head. Speaking of which, often during civil strife, authorities will limit arms and ammunition sales if not ban them altogether. You have been warned..

Because police may use tear gas or pepper spray, having a gas mask at work or in the car may be wise. Make sure you have them available for family members as well.

You may have nothing to do with politics, but rioters, looters and arsonists often attack by proximity or relation. Your neighborhood may near where the riots start, near a major transportation hub or simply between the rioters and their target.

Avoid travel on election day for business or pleasure. Don't get caught in a strange city. Who wants to be in another town and end up on the wrong side of the tracks simply out of ignorance? Stay home!

The urban areas will be more dangerous than rural or even most suburbs. Be in the latter rather than the former if possible.

Don't succumb to the temptation to "want to take a look at what's going on over there" when you see the riots and fighting on the television. Again, stay home.

Take a page from the shopkeepers in Los Angeles during the Rodney King riots. Google it if need be. Be prepared to protect your family, home and property.

You may be forced to join up with like minded friends and family for mutual protection. Consider others who are most vulnerable to harm such as elderly neighbors, children at home alone or single friends.

Local authorities typically quarantine unlawful areas and then move in with riot police. Don't get caught behind lines or in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Hope for the best.

My own prediction is that we will see demonstrations and some disturbances on election day and most certainly the day after depending upon the outcome. As a person of deep faith, I pray and hope for the best, but we are talking about people here. People who are emotionally caught up in a very divisive election.

Prepare now - you have about a week to get ready.

Tips to survive the end of the world

If you are new to "preparing for the end of the world" and need a solid reference to get started, check this book out.


The world won't really "end". After all, it survived dinosaurs, great floods, earthquakes, volcanoes and disco. There is nothing this place cannot handle.

However, there are massive setbacks which can happen and which will feel like the end of the world. If every grocery store closed, power was shut off, water was no longer coming from the tap and the government ceased functioning, it would be the end of many people's world.

Here are a few tips for surviving the end of the world.

Stock food now. This means shelf stable, canned, packaged and dry food. Most of this can from your grocery store, others from specialty stores like Nitro-Pak (see Mountain House link on right). Stock months if not years worth of food. Many food products, like sugar and salt, can last for decades if stored properly.

But don't stop there. Stock seeds, hand tools, grow some fruit trees and put in raised beds on your property to grow more food.

Store water now. You can fill 2 liter soda bottles or buy food grade water storage barrels on line. Fill them with tap water, add a little bleach and rotate every six months or so.

But don't stop there. Purchase a high quality water filter system like a Katdyn. Get extra cartridges for the filter. Buy extra bleach for treating water. And a system for boiling water be it a camp stove or hot plate and battery setup.

And dig a well on your property. I am a big fan of sand point wells where possible. A rain water catchment system and cistern can also be a good choice.

Get alternate power. Solar panels and deep cycle batteries come in all sizes. From a single 5 watt panel and 12 volt rechargeable battery to a bank of 85 watt panels and room of deep cycle batteries.

A generator is useful for occasional use, but drinks a great deal of fuel and is noisy. Don't let the neighbors know you have juice!

If need be, a stationary bike with an alternator and car batteries (ala Soylent Green)) works in a pinch.

Don't forget extra batteries of different sizes such as AA, AAA, D and C!

Get fuel now. Propane for the grill. Gasoline for the car. Camp stove cartridges.

Be safe first. Store properly and only store what you can store safely. Make sense?

Stockpile the things you need and cannot produce. That means needles, thread and cloth for clothing and repairs. Nails, screws, tape and glue. Wood for burning and for building. Glass. Storage jars and buckets. Every sort of cleaner, disinfectant, and chemical used around the house.

Prepare for safety. Arms and ammunition are a must. Purchase and practice with what you know. Reinforce the home or retreat. Doors, locks, window grates or bars. Burglar alarms will be useless as nobody will come to help you.

Buy extra medical supplies. Aspirin and extra eyeglasses come first. Followed by over the counter medicines and bandages. Take as many first aid and medical courses as allowed.

Prepare your mind, heart and soul to survive and succeed in a new world. Survival is not for the fittest (although good physical fitness is mandatory - start working out and dieting now), but for those that adapt. Adapting to change is the sign of a survivor in the world after it ends. Get your faith in order - you are going to need it.

Your tips to survive the end of the world. It is not impossible, only getting started is the roadblock most of you will face.