So Long, Farewell

Since the end of the year is approaching I am well aware that many people will never read this or any of the other student blogs again. However, I hope that people have learned something from my blog, rather than just reading to make a grade. Many of the subjects I have written about have been very serious, and some joking. However, all joking aside, survival is no joke. While some may not care or think that what preppers write and say are stupid, they are the ones who will be helpless in the situations they so calmly put out of mind. While I may not update this blog much after today, I will still read any comments anyone should care to post, and I would love to keep in touch with anyone who has decided to at least think about prepping. As I have said several times before, preppers hope to high heaven that they are crazy. But on the off chance they aren't off their rocker? Better prepared and crazy than normal and not.

College Preparation

It is the time of year when high school seniors are preparing to graduate. As I have been working my way towards graduation, I have been thinking a lot about college. I won't bore you with the details, because most of the thoughts align with what every other senior is thinking. However, there is a portion of my thoughts that I believe few others preparing for college have considered. Generally it concerns a disaster or major event scenario that leaves me unable to contact my family. Also, since I will be living in a dorm, there is far less space to store any sort of provisions or material that would be useful in such a situation. I most definitely will have a minimum or a bug-out bag, and hopefully I can manage a bit more. I checked, and fortunately the college I am attending allow knives, as long as they are under 4 inches. This is wonderful, because a knife can perform so many vital functions. I won't blather on any more about knives, since I have already written a previous post concerning them (please look back and read it if you have not already). Anyways, I wanted to share my concerns, and I wondered if others had similar thoughts? Please comment if so.

Community event

Community is a huge issue for preppers. Some preppers swear that community is the key to surviving a disaster situation. However, others argue that sharing and talking with people in the community can make them a target in the event of a disaster, because it is known that they are prepared. In the end, it is an individual preference. I did want to enlighten readers about a spectacular event taking place in the Richmond area. It is called Survivor Day, and its main goal is to educate families about surviving for at least 72 hours in the event of a disaster situation. A free survival backpack is also given to each family or individual attending.

Alternative Transport Part II

      One of the main focuses of my posts about transportation is a process call gasification. Gasification is a process by which biomass (e.g. wood, plants, natural fibers) is converted to hydrogen, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide gas. The products of this process can be used to fuel many engines. It can be piped directly into the fuel intake of spark ignition engines (internal combustion engines included) without any alterations, and it can be mixed with a 75-25 ratio with traditional fuel for diesel engines. In fact, a popular DIY project is to build a gasifier to fuel a car. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ag6LoqcVsM&feature=related) I hope to build one myself, eventually. The gasification process is not to burn the biomass in a traditional sense, like a cook stove or fireplace. The gasification process takes place at much higher temperatures. As such, there has to be a chamber that holds the biomass that can hold in the heat to get the biomass to a temperature high enough for the process to occur. The process of building a gasifier is much longer than I have space or time to explain, but I encourage readers to research themselves some of the different methods. There are also kits available for those that do not wish to build one themselves. Anyways, the gasifier and the process behind it is great knowledge for people in a disaster situation, especially if no traditional fuels will be available for an extended period of time.

Alternative Transportation in a Post-Disaster Scenario

     In a disaster or post disaster situation, a lot of services and products we have readily available now will not be available. Since the topic is transportation, I am referring to services such as mass transportation, e.g. airlines, trains, and bus systems, and products such as gasoline or diesel. All of these methods of transportation are the main ways people travel, whether the distance is long or short. Many people will feel quite helpless when it comes to transportation. Suppose there is a family member away at college or in another state or even country, and you have no idea how to get to them to make sure they are safe or even alive. (This is a good place to mention that alternative forms of communication are also important, e.g. ham radio) Or if it is some sort of pandemic or militant situation, it may be necessary to evacuate a great distance.
      When asked about alternative forms of transportation, many people's thoughts lean towards classic forms of transportation, such as bikes or some sort of pack animal. These are both great options. A pack animal would be able to carry many more supplies than one, two, or possibly even three people could carry alone, with the added benefit that they can carry you as well. My problem with pack animals is that they need just as much care as a human, and in some situations more. In particular, the animals need much more food than a human to maintain a consistent energy level. For example, and average sized horse needs roughly 20 to 25 pounds of feed(or about 11 kilos) a day to stay healthy. That means food either has to be found or carried along with to feed the animal. Conversely, although it may not be pleasant to think about, a pack animal could be a significant amount of food itself in a dire situation.
     Bikes are another source of transportation that people resort to in disaster situations. In fact, in cities and many developing countries, bikes are the main form of transportation anyways. Bike are great for disaster situations, as they require very little care or upkeep, and they help to keep the user physically fit as well. Another good "feature" of the bike is that it allows the user to choose their own speed and therefore energy output. If the user is tired, they can take it slow, or if they are feeling energetic, they can cover a decent distance in a relatively short span of time. While a pro can get up to speeds of 30 mph, the average cyclist can achieve an average speed of 10-15 mph. In comparison, a person can hike an average of 14 miles per day, so a bike is a great improvement.

