Monthly Archives: April 2015

WEEKLY THREAT ROUNDUP 4-12-15

From AlertsUSA
 

Yemen War: No Evacuations For Stranded Americans 

April 11, 2015

 

On April 7, 2015, AlertsUSA issued the following
related Flash message to subscriber mobile devices:
4/7 – OVERNIGHT: India to evacuate US citizens from Yemen via sea/air as security situation deteriorates. No USGOV-sponsored evac options for citizens in the country.
What You Need To Know
One Tues of this week AlertsUSA subscribers were notified via SMS messages to their mobile devices regarding a stunning decision by the U.S. government to not carry out emergency evacuations of American citizens from the war-torn country. While Pentagon spokesman U.S. Army Col. Steve Warren says that United States has “assets in place” to carry out the evacuation, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf declared there are “no plans for U.S. assets to be used” as the security situation was too precarious.
“Given the situation in Yemen, it’s quite dangerous and unpredictable. Doing something like sending in military assets, even for an evacuation, could put U.S. citizen lives at greater risk.”

Instead, the State Department posted two messages to the website of the now abandoned U.S. Embassy telling Americans to call the Embassy of India or the International Organization for Migration for assistance.

And so there is no mistake as to who pulls the strings in such matters, while news reports all focus on the State Department and the Pentagon, any such orders begin with the National Command Authority. The chain of command runs from the President to the Secretary of Defense to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and then to the Specified Commands. In short, it is the Office of the President of the United States which ultimately makes the command decision to use military forces to execute an evacuation.

AlertsUSA’s Pentagon sources say there is significant anger and frustration within the DoD over this decision by the White House, particularly in light of the fact that there are two aircraft carrier battle groups in the region as well as a big deck amphibious warship with thousands of Marines and dozens of helicopters and V22s just offshore. One of our sources indicated that this situation “carries the essence of Benghazi about it,” in reference to the failure to provide military assistance to the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya when it came under attack in 2012.

India’s foreign ministry reports they received a request from the U.S. for assistance in evacuating citizens. As of the time of this report’s preparation on Friday, several Americans have been assisted in leaving the country by India and Pakistan though solid numbers have been difficult to obtain. ABC’s San Francisco affiliate is reporting on a local resident who was able to get to the coast, then rode on a boat with a fisherman across the Red Sea into Africa, ultimately traveling to Amsterdam before taking a flight back to California. Other countries carrying out mass evacuations of their citizens this week with few troubles include Canada, France, Russia, China and Somalia.

With hundreds of Americans left stranded, on Thursday of this week three human rights groups, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations (or CAIR), filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Washington, DC seeking the court’s relief by ordering the Department of State and Department of Defense to evacuate U.S. citizens. While it is obvious that the judicial branch of the U.S. government has no influence in this area, the move calls further attention to the matter, particularly in light of the fact that the US is, at a minimum, supporting Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states with logistics and intelligence assistance in the conflict.

AL QAEDA THREAT GROWS

US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter acknowledged on Wednesday that the conflict in Yemen has allowed Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the terror organizations most active arm, to make significant gains in their threat to U.S. national security. According to Secretary Carter,

“It’s always easier to conduct counterterrorism operations when there is a stable government willing to cooperate in place; that circumstance now obviously doesn’t exist in Yemen. The terrorism threat to the West, including the United States, from AQAP is a longstanding and serious one.”

IRAN DEPLOYS WARSHIPS TO YEMEN

In addition to a significant U.S., Egyptian, Saudi, Pakistani and French naval presence in the region, tensions increased this week when Iran dispatched their own warships to the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait. Readers are reminded that Iran is the principle source of support and arms for the Houti rebels whom are responsible for bringing down the government in Yemen. Pentagon sources indicate a close eye is being kept on the vessels as, while small in number, there is a very real potential for the deployment of sea mines if the tensions increase.

IRAN THREATENS SAUDI ARABIA

On Thursday of this week, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani indirectly threatened Saudi Arabia, stating, “You will learn, not later but soon, that you are making a mistake in Yemen, too. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, was far less diplomatic and warned of dire repercussions. During a public address in Tehran on Thursday, Khamenei declared that “the Saudis will definitely be struck back in this issue and their nose will be rubbed against the ground,” using a Middle Eastern colloquialism meaning they will be defeated.

SECRETARY OF STATE WARNS IRAN

Perhaps most outspoken this week was Secretary of State John Kerry, who warned Iran over its increased involvement in Yemen’s civil war. In an interview with PBS News Hour, Secretary Kerry stated the following:

“There are obviously supplies that have been coming from Iran. There are a number of flights every single week that have been flying in. Iran needs to recognize that the US is not going to stand by while the region is destabilized.”

His statements highlight, yet again, the dangerous situation within which the Obama Administration finds itself. On one hand, there is Iran’s direct involvement with the Houti overthrow of Yemen which the U.S. is indirectly fighting against. On the other hand is the U.S. collaboration with Iran on fighting the Islamic State in Iraq. And on a third side, there is the laughable outcome of negotiations with Iran over their nuclear program.

CONFLICTING VIEWS ON NUCLEAR ACCORD

Late this week, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei made his first public comments on the supposed “framework” the Obama administration has been hyping as the basis for a nuclear accord. In his comments, Khamenei accused the Obama administration of blatantly “lying” about most of the proposed terms, saying he is being “deceptive,” and has “devilish” intentions. (Also see thisthis and this.)

For those keeping track, it is important to note that this week the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group passed South through the Suez Canal and into the Red Sea. The Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group is currently operating in the vicinity of the Persian Gulf and the Big Deck Amphibious Assault Ship USS Iwo Jima is somewhere off the coast of Yemen and overall, tensions are high. (See regional map here.)

AlertsUSA continues to monitor developments in this region, as well as its impact on the domestic terrorism threat environment and will immediately notify service subscribers of changes in the overall threat picture for U.S. citizens and interests as events warrant.

AlertsUSA.com

OTHER ALERTS ISSUED THIS WEEK BUT
NOT DETAILED IN THIS NEWSLETTER ISSUE

4/10 – US Embassy Bangkok warns Americans of need for caution and vigilance flwg car bombing @ shopping ctr on tourist island Koh Samui. Islamist militants suspected.

4/8 – Law enf in urban areas nationwide on alert for backlash / protests flwg police shooting of fleeing black suspect in SC. Caution and increased awareness urged.

4/7 – White House on lockdown. Multiple federal facilities increasing security in DC area following explosion at MD power station. DHS investigating incident.

4/7 – AlertsUSA monitoring ongoing power outages throughout the Nat’l Capital Region (DC). White House, Capital Hill, State Dept, DOJ, DOE, Metro lines all impacted.

 
 
Homeland Security Threat Info Direct to Your
Mobile Device 
* Get Away Early, Give Your Family Extra Safety.
* In Wide Use By Gov, 1st Responders, Travelers.
* 24/7/365 Monitoring. No Hype. Just the Bad Stuff.
* Issued Hours and Days before the MSM.
* On your Cell Phone, Tablet or Email.
* We Give The Clear Truth, Unlike the MSM.
* Over a Decade in Operation!
 
We are NOT part of the government.
In fact, they are our customers!
 

Dr. John D. Carson
Yuma, AZ

 

When Things Go Sideways While Traveling
You Better Have a Backup Plan in Place

April 11, 2015

What You Need To KnowGiven the situation unfolding in Yemen and the unbelievable decision of the U.S. government to NOT provide a means of evacuating American citizens, this should be a serious wake-up call that you can no longer depend on the U.S. government to render assistance in critical, life threatening situations. As such, it is imperative that international travelers have their own safety net in place PRIOR TO LEAVING, even if you are simply heading off for vacation in the Caribbean, Mexico or Europe.


