Is Prepping Success Kinda Like X-Files?

The truth is out there.

But, “they” don’t want you to find it.

Those two sentences sum up the Fox hit show, The X-Files. Mulder and Scully, out there in a search for the truth. There were always hidden truths and inside men protecting that truth from average folks on the outside.

It seems to be human nature to suspect hidden truths or that we are being kept out of the loop or inner circle. That human nature also bleeds over into the field of survival planning. How do I know?

Recently, I’ve gotten several emails from readers asking me for the secret to being prepared for any disaster. They assume something more complicated is going on than there is. That I’m keeping secrets or hidden truths for myself.

They assume that survival planning or prepping is more complicated than it really is. And they want me to reveal my secrets – well the truth is I don’t have any. Perhaps, the “secret” is to actually do something.

When I started preparing, I didn’t know anymore than anyone else just starting out – I was a prepping newb. And I made many mistakes along the way.

I’m still learning new stuff all the time. No one knows everything or has all the answers to every conceivable situation or skill. It is a continuing learning process.

We need to stop wasting time looking for secrets and instead put what we know to use, before it is too late. And another thing, don’t just read about survival, actually learn the skills being illustrated.

Just because you read it once in a book, doesn’t mean you have mastered that survival skill or that it will a work in a real life situation.

Reads ask me for ways to ensure their survival, build a supply of survival food, and to “tell me stuff that hasn’t been said by everybody else already.” We’ve all heard the saying “There is nothing new under the sun but there are lots of old things we don’t know” this is true also for survival planning.

While there are new products and new techniques being introduced, the core needs of survival stay the same. Air, water, food and shelter. We may all have different approaches, but it all basically comes down to the same stuff.

No secrets. No smoking man. It’s just a matter of applying the basics and hard work.

It seems everyone is looking for the easy button, when in fact it does not exist. The truth isn’t out there yet hidden… it is everywhere and in plain view.  The problem is that you’re not applying what you already know.

Perhaps that is the biggest secret of all. Grin

Top nine mistakes of prepping newbs

First one I make: Not eating what they store. I like rice but not the greatest cook, I read how to cook it and figured I could do when I needed to.
Second one I make: Not storing enough salt. I don’t add salt to anything. So in one sense it doesn’t make sense to buy something I don’t use but with all that rice maybe I should.
Mistake 3: Relying on bugging out. Well yes I prefer heading to the hills than remaining in a city close to Dallas. Sorry the sheeple will be rioting looting and shooting. My gun is a 22 and hubby’s is a 9mm. Why my house is fine and close to a small pond I much rather be on land paid off that my father owns. I rather travel the dirt roads to get there and have a lake front view and watch nature and fish and attempt to farm/garden several acreas.
4, Storing one type of food. Well yes the bulk of my food is in rice I do have 30 cans of meat, cereal, oatmeal, canned goods. Why I prefer a larger inventory I am going on budget and think having at least a year’s worth of rice is headed in the right direction. I highly doubt my family will eat beans but I may be able to get them to eat pumpkin seeds that do provide protein. While my oldest might starve from here stubbornness to eat veggies I think if it was between life and death she will eat what is given to her. And anything I try to stock comfort foods my pantry gets raided by a 4 year old with climbing power (That’s where a 30 day supply of pop tarts went and many more lollipops)
I do think that me and my husband combined have the skills to survive. Me with rationing, and medical care, and a strong work ethnic and hubby with misc. skills like being a roofer helper, plumper help, son of a carpeter, Me the granddaughter of a farmer and hunter and fishermen.
I think survival is a lot about brain power and will. No matter how prepared you are you can lose everything in a blink of an eye. I have been researching what type of foods you can eat like dandylions. They are extremely healthy even if I don’t like the taste. Has all the iron, vitamin A, K, a good amount of C and potassium. I at least know what the super foods are and what seeds I should be buying.
I know for those with depression should eat fish for the omega 3s to treat depression ie why I need to be by the lake. I have been learning about composting and fertilizers. I also have to delay my plans to build anything on my dad’s property until I get written documentation that I am getting 5 acreas to do as I please.