I currently don't have the time to finish this post so I will post a second portion of it ASAP.

Self-Defense

      As promised last week, this week's post is all about self defense. In a real life situation, years of karate lessons really aren't going to help. There will not be time to fall into a stance. Real life self defense is all about getting away from the situation you are in, and into a place of safety.
     In a disaster situation, people become desperate, as I mentioned in last week's post. I'm not going to give an exhaustive list of self defense tips, I will just touch the tip of the iceberg, and hopefully pique your interest enough that you will pursue the subject further yourself.
     The general idea is to break away from an attacker if they have a hold, and reach a place of safety, whether a car or a house or some similar area. First, do not panic. Decision making skills need to be at the highest possible point in such situations, and panicking will only cloud one's thinking. A heightened sense of awareness however, is a good thing to have. Punches are not going to be very effective against a lot of opponents, but elbows and knees are. Elbows and knees are so effective because the force of the blow is concentrated on a much smaller and essential sharper point, whereas punches are more blunt force. Punches leave bruises; elbows can actually leave cuts in soft tissue. Also, in a self defense situation, there is no such thing as fighting dirty. In a disaster situation, self defense could be life or death. Go for the eyes, nose and kidneys with quick strikes from the fingers or hands. Striking the crotch and groin area is effective on both men and women. Striking the knees is also very effective, and will also hinder the individual from following.
As I mentioned, these are just some brief tips. Youtube and the internet in general are both great sources of information for self defense. I hope I have interested some people enough to encourage them to do their own research. If there are any questions, feel free to ask and I will do my best.

Armageddon Ethics

When in a disaster situation, people become ghosts of their former selves, especially in regard to their ethics. Formerly decent men and women will go to the edge of humanity, even crossing it if the situation calls for it. Think of nature. When a bear cub is in danger, the mother will do anything to protect her child, even risking her life for the safety of her child. Not only mothers act this way under stress. After hurricane Katrina hit, people did crazy things just to get food and water, looting even though looters could legally be shot on sight. The limits people will go to under enormous amounts of stress to survive cannot be predicted. As a result, one wishing to survive or even thrive in such a situation must be prepared to deal with people who have abandoned normal ethical functioning. They will have no regard for your safety, and possibly not even their own. Violence very well may be necessary, but all the confidence in the world will not do a lick of good if you are unable to act to protect yourself and your loved ones, as well as the items essential to your survival, such as your shelter and food. Getting to a mental state where you are ok with injuring another person temporarily or permanently is definitely a personal choice, but it is vital to survival in disaster situations, where there are very few alternatives. Connecting with this week's post, next week's will talk about very basic self-defense that is useful in every day life, not just extreme situations.

ZOMBIES!!

Alrighty then, it's the zombie apocalypse! I adopted this topic because a reader suggested to me that I use some more lighthearted topics, and inject some humor. (Apparently I am a bit too stiff) So before I get to some zombie apocalypse survival tips, lets talk about the hard science behind zombies. Could some sort of virus be created that could have the classic zombie effect? The short answer is yes, but it would be very difficult to do, because although the victim is dead, they still have enough motor function to be animated enough to appear to be alive. The closest thing in nature to a zombie virus is actually mad cow disease, a prion. A prion is a distorted protien that after entering the body goes straight to the brain and actually "feeds" on the brain, leaving gaping holes as it reproduces. Brain scans of patients with prions in their system have been compared to shotgun blasts to the head, because of the extensive damage to brain tissue. Fortunately, prions are very easy to contain (only 171 recorded deaths EVER), as they are only transmitted by eating meat from an already infected animal, or in the case of a tribe in New Guinea, cannibalism. Now to be effective a prion would have to be mated with something really contagious, say a virus. Only then could it wreak the havoc depicted in zombie culture.

Zombies were my first avenue into prepping. Freshman year I read The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks, and I became borderline obsessed with zombies. I even had a zombie apocalypse tip of the day. My teacher would ask at the beginning of class "Alright what is today's tip?" And I would mention something from the book, like only 3 in 10 zombies can climb ladders, or some other nonsense. But reading the book got me going with prepping. If you prepped for something as intense as a zombie apocalypse, you are prepared for pretty much anything. In conclusion, I hope you enjoyed this post, and I recommend reading The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks, it is a great survival book that is comedic and just happens to be about zombies.

