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There have been many articles written about so-called "bug-out bags," "grab-and-go bags," etc. All I have read about are very good. My problem is, if I needed something, I would have to rummage through the bag to get whatever I needed. I think my survival vest would be a perfect companion to the bags. Everything you might need in a hurry would be right at your fingertips, plus you could wear the vest while hiking or hunting. When not in use, it can be kept in a vehicle for other emergencies. With the vest, you always have your hands free...

-snip- In reality, Smeerenburg was usually abandoned at the end of each season, though by the 1630s, years of vicious competition led Dutch whalers to try something novel: leave a crew of volunteers to overwinter at Smeerenburg, both to be on hand to protect more expensive equipment that could be left behind, and in order to get the whaling station up and running as soon as possible the following spring. And so in 1632 seven men were left in Smeerenburg to wait out the winter. It did not go well. The Dutch volunteers quickly succumbed to the “polar night disease,”...

For someone in an urban area who plans to hunker down and doesn’t plan to bug out with country cousins, one thing that should be at the top of everyone’s list but that’s very much overlooked is… if you’re in a situation where you have power because you have photovoltaics but your neighbors don’t, you really should concentrate on black-out curtains for your windows. You need to black out your house completely, without any light leaks so that your house will look just as black as any other on your block. Otherwise you’re going to be targeted as the rich...

Some special operations medics in Afghanistan now have a new device that helps save soldiers with the most common cause of preventable death in combat: a traumatic pelvic wound. Unlike a hemorrhage in the arm or leg where a tourniquet can be used to shut off bleeding, there was no way until recently to do the same for wounds in the lower torso, which can kill a person in a matter of minutes. It was “a noted capability gap on the battlefield: How do we treat bleeding where we can’t use tourniquets?” said John Croushorn, a former Army doctor. After...

WASHINGTON — The electric grid, as government and private experts describe it, is the glass jaw of American industry. If an adversary lands a knockout blow, they fear, it could black out vast areas of the continent for weeks; interrupt supplies of water, gasoline, diesel fuel and fresh food; shut down communications; and create disruptions of a scale that was only hinted at by Hurricane Sandy and the attacks of Sept. 11. ~ SNIP ~ One goal of the drill, called "GridEx II", is to explore how governments would react as the loss of the grid crippled the supply chain...

Former Director of Central Intelligence, R. James Woolsey led a panel discussion on the growing and imminent threat a nuclear or natural electromagnetic pulse, EMP, to America's power grid and devastating loss of life that would follow such an attack. President Bill Clinton’s former Director of Central Intelligence, R. James Woolsey, led a panel discussion on Natural EMPthe growing – and perhaps imminent – threat of a natural or nuclear electromagnetic pulse (EMP) to the U.S. electric grid and other critical infrastructures that sustain modern civilization and the lives of millions of Americans. The event was sponsored by the newly...

It happened a few years ago during a trip to USA for the Self Reliance expo in Utah. After the expo we decided to go have dinner to this place nearby. Jack Spirko was driving and as he turned to enter a parking lot he had to hit the breaks to avoid running over a woman and her two brats that just walked in front of the car without a care in the world. “People like these, they will be the first ones to go when SHTF” said Jack. You know what? Jack was right. People like that are the...

The latest real estate boom to sweep America comes with all the trappings of luxurious living: custom-built swimming pools, gyms, full-length basketball courts, and even airplane hangars. The only catch is that this time, the features are all buried underground. The boom in bomb shelter sales over the past 15 years has taken the spartan 1950s notion of a fallout shelter and given it a makeover, according the owners of three companies that make and sell shelters. Now, custom installations can create 100,000 square foot underground dwellings that could hold dozens of people for months or years.

Any of you who frequent the prepper threads, or are on the Prepper Ping List, I am putting together a monthly free magazine, BY US and FOR US. This is not a blog pimp post, I don't have a blog or web site, and don't want one. I am looking for interested FReepers to provide content (articles, photos, columns, gear reviews, etc.) that will be assembled into a PDF that is ad free and noncommercial, which will be posted here monthly and, if Kartographer agrees, pinged to the Prepper ping list for free download and enjoyment. Readers will not have...