How To Survive TEOTWAWKI In 14 Easy Step

Will You Be Ready

I write lots of detailed, in-depth posts for you here on The Survivalist Blog about preparedness, frugal living, weapons and homesteading. Today I thought I’d simplify and offer you some quick survival tips on how to survive TEOTWAWKI broken into bits.
1) Keep it as simple a possible. If something can be done in two steps instead of three why bother with the third step? If there is an easier and simpler way to the same result, why make things difficult. Remember The KISS principle: “Keep it simple, stupid”.
2) Take your time and create a plan. With a paper and pen write out a detailed survival plan. What, when and how – while considering your personal needs and those of your family. Do this every six months – circumstances change, keep you plans flexible.
3) Have realistic expectations. I’m sure many of you would like to have a retreat on one-hundred acres nestled in the remote Idaho wilderness. A room full of high-tech weapons and gear. A customized humvee in the drive. A bunker stacked from floor to ceiling with MRE’s and the latest freeze-dried foods. But in reality most of us will never have this stuff. Set your preparedness goals at an obtainable level work relentlessly to meet them.
4) Educate your team, work together. Divide your family or survival group by skills. For instance; one member might specialize in medical procedures, another in chemistry and another weapons repair and reloading etc. Figure out what skills and resources you have as a group. Fill the gaps with training, classes and study.
5) Get a solid understanding of the basics. Everyone should at least know the basics, CPR / first aid, how to shoot, weapons maintenance and using available resources. Cover the basics first before moving to more advanced concepts. Refer to #1 above.
6) Know when to change strategies. Don’t become fixated with plans or beliefs. If something works, great; if not you need to find out what the problem is and how to fix it – even if it means a complete overhaul of your original plan.
7) Do a threat analysis. Stop, think, look around – if you were being attacked what would be the most likely approach? What are the weak points in your defenses? Who are probable attackers? When are they likely to attack. When are you most vulnerable? Find weak spots in your defenses and harden those points.
8) Experiment. I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating. Never assume something works without first trying it yourself. We have to many armchair survival “experts” giving advice on things they have never done. Never take anything at face value – try everything yourself to see if and how it works, (This includes stuff you find here), leave nothing to chance.
9) Build a good library. You need books on gardening, homesteading, food storage and cooking, trapping, tracking, repair, raising livestock, alternative energy, medical, herbs and eatable plants, outdoor survival etc. Make a list of the books you need. It’s best not to get many titles covering the same subject – they tend to overlap and cover the same techniques and advice. See number 8.
10) Don’t get discouraged. It’s easy to become discouraged or give up altogether. Stay focused, set obtainable goals and remember everyone started from the beginning. Stop worrying about what some survival guru said you need in his latest fiction novel. You know your situation and needs better than anyone – plan accordingly.
11) Analyze your skills. Take a close look at yourself and your skills. Write down the things you are good at – find your strong points. Do the same for your weak points. What do you know little about? Find the area that needs improvement and get to work building your skill level in that area.
12) Take inventory.Take a good look at your food storage and other survival supplies. Write down what you have, look for gaps in your inventory. I did this a couple of weeks ago and found I needed to expand my medical kit.
13) Get a check up. If you still have a job with medical insurance great. Get a complete physical and check-up – same with dental. Correct any problems found.
14) Find your own way. No one knows your situation or location better than you and no one can formulate a survival plan based on your personal needs better than you. You know who you are and what you are capable of – plan accordingly.
Have other tips or advice on how to survive TEOTWAWKI? Feel free to share in the comments below.

