It is the final backup plan for a lot of us in the case of a disaster. A generous supply of cold hard cash to buy our way out of trouble, pick up as many last-minute supplies as possible or to acquire resources that are unavailable to anyone with a credit card in a world where the electricity is out and the internet is down. We frequently talk about having cash for emergencies, but how much cash should you have if the grid goes down? What will you be able to purchase with your doomsday supply and how long would it last in the first place?

One of our readers made a recommendation the other day to have between $500 and $1000 in cash for your bug out bag and at the time it prompted me to consider again if this amount makes sense. In my personal preparedness plans I have a supply of cash but I am always trying to figure out if what I have is enough or too much. Will it even matter when TEOTWAWKI comes and how can I best use the cash I have to survive?

Why do you need to have cash on hand?

You want to know the time when you will need cash the most? It will be when you can’t get to it. How many of you right now have no cash at all in your wallets or purses? I used to be the same way. I never had cash and relied on the ready availability of cash machines or most often the ability to pay for virtually everything with a debit card. How convenient is it to never have to make change or worry if you have enough cash when with the swipe of a card your bank account funds are at your disposal. This is a great technological advance, but the problem is that this requires two things to be functioning. First, the card readers and ATM machines require electricity. If the electricity is out, neither of these two machines works. The second thing is a network connection. If the network is down, even with electricity the transaction won’t work and you can’t pay for goods or get cash from your bank.

In a disaster, one of the first casualties is electricity. This doesn’t have to be due to some cosmic solar flare that has rendered the grid useless, it could be as destructive and common as a fire, flood, earthquake, tornado or winter storm. It could also be from simple vandalism or perhaps terrorism. A major fiber optic cable was cut in Arizona back in February leaving businesses without the ability to accept payments. When the electricity is out, you aren’t going to be able to access your cash via the normal means so having a supply on hand is going to be a huge advantage for you in the right circumstances.

Even if there is no natural disaster, you are still at the mercy of your bank. What if your bank closes or there is a bank holiday declared because of some economic crisis. In any of these situations, if you are dependent on access to money that is controlled by either technology or physical limitations like a bank office it is wise to have a backup plan should either of those two conditions prevent you from getting cash.

What is cash good for in a crisis?

I think there are two levels to consider when it comes to keeping cash on hand. There is the bug out scenario mentioned above where you would have some “walking around money” to take care of relatively minor needs like food, a hotel or gas. The second is for a longer or more widespread unavailability of funds. Let’s say the economy tanks and the price of everything skyrockets but stores are still open for business. Your bank is one of the casualties, but you had a few thousand dollars of cash stored away that you could use to purchase food, gas and necessary preparedness items for your family. In this scenario, the government is still backing the fiat currency and vendors are still accepting it as a form of payment. For this scenario having a few thousand dollars makes sense.

But what if we have an extreme event where the currency is devalued and is essentially worthless? Your thousands of dollars might only buy you a loaf of bread. Don’t believe it can happen? It did to the Weimar Republic after WWI so it can happen again. That isn’t to say it will, but you should balance how much money you have squirreled away under your mattress with supplies you can purchase now that will last and keep you alive during that same event. My goal is to make sure I have the basics I need to survive at home for several months to a year without needing to spend any cash. This way, if the money is worthless, I still have what my family needs to survive.

If we have a regional disaster where you can bug out to a safer location, your cash should serve you well. Of course if you are in a safer location, assuming electricity was working your access to bank funds should still be working. If this is truly the end of the world as we know it, how long will that cash you have be worth anything?

How much cash do you need?

So the million dollar question is how much cash should you have if the grid goes down? I always try to plan for the worst case scenario. My rationale is that if I am prepared for the end of the world as we know it, I should be just as prepared for any lesser disaster or crisis I may be faced with. The way I see it is if we do have a disaster, you aren’t going to be using that cash most likely to pay your mortgage, student loans, rent, or your credit card bills. Cash will go to life saving supplies and this will need to be used in the earliest hours of any crisis before all of the goods are gone or the cash is worthless. Once people realize for example that the government has been temporarily destroyed, they aren’t going to want to take your $500 for a tank of gas. They are going to want guns, food or bullets.

I also don’t see you using your cash to buy passage to another country, but that’s just me. I know there is a historical precedent for that, but I am not planning on that being something I realistically attempt with my family. I am also not planning on bribing any officials with cash either. My cash is for last-minute necessities and then it is back into the hopefully safe confines of my home to plan the next steps. For that I have only a couple of thousand dollars in cash stored away. I figure if I need more than that I didn’t plan well. Also, I would rather spend my money on supplies like long-term storable food and equipment than having a large horde of cash. With that amount, I figure I can make one last run if needed or be able to weather any short-term emergency when I can’t access cash.

What is the best place to hide cash in your home?

I wrote a post awhile back titled, How to hide your money where the bankers won’t find it that had lots of good ideas for reasonably safe places you could store cash. As I said in that article, you do have risks involved with keeping cash in your house, but I think you have just the same, if not worse risks relying on banks to keep your money safe and give it back when you want it. There are a million places to hide cash, but you can get tricky and buy a fake shaving cream safe to store several hundred dollars in there. Just be careful you don’t throw that away. There are other options like wall clocks with a hidden compartment inside that might be less prone to getting tossed in the trash. Your imagination is really all that is needed for a good hiding place, but I would caution you that you don’t store cash in too many places or you could forget where you hid it. This happened to me when I had hidden some cash behind an item that I ended up giving to my daughter because I thought I didn’t need it anymore. Imagine my surprise when she came into the living room and said, “Dad, I found an envelope with a lot of money in it”. I gave her a twenty for a reward…

What about you? How much cash do you think you need to have on hand and what do you plan on spending it on if the grid goes down?

Too many American politicians at all levels of government have come to believe that your money is their money. Federal, state and local tax rates are set annually and often arbitrarily based on the issues that elected officials and tax managers consider to be important. Input from the public is basically unwelcome except at election time but, even then, the breakdown of dollars and cents that will be coming out of one’s pocket is rarely under discussion.

It is past time to consider what the pie in the sky being proposed by the Democrats, since they are currently in power, will actually cost the American taxpayer. Bear in mind, that Democratic Party proposals that are now being floated are directed at certain constituencies that the party is seeking to weld into an unbeatable coalition that will defy all Republican attempts to recover either Congress or the Presidency. Similar activity is taking place at the state and local level. There is no consideration of the fact that government, at least theoretically, is intended to benefit all of the citizenry, not a select portion thereof that will henceforth be required to deliver the vote loyally. Politicians who manipulate the system with that in mind should be sent to jail, but alas, in the US system no one is ever punished, even if they start a war under false premises as did former President George W Bush and his apparatchiks.

Under the Democrats, the entire process whereby the spoils derived from being power are distributed is being driven by social engineering, i.e. race and gender. One of President Joe Biden’s first moves upon taking office was to propose special payments and other incentives for black farmers, who, his administration argued, had been disadvantaged because they had been systematically denied loans for many years. It should seem outrageous that federal tax dollars were to be used to support only one racial group, but not a single Democrat appeared to be disturbed. Fortunately, a federal court ruled favorably in a case brought by a white farmer claiming that racially directed government assistance is unconstitutional as it violates the “equal protection under the law” principle. The Democrats are, however, continuing to push for their program of tying blacks firmly into their coalition, even if it means creating a system that is manifestly and even transparently unfair.

One of the most bizarre news stories of the past several weeks has to be the revelation that the Defense Department will be paying for transgender surgery for those biological males in the ranks that want to become women and vice versa. One can honestly accept that there are transgender individuals in the so-called armed services and they deserve respect for what they perhaps quite genuinely are, but this goes well beyond that. In the usual squeaky-voiced pander much favored by the Biden Administration, Veteran Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough announced during “Pride Week” that the new guidelines would create a “safe and caring” environment for all veterans, while also citing the “dark history” of discrimination against gay and transgender military personnel. “Safe and caring?” Our military? Hope they never have to fight a real war.

The White House also got into the promotion, releasing a statement that “President Biden believes that gender identity should not be a bar to military service and that America’s strength is found in its diversity. This question of how to enable all qualified Americans to serve in the military is easily answered by recognizing our core values. America is stronger, at home and around the world, when it is inclusive. The military is no exception. Allowing all qualified Americans to serve their country in uniform is better for the military and better for the country because an inclusive force is a more effective force. Simply put, it’s the right thing to do and is in our national interest.”