Here at AlertsUSA, when our employees travel abroad we exclusively use the services of Boston-based Global Rescue. The firm provides best-in-class medical, aeromedical evacuation, search and rescue and security services to individuals, corporations, travelers and expeditions worldwide.

In addition to medical evacuations back to the hospital of your choice in your home country, Global Rescue also provides security services under which members can be evacuated in the event of crises that threaten their personal security when traveling, such as war, civil unrest, coup d’état (ala Yemen) or natural disasters. While we have (thankfully) had no need to call upon their services in an emergency, knowing we have a reliable partner during our travel abroad provides considerable peace of mind. This is particularly true in times where the assistance of your own government is in question.

Global Rescue is partnered with Johns Hopkins Medicine so as to provide members with world-class specialists to assist it’s deployable paramedics and physicians. The company’s emergency response teams are comprised of paramedics, physicians and security personnel, many of whom are veterans of the U.S. Special Operations community.

If you, members of your family or employees travel outside of the U.S., even for simple vacations to the Caribbean, Mexico or Europe, AlertsUSA strongly urges you to consider securing their coverage.


Travel Security Update

The U.S. Dept. of State is the authoritative federal source for information on the security situation at travel destinations worldwide. With tensions rapidly increasing in most regions, readers planning on international travel, even to such common destinations as Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean Islands, are strongly encouraged to do a little research on the security situation prior to departure.

Latest USGOV Travel Alerts and Warnings

Yemen   04/03/2015
Syria   03/03/2015
Honduras   03/02/2015
Ebola Travel Alert   02/02/2015
Worldwide Caution   01/09/2015
Worldwide Alert   12/19/2014
   

 

See all USGOV Travel Alerts and Warnings HERE.

Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.

 

Via: threatjournal

Thrifty Ways To Increase Your Yarn Stash

From our friends at : thesurvivalmom

—–

Within the community of knitters and crocheters, “yarn stash,” or sometimes just “stash,” is an actual term. It refers to the amount of yarn one has hiding in the closet or under the bed, likely in an attempt to keep one’s significant other from knowing exactly how much yarn you have (or from knowing how much you spent on yarn that month). If you knit, crochet, or do anything that that requires the use of yarn, then you probably have a yarn stash.

Knitting is perceived by many to be a thrifty sort of craft. Instead of dropping $50 on a designer sweater, you can just make one yourself, right? Sadly, this is not an accurate picture of what knitting entails. Many non-knitters may not realize that the yarn is often the most expensive part of any knitting project.

When I bring this up with people who are new to knitting, they almost always cite a particular brand of cheap acrylic yarn that can always be found at big box stores. That brand is inexpensive, but it is also like sandpaper next to your skin. There is a place for this variety of acrylic yarn, but that place is not in hand-knit clothing. Why would you want to put all the effort into knitting something beautiful if you can’t actually stand to wear it? Life is too short to knit with cheap yarn.

Don’t despair! It is possible to source higher-quality materials without having to pay exorbitant amounts of money, although sometimes doing so requires even more creativity than the actual knitting.

Thrifty yarn stash ideas

Method One: Recycling old sweaters


This yarn will have a second life as something I would actually want to wear.

How to do it: Take a trip down to your local second-hand store and browse their sweater section. Look for something kind of bulky. We’re going to be unravelling it later, so make sure the yarn out of which it is made is a weight that you are comfortable knitting. It is possible in this way to obtain really gorgeous yarn, yarn that is made out of cashmere, angora, and merino wool. Stuff that would ordinarily set you back about $50 per skein.

When you get your sweater home, you need to unpick the seams. It is important to unpick, and not just cut the pieces apart. When that is done, find the bind-off edge. This is the “end” of the knitting. Most sweaters are knitted starting with the bottom and going up, so the bind-off edge is likely to be near the top of the sleeves or at the shoulders. Once you get the end unbound, it’s just a matter of unraveling the sweater and rolling the yarn up into a ball. It can be knit as is, or, if you’d prefer to block it to get the tell-tale curls out of the yarn, this is the time to do it.

While that sounds pretty simple, depending on the quality of the sweater, it might be horribly difficult to unpick. However, if the yarn is nice enough, it will be worth it. Once at a local clothing exchange I obtained a really ugly, but free, Ralph Lauren short-sleeved turtleneck sweater. The yarn was a blend of cashmere, angora, and merino. Heaven! But, it being a Ralph Lauren, it took me ages to unpick that darn thing. The mittens I intend to knit with the reclaimed yarn will be worth every second I spent wrestling with the parent sweater.

Method Two: The Yard Sale, and its Maiden Aunt, the Estate Sale

I will come clean and say that I have had some success with this method, but not a lot. If you go to a yard sale with the express purpose of looking for yarn, prepare to be disappointed. It’s hard to tell ahead of time whether the person having the yard sale is a former yarn addict. But if you already browse a lot of yard sales anyway, definitely keep your eye out for yarn. (Or, more old sweaters). There will always be someone who is getting rid of her stuff and doesn’t fully appreciate the value of what she has. That includes not only yarn or sweaters made from high quality material but also other knitting and crochet supplies.

Once I came away from a yard sale with a whole grocery sack of nice acrylic/wool blend yarn which cost me $3.75 altogether. The same yarn would have cost upwards of $40 at the store. However, I have been to many other yard sales without having quite so much luck.

Method Three: Make Your Own Yarn

I’m talking about spinning. This could be its own 50-part series of blog posts, and indeed, there is even a quarterly magazine devoted solely to this topic. I include it here under false pretenses, because people don’t take up spinning to save money. But what embodies a provident, thrifty, self-sufficient mentality better than the ability to make a cute hat out of fluff?

I won’t turn your hair white with horror stories about the high cost of a decent spinning wheel (spoiler: its high.), but if you are interested in dabbling in the art of spinning but don’t want to spend your life savings, you can get a simple drop spindle and some spinning fiber for less than $20. Many online retailers cater to handspinners. Etsy is also a good place to look.

Spinning yarn instead of buying it allows you full control over every aspect of the finished product. I like to begin with a specific project in mind, and I can choose the fiber content, the weight, and the color. If I am working from a fleece, I can even choose the wool from a specific sheep, because every fleece has its own unique characteristics.

I taught a Survival Mom webinar on the subject of spinning, “Learn How to Spin Your Own Yarn.” Watch that for a good, overall introduction to both spindle and spinning wheel yarn spinning.

If you have ever thought of taking up spinning, I encourage you go for it. You might find that you’ll never go back to purchasing mere yarn.

Have any of you ever found yarn in unlikely places? What do you find is the most frustrating thing about finding good yarn?

Helpful resources:

Map Of EVERY Road In The United States… All On The Same Map


This incredible map which shows every single road within the United States (on the same map) also reveals ‘where we are’, as in population density and our ‘footprint’ across the nation.

Having been sent a reference to this unique road map (hat-tip to one of our readers), and since I enjoy ‘map’s, and for your interest – the full resolution map is much more interesting…

Many preparedness-minded people are motivated by the systemic risks which come with population density. While ‘it takes a village’ for a successful community, it takes a lot more than that to sustain a population density which needs to import much or all of its supplies to survive.

With that in mind, the following road map (which actually looks surprisingly similar to a population density map) indicates our lines of travel.


Map Of ALL Roads In The United States
After opening the map, you can click and scroll for full resolution.
13500×9000 pixels (10.4 MB)

The map has been making its way around the web, and is in the public domain. According to The Washington Post, the road map originated from a Reddit user, WestCoastBestCoast94, who apparently created it.

Note: If you’re looking for a ‘navigational’ road map for your State, you will find some of the best choices in the following article,
Maps For Your Car: State Maps and Road Atlas


The following State maps are higher resolution of the United States map listed above. You might find it interesting to look at your own State to see the ‘density’ of roads.