Responsible Use of Lethal Force

A few weeks ago, I was talking to a guy, I’d hired to help me do some work around my place when he noticed my No Trespassing sign that was nailed to a nearby post. He turned the Coke to his mouth swallowing the last of its contents before throwing the empty can into the bed of his pick-up truck.
He then Turned toward me as he cleared his throat, and said; good thing you nailed that sign up down there, with all the thievery going on around here, now if you catch them on your property you can drop them in their tracks and they’ll be paid for because you have that sign up down there.
He continued with his legal advice; as long as you have a sign like that on your property you can shoot anyone that steps foot on your land and the law can’t do a thing.
I pulled my cap off and smiled as I wiped the sweat from my brow, really, I said. You know anyone, that’s put that to the test in court? I think you need to go talk to the district attorney about that, before you actually kill someone for trespassing and have to spend the next 35 years in Brushy…
Before I could finish, he started shaking his head in disagreement.
I spent the next ten minutes trying to convince him of his folly, but he would have none of it, stressing the fact his uncle who was a deputy sheriff back in the 1980′s told him so, so I had to be wrong…
Okay, some people just refuse to listen to logic or excerpt common sense and this guy was obviously guilty of both, but it proves that there are many misconceptions and a lot of bad advice out there when it comes to the responsible and legal use of lethal force.
Unfortunately, many survivalist also adhere to the same type of foolishness, when it comes to self-defense and especially the use of deadly force against another person.  If you own a gun for protection you owe it to yourself, your family and everyone around you to seek competent legal advice and to take the time needed to research the law’s regarding the use of deadly force in your state, county and city.
As gun owners we spend a lot of time learning how to shoot but little if any, learning when the use of deadly force is justified in the eyes of the judicial system. This is a big mistake and one that could result in you spending several years behind a fence topped with razor wire.
Fortunately, there are several DVD productions as well a books available to help you in this regard – below are four titles, that I recommend, for everyone owning a firearm for personal protection.
1. Armed Response Video Training Series - The Responsible Use Of Deadly Force with David Kenik and Ralph Mroz (excellent)
2. Armed Response Video Training Series – Shoot / No-Shoot Scenarios with David Kenik and Ralph Mroz (my highest recommendation)
3. After You Shoot: Your gun’s hot. The perp’s not. Now what? by Alan Korwin
4. In the Gravest Extreme: The Role of the Firearm in Personal Protection by Massad Ayoob

Lifestraw water filter system

In my bug out bag, I have two Sport Berkey water bottles, these work great and besides filtering out waterborne pathogenic bacteria and heavy metals the bottles do double duty as a canteen of sorts. But, with clean water being second in importance only to oxygen for survival, I’ve been looking to add yet another water filtration system to my bug out bag.
For utility, I’ve divided my bug out bag into two separate bags, a full-sized backpack being the main bag and a smaller pack (US PeaceKeeper Rapid Deployment Pack) for essential items, you know the stuff you can not live without.
With the two bag system, it is easy to hide the larger bag, or leave it at camp while still allowing me to have those “must have survival items” on my person at all times without having to carry the weight and bulk of the full-sized bag.
But, while the Berkey bottles are great for a full-sized bug out bag they take up to much space in the smaller bag, so I’ve added the LifeStraw water filter system to my kit.
According to my research the LifeStraw removes 99.9999% of waterborne bacteria, 99.9% waterborne protozoan parasites, and will filter approximately 264 gallons of water.
When I received the LifeStraw in the mail, the first thing I noticed when I opened the package was its weight, or lack of it. At 9 inches long with a 1 inch width, it weighs about as much as a pack of cigarettes, but instead of killing you with toxins the LifeStraw could save your life by eliminating them.
When using the LifeStraw for the first time, it takes a bit of work to get the water flowing up through the filter but once you get the water moving through the straw it is easy to keep it going and to continue drinking. I could not detect any difference in taste (I used clean water for the test) when using the filter than when drinking straight from the cup.
My only complaints are that I would have liked to have had color options when purchasing, a nice olive drab would have been nice. But overall, I think the LifeStraw will be a great addition to my bug out bag and at a price of only $19.95, I think I’ll buy anther one for my car kit…

Review of the Benjamin Titan GP .22 caliber air rifle

The Benjamin Titan GP is an excellent foraging tool for small game.