The statement is like many, Executive Order signing statements coming out of the Biden White House, complete nonsense. The historically most effective fighting forces have had high levels of cohesion, not diversity and it is difficult to imagine what they national interest would be in having an army that can’t fight. Transgenders were, in fact, first allowed to serve, predictably, under President Barack Obama before being blocked by President Donald Trump. They are now again a cherished part of the military community under Honest Joe Biden and both active duty transgenders and veterans will soon be able to receive gender-transition surgeries, mostly through the Veterans Affairs (VA) health care coverage. It is estimated that there are now 15,000 transgender individuals on active duty while possibly as many as 135,000 more are veterans. The numbers seem impossibly large, but gender transition surgeries will now be covered by the string of military hospitals and the veteran healthcare network.

Bear in mind that transgender transformation surgery is not urgent care or even health maintenance: it is an optional procedure intended to turn G.I. Joe into G.I. Jane or the reverse. Also bear in mind that the US taxpayer submits to the burden of the enormous and growing so-called Defense budget in the belief that it exists to protect the United States, not to change genders of American citizens who might be enlisting in the military precisely to obtain that benefit. According to a recent estimate the cost of the procedure can range from $15,000 up to more than $50,000 depending on how extensive the surgery is. Multiply that by 150,000 to get some idea of what the pander to gender obsessed fanatics in the Democratic Party and among its limousine liberals base will cost the average taxpayer, who will get nothing in return from it.

The Pentagon, of course, is fully engaged in the war on extremism and is also actively promoting the racist Critical Race Theory while rooting out extremists, which means white people, who are evil supremacists both genetically and by definition. CRT is, by the way, a remarkable Marxist-based invention that blames most bad things in America on white people. And it is being forced on the public by the usual zealots with the claim that it will make everyone the beneficiary of “equity.” On the contrary it makes Americans less well educated and dependent on government for handouts.

Even counties and school districts that have had no racial issues are being forced to hire Diversity & Equity Managers and high-priced consultants to explain the new reality. As a manifestation of CRT thinking, Fred Reed observes how increasingly in American schools “Math curricula are being dumbed down because blacks do poorly at math, English grammar instruction eliminated because blacks can’t or won’t learn it, entrance exams for the elite and demanding high schools eliminated because blacks don’t pass them, SATs dropped because blacks score poorly on them, promotion exams in police departments eliminated because blacks don’t pass them. Entrance requirements at medical school are lowered because not enough blacks pass them, AP courses in high school eliminated because too few blacks get into them… White parents are forced to see their children subjected to what they regard as obscene, semiliterate, violent, stupid, a culture dominated by what seems to them, (and would to any First World country) the opposite of cultivation.”

And, to be sure, the military is leading the way to join the new world order. Seeking to promote both racial and gender diversity in its ranks, the Navy has created a task force designed to “combat discrimination,” which inter alia requires sailors to take a pledge to “acknowledge all lived experiences and intersectional identities,” whatever that is supposed to mean. The Army is also doing its bit. In a recent appearance before Congress Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Mark Milley “defended the teaching of critical race theory at West Point and, referencing the January 6 Capitol riot, said, ‘it is important that we train and we understand … and I want to understand white rage. And I’m white.’”

Milley, who seems unaware of the “black rage” that has been burning, looting and shooting over the past year, particularly stressed the impact of the January 6^th Capitol Building “insurrection,” saying “What is it that caused thousands of people to assault this building and try to overturn the Constitution of the United States of America? What caused that?”

It is important to seek to understand what Milley has bought into: putting the military squarely on the side of the administration in the cultural wars currently being endured while making clear who the enemy is: white America. Some cynics observed that Milley and the military-industrial-complex behind him, who collectively speaking cannot any longer fight and win a war, are chiefly concerned with the hundreds of billions of dollars that they enjoy annually. To secure that it is necessary to play nice with whatever the White House, and the woke media, are peddling. Again, it all comes down to money that is stolen from taxpayers in this country. Time for the taxpayers themselves to put an end to the nonsense.

Is the USA going to collapse? Nobody can say. There are a few things that could cause a collapse, but who knows if any of them will?

What we can be sure of, though, is that if a crisis comes it won’t affect the whole country equally.

If one of the doomsday scenarios preppers fear happens, even if it’s a national event the effects will hit some places sooner, and harder, than others.

Some states will collapse almost immediately, and things there could get very bad, very quickly. Other states will hold up better, and even if they do completely collapse the process will be slower, giving people time to prepare, adapt and survive.

If you want to maximize your chances of making it through a crisis you need to know what states to avoid. Here are the top five:

California

This one probably won’t surprise anyone. California is famously vulnerable to natural disasters – earthquakes and wildfires are common, and huge parts of the state are vulnerable to tsunamis as well – but that’s only half the problem. California has some other massive vulnerabilities, too.

For a start, it’s densely populated. Compared to the likes of New Jersey or Rhode Island it isn’t that densely populated – it ranks 17th in the nation – but a combination of relatively high density and very high population makes it very vulnerable.

California’s big cities are incredibly reliant on supplies from outside. San Diego and Los Angeles bring in up to 90% of their water from Northern California; if the infrastructure that carries that water breaks down (and it isn’t in any better shape than the rest of our infrastructure) the cities will collapse into chaos within days.

San Francisco is a lot smaller and has a cooler, wetter climate, but it isn’t in the clear either. Over 85% of the Bay Area’s water comes from the Hetch Hetchy Valley in the Yosemite National Park, 150 miles to the east, and if that stops flowing San Francisco will be just as screwed as the big cities.

California isn’t helped by the fact it’s such an obvious target for attackers.

Silicon Valley and the San Francisco area is the center of the global tech industry; an EMP attack on California is a quick and easy way to devastate the US economy – but it would also cause a rapid and massive collapse as the bankrupt state’s crumbling infrastructure simply broke under the impact.

Florida

Florida’s politics might be different to California’s, but unfortunately, its vulnerability to collapse is similar.

It also suffers a lot of natural disasters – hurricanes, this time – and it’s also densely populated. In fact, Florida’s people are packed in a lot more densely than California’s, although that’s balanced by the fact there aren’t as many of them.

Like California, Florida is highly urbanized – about 92% of Floridians live in an urban area. That makes them very dependent on outside supplies that probably won’t come in a crisis, and as the old saying goes, civilization is never more than three missed meals from anarchy.

If disaster hits, life in Florida is going to get ugly in a hurry.

Alaska

You’re probably wondering what Alaska is doing on the list. After all, it’s about as unlike highly urbanized California as you can get.

Alaskans are self-sufficient, many of them hunt and they don’t rely on vulnerable infrastructure for such basic necessities as water.

Unfortunately, Alaska does rely on imports of some other necessities, with gasoline and heating oil being the most important. It also buys in most of its processed food and almost all its manufactured goods.

And, while Alaskans can easily supplement their diet by hunting and fishing, farming is another story.

A harsh climate and short growing season mean the state is nowhere near self-sufficient in grains, fruit and vegetables, and true self-sufficiency is pretty hard to achieve.

Alaska might not be torn apart by urban riots in the first days of a crisis, but it will still collapse within weeks as food stocks run down and gas disappears.

Hawaii

All the things that count against Alaska also count against Hawaii, and there are a couple of other issues, too.

While Hawaii has more agriculture than Alaska, the biggest crops are sugarcane and pineapples – not exactly staple foods. The climate means it’s a bit more feasible to grow your own food there, but on the downside, land is scarce and expensive.

Hawaii is also heavily urbanized, with almost 92% of the population living in cities. Like California or Florida, as soon as supplies from out of state stop arriving those cities will collapse fast and hard.

There’s another serious problem with Hawaii, too – it’s an island chain in the middle of the Pacific. At least if you’re in Alaska when the collapse comes you can get to Canada. If you’re in Hawaii, plan on being there for a long, long time.

New York

If the power goes off and supplies of food and water stop coming, the Big Apple will rot in a hurry.

The state of New York contains the USA’s most populous city, over eight million people with basically no ability to be self-sufficient.

While New York does have some agriculture, including a lot of basic foods – the state is the largest cabbage producer in the country, for example – in a crisis not much of that food is going to make it into the city, so you can expect hungry mobs to fan out into the rural parts of the state looking for food.

Along with the city’s already high crime levels, the collapse of New York is going to be fast and brutal.

The Alternatives

If you live in one of these collapse-prone states, the best advice is to be ready to bug out as fast and as far as you can.

The ideal solution is to move to a more rural state where any collapse will be slower and less violent, giving you time to adjust to the new normal.

The Great Plains states are a good choice – large, sparsely populated and heavily agricultural.

It’s easy to be self-sufficient there, and you’re a long way from the chaos that will erupt when America’s helpless cities start to starve.

A “friend of ours” asked recently: how do you guard yourself against the deterioration of morale during an extremely challenging ordeal?

My answer is pretty simple: until morale improves, the beatings will continue.

