New Years Resolution

Happy New Year! As a New Years resolution, lets pledge to protect our families against common disasters for our area. Events like earthquakes or severe weather such as hurricanes, tornadoes, winter storms, freezing cold and whatever other disasters that are likely to occur over the next few years. With all the rioting going on, we should include that too.  At the very least, put a plan in place. 

The following is an excerpt from the Prepper Handbook that can be previewed for free on Amazon.

Prepper Incremental Strategy
Now let’s talk about common sense prepping. Not going overboard or becoming obsessed, but rather build your preparations slowly over time. Few of us have unlimited funds to go out and buy everything we need at once. Therefore, we must organize, prioritize, and develop our preparations over time. I call this our Incremental Strategy Plan. As you read this book, you should develop your own plan. The following table is an excellent example to follow and can be tailored to meet your specific needs.

This table gives you several columns that represent the approximate times that you might be able to survive with no outside support. The columns and rows are in order of priority. Starting on the left is the minimum level of preparations that you should have. Start at the top row of the first column and work down. Once you achieve the first column level titled “0 – 25%, 7 days” then it is time to move across and start securing the second column of preparations titled “26 – 50%, 30 days.”  Continue this process until you are comfortable with your level of preparation.

You will notice the first item shown in the first column and first row is Ammo and at least one firearm. It doesn’t matter what preparations you have in place; you won’t be able to keep them unless you are armed.

Prepper Incremental Strategy Table

        Column 1^st priority         2^nd priority      3^rd priority      4^th priority

Prep Level &Period of time: →	0–25%7 days	26– 50%30 days	51 – 75%6 Months	76 – 98%1 Year +
Comment on potential cause, symptoms and consequences	Flu, hurricane, tornado, earthquake, chemical leak, wildfire. Power / water out a few days. Minor looting. Less than 1% population loss	Serious pandemic, massive chemical or radiation leak, wildfire, rioting & gang looting.Power / water out for weeks.Single digit population loss.	Social upheaval, terrorist or limited nuke attack, large organized gang looting. Indefinite power outage. Double digit population loss.	EMP, Economic Meltdown, hyperinflation,Organized Militia, possibly foreign “help imposing order”, confiscating weapons & supplies for the common good. 50+% population losses.
Security(1st priority row)	200 rounds of Ammo & at least one personal protection firearm. Solar Powered Lawn Lights that use AA Batteries.Crank radio & flash lights.Whistles for emergency communication.	Increase to 500 rounds of Ammo per firearm & at least 1 pistol & rifle.Add: Solar Powered Motion detection alarms (Home Brite) and Walkie Talkie Radios, CB, ham radios, trip wire, guard dog.	Increase to 1,000 rounds of Ammo per firearm.Add: at least 1 pistol & rifle per adult; Gen 3 Night Vision & a bullet proof vest for every 2 – 3 adults.	Increase to 5,000 rounds of Ammo per firearm.Add Bow & 24 Arrows for each adult; Black Powder Flintlock rifle & bullet mold.Also one Ruger or Marlin Stainless Steel .22 Rifle per Teenager.Gen 3 Night Vision (2).
Watch(2nd priority row)	Radio, TV, daily scouting in pairs / visit neighbors. Sleep with 1 eye open.	Night watchman	24 – 7 Armed Security Watch	Community Organized Constitutional law enforcement.
Air(3rd priority row)	Gas Mask per person. Recall smoke inhalation kills, not the house fire.	Add: Gas Mask for each vehicle & extra set of filters per family member.	Add: 2 NBC (Nuclear, Biological & Chemical) Suits.	Add: another extra set of filters and 2 NBC Suits.
Shelter(4th priority)	Stocked primary residence & backup tent. Outdoor barking dogs.	Add: Get out of Dodge (GOOD) pack; Neighborhood organized.	Add: remote retreat with underground shelter & sufficient fuel to get there.	Add: Security posts for community watch with good cover & communications. Restore utility services.
Water(5th priority)	1 gallon of unscented bleach per family and 7 gallons of stored water per person.	Increase to 30 gallons of stored water per person.Add: Water filtration.	Increase to two (2) gallons of bleach.Add:  renewal water source – creek, pond.	Increase to four (4) gallons of unscented bleach.Add: water distillation.
Food(6th priority)	Kitchen pantry & cabinets well stocked with your normal foods, especially dried goods and those with long shelf lives. Have a small “practice” garden and a few hand tools.	Add:  Freezer stocked with ¼ to ½ beef & commonly used frozen foods. Electric Generator and gas to run freezer. Canning book(s), water pump, matches & fire starters. Larger garden.	Add: 6 month supply of dried food for each person. 1,000 canning Jars & extra lidsGarden Seeds. Chickens & Incubator for eggs & meat. Rabbits	Increase vitamins & food supply to 12 months.Add:   Heirloom seeds & hand / garden tools for extended food production.Cows, goats, sheep, horses.
Health & Safety(7th priority)	Advanced First aid Kit.Keep plenty of vitamins & medicines. Fire protection	Add: Extra First Aid supplies like alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, triple Antibiotic cream, acetaminophen, ibuprofen & Vitamins.	Add Books – When there is no Doctor & When there is no Dentist. Expand fire protection.	Group Doctor or nurse. Trauma & surgery first aid kit. Books on nutrition.
Barter / Share(8th priority)	Cash, Water & dried foods. Extra First Aid kit(s). Extra Batteries & LED head lights  Basic first aide kits	Add: Extra first aid supplies Basic Skills, Survival & Medical Books, Bibles. Rechargeable batteries.	Add:  Extra ammo in common calibers.Extra Stainless Steel 22 Rifles to arm trusted neighbors.	Add: US Silver &/or Gold coins. Organized weekly community barter & swap events.Extra Hand & Gardening Tools.
Extras(9th priority)	Quality AC inverter (120 volt Plug) for your car(s). Police Scanner, can openers. Pet food.	Several 5 Gal Cans of Gas & maps. Propane (long shelf life), Kerosene & Lamps. Para Cord (Mil Std 8 ply).	Solar power system,  hand water pump, rain water collection, grain grinder,	Trauma and Surgical Kit, home school books, encyclopedia, fish nets, and Alternate resort off site stores cached for retreat plan.