Index Of Roads

 

Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.

 

 

Via: modernsurvivalblog

“Lay Up” Before Being “Laid Up”

Guest post by Wandering Will

———————–

Lately, I have seen a growing number of articles stressing that everyone needs to get prepared NOW! They stress that this may very well be your last chance to get prepped up. Is this true? I don’t know, but like many of my friends I do feel that in many areas things are rapidly accelerating. Am I going to give a prediction on when the bottom will drop out? Not a chance. I do, however, feel it’s not a question of “if” but rather one of “when”.

Waking Up

When did it happen for me? I have always been a “preparedness” type, but my first big commitment came when the Y2K scare came along. I thought about it, reasoned that a world without electricity would not be a good place, and promptly shelled out “mucho dinero” for a six-month supply of storage food for my family. Y2K came and went, without a single catastrophe. I have no doubt that the family members I had tried to convince to get prepared were not so quietly snickering about the crazy old man who tried to get them to waste their money. Undeterred, I hauled the food through two house moves and to a storage locker, and yes the majority of the food is still good; we continue to consume it. About four years ago, we linked up with some very intelligent folks who really opened our eyes to what was going on. My wife and I were so impressed with the way these people were walking the talk that we made major changes in our life. We watched as our friends took all the steps– finding land, stocking up, building a garden (only slightly smaller than Connecticut), and acquiring livestock. Oh, their efforts also included employing a very large, four-footed, security guard to watch over the operation.

The Changes

My wife and I were retired, so the changes were not life-shattering, but they were certainly life-changing. We moved to a different state and bought a house close to our friends. Thereafter, we jumped in with both feet and began serious prepping. Only by the efforts of my chief financial officer (the wife) were we slowly able to acquire, on a pensioner’s income, the necessary preps and eliminate as much debt as possible. Although it took years, we achieved a reasonable level of preparedness. We had the stuff, so what now? Well, we decided we had better see if the stuff works. Like many writers suggest, we decided to do a blackout drill. The rules were pretty simple for the next ____ (fill in the amount of time you wish to drill). We would have no electricity, no running water, and no egress from the house. We would have to make do with what we had acquired. Thankfully, we completed the drill in the winter time, with very few problems. However, the lessons learned were many.

One of the most important lessons I learned was that, depending on the type of stove you use, one can make two different kinds of coffee. On the first day, I broke out the small sterno stove, filled the camp coffee pot with all the required ingredients, put the pot on the stove, and sat back to await the aroma of coffee in the air. Well, as it turns out, the coffee you get from a sterno stove is “ice coffee”. The temperature in the house was approximately 53 degrees, and I was pretty sure the coffee would freeze before it boiled. I left the pot on the sterno stove long enough to grow a beard, and then gave up. “No problem,” I thought, “I’ll go to plan B.” Out came the sterno stove and in comes thepropane camp stove. I transferred the coffee pot to the propane stove, turned up the flame, and turned my back on the stove. This is when I discovered the propane stove will make “volcano coffee”! In a short period of time, the pot was boiling up, out, and all over the kitchen. Ah yes, learning new things is truly enlightening. A few more pearls of wisdom acquired were that we used much more water than we predicted and head lamps are the greatest thing since “sliced bread”.

Drill Time to Chill Time

Less than a month after completing the drill, we would be put to the test but with one huge complicating factor thrown in. I suddenly learned that I needed immediate surgery. Okay, we can do this. The surgery was successful, but it left me basically bedridden for a period. Then I was unable to lift anything substantial for an extended period of time. As if on cue, a major storm dumped record snowfall on our area, and that’s when the two chills fell on me. First, it was the chill of the plunging temperature, which went down to over 20 degrees below zero, and the second was the chill of realizing that snow plus a plunging thermometer almost certainly meant a power failure. There I was, as useless as a Washington politician. At this point, you discover you hadn’t really factored in being laid up during an emergency into your many scenarios. It is a horrible feeling to think that you cannot assist during a crisis or even worse that you might not be able to protect your family. What did I do?

I only had one choice– turn to my wife. The CFO/nutritionist/caregiver was about to expand her resume even further. With so much snow in the driveway that we could not get our small car out and with another storm inbound, my wife added snow shoveling to her list of many talents. After working all day, the driveway was clear and we would be able to make it to the doctor’s appointment scheduled for two days later. One day later, the doctor’s office calls and wants to reschedule my appointment. I said, “Excuse me? I am supposed to get my staples removed. Could delaying that cause a problem?” There was a long pause. Then the receptionist said, “Let me check. Can you come in early tomorrow?” I answered, “Yes, I will be there.” Immediately, I begin to wonder what happens if the next predicted storm arrives early or the doctor decides to cancel appointments? Will the incision become infected if the staples stay in too long? Could my wife remove them if necessary? At once, I have visions of my wife handing me a bottle of whiskey and saying drink this while I find the needle-nose pliers.

After successfully repressing my medical fears, we settled in for the evening and the power went out. A call to the power company assured us the power would be back on in two hours. Right; kind of like your call is important to us so please stay on the line until you pass out from exhaustion. As they say, we knew the drill, crank up the alternate heat source, monitor the smoke and CO2 alarms, and pile on the blankets. When the sun came up the next morning, we made coffee (perfect this time), cooked breakfast, and waited for the power to come back on. A short time later, the power was restored, and we were off to see the doctor. As I prepared to have the staples removed, the CFO/nutritionist/caregiver/snow shoveler/intelligence operative went to work. In her best southern drawl, she said, “Doctor, I’m very interested in how staples work. May I observe?” “Sure!, the doctor replied, and he talked her through the process. When the procedure was complete, the doctor left the room. When the nurse entered the room, my wife was examining the instrument used to remove the staples and noted that the package stated that the instrument was for one time use only. “Gee, if you all are going to throw it out anyway, could I have it as a souvenir?” she asked. “I guess so,” said the nurse. BINGO! That’s my girl. Now, I can take my needle nose pliers out of hiding.

What lesson can be learned from this experience?

Have a Succession Plan

If you are the leader of your respective group, establish a clear chain of command as to who takes over if something happens to you. Write it down. A recent article on survival blog, Your Brain on Paper by MR, talked about the importance of written procedures and instructions. This is very good advice. All that knowledge in your head is useless if others in the group don’t have access to it. Rethink your supplies and transport methods. That 90-pound, comprehensive survival kit is really neat, but can your 120-pound wife load it into the car, if you are out of commission? Train and practice. Make sure everyone in your group knows the location of all the equipment as well as how to operate it.

Conclusion

In the introduction, I posed the question, “When is the deadline for prepping?” In my opinion, the deadline was yesterday. It took us years to reach our present level, and it all paid off in the span of ten days. I can easily envision the day when some government panel decides I am too old to qualify for some type of care and my family or friends will have to take over. It could be anything from a weather emergency to a full blown disaster. So, in spite of what the main stream media tells you, being prepared does not make you a nut job; it makes you self-sufficient. So get busy! Lay up food, supplies, training, and knowledge, and stay as healthy as possible.

 

Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.

 

 

Via: survivalblog


Homeland Stockpiling “Less Lethal Specialty Munitions”- Are They Arming for Riots Across America?


One of the biggest stories for years in the alternative media was the mysterious and foreboding purchase by Homeland Security of more than 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition.

Thanks to coverage on prominent sites like DrudgeReport, the story reached into mainstream media, prompting official spin and downplaying of the purchase.

Now, a new Homeland Security purchase order listed on FedBizOpps  also raises an eyebrow or two, given the heated and divided political and social climate at hand. Just look at what happened in Ferguson…

A request for “less lethal specialty munitions” for use by Homeland Security dated March 23, 2015 reads:

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) intends to solicit responses to Request for Information (RFI) 20082225-JTC for Less Lethal Specialty Munitions (LLSM) for use by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). CBP is interested in incorporating commercial and industry practices that support this type of procurement. To accomplish this, CBP intends to make industry a partner in all facets of the acquisition process, specifically by considering existing market capabilities, strengths and weaknesses for the acquisition of this commodity.