Joke aside, today’s article is a little bit more philosophical. Bear with me, I’m having a good day and I’ll try to share a few interesting thoughts with my regular readers, if I have one. Firstly, what is prepping after all? It’s just a punch line, a marketing logo or is more than that? If you ask me, prepping is much more than stashing gear and stockpiling food and what not.

Preparedness as a state of mind means that you must change your perception about the world. You know, nobody can be told what the Matrix is, you have to see it for yourself. Take the blue pill, i.e. keep reading.

The problem with our modern brave-new-world society is that people tend to be lured into having a (fake) sense of prosperity and/or security, which truth be told, is provided by multiple factors, including our highly advanced (technologically speaking) society, the uber-protective nanny-state and the “snowflake-like” society. You know, safe spaces, sensitivity training, all that crap. There’s an old saying which reads something along the lines of:

Hard times create hard men. Hard men create prosperous times. Prosperous times create weak men. Weak men create hard times.

The cycle rinses/repeats ad nauseam, as we never seem to learn from past mistakes. It’s just basic human nature I guess.

Getting back to our topic, a prepper’s state of mind is not pessimistic, not by a long shot. Au contraire, preppers seek (and hopefully achieve) peace of mind and situational awareness through “superior fire power”, if you know what I mean.

And I’m not referring to “guns, lots of guns”, but to that sense of personal freedom, security and self reliance a man can achieve in this life by learning all sorts of “survival” skills. In my book, skills are more important than gear. “Omnia mea mecum porto” means that knowledge trumps everything else, as in “it’s the ultimate power in this universe”. As you can imagine, I am not a follower of that saying: “He who dies with the most toys wins.”

What makes a “prepper” different from the average Joe is the lifestyle and the mindset. A prepper can be regarded as an independent thinker, a free man on the land, making his own decisions and not expecting a helping hand from the government.

While prepping is serious business (I’m not downplaying stockpiling, far from it) I am aware of the fact that I’m not Rambo (neither do you) and skills are way more important than gear.

Having a plan (your own plan, to suite your personal needs) is the corner stone of prepping; also, knowing the difference between reading a “survival” book and actually doing something meaningful in real life (like learning how to hunt/fish/dress game/make a fire in the wild/ etc) will get you closer to that prepper’s state of mind I am talking about.

Characteristics of a Genuine Prepper

Saving can be defined as prepping in its purest form, provided we’re talking about a belief system or a mental tool. The point is, one must carefully analyze every decision that he/she makes, in order to fully comprehend all the ramifications of one’s actions, especially regarding a potential survival scenario, i.e. learn to concentrate only on the essential items for survival in a SHTF situation.

If you have a saver’s mindset, that means you’re a prepper in everyday life. And obviously, a saving-type of personality is crucial when it comes to any survival scenario. If you can live on your own stash and/or by using survival skills for as long as possible, and if you can live on the least without complaining much, then you’ll be capable not only to survive, but to thrive, and you can call yourself a prepper my son.

Be aware of what’s going on in the world, about the global economy/financial system, prioritize, remember the rule of three’s : you can survive for three weeks without food, for three days without water and for three minutes without air to breathe.

One of the most important things a prepper should achieve is situational awareness. This means that you must be aware at all times about what’s going on around you. In order to “learn this power”, you must train both your eyes and your mind, so you’ll be able to instantly indentify all the small yet crucial details in a given situation, while anticipating people’s reactions and assessing potential threats in various scenarios. I know, it sounds complicated, and maybe it is. But that’s the discipline.

My motto is: the best way to win a violent confrontation is to avoid it. Hence, start practicing reading body language.

Speaking of reading body language, the best way to start learning this skill is by reading your co-workers/colleagues reactions. More precisely, try to analyze how their pitch of voice, posture and their facial expressions tend to change when they’re hungry, tired, excited and so on and so forth.

You must study these aspects on people that you know well, because they are generally true when trying to read people you don’t know. Observe how people in love are reacting, but also watch people arguing, learn what the body language says about their state of mind, in good and bad situations. You must concentrate particularly over the eye’s movements and the movement of the skin around the eyes, because that old saying “the eyes are the windows to the soul” is correct; well, most of the times.

A Prepper’s “Proper” Mindset

Prepping is like eating an elephant: one bite at a time. Learn new things, don’t be afraid of what you don’t know (yet). Be open to new ideas, make new friends, expand your horizon. You can always learn new skills and acquire them with practice

The golden rule is to be tough as nails, or as close to that as humanly possible. Don’t get me wrong though. By being tough, I don’t necessarily mean having a high tolerance to pain or being strong as a bull, physically speaking. I am talking about toughness in the “old school” way, i.e. a true prepper should be able to withstand harsh environments without whining and without losing his/hers survival abilities.

Basically, you should be able to remain functional and to perform well when you’re in a tight spot and you don’t benefit from all the comforts and luxuries of our (still functioning) modern society.  I mean, bootcamp toughness.  Like, fasting on Fridays, going hiking/running when it’s snow/cold/rainy/miserable outside, getting up early in the weekends and working outside (chopping wood for example) even if you have a cold. Seek discipline and find your freedom, i.e. try to not talk (at work for example) unless someone asks you a direct question. Get tough using incremental steps, as in start with being uncomfortable when it comes to little things in life (don’t use the AC in the car during summer or heating in the winter) and go from there; choose the “hard way” when doing physical activity, stop being lazy, don’t get distracted, don’t get spoiled.

You know that “don’t be negative” saying, which has become almost a stupid cliché due to overuse by “flower-power” types; however, it holds true for survival, and also goes to a prepper’s mindset ; when it comes to survival via situational awareness, one should be a part of the solution, not a part of the problem. Hence, don’t try to criticize everything, nor be negative all the time.

When working out, choose dumbbells over machines, walk instead of drive to work, run outside in the park instead of mimicking a hamster on a treadmill indoors; basically always choose the harder/the more natural path, adversity over comfort and so forth and so on

All these things will help you a lot in achieving the prepper mind set I am talking about, and by extension, situational awareness in every aspect of one’s life, 24/7/365.

If you think I am exaggerating with this “be tough” mantra, just think about how your life would be AFTER the worst case scenario SHTF moment. Yes, it will be way beyond difficult, trust me on that.

In closing, let me give you my usual “words of wisdom” routine: prepping is not about the destination, it’s about the journey. And the proper state of mind of a prepper is that whatever may come my way some day, I’ll be able not only to barely survive it, but to thrive.

I hope the article helped. If you have other ideas or comments, feel free to use the dedicated section below.

One of the big problems in dealing with any potential disaster is knowledge. Can you imagine living in Florida in the 1800s, when the only warning you’d get of a pending hurricane were the clouds on the horizon? By then, you’d have mere hours of warning before the wrath of that storm fell upon you. Not exactly much time to get ready is it?

Then there are the disasters that happen without any warning, like an earthquake. One moment, everything is fine and the next moment you’re fearing for your life, while wondering if the earth is going to stop moving under you.

An EMP is something like that earthquake, in that there would be no warning, unless it were to be in the rhetoric we heard coming out of Pyongyang or Tehran.

We wouldn’t see the missile that was carrying the nuke up into the upper atmosphere and we probably wouldn’t receive any notification about it from our new Space Force. Rather, the lights would just go out, along with everything else.

On the surface, it would look just like any other power outage. So what do you do?

Verify That It Was an EMP

The first thing any of us is going to have to do is verify that it really is an EMP that we’re dealing with and not just a normal power outage.

Typically, we all look outside, checking to see if our neighbors are having the same problem we are. After that, we might call a friend or family member, seeing if the power is out where they are too.

But even if we do manage to get through, that’s not going to be enough to make a determination.

We can’t expect an announcement from FEMA telling us what’s happening. For that matter, we can’t expect anything else out of FEMA or any other federal agency. I imagine they’ll all be trying to survive the situation, just like we will. So how can we find out?

The best test for an EMP is to check services which are required by law to have backup power to see if they are operational, such as:

• Radio stations
• City water (water may exist for a while, due to water in towers)
• Telephone service (landline)

If these are all out, then chances are that it was an EMP, which would have taken out their power generators and other electronics, while it was taking out everything else. Some larger chains of stores, like Wal-Mart and some of the grocery chains also have their own backup generators for power, so if they are dark, we can assume that their generators went out too.

Keep in mind that there’s always the possibility that some of those generators could still be working, even with an EMP.

Most are installed in steel cases, which can serve as an effective Faraday Cage if the generator inside the case isn’t touching the case.

You’ve got to look at the overall picture and make an evaluation based on that.

Okay, so you decide that it’s really an EMP; then what do you do?

Get Your Family Together

Once you know that it really is an EMP and not just another power outage, it’s time to put your family’s survival plan into effect. That starts with gathering your family together at your home. If your vehicles are still running, this shouldn’t be much of a problem; but if they are toast, you may find yourself forced to walk all the way home from work. I hope you have your get home bag in the trunk.