Some of you may remember reading my last air gun review, in that review, I found the Crosman Titan GP to be lacking in dependable on target accuracy. As stated in my review, the results could have been due to a poor quality rifle from the lot, and not a representation of the rifles themselves.
Because of my first experience with the Crosman Titan GP, I was excited when Pyramyd Air offered to send me the Benjamin Titan GP Nitro Piston .22 Caliber Air Rifle for review. As far as I can tell the Benjamin Titan GP is the exact same rifle as the Crosman Titan GP except for the name.
Reviewing this new rifle would give me a chance to compare the two and perhaps vindicate this line of air rifles. Let’s get started…
Shipping from Pyramyd Air was prompt with the product being delivered in under a week. The rifle came well packaged with the rifles factory box discreetly placed inside a plain brown cardboard box.
The first thing I noticed when opened the box and removed the rifle was that the Benjamin Titan GP sported a darker finish on the stock than the previously reviewed Crosman. I prefer a darker finish on all of my rifles, so the Benjamin Titan GP was already one up on the Crosman.
In my experience air rifles of this type tend to be on the heavy side and the Benjamin Titan GP was no exception weighing in at 8.50 lbs (a standard Ruger 10/22 weighs 5.00 lbs.) It would be great if air gun manufactures could get the weight down on this rifle to less than 6.00 lbs.
Perhaps they could do this by shortening the barrel and redesigning the stock (the rifle has an overall length of 47.00″) but then, I’m not an air gun designer or manufacturer so I don’t know the technical specifics to such changes or the effects they would have on the performance of the rifle.
Cocking the rifle was easy in one smooth motion of the single shot breakbarrel after tapping the barrel with the palm of my hand, and required little physical effort. The technical specifications listed by pyramydair.com on their product page states; that the rifle takes 31 lbs of effort to cock, which isn’t a problem for most people, but it could be problematic for someone with advanced age or a disability.
The Benjamin Titan GP .22 caliber air rifle features a 19 inch fully rifled barrel and a muzzle brake, both with a nice looking deep blued-steel finish. I also have a Ruger .177 caliber air rifle and comparatively the finish on both the metal and stock is much nicer on the Titan GP.
As with most air rifles of this type, the Titan GP has no iron sights but the rifle is grooved for mounting an optical sight and comes packaged with a CenterPoint Optics 4×32 scope & mount kit. I think the addition of a good set of metal sights would greatly add to the overall functionality and dependability of the rifle.
But as a rule, I prefer all of my rifles to have the choice of iron sights as well as scope mounting with see through mounts. Scopes can break, become fogged, lose zero etc., and the ability to quickly change from one sighting option to the other without losing the target aids greatly to the utility of any rifle.
The Titan GP features an ambidextrous thumb-hole stock with dual raised cheekpieces, and while well designed, I found the reach from the grip to the trigger to be a bit long. But, this would not be a problem for shooters with larger hands or longer fingers. Even with the longer reach to the trigger from the grip, I had no problem pulling the trigger or shooting the rifle.
The rifle also comes with a 2-stage adjustable trigger for fine tuning to the needs of each shooter, however I found the factory setting to be very good for my needs so I left the settings as is. But, adjustment is an option and a welcome addition that I’m sure many will find very useful.
One of the main selling points of the Benjamin Titan is the Nitro Piston system and a velocity of up to 950 FPS. The Nitro Piston offers a several advantages over rifles with a metal mainspring system, such as smoother cocking, no spring fatigue, reduced vibration, functions better in cold weather and the Nitro Piston system is also much quieter.
In fact, the Titan is noticeably quieter than my other air rifles, and is much quieter than my Ruger air rifle which is the loudest of the lot.

Sighting-in and accuracy

I shot this target from 15 yards - it measures just less than 1 inch including the flyer.