Over the course of 9 pages (PDF), the technical requirements call for an arsenal of specialized weaponry for training and deployment against crowds.

On top of a wide range of gas and chemical grenades, rubber bullets and other riot rounds, the purchase calls for “controlled noise and light distraction devices,” including flash bangs which set off a 175 dB sound with 6 – 8 million candelas light bursts in 10 milliseconds.

So why are the Feds prepping to take on crowds?

Officially, the request is put through Customs and Border Patrol, a subset of the Department of Homeland Security, but it is unlikely that the equipment will be used to protect the border and keep out illegal aliens. But the riot gear and crowd control devices have many potential uses.

Perhaps, the equipment for use in instances like last year, when protesters in Murrieta confronted Customs and Border Patrol agents and blocked buses carrying a wave of illegal immigrants from Central America?

The requested equipment includes:

Hand Delivered Pyrotechnic Canisters, including

  • Smoke Canister for Training (Reduced Toxicity)
  • Continuous Discharge Large Smoke Canister (Operations)
  • Continuous Discharge CS Canister
  • Orange Colored Smoke Canister
  • Green Colored Smoke Canister
  • Pocket Tactical Smoke Canister
  • Pocket Tactical CS Canister
  • Three Part Sub-Munitions CS Canister
  • Non-Burning Internal Canister OC Grenade

Non-Pyrotechnic Indoor/Outdoor Use

  • Flameless Expulsion Grenade (OC)
  • Flameless Expulsion Grenade (CS)
  • Flameless Expulsion Grenade (Inert)

Hand Delivered Rubber Ball Grenades

  • Rubber Ball Grenade
  • Rubber Ball Grenade (CS)

40mm Launched Specialty Impact Munitions

  • 40mm Direct Impact Sponge Cartridge
    40mm Direct Impact Sponge Cartridge (OC)
  • 40mm Direct Impact Sponge Cartridge (Marking)
  • 40mm Direct Impact Sponge Cartridge (Inert)
  • 40mm Sponge Training Rounds

Crowd Management Projectile Cartridges

  • 40mm Smokeless Powder Blast (OC)
  • 40mm Smokeless Powder Blast (CS)
  • 40mm Long Range Canister (CS)
  • 40mm Long Range Canister (Smoke)
  • 40mm Cartridge Four Part Sub-Munitions (CS)
  • 40mm Cartridge Four Part Sub-Munitions (Smoke)
  • 40mm Aerial Warning Munitions (100 Meters)
  • 40mm Aerial Warning Munitions (200 Meters)
  • 40mm Aerial Warning Munitions (300 Meters)
  • 40mm Aerial Warning Munitions OC (100 Meters)
  • 40mm Aerial Warning Munitions OC (200 Meters)
  • 40mm Aerial Warning Munitions OC (300 Meters)

Controlled Noise And Light Distraction Devices

  • Distraction Device Compact
  • Distraction Device
  • Distraction Device Reloadable Steel Body
  • Distraction Device Reload
  • Command Initiated Distraction Device Reload
  • Distraction Device Training Fuse
  • Distraction Device Training Body
  • Multiple Detonation Distraction Device
  • Low Profile Distraction Device
  • Command Initiator

Ferret Rounds

  • 40mm Ferret Round (OC Powder)
  • 40mm Ferret Round (OC Liquid)
  • 40mm Ferret Round (CS Powder)
  • 40mm Ferret Round (CS Liquid)
  • 40mm Ferret Round (Inert Powder)

The ferret rounds are designed to penetrate barriers and deliver debilitating or disrupting chemicals:

“The projectile shall be designed to penetrate barriers of glass, particle board, and interior walls. Upon impact of the barrier, the nose cone will rupture and instantaneously deliver the OC liquid on the other side of the barrier. ”

The collection of equipment provides a diverse range of toys with which authorities could push back crowds and potentially intimidate free speech as well.

Are there more riots coming? Is widespread civil unrest only a matter of time? Is it related to martial law exercises like Jade Helm 15?

What do the Feds know that we don’t?

They are getting ready… are you?

 

Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.

 

 

Via:  shtfplan

Make Your Own Fish Cage Trap

Fish traps are as old as humans themselves. They date back to pre-historic hunter gatherer groups, and like many primitive tools, remain perfectly useful to this day.

A stout fish trap offers a fisherman many similar advantages that land-based traps offer hunters. The main advantage of a fish trap is that it allows you to catch fish while you’re off doing other chores or gathering other supplies or food. With a bit of time, a few vines, and some strong reeds or tree branches, you can easily build a fish trap to gather fish for you. This kind of trap can be the difference between life and death in dire situations, or can make running a homestead much easier. Here’s how you can build a working fish trap out of easy to find materials.

Collect your materials
You will need a survival knife or a sharp arrowhead as your primary tool. The fish trap will be constructed from about 20-40 dowels, tree branches or shoots, or strong reeds; and about 100 feet of pliable vine. Wisteria and kudzu runners are particularly good options for your vine. You will need to cut them from the main plant about a week before you want to construct your fish trap so they can dry out and shrink. If possible, some thick cord and strong string or twine are also very useful for this project.

You can use any type of circular object for the frame of your cage – vines, branches, whatever. We use food storage lids in our pictures.


Build the shell
Using the thickest parts of your vines, make three hoops that are about nine or ten inches in diameter. We cut out the tops of food storage lids and used those instead.


The string will be useful for tying the ends of each hoop together, but if you don’t have this available, use more vine to secure the ends of each hoop. Be sure to tightly tie the ends so there is no risk of them coming apart when fish are in the trap.


Next, connect all of the dowels (or branches/tree shoots) at one end to one of the hoops using an alternating weave with more vines. Repeat this process with the second hoop in the center of the reeds, and again with the third hoop at the remaining end to build a cylinder-shaped trap.



You’ll want to spread out the dowels or branches evenly after you’ve completed your weave.


Secure the end
Close off one end of the trap (it doesn’t matter which) by placing smaller dowels/branches across it and securing them between the ends of the lengthwise dowels. Then, weave more vine over and under these dowels to create a mesh that is too small for fish to escape through but that will still allow water to flow through it. Secure the mesh to the hoop with more vine (or use twine if you have it).



Build the funnel entrance
A cone-shaped funnel is the key to a successful fish trap. It will allow fish to enter the trap, but prevent them from leaving it. Using short vine, make another hoop that is slightly smaller in diameter than the cylinder so that you can push it snugly into the trap.


Attach short dowels/branches of irregular lengths to the hoop, securing them with twine or vines. Weave more twine or vines around the middle of these pieces to form them into a cone shape. Push the funnel into the trap, teeth first, and secure it by tying it to the sides of the trap with vines or twine.



Bait and set the trap
Bait the trap using a piece of rotten meat or fish or several worms. Tie the bait to a piece of string and then to the inside of the trap so that it hangs down near the center. If you find that you are losing bait without catching any fish, this is probably because small fish are able to enter and exit the trap. Build a small box using more vines around the bait, and hang this from the center of the trap.

Place the trap in a lake, stream, or river, and secure it to the bottom with a rock. If you are placing it in a stream or river, configure it so that the opening of the trap faces upstream; this will make it even harder for fish that enter it to swim back out. Check it on a regular basis. To harvest your catch, remove the trap from the water, allow the fish to asphyxiate, and then simply open the funnel with your hand, and dump the fish out.