Chances are that you won’t be able to contact your family in any way, other than by physically going to wherever they are.

Again, that’s not a big deal if your vehicle is running; but we can’t be sure that they will be.

I’d recommend having a standing part of your plan be that if the schools ever make an announcement that an EMP has happened, your children find a way to ditch class and head for home.

It’s doubtful that there will be many preppers heading for a cabin in the woods at this time. Few of us even own such a thing; but even if we did, getting there would be a problem. So it will be time to hunker down at home for your survival.

Gather Last Minute Supplies

In every scenario I’ve seen, it’s assumed that people will rush the grocery stores, grabbing whatever they can, usually without paying. Panic will cause looting to become rampant, even to the point where food is destroyed by being trampled underfoot.

But even if that scenario plays out, it will take some time for it to start. Most people won’t realize that the power is out due to an EMP, so they won’t rush to the store for a day or two.

This gives you and I an opportunity to get to the stores before them and do some last minute stockpiling. Granted, you’ve probably already got a good stockpile in your home; but whatever you have clearly won’t be enough to last you the rest of your life. So you might as well get whatever you can.

Plan on needing cash for this purchasing excursion, as the internet will be down, which will mean that you can’t use your credit or debit cards. The cash registers won’t be working either, so add up your purchases as you go. That way, you can tell the people running the store how much you got.

Even if they don’t believe you, it will at least be a starting point for negotiations.

You shouldn’t limit your thinking to just food here. Some gas stations have backup power, just like the big stores do. While there’s a good chance that those generators will be out, keep your eyes open as you shop. If you see one open, be sure to top off the tanks.

Deal with Frozen Food

If you’re anything like me, you’ve got a freezer full of meat. The freezer will keep that meat frozen for a good 24 hours, even without electricity; perhaps longer if it is cold out. But after that, it will start thawing and will either have to be cooked and eaten or dehydrated.

Jerky is one of my favorite things and I have a dehydrator at home. Along with my off-grid battery backup system, I’ll still be able to do at least some dehydrating of that meat. But even though I have a large dehydrator, it’s not big enough to handle everything. For that, I need a large solar dehydrator as well.

If you don’t have enough capacity for dehydration, then consider doing what the American Indians did and hang strips of meat over wood poles to dry in the sun.

As long as the meat has been soaked in brine before hanging it out to dry, it will be protected from bacteria and won’t go bad. Since marinating meat before drying it is a normal part of making jerky, that shouldn’t be an issue.

Some other frozen foods can be canned, especially vegetables. But there are some foods, like ice cream, which will either have to be eaten or disposed of. I’m sure if you ask your children, they’ll give you the solemn advice that it is better to eat that ice cream, than see it go to waste.

Get More Meat

If there’s one thing that’s usually short in our survival stockpiles, it’s meat. Buying meat is expensive, especially the freeze-dried meat that’s packaged for survival food. So we stock a minimal amount, expecting to do something about it after the disaster strikes. But what?

I know this might sound a little out of place; but if you live close to some good hunting grounds, you might want to fit a quick hunting trip in, after you’ve hit the stores and before everyone panics.

Many others will turn to hunting for food, greatly diminishing the game population.

Even if it would be considered poaching, going before them will give you an opportunity to stock up on meat, while it is available.

Another thing to consider, especially if you have a truck and plenty of cash on hand, is to find a local farmer or rancher and buy a steer, pig or whatever else they’re raising. This is usually cheaper than buying meat at the grocery store anyway, and may be your last chance to make that purchase. There’s a good chance that whatever government is still in existence will confiscate that meat for the public good.

Don’t forget that you’re going to need to preserve all this meat one way or another. Chances are, you’re going to have to use a combination of all available means; canning, smoking and dehydrating to ensure that none of it goes to waste. So your family is going to be very busy, while everyone else is coming to grips with what’s going on.

When it comes time to use that meat, eat the smoked meat first. It will not last as long as the other preserved meat, so you want to use it before it can go bad.

Get All the Water You Can

Municipal water authorities build water towers to alleviate stress on their systems during peak usage hours. At the same time, the towers help maintain water pressure, as the gravity feed of the water from the tower creates that pressure.

What this means is that water might still be flowing for a while after an EMP, even without their generators running. But it won’t be flowing for long.

Taking advantage of that, you’ll want to fill up every water container you can find, ensuring that your family is going to have water to use.

While that still won’t be enough, at least it will be water that you don’t have to purify, before using.

Put Defenses in Place

Most of us have little in the way of passive defenses in our homes. We don’t build barricades and booby traps to keep people out.

Part of that is the inconvenience of having such things around our homes and part is because setting booby traps is illegal. Nevertheless, if you have such things as part of your defensive strategy, this is the time to use them.

That doesn’t mean that you need to rush into setting such things up.

It will be a few days before people start to panic and possibly as long as two weeks before anyone tries breaking into homes in search of food. Better to put these items into place slowly, so as to not attract attention, rather than making a show of fortifying your home.

Share the News

You might be the only one in your neighborhood or even your town who figures out what’s going on. While most people have heard of an EMP, they really don’t understand it.

Not only that, but they aren’t thinking of the reality of an EMP strike, like you and I are. When it happens, they won’t accept it until someone tells them what’s happening. That someone might be you.

Start out with your friends and neighbors, suggesting that they do the things you are, buying up food and filling containers with water. These are the people who will most likely come knocking on your door. Everything you can get them to do for themselves elongates the amount of time before they start asking you for help.

On that, you might want to consider organizing your neighborhood as a survival team. Part of my survival planning is several hundred pounds of rice and beans, over and above what I have for my family’s consumption.

While that might not be much; it will give them something to eat, keeping body and soul together. I also have a goodly stockpile of seed, with the idea that I will be able to help my neighbors start growing their own food.

While this may look like charity, it’s really more a form of enlightened self-interest. If I can help my neighbors help themselves, I will be able to keep them from begging from me or stealing food from my garden. So not only will they be better off, but I will be too.

But your friends and neighbors aren’t the only ones you have a responsibility to inform about what’s happening; you should tell your city’s authorities as well. They probably don’t know you; so make sure you go prepared, with the information that they’ll need.

That includes information about the technicalities of what an EMP is, what it does, and what the prognosis for the future is. Don’t be surprised if they ask for your advice, even if they don’t follow it.

You’ve seen the news.

Fires raging out of control.

Stores looted and torn apart.

Whole communities reduced to ashes.

Last year, it was all because of the George Floyd protests – marches that took place because Floyd was killed while in police custody.

The protests became riots, the riots became looting… and innocent people were beaten in the street.

But as bad as that was, it’s about to become worse… because tensions are higher than ever following the conviction of the police officer in the George Floyd case.

If rioting comes your way, there’s one critical looter defense mistake that you can’t afford to make!

The WORST Mistake You Can Make When Defending Your Home From Looters

When riots spread to dozens of cities across the United States, the focus shifted.

Police stations and police cars took the worst of it to start.

Then the looting started, first of big stores, then expensive shopping districts.

(In SoHo, looters took millions of dollars of Rolex watches when they cleaned out a fancy store.)

But as the violence raged on, we started seeing reports of small business owners being attacked, some while trying to defend their life’s savings.

One couple was beaten with 2X4s in Rochester, New York.

Another man tried to face a mob with a sword… and was beaten to a bloody pulp.

And on and on it went, with cars and businesses getting wiped out.

But then they started targeting private homes, with some of the political agitators among the rioters sending tweets saying they were going to “come to the suburbs.”

With thousands of National Guard troops on the streets of American cities, private citizens spent long nights in their homes, worried they could be targeted next.

But when the mob is walking up your street, there’s one CRITICAL mistake you do NOT want to have on your house or in your yard:

A “looters will be shot” sign!

See, no matter how many guns you have, you can’t fight off a mob of hundreds of people if they really start pouring in.

If they rush you, they’ll take you down.

Instead, you need to camouflage your home.

Don’t put up a “looters will be shot” sign…

…Put up a “We Stand With George Floyd” sign, or anything else that signifies you’re “with” the rioters.

That could help mark you as a “friendly” household, and maybe the mob will pass you by.

Now, the best defense against rioting and looting is, honestly, not to be there.

No matter what you do, like I said, it’s very difficult to fight off an entire mob of people.

But if you have no choice – say, because the riot came up on you before you realized you should get out, and especially if it’s only a few people looking to invade your house or apartment – there are things you CAN do.

To do them, you need a home invasion plan.

And to defend your home against this type of violence requires EXTREME TACTICS in response.

When violent rioters or home invaders break down your door while you’re home, you may have to know. . .