This table is an example to present the incremental strategy concept. The actual priorities may vary depending on your situation. If you live near a nuclear power plant, NBC (Nuclear, Biological & Chemical) Suits are a higher priority. If you live near a chemical plant, refinery, or areas with frequent wild fires, then Gas Masks & extra filters become a higher priority. If you live in a crowded area with no place to go (Bug Out), then you need more security and motion detection, community organization and weapons to share with neighbors for strength in numbers.  See the post Urban Survival Plan

For additional information see the following links:

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Prepper Gift List

Giving the right gifts at Christmas or for birthdays can help the entire family’s level of preparation. For example, giving:

1. A good set of MURS Walkie Talkies for the nephew, kids or grand kids so they can play in the neighborhood and communicate. Play with the new toys with them. Pick “our channel” so they will know what to use in the future if an emergency occurs.  Pretend a hurricane has taken out all communications.
2. Water distiller, good filter, dispenser for the refrigerator and spare filters to “help save money on bottled water… or drink healthier water” but also have the ability to filter rainwater, pool or creek water if necessary.
3. Crank radio with flashlight “for those power outages like we had this spring.”  One that has the NOAA Weather channel available for emergencies.
4.  Camping gear to take the “family to experience the great outdoors.” Things like sleeping bags, water filter bottle, water treatment, and tent, and emergency whistle, fire starting equipment, backpack, and a compass.  Even if you only practice in the back yard, its good experience.
5. Outdoor solar powered LED lights, to "highlight the landscape" but also provide a source of lights and charges AA batteries when the power grid is down.  Some use AAA batteries.
6. State or US Map for getting where needed when there is “no cell signal,” Google or even GPS.
7. Gas can for reserve fuel “extra for the lawn mower” so we always have a full one. Be sure to include some gas stabilizer as gas has a limited shelf life.
8. A good 12 VDC to 120 VAC inverter for your car so you always have a plug to power things.
9. Motion lights solar powered for around house / yard. Ideally they use common replaceable rechargeable batteries (like AAA, AA, and 9V, C or D). These are very useful as a deterrent to intruders and alerts residents.
10. Medical or First Aide hand book or family First Aide Kit.
11. Ammo for shooting practice; you can't have too much. See: The right amount of Ammo 
12. Prepper Books and Movies are good gifts. 
13. Silver Dollars for collector coins
14. Security Lights and Alarms to protect the home. 
15. Thermal Vision for hunting at night or detecting heat loss in your home.
16. Rechargeable Batteries are another good stealth prepper gift.  

Convincing your family, friends and neighbors that preparation is important can be difficult if not impossible in today’s busy times. A gradual approach will be required if you are to be successful. Otherwise, you should keep your preparations confidential and not let others know about them (as much as possible). But also plan on providing help for skeptical love ones & even neighbors.

Supplies like gas masks or razor wire should be concealed until things get bad…..when the skeptics stop thinking you are crazy and wish they had listened to you.  The Prepper Handbook on Amazon offers about 50 such gift ideas and can be previewed free. You can also down load a free Kindle reader to your phone or computer.

J Ray

For additional information see the following link:

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