 

Another option of same thing:

 


Fish traps offer the fisherman many of the same rewards that terrestrial traps offer the hunter. Chief among them is the ability to catch something to eat while you’re not around. Given some time, some flexible vines, and a bundle of reeds or tree shoots, you too can build an “automatic fisherman” to bring in fish while you’re busy elsewhere. These traps can be worth a great deal to a starving survivor in a wilderness area. They can also help an angler collect some useful bait fish (where legal to do so). Here’s how to put together a simple fish trap at home.

1. Get The Materials


You’ll need a knife, a bundle of dowels or tree shoots (34 pieces, ¼ inch by 36 inches), and about 100 feet of flexible vine. Kudzu and wisteria runners are great choices. Cut them one week prior to when you want to do complete project to allow for drying and shrinkage. You’ll also need some strong string and some thicker cord.

2. Start The Shell


Take some sections of your thickest vine and tie together two hoops that are 9 to 10 inches in diameter. Use your strong string and tie it tightly. Even if basket weaving is not your strong suit, use the alternating wrap shown in the picture to connect all of your dowels around one of your hoops.

3. Finish The Shell


Repeat the process on the other end to create the cylindrical shell of the trap. Tuck in any loose vine ends to secure the weaving. If you’re not certain it will hold without unraveling, tie some cord around any questionable spots.

4. Plug the End


Time to make a decision: Either weave a plug for one end of the trap or build two funnels. For this trap, I plugged an end with a mesh of dowel and vine. Two funnels may get more fish into the trap, while a solid end may keep more fish in the trap. You’ll have to decide the best approach for your situation.

5. Build A Funnel


Creating a cone-shaped funnel is one of the last steps in building a functional trap. Use string and some short vine pieces to create the cone. Weave in some slender vines to make it stable. Use a variety of lengths in the cone’s “teeth” to make an irregular opening. This funnel should be tied in place after the trap is baited.

6. Baiting And Setting


Using a bit more string, tie some rotten meat inside the trap, near the center. If bait loss becomes a problem, typically due to small fish eating it and swimming through the cage, build a small box with the techniques and materials you used to make the trap. Place the bait in the box and place the box in the trap.

 

Some other options:

 

 

Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.

 

 

Via: thereadystore, outdoorlife

 

Once Every Four Days, The US Power Grid Is Under Attack

According to a recent analysis of federal energy records, the nation’s power grid experiences cyber and physical attacks nearly once every four days.

The investigation revealed that the critical infrastructure of the US power grid sustained 362 attacks between 2011 and 2014, causing outages or other power disturbances to the US Department of Energy. In the majority of these instances, the suspects responsible for these attacks were never identified.

“A widespread outage lasting even a few days, could disable devices ranging from ATMs to cellphones to traffic lights, and could threaten lives if heating, air conditioning and health care systems exhaust their backup power supplies,” read the USA Today report.

The examination, led by USA Today and more than 10 Gannett newspapers and TV stations across the country, analyzed thousands of pages of official government records, federal energy data, as well as a survey of more than 50 electric utilities.

Key findings from the study revealed:

  • The industry’s security guidelines are written and enforced by an organization funded by the power industry itself. The number of security penalties it issued decreased by 30% from 2013 to 2014.
  • Critical equipment, including transformers, is often visible in plain sight, merely protected by chain-link fencing and a few security cameras.
  • Less severe cyber attacks occurred more often than once every four days.

As former chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Jon Wellinghoff explains, the issue of power grid security becomes even more alarming considering its reliance on other physical equipment and a small number of critical substations.

The result is the high likelihood of “cascading failures” – in other words, the failure of a single element requires energy to be extracted from other areas. If multiple operations fail simultaneously, this cascading effect could leave millions in the dark for days, weeks or even longer.

“Those critical nodes, in fact, can be attacked in one way or another,” said Wellinghoff. “You have a very vulnerable system that will continue to be vulnerable until we figure out a way to break it out into more distributed systems.”

Tripwire Senior Security Analyst Ken Westin adds this risk continues to increase as more critical infrastructure becomes connected to IT networks, which are in turn, connected to the Internet.

“Most industrial control systems use antiquated software and protocols intended for stability and efficiency, not security, as these systems were not originally designed to be accessed by the modern interconnected networks we have today,” said Westin.

Previous incidents impacting the industry have led to small yet essential steps to the improvement of policies and procedures protecting the nation’s power grid.

In 2013, a coordinated attack against a northern California Pacific Gas & Electric Metcalf substation served as a wake-up call to the industry. As a result of the incident, FERC ordered the implementation of new rules for physical security, requiring utilities to identify potentially vulnerable critical infrastructure and map out security plans.

“It’s one of those things: One is too many, so that’s why we have to pay attention. The threats continue to evolve, and we have to continue to evolve as well.”

–Cheryl LaFleur, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman

 Additionally, PG&E announced a $100 million investment in 2014 over the next three years on substation security for several high-priority facilities, including enhanced intruder detection systems.

The company also partnered with other utilities and industry associations to share information in a collaborative effort to identity new and innovative ways to further protect the electric power industry.

Nonetheless, records from hundreds of other recent incidents prove that similar weaknesses continue to threaten the security of thousands of electric facilities across the nation, opening the gate for more cyber and physical attacks to come.

 

Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.

 

Via: tripwire

The Zombie Apocalypse: “Assume The Just In Time Infrastructure That Supplies Our Society Breaks Down” – What Do You Prep For

Guest post by Karl Denninger at The Market Ticker.

If you’re new to this series, the first articles in it are What Do You Prep For, Common Personal Disasters and Local / Regional Trouble; you should go back and read them, in sequence, because we’re going to build on them.

We’ve covered the common requirements for any sort of preparation (that’s you, primarily) and then personal and regional trouble.

Now we’ll get to where most so-called “preppers” spend their time, effort and money: The Zombie Invasion.

I’ll use zombies for any sort of large-scale (or worse) disaster you can conjure up.  Mass insurgency, an economic collapse that reaches (or initiates in) mass infrastructure disruption, the Yellowstone caldera blowing up, an EMP attack from North Korea, etc.  Pick one as they all wind up more-or-less in the same place.

Before we begin let’s cut the crap on probability: These events are extremely improbable.  You are far more likely to die in a car crash, drown in your own pool or even be hit by lightning than you are to have anything like this come to pass.  In terms of statistical odds you’re utterly nuts to prepare against any such event since the cost is (quite) high and the probability of any such event is vanishingly small.  In point of fact over the last couple hundred years no such event of this magnitude has happened, save during wartime where there is plenty of warning, in any modern nation.

Let’s take the relatively-common fear of an EMP strike of some sort.  These fears are, for the most part in my opinion, wildly misplaced.  The reason is quite-simple (and yes, I’ve run the math to back it up): induced current is not just a function of field strength it is also a function of the angle of incidence upon the conductor(s) in question and the length over which it impinges.

So for a given “orientation” of said pulse there will be conductors that are at a “good” angle (from a standpoint of inducing a current), a bad (nearly null) one and everything in between.  This in turn means that the “end of the world” sort of scenarios put forward are extremely unlikely.

Yes, there will be damage and quite possibly a lot of it.  But the common “everything goes dark” scenario is unlikely.

Electrical grid disruptions are not to be taken lightly; the risk of them is quite real.  It’s just that EMP is far down the list of likely causes because such an attack is both indiscriminate and unfocused with the likely damage pattern both disperse and random — yet the points of damage required to cause a serious disruption are neither random or indiscriminate.

So let’s assume that by whatever cause the just in time infrastructure that supplies our society breaks down.  Pick a cause; it doesn’t really much matter.

What happens?

First, energy production and distribution becomes severely impaired.  The opening assumption used to be that natural gas supplies would remain available as the pumping stations used to use the gas itself as fuel to run the pumps.  The EPA has largely put the kabash on that and as a result a large percentage of the pumping stations now are electrically driven.