• How to escape from being tied up or handcuffed
• How to use other family members to deceive your attackers
• Methods for staging weapons in “secret hiding spots” within your home
• How to trick home invaders into letting you go
• Ways to use “improvised weapons” to your advantage
• And a LOT MORE.

These types of scenarios are EXACTLY why we created our “Extreme Home Defense Tactics” course – because we found that other home invasion survival techniques were either outdated… or frankly just fell far short of dealing with reality.

If you’d like to see more of what’s covered in the course, you can check out some of the lessons here.

All I ask is that you keep an open mind, because a LOT of the training we’ve developed is WAAAAAY different than what you’ll find most instructors telling you to do.

But I can back up every last one of our techniques with more of these real-world home-invasion stories (some of which ended well, and others of which ended VERY badly).

I think you’ll see exactly why these tactics are superior for surviving a home invasion… or for sudden, violent riots and looting.

I look forward to hearing what you think… and I hope you and your family stay safe.

This piece summarizes one of the episodes of “The Twilight Zone” entitled “The Shelter” that bears mention for all who have neighbors, especially those they are “unsure” of.  In this (two minutes to midnight) preparatory lifestyle, it’s always important to know about those who live around you.

Today’s neighbors can morph into tomorrow’s marauders in the blink of an eye.

The fragile nature of our society is best described as the thinnest of veneers of civilization overlaying an underlying barbarism that can manifest itself at any given moment.

“The Shelter” is an excellent case-study of such a precept that I recommend to everyone to watch at least once.  This is of the original series, and the episode was written in 1961 by Rod Serling.

The story commences in the home of a neighborhood doctor where he and his neighbors are celebrating his birthday.  Everyone is festive, and the mood is one of good spirits, laughter, and indulgence in food and drink.  After a birthday toast, several birthday guests comment (abrasively) on the noise the doctor has had over the months from the construction of a bomb shelter in his basement.  The doctor kind of ignores it, and the party continues.

Soon the doctor’s son comes into the dining room (only adults are present) and announces that the TV has gone dead, and just prior it announced to go to the Conelrad station on the radio.  The following report came forth on the radio as everyone listened:

“…Four minutes ago the President of the United States made the following announcement.  I quote: at 11:04 pm Eastern Standard Time both our Distant Early Warning Line and Ballistics Early Warning Line reported radar evidence of unidentified flying objects flying due southeast.  As of this moment we have been unable to determine the nature of these objects, but for the time being and in the interests of national safety we are declaring a state of yellow alert.  The Civil Defense Authorities request that if you have a shelter already prepared, go there at once.  If you do not have a shelter, use your time to move supplies of food, water, medicine, and other supplies to a central place.  Keep all windows and doors closed.  We repeat: if you’re in your home, go to your prepared shelters or to your basement.”

Needless to say, all of the guests frantically depart.  The doctor and his family scramble around, filling up jars with extra water and moving some extra stuff down into the bomb shelter.  In the shelter were beds for the family and shelves with canned goods and medicines, as well as other gear and some chairs and a table.  The doctor returns upstairs, and then one of the neighbors, Jerry, begins rapping on the window.  The doctor opens the door, and Jerry worms his way in, slyly informing the doctor that he and his family are unprepared for what’s coming.

The neighbor wants to shelter himself, his wife, and two children in a shelter designed for three people.  The doctor leaves him and enters the shelter, locking the door and sealing it off.  Presently, more neighbors arrive.  One of them pounds the door, insisting that the doctor allow him to enter.  Soon even more neighbors arrive, and one of them is very belligerent.  Men and women are irate, and they’re demanding the doctor let them in.  It escalates very shortly, as the aggressive man belligerently makes the following demand with several other men beside him to the doctor after yelling his name:

 “You’ve got a bunch of your neighbors outside who want to stay alive.  Now you can open that door and talk to us, and figure out with us how many can come in there…or you can just keep on doing what you’re doing and we’ll [hitting the door] bust our way in there.”

The doctor refuses, and the men outside move away from the door, and then begin to argue among themselves.  There is already infighting about who (of the outsiders) will enter the shelter, as the men move out of the house.

“Bill, who are those people?” the mother asks.

“Those people…those people are our neighbors…our friends…the people we’ve lived with and alongside for twenty years.  C’mon, Paulie.  We better get up some of this furniture and this bunk so we’ll have some protection in case that door goes through,” the doctor said.

The half-dozen men return to the house, smashing up furniture in the dining room and trashing the house.  They enter the basement with a heavy pipe, and as their wives cheer them on, they begin battering the shelter door.  Presently they break through.  Just as they are stepping into the shelter, the radio in the shelter with the family announces that the previously-spotted objects were satellites, and the alert was lifted.

As the dust settles, the neighbors try to blow it off half-heartedly, but the doctor doesn’t really want any of it.  The neighbors had managed to smash in the door and force their way in.  The doctor summarized it quite eloquently with his description of what had happened:

“The kind of people we are just underneath the skin.  I mean all of us…a lot of naked, wild animals who put such a price on staying alive that they’ll claw their neighbors to death just for the privilege.”

The episode is excellent, and in under 25-minutes presents exactly what human nature boils down to…in a non-profane, “Hallmark” version with no blood or gore to offend the tender sensibilities.  The doctor made the following critical mistakes.

 All of his neighbors knew he had built a bomb shelter in his basement

1. The shelter (although made to resist radiation) was not built sturdily enough to be able to resist the marauders
2. The doctor did not have one weapon to protect himself and his family and drive off the angry mob
3. He allowed “Jerry” to come inside the house, instead of locking and barring every part of it to keep the neighbors away

The old adage, “Know thy neighbor” holds true…and not just from a superficially-friendly, good time perspective.

What is important to know is that when the needs of the neighbors are not able to be met, those needs will be attempted to be filled at your expense if you are the one with the supplies and safe haven.  “The Shelter” is an oldie but a goodie, and a perfect tool to keep in mind that all of us can pass beyond the limits of the “better angels of our nature,” and the situation turn from “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm,” to “The Road Warrior” in the blink of an eye.  Happy watching, and hope you take something from it.

Chile has struggled to become a thriving democracy. Once a dictatorship under Augusto Pinochet, the country has gone through considerable turmoil since his death. Capitalism has not treated everyone fairly in this country, even though Pinochet was once lauded for the dynamic free-market economy he created, once cited as the “model for the developing world.”

By no means has Chile been the only country which has struggled to become a free-market democracy. Russia is still struggling, decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Iraq really hasn’t accepted democracy as a political model, even after enormous amounts of investment by the US government. Other countries have struggled as well, but not with the same results.

Much of the problem that Chile has been experiencing has been due to the vast income inequality that exists in that country. While there are portions of the population which are thriving, many others are still suffering, especially those who are dependent on retirements that were established under the Pinochet regime. Many schoolteachers are still working into their 80’s, because they can’t survive on their $300 a month pension.

For those working in non-skilled jobs, public transit to take them to and from their work costs as much as 21% of their weekly wages. Thus, when the government announced a 30 peso rise in the cost of the metro, it was met with anger. A student-led protest, called evasión swarmed the metro, jumping the turnstiles to avoid paying the increased fare. Workers took advantage of the opportunity to save a little money and joined the protest.

While protests are nothing new in Chile, these seem to have gained traction. A demonstration which started in the capital has now spread to many of the major cities, with continued evasión of fares and widespread protests in the streets.

It appears that socialist organizers and anarchists have joined in the protests, working to turn it to their political ends. As in many such cases, word coming out of Chile is a bit confused, with each side accusing the other of what they themselves are doing. Much of the reporting is tainted by the political leanings of the reporters who are on the scene. But one thing is certain, the government’s response doesn’t stand up under scrutiny.

The Government’s Response

President Sebastián Piñera has declared that his country is “at war.” But if it is, it’s a war between the government and the citizens. While some government response is required to the violent acts of the protesters, that should be a police response, arresting the worst of the offenders and those who are inciting others to commit illegal acts. Protests, as our own government has learned, are not the reason to call out military forces armed and equipped to use deadly force.

We’ve seen that before in this country; at Kent State University in 1970. National Guard troops were called out in response to a protest. Although the National Guard does receive some training in how to respond to a riot, they are first and foremost soldiers, equipped and trained to kill, not to arrest people. In this case, the results were four dead college students and another nine who were injured.

The soldiers on the streets of Chile reminded many of the older citizens of the years of Chilean dictatorship, when such sights were common; a parallel that was lost on the students who started the protest. For the older citizens, that sight struck fear in their hearts.

The government has admitted to eight people being killed in the protests, but information leaking out of the country claims over 20 killed. There are also widespread reports of police and military brutality against the population, including against people who were not protesting, but merely in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Martial law was declared by the President, early on in the protests, allowing for the use of military forces and imposing ever more restrictive curfews on the people. Interestingly enough, whenever the protesters have gotten the upper hand, troops have retreated to wealthy areas of the cities, focusing on protecting the wealth centers. It seems clear from that action alone, that the leadership of the country is only interested in protecting their financial standing, not protecting the people.