Says Obamacare leading U.S. down pathway to socialism The surge of bullet-buying confirmed by the federal government – purchase estimates run into the billions of bullets – even as the U.S. military scrimps to find training ammo is raising lots of questions about the government’s so-far unexplained actions. But a video that has been around since last year is being forwarded across the Internet as an explanation. The six minutes recorded by Lt. Gen. William G. “Jerry” Boykin, retired, warns that America is well along the pathway that other societies have used to bludgeon and beat their populations into submission...

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — First responders from across Los Angeles County are practicing for the “big one” Thursday in a drill designed to measure the response to a magnitude-7.8 earthquake. The exercise is hosted by the Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management and will take place downtown from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. “It’s our game day. The NCAA basketball tourney is starting, it’s their game day. It’s our game day for the Los Angeles County Chief Executive Offices, Office of Emergency Management,” Emergency Manager Kenneth Kondo told KNX1070. This year’s functional exercise will feature the California Integrated Seismic...

More and more people continue to buy guns in Hawaii and this weekend's gun show at the Blaisdell was packed. Business at this weekend's gun show is booming. "A lot more women a lot more families, it's not just a man thing anymore," says Sheldon Tyau, Event Coordinator. Organizers say it's the largest crowd they've seen in the show's 35 year history. The longest line was for ammo.

Greetings, Folks! Today I'd like to share with you what The Bride and I did over this last weekend, because it was pretty exciting stuff. The Bride had the opportunity to enroll in a Medical Seminar geared to disaster medicine, including suturing, stapling and wound care, taught by none other then Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy of DoomandBloom.net. On Sunday, we made the trek to Weston, FL, just west of Ft. Lauderdale. In the class were eighteen people (including three MD's) learning how to suture wounds using stitch and staples; nine folks were in the back of the room, schmoozing...

A couple of weeks ago, on a leisurely Sunday afternoon, 40 people gathered at a church in Washington Heights for a show-and-tell session sponsored by the New York City Preppers Network. One by one, they stood in front of the room and exhibited their “bug-out bags,” meticulously packed receptacles filled with equipment meant to see them through the collapse of civilization. Onto a folding table came a breathtaking array of disaster swag: compasses and iodine pills, hand-cranked radios and solar-powered flashlights, magnesium fire-starters and a fully charged Kindle with digital road maps of the tristate region. Many of the items...

The Battle of Athens was an armed rebellion led by WWII veterans and citizens in Athens and Etowah, Tennessee, United States, against the tyrannical local government in August 1946.

Once a week Tim Ralston and his wife Marie take their three teenage kids to a secluded cabin in the Northern Arizona desert. Surrounded by wildlife and the cows, sheep and chickens they raise it looks like a perfect eco-friendly family retreat. But the Ralstons are not there for an American version of The Good Life. On arrival Marie heads straight to the pantry to check the 15 years worth of tinned and freeze-dried food they’ve stockpiled, the kids test out their survival gear, first aid kits and water purifying tablets and Tim gets in some self-defence practice with his...

SAN BERNARDINO (CBSLA.com) — The city attorney of San Bernardino is under scrutiny for telling residents to “lock their doors and load their guns” during a city council meeting. The official explained that because the city is bankrupt and slashing public safety budgets people will need to start protecting themselves.

What's in your bug out bag? My eldest calls them Good bags, Get out of Dodge. My second daughter (see home page) calls it her apocalypse crate, a rubber maid container filled with all the stuff she'll need, and has it in her car. It has all her old army stuff that couldn't be returned. For example, gas masks, mre's etc. Ours has the normal stuff, blankets, food, flashlights, water, clothes, fire, ammo, etc. It might be a good thread to have input, suggestions, what's good, what's frivolous.

What are the best long term gas storage options("long" being 2-3 years) It will be in a non-climate controlled shed with summer temps up to 100 and winter down to -30.

After Big Sandy, I wonder how many people who thought preppers were "crazy" have changed their minds??