Yes, they (like most other critical infrastructure) have backup generators.  That’s nice — until the fuel runs out, and if the refinery and distribution system is disrupted it will.  The same is true for water and sewer systems, both of which require electrical power to operate at a municipal level.

We’re talking pretty basic stuff here folks, and even if you have a septic system (you live outside an incorporated area with mandated sewer use) you probably have a water problem as most well systems are relatively deep and require quite a bit of power to run.  Without electricity your nice well is worthless too; municipal systems with water towers are only usable until the tower is empty without power to refill it.

Municipal systems also depend on chlorine delivery to make the water safe during the time it is in the tank and in transit to your tap through miles of pipe.  That chemical has to be delivered to the facility on a regular basis; it runs out, you see.  When it does the water in your tap is no longer guaranteed potable.

As with a personal or regional disaster if you’re reliant on some sort of “enhanced” capability provided by today’s technology (e.g. medical intervention) you’re in big trouble.  The only good news is that hospitals and similar facilities will be the priority points for whatever fuel remains in the distribution system, so their generators (assuming they continue to work) will be among the last to go down.  The bad news is that there will be an awful lot of people drawn to the nice bright light in said hospital when everything within 20 miles of you, that is, to the horizon in all directions, is dark!

So let’s think about this, shall we?

You have “prepared” for such a zombie apocalypse and have a generator and fuel to run it for…… how long?

You have a means of making sure you can get rid of your human waste and obtain potable water for…. how long?

You have food stored of some sort (by the way, have you actually tried eating it for a week or a month and thus know you can do so without gastrointestinal distress if necessary — and you find it palatable?) and thus can obtain sustenance for….. how long?

And finally, you are likely to be one in a hundred, or a thousand (if not worse) within a wide radius that did so.

The latter is a very big problem when the rest of the population has none of the above and discovers you do, because if anyone else can attack any of those points (e.g. your water supply, your waste disposal capacity, your food storage, your shelter’s integrity, etc) you are going to be forced into the open to repel that attack and defend the resource and when you do against any sort of superior numerical opposition the odds are you’re toast.

You can’t run a genset without everyone within a reasonable distance knowing it’s on, as you’ll be the noise source of the neighborhood.  Further, the first time you shoot (anything) everyone within a half-mile or more will know you did so.

If you’re in a suburban or urban area none of your effort is going to do you a bit of good, save one point: You’ll probably get more of them before they get you.  That’s a nice consolation but it won’t change the outcome.

In a rural area you have an even bigger problem, in that isolation is not your friend if and when you’re discovered.  You may think you are surrounded by like-minded people but you have no way to prove it, and that again is a bet your life sort of thing.  A handful of people who want what you have and can lob a couple of Molotov Cocktails at your roof from cover at a decent distance precluding you from shooting them (assuming you detect the impending attack) using extremely primitive machinery they can build from either a couple of bicycle inner tubes or common rubber tubing will force you out into the open and then you’re a sitting duck.

Don’t kid yourselves folks — unless you have managed to organize a material number of people prior to the event, you have jointly invested in a multi-layer perimeter defense environment (and are both trained and prepared to use it) and to an individual you’re prepared to do whatever is necessary on a preemptive basis to stop any sort of incursion or breach both physically and on an intelligence basis both prior to and during any such event you are almost-certainly going to wind up dead.

This does not mean that you shouldn’t bother trying, or shouldn’t prepare.  In particular personal preparation and improvement in your fitness and health are worth the benefits even though it is almost-certain that the zombies will never come — except in a movie.  You’ll be happier, healthier and more-prosperous — and that’s its own reward. Further, being prepared against the far more common scenarios is well worth it; in those cases you can have a real impact on the probability of success.

It does, however, means that the false bravado that is often on display among people in these groups is to be snickered at rather than emulated, as if such an event occurs the odds of the outcome being any different whether you do or don’t are simply not in your favor and any resource you expend in “preparing” for such a scenario has far better and more-productive use.

 

Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.

 

 

Via: market-ticker

Local / Regional Trouble: What Do You Prep For

Guest post by Karl Denninger at The Market Ticker.

If you’re new to this series, the first two articles in it are What Do You Prep For and Common Personal Disasters; you should go back and read both, in sequence, because we’re going to build on them.

Next, and far down the list from a common personal disaster (like a house fire or a car wreck out in the middle of BF-nowhere) is an event that impacts more than you and extends to either a local or regional area.

None of these are especially likely but if you live in some parts of the country you may experience a few of these during your life.  In other parts of the country these sort of events are exceedingly rare, but they still dwarf the sort of event most “preppers” are thinking of by a factor of at least 100.

These events all have one thing in common: They typically make the news in a big way and while statistically they’re unlikely they sure suck if you’re one of the people who get nailed by them!

I divide these events into two categories: The foreseeable and the unforeseeable.

Foreseeable events are things such as hurricanes.  Back before weather radar, near-instant communication and satellites (e.g. the 1800s and before) you found out about a hurricane when it showed up.  There was little warning until the storm hit, at which point you were either prepared or not, and suffered greatly or not.  This is no longer true; it is virtually always the case that you have at least a couple of days, and usually a week advance warning that a potential impact from these storms is coming.

To a somewhat-lesser extent this is also the case for floods.  While true flash floods do happen most of them are reasonably foreseeable at least several hours in advance.

Few of these sorts of events come with certainty of an impact; it is very common, for example, for a hurricane to be targeting “somewhere” on the gulf coast and yet whether we’re about to get 120mph winds or a thunderstorm is not known until hours before it happens.  But that’s not the same thing as “no warning”; there’s plenty of it, if you pay any attention at all.  Most floods are the same way; you may not get hit with a flood at any particular time but that the conditions are ripe for one to get you is usually known reasonably well in advance.

For a foreseeable event one gets to choose whether to stay (if you have and can up-armor where you are sufficiently) or go (if not.)  This is not always a simple decision but it usually can come down to one or two hard decision points where the prudent person either leaves or does not.  Fleeing is always an option and for some people (e.g. military members) you may be ordered out under certain circumstances, but for those of us who get to choose where and how to cover our own ass we decide.

Unforeseeable events include things like the possibility of wildfires (in some parts of the country); while this looks foreseeable at first blush it can be the other way around as the fire might start just beyond your property giving you hours or even mere minutes of warning.  Then there are tornadoes (anywhere from hours of knowing one’s possible to seconds before you’re hit), tsunamis (anywhere from a couple of hours to a few minutes warning) and earthquakes (virtually never any effective warning.)

These events are relatively simple to plan for and they come down to two basic points:

  • Hardening, to the extent reasonable and possible, your residence so as to withstand whatever is coming and mitigate the conditions that will occur after the fact.  This means not just mitigating things like flying missiles (during a hurricane a pinecone may as well be a rock shot out of a cannon!) but also dealing with the potential of being cut off from normal “supplies” (utilities, fuel, food stores, etc) for a period of time.  If you are in an earthquake area consider an automated (seismic) shut-off on gas lines and power, for example, as one of the greater risks of such an event isn’t the shaking — it’s the fires that result from severed gas and electrical connections.
  • For those events in which one gets warning, or an opportunity to bug out immediately after the event, a plan of action to bail out with a defined time to execute if the parameters of safely sitting put are breached.

The “Go-NoGo” decision is one that requires extremely careful consideration and will be different for each person and identified risk.  For example, if you live in a hurricane flood zone (where storm surge is a risk) you must determine where your exit choke points are and at what point they get cut off.  Even if your location is not subject to flooding at that level of surge once your exit points are inundated you are forced to stay, like it or not.  Good planning and risk control means that if you live in a place where exit choices are limited by such choke points, and in many cases they are, prudence dictates that you bug out if your option to exit will be cut off.  