Under martial law, police and military forces have beaten hundreds or perhaps even thousands of innocent people, often plucking them off the streets in civilian clothes, in an attempt to hide their identity. Civil rights are being trampled daily, as the government attempts to regain control.

Could that Happen Here?

Regardless of where you stand politically, Americans have grown afraid of politicians on the other side, especially as the political divide has grown. Each side assumes that the other is likely to declare martial law, on the thinnest of pretexts, imprisoning those who have declared themselves aligned with the other side. Yet that sort of thing has never happened in this country. For that matter, we haven’t seen people rounded up and put in any sort of detention camps since World War II.

Those on the left decry the “oligarchy” regularly, declaring that this country is actually run by them. But I’d like to propose a different viewpoint on that. That is, every government that has ever existed has been an oligarchy of one sort or another. Even monarchies are oligarchies, as the wealth is concentrated in the hands of the royalty.

Successful merchants could buy themselves titles under such a regime, gaining political respectability. But that’s not all they bought; they bought access to the throne, the seat of power. That’s what their titles and their money did for them, just like the oligarchy we have today.

Why is this important? Because in reality it has always been the oligarchy, the elite, who have been in control. I don’t care if you’re talking about the Rothchilds, the Bilderberg group, George Soros or our own political parties, they have kept the power to themselves. Much of the reason why they hate President Trump, is that he has defied their rule and has been working to do whatever he can to overthrow it.

As we’ve seen in the last few years, these power-brokers will do whatever they have to, in order to keep their power. Rumors have existed for years about how the Clintons have done away with anyone who could be a whistleblower on their nefarious actions. The same sort of rumors existed about Obama when he was in office. I’m sure if we searched around the world, we would find many more examples.

The accumulation of power and money is the central focus of these people’s lives. As such, they will do whatever it takes to retain that money and power. They don’t mind if we “little people” accumulate wealth or even some local power; but they aren’t sharing theirs with us. They will use whatever they have to, in order to keep control. Whatever they have to includes military forces.

These power brokers have control of large portions of our government, just like they do in other countries. As long as things go their way, they will allow us the illusion of our freedom. But if things don’t go their way, you can be sure they will take the necessary action to retain power.

What that Means for Us

One big difference between the United States and Chile is the Second Amendment. Even though there are those who are constantly chipping away, trying to take that right, the Second Amendment guarantees our right to keep and bear arms. There is no such equivalent in Chile.

That’s not to say that the Chilean people can’t own firearms. They can; but there are huge hurdles to overcome in order to get a permit to own one. Even bigger hurdles exist to having a permit to carry that gun outside your home. On top of that, private ownership of semi-automatic arms is prohibited.

Should martial law ever be declared in the United States, you can almost guarantee that it will be accompanied by widespread gun confiscation. This happened in New Orleans, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Probably the only thing that kept that from turning ugly and kept armed citizens from defending their right to keep and bear arms, was that there were so few of them still in the city; government forces had them outnumbered.

Many have declared that widespread gun confiscations would result in civil war. I tend to agree with that. While there are many gun owners who would give up their guns, albeit reluctantly, rather than fight government troops, there are enough of us who would stand up for our rights. How that war would end is anyone’s guess.

Recently, the new Democrat majority in Virginia’s state legislature passed a number of very restrictive gun control laws, without taking into account public opinion. They ended up being forced to retract those laws, when citizens got up in arms about it and law enforcement officers declared that they would not enforce those laws.

The same thing has happened in other parts of the country, as Democrat controlled state legislatures have tried over and over again to tamper with our Second Amendment rights. But in each and every case, while there have been some who have complied like good little sheeple, the majority refused.

This means that any protests against government overreach here in the United States have the potential of becoming much more violent than they do in other countries. While those of us on the right, who own most of the guns, are not the kind to take violent action, there are always a few who don’t see it that way. All it takes is one or two of them to start the ball rolling, and things could turn ugly, real quickly.

A second American Civil War would be even bloodier than the first. Not only are there more privately owned guns in the hands of citizens, than there are citizens, but the level of military technology has increased by several orders of magnitude. Hunters alone have our military grossly outnumbered. On the other side, the military has all the tanks, planes and artillery. As I said, it would be bloody.

This is probably why there are those in government service who are so bent on disarming the population. It also explains why the AR-15 is the main target of these people. You can’t win a war with pistols and even trying to win it without semi-automatic rifles would be difficult. Those who want to control us don’t want us to be able to fight back.

Throughout the last century, there have been numerous examples of what happens when the government disarms the civilian population. What we’re seeing in Chile today is nothing new; it has been done time and time again. Those who want to be despotic dictators (regardless of what political name they hide behind) know they must disarm the people first. It’s much easier to get sheep to submit, than it is to get sheep dogs too. The sheep dogs have teeth.

If anything, Chile serves as one more reminder as to why we need to defend our Second Amendment rights. Otherwise, it’s much too easy for those who would take away what remains of our liberty, the freedom to do so.

Over the last decade or more, FEMA has become one more federal agency that everyone loves to hate. I wouldn’t say that it’s hated anywhere near as much as the IRS; but it could very well be in second place.

Sadly, the reason for this is the poor track record that FEMA has in doing what is supposed to be their main purpose; helping people and communities recover after a disaster.

As with preppers, FEMA doesn’t know what sorts of disasters they’ll be called on to deal with. Considering how wide a range of possibilities that can cover, they’ve been given an impressive “toolkit” of authority, allowing them to do things in an emergency that no other government agency can.

Apparently, all of FEMA’s authority comes from Executive Orders and not from legislation. That should be enough to give any sane person pause. But if it doesn’t, then exactly what some of those executive orders give FEMA authority to do should scare the socks off of them.

During a SHTF situation, pain could become an annoyance for some, but unbearable for others.

If doctors are scarce and medicine becomes even scarcer, this one little weed, found all over North America and similar to morphine, could be a saving grace.

FEMA Camps

• Executive Order 10990 – FEMA can take over all modes of transportation, the highways and seaports
• Executive Order 10995 – FEMA can take over communications media
• Executive Order 10997 – FEMA can take over all electrical power, fuels and minerals
• Executive Order 10998 – FEMA camps can take over food resources and farms
• Executive Order 11003 – FEMA can take over airports and commercial aircraft
• Executive Order 11004 – FEMA camps can relocate communities

There’s a whole lot more than that; but those are some with the most far-reaching potential effect in a time of crisis.

They are also empowered to set up refuge centers and relocation camps, of which there are currently over 800.

While those are ostentatiously intended to be used as emergency shelters in the case of crisis, FEMA has the power to use them in many other ways, including as detention centers and reeducation camps.

The thing we need to realize is, any power the government grants itself eventually is turned for evil, no matter how good the original intention. The “Law of Unintended Consequences” pretty much guarantees this, even without those in the government who have more nefarious purposes in their hearts and minds. Those people will create their own unintended consequences by manipulating the law.

Political Correctness

We are living in a time where political correctness rules the landscape. It’s even worse now, than it was during former President Obama’s tenure. Cancel culture is destroying any public figure who doesn’t agree with leftist doctrine.

While the average Joe on the street may not get cancelled, you can be sure that the woke mob, ANTIFA or some other leftist group will have their way with him, if they find out that he’s not in lockstep with their beliefs.

All it would take is for the sitting president to declare that the political polarization in our country is a national emergency and the full power of FEMA would be released.

Depending on direction out of the White House, FEMA would have the ability and authority to round up anyone and everyone who doesn’t agree with the current administration’s political ideology. All it would take is for them to declare those people (us) as “dangerous to the peace and tranquility of society.”

While there are many who are calling all this nothing more than conspiracy theories, I fall back on my original statement that any law which is passed is eventually used for nefarious purposes.

Therefore, any explanation given by the government or someone covering for the government doesn’t eliminate the risk to ordinary citizens. Someone in the government can always turn the tables on us.

If that happens, here are a few things we could expect:

Confiscation of Our Guns

It’s a well-established fact that FEMA doesn’t allow firearms in their “refugee camps.”

We first saw this during Hurricane Katrina, where people entering into the centers that FEMA set up were stripped of their guns upon entry. It didn’t matter to the people running the camp that those in the camps couldn’t defend themselves or that they were being attacked by others.

The Second Amendment enshrines one of our most important rights. Yet there are many in government today, who have the attitude that the Second Amendment is a government granted right, rather than a restriction on the government, preventing them from taking our right to keep and bear arms. Their viewpoint is wrong; but dangerous.