After plinking away the first one hundred shot break-in period that is recommended by the manufacture, I tacked up a target at 25-yards from my shooting table and went to work fine tuning the CenterPoint Optics 4×32 scope to match the precise point of on target impact. After several shots and a few clicks of adjustment, shots where center of zero with 5 shot groups averaging 1 1/4 inches.
After sighting the scope to match the rifles point of impact, I decided to do a couple of tests to see what the penetration capabilities of the rifle are. Using Crosman hollow point hunting pellets (the only type available at my local Wal-mart) the penetration was better than I had expected, with the pellet penetrating through both sides of a full can a cream corn at 15 yards.

A hunting we will go

Last weekend, I decided to take the Titan GP small hunting in the woods that surround my property. After walking about 75 yards, I spotted a nice gray-squirrel on a tree branch at about 20 yards. I slowly moved the rifle up to my shoulder into a shooting position and pushed the safety forward and off-safe with my index finger.
After centering the CenterPoint Optics 4×32 scope on the squirrels neck, I gently squeezed the trigger releasing the shot. The animal jumped and fell to the ground dead with the pellet completely penetrating the body and exiting through the other side.

Final Thoughts

The Benjamin Titan GP .22 caliber air rifle is a great survival tool that will allow you to quietly and effectively take small game out to 25 yards, without alerting neighbors or giving away your location.
I would replace the CenterPoint Optics 4×32 scope with a better and more versatile air gun optic such as the Leapers Golden Image  and add a sling such as the Gamo Gun Buddy air rifle sling.
For less than $170 the Benjamin Titan GP .22 caliber air rifle is hard to beat and is a recommended addition to you survival preps…

I believe people are far more resilient than given credit for

I believe civilizations self correct. I believe people are far more resilient than given credit for and when push comes to shove, I believe they rise up, not cave in.
It seems to me in times of crisis people move towards each other, not fragment & disperse into a deep protectionist state & mentality. Look at all of the classics – 9/11, Y2K, 3 Mile Island, all of the natural disasters that occur, the Great Depression, Japan – the vast majority of people all moved towards each other, which seems to be the more natural order.
The whole Hollywood idea of sandbagging the perimeter of my property & installing a gun turret on my roof to protect my 12 cans of beans & 5 gallons of water chafes my butt.
Do I prep? No, not by the same definition & end times motivations described here. I have a bug out bag specific to natural disasters here and enough to get me away from the dangers to my home – it’s basic, inexpensive & simple. Food wise I rotate a 3 month supply & that’s plenty & prudent planning I believe.
Sure, I own several guns but I hunt & have a firearm in the house in case my house gets broken into while I am sleeping. I’m no fool, live in a city & will protect my family but if some hungry family or individual comes to my house in need, I’ll feed them.
I have pitched the question here – why is it that far less that 1% of the population (blog specific survivalists) are so certain TEOTW is imminent within the next 2-4 years yet, the remaining 99% – with the exact same information available, are oblivious?
I live in San Diego & won’t bug out unless it’s a health risk (nuclear meltdown) mainly because I know it will be gridlocked & that is far more dangerous. I feel perfectly safe here but lived in the city my whole life (L.A. for my first 35 years then SD).
Ohio Prepper has a valid point in that he is specific to possibilities to him & not expanded upon the greater speculations of the world’s fuse burning up it’s final centimeter.
AZ Rookie has difficulty thinking outside the box and that’s understandable & normal because there is a certain comfort zone & belief that some do not want disturbed or challenged.
I will probably get lambasted – again, because sometimes questioning a position gets viewed as an attack or inflammatory rather than an opportunity to explore opposing points of view with the possibility of having (some) value or, more importantly, solidify personal beliefs – all, in a more level headed discourse.
Anything less can only be fear driven in my opinion.
Lastly, why am I here? To learn how to be self-sufficient because I believe it would be fun to become independent from our consumer based & wasteful society.