Do not ignore this part of preparation or fail to treat it with respect and never violate a zero barrier in this regard as doing so may get you killed. This will often mean bugging out unnecessarily (a serious annoyance and possible expense) but that beats not doing so when you should have.  If you get cut off during an attempted bug-out you may not be able to return, either due to the authorities or conditions, to where you started.  During Hurricane Andrew, for example, marinas evicted boat owners quite late during the approach of the storm where bridges had already been locked down.  Due to the storm’s approach and the locked-down bridges many of the vessels were unable to reach any sort of rationally-safe harbor and were forced to attempt to ride out the storm in unprotected areas — with disastrous results.

Hardening requires a systemic approach, particularly for unforeseeable risks.  There is an insurance element to this if you have material property worth insuring (but do pay attention to what it costs, the relative risk, and whether it’s worth it on balance) but in addition you need to contemplate if there’s an unforeseeable impact of some sort what will survive of your preparedness and how will you access and use it?

A chainsaw is great to clear a felled tree provided the tree does not fall on the shed with the chainsaw in it, destroying it before it can be used.  As such a big part (in fact, the largest part!) of preparedness for such events is figuring out where your weak spots are and taking action to mitigate or remove them before the opportunity arises for the bad event to occur.  The person who leaves their vehicle where it can be flooded out by rising water, for example, might not care if he has comprehensive insurance (other than the claim hassle and impact on future rates), but he sure as hell does care if not!

I consider all of these events to be 5 – 7 day risks.  This bounds my preparation and expectations for such events.  I expect that during that time period if I do not bug out I will have to provide all of the following:

  • Drinkable water or other fluid.  No, beer and liquor does not count.  I will probably have access to water, but it may not be potable; again, you need about a half-gallon per-person per day, assuming only drinking.
  • Food of some sort.  It doesn’t have to be great, and you will survive not having any, but it’ll be damned uncomfortable and there’s no reason to put up with that.  Said food doesn’t have to be complicated or special, just edible and calorie dense.  There is no argument for stashing back a month or six worth of food for these types of events unless you intend to distribute it to others in your immediate area (more on that in a minute.)
  • Shelter.  My residence may be uninhabitable or destroyed, in whole or part.
  • Tools for makeshift repairs and mitigation.  These will vary widely depending on where you are; a chainsaw is rather useful if in a storm zone, for example.  A circular saw (controlled depth-of-cut) is a must if you live in a hurricane or flood zone and might flood; the reason is that if you flood you must get the wet part of the drywall cropped out and the carpet out of the building immediately as soon as the water recedes or you will wind up with mold in the walls and your building will be economically destroyed.  It’s ok if this is a battery-powered unit provided you have a couple of batteries and a charger (more on that in a minute too.)  In addition you need at least one solid means (and more is better!) to put out fires that will survive whatever events you prepare against; a surprising number of people do fine in the event itself and then a fire that is otherwise controllable gets started and they have nothing to put it out with.
  • Power.  Some means of making enough power to run your refrigeration (if undamaged) and, if undamaged, your AC.  Again, a minor flood is verysurvivable provided you can get the moisture out of the house fast.  AC does a great job of this; it’s not the cooling, it’s the dehumidification that is of value.  No power, however, and you’re screwed — and that circular saw doesn’t run without power either.  Realize that most portable generators people buy will run your refrigerator and that saw but will not start your whole house AC unit.  Starting requirements for large loads like AC units are much higher than running requirements, frequently by a factor of two or three.  Be aware that the small, portable gensets such as the little 2kw Hondas, are reasonably light, quiet, and fuel efficient and they can run a refrigerator or microwave (not both at once!) and a few lights but cannot start or run a whole-house AC unit, hot water heater or range.  A larger, heavier 8kw “portable” (frame-mounted but heavy) unit can run a range or hot water heater but nothing else at the same time, and still can’t start the house AC unit.  Whether all of this is acceptable or not is up to you but do understand the trade-offs.  Natural gas fueled, permanently-installed generators, provided they are protected from flooding, are nice unless one of the risks is an earthquake where gas service is almost-certain to be lost.  Whatever direction you go and whatever limits you accept for power make sure you have enough fuel to power minimum requirements for 3-5 days because it may be at least that long before you can get more fuel.  For fuel budget expect a gas-fueled generator to require 1 gallon per hour for every 10 horsepower of engine size at full load; a diesel will require 1 gallon per hour for roughly 15 horsepower of engine size at full load.  At half-load you should size fuel requirements for 60-65% of that fuel consumption.  With the exception of the little inverter generators (e.g. the 2Kw Hondas) a generator running at very light load will burn far more fuel than its load percentage would otherwise imply, so if you’re not consuming power you should turn it off!  In addition be aware that generators all make noise and after an event with utility power off it will be very quiet; as such running a genset attracts attention.  Finally, these units all require maintenance if you expect them to start and run when the emergency arises, and you need make-up (or change) oil (and possibly a replacement filter) if the requirement for operation is likely to extend beyond 3-4 days as most small units have 100-hour oil change intervals.
  • Any sort of medicine or other supplies you must have.  Be careful here if you’re dependent on any sort of medical infrastructure; you’re in big trouble in an event like this and, if it’s foreseeable, bug out every time rather than take the risk.
  • Security.  This is people, environment (e.g. what you can lock down, etc) and, probably, weapons.  Looting is unfortunately a reality after events like this and you may have to shoot.  This is a particular problem if you have external assets that are not under continuous observation and are worth stealing (that’s a very purdy genset you have there on the porch….)  Do not expect communications of any sort, other than Ham Radio, to be working.  The good news is that unlike the personal emergency in most areas of the country having weapons on your private property, and using them in defense if someone attempts to loot it, is not going to get you arrested.  Note that you don’t have eyes in the back of your head (that is, you’re severely disadvantaged if you’re alone!), you need to sleep (ditto) and further one standing against a small mob, even if you’re armed, isn’t going to give you great odds.  On the other hand a neighborhood that posts a watch after an event like this is unlikely to get overrun even by a fairly determined bunch of looters.  LA is instructive; after the Rodney King event a number of business were looted and burned but shopkeepers who decided to stay and defend their property with a shotgun did better, on-balance, than those who didn’t.  Speaking of which, if you have gross levels of supplies (e.g. food) after such an event providing them to your neighbors as a cooperative effort that happens to include perimeter security is an excellent and prudent trade.  This is what you can productively use that six month supply of freeze-dried food for — along with your propane-fired grill or turkey cooker to heat water — when a hurricane comes.
  • Medical.  You need a decent med kit for events like this; it is not optional.  Besides the usual cuts and scrapes that arise there is a significant risk of severe puncture or laceration wounds from falling or flying objects.  These frequently produce severe hemorrhage and will reliably kill the victim if not immediately dealt with.  Severe crush injuries also occur and those can be even worse as freeing someone from such an entrapment can open an arterial hemorrhage that kills in minutes or less.  You cannot expect medical support assistance for anywhere from hours to days after such an event.  There are limits to what you can reasonably handle, but again being able to clean wounds and deal with short-term infection risks, along with having a means to control severe bleeding, is certainly in order.

Notice what’s missing here — long-term water and food as other than a means to help your neighbors who can in exchange assist with joint security, to name two.  It is extremely unlikely that you will be cut off from assistance for more than a week after such an event, but there’s a wide gulf between “assistance” and “comfort.”

As an example after Ivan here in the local area we had power back in 18 hours.  That’s wasn’t exactly luck; I knew we were in a priority restore area due to what else is on the feed that serves our subdivision, along with how that gets fed.  But that was no guarantee of quick restoration, of course — just an educated guess.  We would have been fine without it, but having utility power back certainly was nice.