Experts predict that an EMP strike that wipes out electricity across the nation would ultimately lead to the demise of up to 90% of the population. However, this figure begs an important question: if we were able to live thousands of years without even the concept of electricity, why would we suddenly all die without it?

Curtailing of Freedom of Speech

One of the most likely scenarios for opening up those FEMA camps and filling them is that of “reprogramming” conservatives who don’t agree with leftist talking points. There are already those who are calling for such action and have been for several years. As time goes on, we can expect to hear more and more politicians talking like that.

But the real danger is that they’re currently laying the foundation for such action, based upon the left calling words “violence.” That’s their justification for groups like ANTIFA being so violent. The way they explain it, those on the left who use violence are only responding to the violence of “hateful words.”

But then, to them, any words that don’t agree with their world view qualify as hateful words.

With this as a potential motive for rounding people up, you can be sure that when they do, they won’t be allowing those people who have been rounded up to have any freedom in what they say. As part of their “reeducation” their speech will be tightly controlled.

Rapes and Other Brutality in FEMA Camps

Going back to the refugee centers set up during Hurricane Harvey, we can see what the results of taking people’s guns away from there are.

With the people unable to defend themselves, they were easy pickings for the violent in society.

One of the reasons that firearms are so important for self-defense is that evil people are much more likely to use violence and even ugly brutal violence, in order to get their way.

Without firearms to defend ourselves with, we are at a serious disadvantage. Yet it is clear that there are many who don’t care about that. They would rather have us as victims, than people who can defend ourselves.

All of the “Defenses” are Pointing In, Not Out

Regardless of what the government tries to say about FEMA camps, one of the glaring truths about them is that they are designed to keep people in, not keep people out. Just as with any other prison, all the defenses are focused inwards, rather than outwards.

Perhaps the most obvious sign of this is the razor wire that’s placed on the tops of hurricane fences. When that’s done as a security measure, the brackets holding the wire are angled outwards. But in the case of prisons, it is angled inwards to help keep the prisoners from scaling the fence and getting out.

Of course, the government tries to say that those defenses are there to protect those who are housed in the camps; but it’s just a lie.

Yet with so many sheeple who are willing to accept what the government says, as long as they are given free stuff and otherwise left alone, it has ended up being an effective lie.

Once You’re In, You Can’t Get Out

This leads us to the next point; that is, once you’re in, you can’t get out. Those camps aren’t about a short-term solution to a disaster or they wouldn’t be configured the way they are. They are highly secure locations, designed to be used in an emergency.

The thing is that once the government has control over someone, they don’t want to let go. We don’t just see this with FEMA, but with every department of the government.

So there’s no reason to think that those running the camps will have a sudden change of heart and decide that justice is best served by setting all those “dangerous” people free to spread more verbal “violence.”

There are Plenty of Guards in FEMA Camps

I suppose someone out there could argue that the government doesn’t have enough people on the rolls who could serve as guards, should the order ever go out to use the FEMA camps. That argument is preposterous on several levels.

First, if FEMA posted jobs for guards, they would probably be overrun with applications. Depending on how picky they are, finding as many people as they need shouldn’t be a big deal.

But that’s not the only card that FEMA has up its sleeve.

A large number of government agencies have been militarizing, creating what is essentially their own police force, armed and equipped on the level of SWAT teams, not armed and equipped like the cop on the beat.

This has been happening in a number of agencies which have previously had no need for any sort of armed personnel or law enforcement officers. So, what’s the difference? It appears that these agencies want the ability to be able to force their will upon the people. That means armed personnel; people who can be called upon to serve as guards for FEMA.

One good example of the militarization of federal agencies was the case of the Bureau of Land Management’s attack on Cliven Bundy in 2014. The dispute over land use escalated when 200 armed federal agents arrived at his ranch, taking it over and killing off his cattle. The armed federal officers who descended upon his ranch represented a wide variety of government agencies.

FEMA has Stocked Coffins

One of the things that came out a number of years ago is that FEMA had bought a billion dollars worth of “disposable” coffins. Those who have tried to debunk that as conspiracy theory have said that those weren’t coffins, but rather the waterproof vaults that coffins are placed inside.

Okay, so what? That doesn’t stop them from being able to be used as coffins. If anything, it verifies that’s what they are.

Why does the federal government need all those burial vaults? Why stockpile them? That seems even more sinister when you consider that FEMA doesn’t really stockpile much else in the way of emergency supplies.

When Superstorm Sandy hit the New Jersey coast, they didn’t even issue a Request for Quote (RFQ) until the day after the storm hit. If they are that cavalier about getting bottled water to people, why do they need a stockpile of burial vaults? It’s suspicious at the least.

No Privacy

Some of the sites maintained as FEMA camps are supposed to be able to house as many as 20,000 people. But that’s housing them in rather crowded circumstances. I’ve been in a couple of these, which are commonly used as reserve training centers. They can comfortably hold about 1,000 to 2,000 people.

What that means is that everyone will be in crowded barracks conditions, perhaps separated by sex and age and perhaps separated by family. There’s really no way of knowing. But considering the left’s take on “gender identity” today, I’m pretty sure that it won’t be anything that anyone will like.

I can’t say for sure, but this could be part of the plan in using these camps as reeducation centers. One of the more effective ways of brainwashing people is to put them under a lot of stress. Depriving people of the comfort of their family and thrusting them into crowded conditions are two clear ways of doing this.

Families Can Be Separated in FEMA Camps

As I just stated, families are very likely to be separated in these camps. The leftists in the government, as well as other organizations like the teachers’ unions, have already stated that the children belong to the government, not to their parents.

Taking those children away from their parents is a key part of indoctrinating them.

It also allows FEMA the opportunity to use the children as hostages for the “good behavior” of their parents.

Whether this means that good behavior will be required so that parents can see their children, or it means that some overt threat will be used is something that we’re going to have to wait to see. But it is clear that there are many advantages to a tyrannical government in separating families.

Are you ready to survive in the major crisis?

Alive After the Fall – How to Survive an EMP/HEMP Attack on the Power Grid this guide is a complete program that gives you not only great strategies to survive catastrophes, nuclear and chemical attacks.

But also, to help you be a step ahead of the global enemy, understand political and social signs, and never be caught off-guard.

How would you feel if, due to a few small but critical miscalculations, all your prepping efforts came to naught?

This article is to help you gain some perspective on inaccurate assumptions that may derail all your painstaking preparation.

Prepping mistakes won’t only waste time and money but could get you killed.

I am reminded of the Maginot Line. That great wall and concrete barrier the French constructed to keep the Germans out. The speed with which France fell when the Germans invaded is a spectacular example of wasted effort and false security.

And, keep in mind, that French military personnel spent years planning the wall. If professionals can make such glaring mistakes, how can we small folk even hope to plan for disaster or onslaught?

This article will get you thinking about how SHTF could catch your unawares, and help you to think your way through critical decisions that could save your life.

The article challenges assumptions that could lead you down the wrong path and helps you to get a better grip on what post-SHTF reality could look like.

I have compiled the following as a list of prepping mistakes that could get you killed. I will mention each and then discuss them in general.

Prediction

One of the biggest mistakes that preppers make is that they think they can predict what is going to happen. You may be able to see an SHTF event coming. But witnessing global events and dealing with the specifics as they unfold in your town or on your street are two very different things.

Stockpiling food for 6 months will help almost nothing if you are in an accident on your way to pick up your kid from school, or your daughter is away at college.

While SHTF events may be foreseen, the specific sequence of events is highly speculative at best. Your plan must rather take on the form of a statement of strategy.

A strategic statement that lays a foundation for action. A tactical plan is to have 50 pounds of rice in the basement. A strategy is to ensure that every member of the family can support themselves on the move for 72 hours while making their way to pre-defined rendezvous points.

Another way of looking at this is to ask the following questions: Are you preparing the road for the travelers? Or are you preparing the travelers for any road they may encounter?

Black Swan Events

Another mistake preppers make is to underestimate Black Swan events. The name stems from the belief Europeans had that Black Swans did not exist. Until the first Europeans made their way to China, only to realize that Black Swans were quite numerous!

Since then, the term has been used to indicate events that were believed to be impossible but did occur anyway.

The principle of Black Swan events is that they are almost impossible to foresee. Not only are they in contradiction to expectations, but they are also events that are deemed so unlikely that preparations are not made and precautions are not taken. It’s impossible to prepare for every virtually impossible event.

Expect post SHTF to be full of black swan events.

Your main focus must be the ability to constantly adapt to new circumstances as they unfold. You will be operating with imperfect knowledge in an environment that will challenge you in unexpected ways. The main skill you need. The ability to shift your focus between constantly changing objectives.

The mistake is preparing only for the dangers you deem likely. The way to overcome this is to have a strategy for dealing with the unexpected.