Upcoming Post

It was mentioned to me that I should post on a more fictional apocalyptic situation, such as the impending zombie apocalypse. Therefore this week i shall address the science behind a zombie apocalypse, and survival tactics should a zombie apocalypse occur. Look for the update Friday, March 9th.

Bug Out Bags and Knives Galore

Ok, so actually the knives are just a sub-level of the real focus of this post, an item that is arguably the most common mark of a prepper, the bug out bag. Say what?! A what bag? Bug Out. It is also known as the GTFO bag, the GOOD (Get Out Of Dodge) bag, PERK (Personal Emergency Relocation Kit), and the 72-hr bag, and that is exactly what it is supposed to be, a bag that holds everything you would need to survive for at least 72 hours completely alone, in any environment. Serious preppers have many bug out bags, usually one main one, several smaller ones that are everywhere from the workplace or school or car, and a more heavily stocked INCH (I'm Never Coming Home) bag. I will not take the time to go through what should be in a good bug out bag, because while everyone agrees on the basics, everyone has their own little variations. Several links will be at the end of this post if anyone is interested. I recently decided to start working on a bug out bag, and if anyone else decides to start or wants help, please say so in the comments, I would love to know. (And lets face it, everyone should be interested!)

Alrighty then, lets move onto the sharp objects. I do not claim to be any sort of expert on knives at all. I'm sure you all know someone who knows what they are talking about when it comes to knives, so ask them if you have questions. If you don't, ask me and I can try to steer you in the right direction. (Like how I write as if tons of people read my blog?) First of all, when I said sharp objects, I meant it. When it comes to knives, there are few things more dangerous than a dull blade. Why? People are generally afraid of sharp blades; that's good, they will be more careful with them. Dull blades lead to injuries. With a dull knife, you tend to push down harder to cut, often forcing the knife in a direction not intended. Also, rather than cut, dull knives can gouge, which can often cause more damage. In a survival situation, a paper cut could mean death. There are no antibiotics if it gets infected, and no help for you if you get sick from the infection. The cut itself may not kill you, but sickness can lead to bad decisions, and in a survival situation, its all about decisions. Anywhoos, back to knives. Why are knives so important? Here are just a handful of reasons off the top of my head. (in no particular order after number one)

1. A knife cannot be made from scratch in a survival situation.
2. The ability to immediately self-defend and the ability to construct better weapons.
3. The ability to quickly sharpen almost any stick for hunting or defense.
4. The ability to gather wood more quickly, and even split small logs.
5. The ability to cut vines or hides into cords.
6. The ability to make small traps or snares.
7. The ability to cut meat, whether for eating or jerky.
8. The ability to start a fire by making sparks with certain rocks.

As you can see, a knife is very useful in a survival situation, whether in the middle of nowhere or the middle of the city. Picking the ideal knife is a chore. Most professional survivalists will actually suggest several knives, a larger fixed blade knife and a smaller folding knife. I wont take the time to discuss all different types of knives, but again, I will include a link below.

Food for thought: What is the one thing Bear Grylls (Man vs Wild) and Les Stroud (Survivorman) always take with them to the locations where they are learning to survive? A knife. (Also, Bear Grylls actually has a line of knives through Gerber that are worth checking out.)

Links:

Bug out bag- http://www.thesurvivalistblog.net/bug-out-bag/
                     http://www.bugoutsurvival.com/2008/08/sample-bug-out-bag-checklist.html
                     Also you can just Google "bug out bag checklist"

Knives-http://survivalcache.com/survival-knife/
            http://stealthsurvival.blogspot.com/2009/01/types-of-knives-and-their-use.html

I'll end this post as I did last week. Some may think preppers are crazy. We hope we are crazy and that we spent time and money on empty worries. But if not, we will be prepared.

Preparation for disaster situations is very important. Only 23% of Americans have a 3 day supply of water and food as recommended by the CDP. (Center for Disaster Preparedness) If a true disaster situation arose, things would get real bad real fast. People become desperate when they cannot provide for themselves or their families, and violent situations can arise quickly. But if you are prepared for a situation, you don't have to leave the safety of your home to look for provisions. On the other hand, being prepared makes you a target for the desperate people. No matter your stance on violence, I'm fairly sure you don't just want to stand there as someone harms you or tries to take your possessions forcibly. Over the next several weeks I will be talking about some basic principles and practices involved in prepping. You may think preppers are crazy. We hope you are right. But if not, we will be prepared.

What Its All About

The goal of this blog is to highlight the benefits of preparing for any situation that may arise, whether a small local blackout or an EMP that cripples the entire US power grid, a riot in your hometown or a full scale government shutdown resulting in anarchy.