On the other hand people not far from me were off for a couple of weeks due to destroyed feeder lines, poles and transformers.  This means you either had your own means of power (e.g. a generator and fuel) or you had no ability to maintain your refrigeration and lighting.  If your range and oven were electric then a small portable generator was insufficient to power them; I hope your BBQ grill had either available charcoal or a full bottle of gas or you couldn’t cook anything!

I made the decision not to bug out during Ivan about 7 hours before landfall.  We were prepared to go if it was necessary, but judged that it was not.  That was the correct decision when all was said and done.

After Katrina there were places without power for an extended period of time, plus of course the flooding.  But everyone who was in the below sea-level areas knew the risk of this in advance.  Those who got nailed with the surge in coastal Mississippi, on the other hand, probably didn’t expect a 20′ wall of water, but that they got.  Everyone in that area had warning though — at least enough to bug out, and if you are smart when there’s a Cat 5 storm bearing down on you unless you’re 30+ feet above water in a structure that can withstand 150mph winds that’s exactly what you do!

If you do decide to bug out you need to have prepared, in advance, exactly what’s going and how.  You also need to contemplate the possibility that there will be nothing to come back to.  The preparation list should be divided into three groups: Must havewant to have and nice to have.

Must have things should be those that can be hand-carried in aggregate if necessary (e.g. your means of transport are destroyed or unavailable and you’re reduced to human power.)  This includes money (don’t count on credit card terminals working without electricity!), essential documents (e.g. ID), a change of clothes and everything in your bug-out bag for a personal emergency in the current set of environmental conditions you are in.  This should all fit in that bag or on your person.  Note that decent foot protection is absolutely mandatory.

Want to have includes things that you can transport for reasonable distances on foot and without material hassle with any sort of mechanized transport.  This, in short, should fit in a large backpack or be able to be attached to it.  Very important personal effects get added here, along with a limited number of things like insurance papers or other items that aren’t routinely in a safe deposit box at the bank.

Nice to have can fill your car’s trunk or even the entire vehicle, for that matter, or more if you have the means (e.g. a trailer, motor home, etc.)  Again, prioritize.

All of this has to be figured out in advance.  You should be able to execute a bug-out with “must have” in under a minute, with “want to have” in 10 minutes or less and “nice to have” within an hour.

Note that you may well start with Nice to have and wind up losing it — vehicles do break down, for example, and if you’re still in the danger zone when it does you may be forced to abandon all but “must have” at that point.  For this reason these three categories of items need to be separated and loaded such that grabbing one category down (to “want to have”) is simple and requires no time or rummaging.  Not co-mingling categories is extremely important; bug-outs in advance of, during, or immediately after mass events are nasty, often-chaotic and clogged messes with no certainty of reaching your goal.  It is very important that if your plans go sideways you can ditch down a category or even two within seconds.

In addition you should plan your bug-out location for such an event with a primary and alternate destination, possibly both in the same general direction, and finally, determine a tertiary destination in a different direction.  All of these destinations should be reasonably clear of the expected impact radius of the disaster you’re preparing against and all should be reachable within the carrying capacity of your vehicle for fuel at a pessimistic estimate on fuel economy with no less than a 20% reserve.  An empty fuel tank with no means of filling it before departure means you’re screwed, incidentally, and being caught in a potential surge zone during a storm with a dead car, as just one example, is about as bad as it gets.  During a bug-out occasioned by a regional event you cannot expect fuel to be available at any point in the trip; in such an event all the fueling stations on your chosen path are likely to be immediately drained by others and you may be forced to travel certain routes and avoid others by the authorities.  This is one of the better arguments, by the way, for always keeping your vehicle at least half-full.

 

Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.

 

Via: market-ticker

What Do You Prep For?

Guest post by Karl Denninger at The Market Ticker.

One of the more-interesting discussions I’ve had over the years on a fairly consistent basis deals with the premise of prepping — usually initiated by someone who’s talking about a bug-out location, firearms, (freeze-dried or home-grown) food or (usually) all of the above.

Let’s dissect this a bit, because the word prepping or prepper describe a lot of different things — and frankly, the more I hear about some of them the more I nod in approval at some, while smirking at others.  I think it’s time we have this discussion, particularly given the rather-precarious nature of our global economy (driven almost-entirely by government attempts to protect certain powerful people and institutions.)

Underlying all of this is a problem that I and others have recognized for a long time: Humans do notoriously poorly at analyzing “tail risks” and acting appropriately in the face of them.  I’ll just put one example out there — the Jews during WWII.  Hitler’s soldiers frequently came into a town with a few dozen men armed with machine guns and rounded up thousands of people, marching them into waiting boxcars.

The decision point to either riot or get into the boxcar happened right then and there, and was irrevocable.

If you got into the boxcar, and essentially all of the folks in the town did, you were almost-certain to die.  Not instantly, but certainly.  Once you were in that boxcar there was nothing more to be done; you were going to be unloaded inside a fenced compound with crew-served weapons canvassing the perimeter, and were outright screwed.

The problem was that if you decided to riot singularly you were going to die with certainty.  But if the village rioted collectively, a hundred, two hundred or five hundred of you would die but the rest would not because you would have overrun the relatively small contingent of soldiers and, the first time they had to reload their hand-held weapons they were going to get sacked.

What’s even worse is that some of these soldiers posed for pictures while they were engaged in this “job.”  A reasonably-close study of those images shows that in many cases their weapons were either unloaded or not charged; that is, not ready to immediately fire upon the citizens!

The mathematically correct decision was to bum rush the soldiers.  The reason is this: You had no downside in doing so, and while the potential for upside (living) wasn’t wonderful it beat the alternative.

So let’s look at a few scenarios that you can prep for, and then look at the potential range of outcomes and whether you’re likely to influence them with your actions.

But before we go into those scenarios I want to discuss something that’s even more-important: your personal sensitivity to specific disruptions.

Let’s take a few relatively extreme examples.  If you are on dialysis, for example, and the center and/or hospitals in the area where you are happen to be unable to provide that service you’re incapacitated within a few days and dead within a few more.  This is also true if you are insulin-dependent and lose either your insulin supply orrefrigeration.  Then there are those with even shorter time-lines — those dependent on oxygen supplementation to name just one example.

If you are in one of these categories then all the “ordinary” prepper thoughts are utterly worthless.  Some of these needs can be hedged against, but not all.  Medical technology dependency is one of the worst because there is really no hedge available to people of ordinary means that is effective.  As such if you, or someone you love, is in such a situation you need to give serious thought as to whether you can do something about that and, if you can, do it.  If you can’t, either due to bad luck or previous choices that you cannot reverse the effect of then in my opinion the rest of this discussion is not only pointless but you ought to expend your resources elsewhere and derive pleasure to the extent you’re able from the resource you would otherwise divert to such an attempt.  The one place you do want to spend resource preparing is on a reliable and executable plan to get the hell out of dodge at the first sign of trouble to somewhere that has the resources available for you to continue onward.  Figure that transportation requirement out, make damn sure it is always available, have three destinations with all reachable within no more than one half of the amount of time you have until you’re seriously impaired and maintain that as your primary — if not only — “preparedness” strategy.  This will cover local and (minor) regional problems; for anything more-severe, which I’ll get into in a later article, you must accept that there’s nothing productive you can do to alter the outcome.

Second, but not far down the list, is those of you who are allegedly preppers and have significant but able to be mitigated physical or emotional issues.  Deal with them now, and first, before worrying about the rest.  These sorts of issues take months — and sometimes years — to handle.  The most-important assets you have in any bad situation are your mind and bodily stamina.  If you are mentally unstable in any material way or physically challenged in a way you can address (e.g. you’re fat and thus unable to undertake a hike of 10 or 20 miles with a heavy pack — or run a few miles — should the need arise) then fix that right now.  Again, all the prepping in the world is immaterial if you don’t survive long enough for your supplies and planning to matter.

Next you should read: common scenarios!

 

Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.

 

Via: market-ticker