As a side note, the difference between black swan events and prediction (mentioned above) is this. Thinking you can predict events narrows your focus and has you prepping for specific circumstances.

Black Swan events require that you have a plan for events that you don’t think can occur.

Safety and Dangers in Numbers

Many preppers have a roadmap for post SHTF. This often will include concepts for who will be in their group and how large the group will be. This raises the question of how large is the ideal group?

Large groups are great for defense but cannot stay under the radar, and are easily found. They enjoy the benefits of economies of scale and division of labor.

Small groups can stay hidden but are vulnerable. If you are alone, you are your doctor, hairdresser, guard, cook and the list goes on.

Historically, large groups have always fared better, achieved more, and provided greater safety. Individuals are almost always more vulnerable to dangers from outside the group than inside the group.

In an SHTF scenario, you need to make your own choices, but the conclusion above is borne out by historical data. In my mind, it would be a mistake to try and survive on your own.

The mistake to avoid is trying to set up a group post SHTF. Build your tribe in the good times so you know who you are facing the tough times with.

Social Cohesion

Another critical mistake is miscalculating what keeps groups together. You may think its common goals or even benefits to the members of the group. Both these may foster social cohesion, but they will fail in the face of harsh pressure.

The most important characteristics are shared values and beliefs. It explains in part why religions have been so successful in promoting the interest of large groups. It also explains why cults are so effective at retaining certain members. When finding your tribe, make sure that you are in the company of people who share your values.

The current US political situation highlights this point. You would find people at different ends of the political spectrum who place a high premium on what they perceive to be fairness and justice.

You will find people who are focused and physically prepared. But they will not be able to work together due to severe ideological differences.

The mistake to avoid is to have your vision blinded by people who have similar objectives to yours. Long-term thinking dictates cohesion around shared values.

No-One is Coming

One of the worst mistakes you can make is to think that someone else will save you.

Thinking that there is a government agency, military, EMS, or some other group that is preparing to rebuild society and save survivors. Someone could be on their way, but the likelihood is low. Besides, depending on someone coming saving you, is not a plan. Just think about the numbers.

There 3 – 4 police officers for every 1000 members of the general population. This is even less for soldiers, emergency personnel, and other first responders.

In a full-out SHTF scenario, they will also need to save themselves before getting round to saving others.

Don’t factor outside assistance into any part of your survival plans.

Supplies Will Run Out

It’s one of the mistakes to think you can store enough food and supplies to last you indefinitely.

Even if you store food for 25 years, your supplies will run out. Your strategy needs to depend on storage and production, or you will die soon after your supplies run out. Seeds are an optimal solution, but plants generally have lower nutrient densities than animal products. Particularly concerning protein.

Domesticated animals like cattle and sheep have a tough time surviving without humans. If you are serious about long-term survival, you will need to make provisions for animals.

Hunting wild animals is an option. So is herding. Our forebears use to move their animals with them wherever they went.

Geography is Destiny

Not all places are created equal. The real-estate industry has a mantra that says the three most important things to consider before you buy are: Location, location, and location.

Historians will also tell you that geography is destiny. This may sound counterintuitive but think about the following. People who live close to the sea become fishermen and seafarers. People who live in mountains don’t build boats, but climb rocks and learn to breathe thin air.

Your short-term vision should include surviving the initial turmoil, but long term, you will need to think about the optimal geographic region where you may want to settle.

It would be one of the mistakes to keep living in a place if that presents less than optimal conditions for survival.

Your relationship to space will also change a lot, when there’s no gas for cars, a region of 10 square miles becomes huge.

Try to settle somewhere close to water and fuel for a fire. Water has the added benefits of fish and also transportation possibilities.

But, the good spots will become cherished, so be ready to defend your turf. Plan your move ahead of time and have more than one option in mind.

Children and Old Folks

Every society is made up of productive members, and non-productive members.

In modern societies, children and old-folk are typically looked after.

In a post SHTF world, scarcity of resources will dictate that all members of a society be productive. It would be a mistake to think that you will be able to look after large numbers of non-productive individuals.

Besides, in small groups that face challenges together, all members will feel compelled to contribute. Find a way to ensure that all members of your group feel worthy by allowing them to contribute to the survival of the group.

Think beforehand about how children and old-folk can contribute. Even if it’s as simple as cleaning and mending.

Teeth and Pain

I mention these three because there are good odds that your thinking is leaning towards storing antibiotics and pain meds. And while that is important, it would be a mistake to stop there.

Health starts with nutrition, and nutrition starts with masticating food. In years gone by, dental health was a good indicator of life expectancy and vitality.

Stock up on toothbrushes and toothpaste, and learn how to take care of your teeth when these items run out.

Bad teeth will lead to malnutrition, weakness, and vulnerability.

Conquering pain was one of the main advances in medicine over the past few hundred years. Aside from stockpiling pain meds, if there is one thing you need to learn how to produce, it’s local anaesthetics.

That falls well beyond the scope of this article but will be a worthwhile investment for a post SHTF world. Think off amputations, sutures, re-aligning broken bones, and any form of dentistry.

A distillery is a good way of turning sugars into alcohol which will be extremely important for disinfecting medical instruments and injuries. You can also drink it…just be sure you know what you’re doing.

Run Away

Experts agree that making a stand or displaying courage could be one of the deadly mistakes.

I once listened to a discussion about the best course of action if you are attacked while you have a small child in the house with you. The experts were all in agreement that running away and leaving the child behind was the best course of action. They also agreed that almost no grandparent or parent would do it.

But think about the following. If you run away:
• The child cannot be used as leverage against you.
• The child poses no risk or danger to the attacker.
• If the attackers have come to kill, one death is a better outcome than two deaths. Staying would guarantee that you die while running increases everybody’s chances.
• The attacker will feel nervous with you gone because they don’t know if you are calling help or have a sniper rifle ready to shoot at them.

It could be a mistake to stick around when attacked. Thin this through and discuss it with your group.

Nutrition and Health

The internet is currently a battleground of ideologies, and nutrition finds itself sequestered into many of these battles. Many of us make the mistake of confusing ethical considerations for sound nutritional practices. Just remember, ideology doesn’t feed your body.

In a post SHTF world, doctors will be rare and they won’t have drugs to treat you with anyway. Your health will come to depend largely on your nutrition.

Keep in mind, that physical strength and mental acuity will give you an edge over weak and malnourished individuals. Sarcopenia is the wasting of muscle and occurs when protein intake is low or you are living with poor sources of protein. It’s typically age or mobility related, but nutrition also plays a big role.

Potatoes: 100 grams of potato supplies 77 calories and 2 grams of protein.

Eggs: 1 large egg = 57grams of egg and supplies 72 calories and 7 grams of protein.
You can eat eggs raw. You can consume the shell for calcium. You can eat the chicken that lays the egg. Chicken poop is fertilizer. You can easily free-range chickens, but this requires a larger area.

Potatoes need cultivation and have to be cooked. You will need quite a bit of additional water to keep them going, but they can be cultivated in a small area.

Eggs have much higher levels of Omega 3 fatty acids, and apart from vitamin C, eggs have more of all other micronutrients.

The bottom line is this. You can live better off 10 eggs per day than 2 pounds of potatoes. With potatoes, you will run out of protein and most other nutrients much sooner than eggs.

Choose wisely, my friends, and don’t make this mistake of thinking humans are herbivores.

Behavior and Violence

Those who study history will tell you that ancient societies had much higher levels of violence than modern societies. This holds true even when you look at death rates during peaceful times.

While all Preppers expect that SHTF events will be violent, some think that post SHTF worlds will be peaceful with small bands of people going about their lives.

History teaches us this kind of thinking is highly mistaken. If history teaches us anything about human nature, it’s that violence thrives in the absence of authority.

The post-apocalyptic literary genre may offer some clues as to the directions in which human nature may move societies.

In my opinion, Lord of the Flies is one such book. Another that I would recommend is The Road by Cormack McCarthy.

A sparsely populated world in which survival is tough may see humans regressing to more primitive states of being.

Almost all ancient cultures practiced human sacrifice and many modern examples exist of the low value we place on the life of their enemies.

Thinking that ethics will govern the post-SHTF world because humans are naturally benevolent will be one of the worst mistakes you can make. Benevolence is usually only directed to those inside the tribe.

Final Words

Post SHTF world will not resemble a watered-down or alternative version of what we experience currently. The costs of mistakes will be much higher, with some mistakes or errors in judgment proving fatal.

Current thinking will get you killed in a post-SHTF world. So while you are Prepping for physical survival, make sure that you are ready to recalibrate your way of thinking. It will also be a mistake to think that the evils that plague society now will be better post SHTF.

So there you have it, folks. Prepping mistakes that will kill you if you get them wrong, but will greatly improve your chances of survival if you get them right!