The First 5 Things To Do After a Crisis

You’re at work when all of the sudden one of your co-worker’s shouts with a terrible shriek, “Did you hear?” He can see the confused look on your face and explains, “The financial markets just collapsed and everyone’s running to the bank and ATMs.” What should we do?

Preparing for civil unrest in your town is much like prepping for bugging in during any other emergency or weather disaster. You should have plenty of food, water, batteries, medicine and first aid, an alternative cooking method, fuel and lighting for your family for a week.

Our friends at Cheaper Than Dirt have a weekly blog with some really good topics.  I suggest you sign up to receive it each week.  To read more about what you should do immediately upon realizing a crisis has or is happening, click HERE. 

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Best Prepper Books

Here are some excellent Prepper Books.  Your feedback and suggestions are appreciated and will be evaluated and possibly used to update this list. Note that the order of importance of these books will change based on the skills and experience of the reader.  Here they are:

1. How to survive the end of the world as we know it by James Wesley Rawles (buy 2 copies)
2. Prepper Handbook on Amazon Kindle
3. The Encyclopedia of Country Living 
4. Country Wisdom & Know-How
5. SAS Survival Guide by John 'Lofty' Wiseman
6. Idiot's Guides: Foraging by Mark Vorderbruggen
7. The Survival Medicine Handbook 
8. Bushcraft 101 by Dave Canterbury 
9. Advanced Bushcraft:  by Dave Canterbury
10. The Backyard Homestead by Carleen Madigan
11.  The Homesteading Handbook by Abigail R. Gehring
12.  Mini Farming: Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre by Brett L. Markham
13. Guide to Canning, Freezing, Curing & Smoking Meat by Wilbur F. Eastman
14. Meat Smoking And Smokehouse Design by Stanley Marianski
15.  Basic Butchering of Livestock & Game by John J. Mettler
16.  Keeping Bees by Ashley English also see our post Bees for Prepping 
17.  National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms 
18. Where There Is No Doctor
19. Vegetable Gardner's Bible  
20.  YOUR SUGGESTIONS?

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Gardening Links

Gardening101 – Soil Basics
Preppers Garden
Green House for year-round food supply  
Vegetable Planting Dates 
Vegetable Days to Harvest   

Seeds for Survival
Budget Garden Preparations
Aquaponics
Growing your own food from seed

Prepper Livestock series
Preppers Garden 
Food Shelf Life

Growing your own food from seed
Practice Garden 

Fall Garden 

For additional information see the following links: 
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Top Rated Prepper Handbook Posts of all time  

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Food Shelf Life

"What is the shelf life of my food storage?"

Shelf life can be defined two ways according to BePrepared.com:

Best if used by shelf life - Length of time food retains most of its original taste and nutrition.
Life sustaining shelf life - Length of time food preserves life, without becoming inedible.

There can be a wide time gap between these two definitions of shelf life. For example, most foods available in the grocery store that are dated have a best if used by date that ranges from a few weeks to a few years. On the other hand, scientific studies have determined that when properly stored, powdered milk has a life sustaining shelf life of 20 years. That is, the stored powdered milk may not taste as good as fresh powdered milk, but it retains some nutritional value and is still edible.

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Top 10 Barter Goods

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During an economic meltdown, a wide spread Power Outage, Hurricane, Terrorist take over, or any other long term serious event, barter will be necessary.  With out electricity, credit and ATM cards are worthless.  The only reason a paper bill (dollar) has any value at all, is the confidence the public has in it; that it is worth more than the paper its printed on.  Isn't it a bit amazing how the same piece of paper with "20" printed on it is worth much more than with a "1" printed on it? The same paper and ink with just a slightly different image makes a huge difference in the perceived value. But what is true value?  Obviously things that are necessary to survive (see Rule of 3) like air, water, food, shelter and security are very import.

So what are the characteristics of ideal Barter Investments:

1. Low cost, but certain to increase in value after a collapse; essential to survive
2. Stable over a many years; made from stainless steel; long shelf life
3. Unlikely to flag you as a Prepper; secrecy is critical to avoid making you a target
4. Used in your every-day life so that they can be rotated like other stockpiled items
5. Contributes to (not threatens) you, such as seeds traded to a neighbor in exchange for a bushel of food as opposed to a gun or ammo that could be used to shoot you.

Here are some Top 10 items that should be valuable to barter with, listed in what I believe might offer the best return on investment. 

1. US Silver Coins - the most stable form of currency throughout history.  Gold is too valuable; what would you buy with a $10,000 bill if no one could make change?  A low cost alternative might be copper pennies, which they stopped making in 1982 because the copper in them was worth about 3-4 cents. One-gram gold might also be good for protecting wealth but for barter would be like having 100 bills where not many people could make change for them.
2. Ammo - there is debate here that you don't want to arm potential enemies and so you should not trade any ammo, but it will offer a substantial return on your investment being worth more than gold in a "Walking Dead" type break down. A counter to the argument is that arming your neighbors could serve and an outer layer of defense. A solution to this concern might be to barter a limited number of small caliber, short range ammunition like .22 LR (or 9mm) and not long range sniper rounds.  Barter individual rounds, not boxes of ammo. Some suggest popular magazines, which will be critical in the early stages, but not longer term as casualties mount and weapons are readily available.
3. Manual Can Openers - cans of food will be an important source of salvaged food, but you need to be able to open them with out injuring yourself. See our post on Salvaging Supplies.
4. Seeds  - one of the most valuable items long-term along with chickens and other livestock. Save low cost seeds of fast growing Prepper foods that can be preserved.  Short term, they are not worth much, but long term they would be priceless. See our posts on seeds for survival and gardening in the Blog Table of Contents.
5. Hand tools - shovels, hoes, rakes, post hole diggers, crescent wrench, pipe wrench, hand saws, hand drills, hand planer, axe, machete, water hoses, hand water pumps, sprinklers, etc.  A good garden hoe will be priceless when trying to grow your own food.
6. Handheld radios for communications  at $23 for 2, you can't afford not to have a set for you and a set or two for your neighbors to warn you if a threat is coming. Be sure to have rechargeable batteries and several $5 solar powered battery chargers. 
7. First Aid/Medical Supplies, bandages, disinfectants, hydrogen peroxide, alcohol, acetaminophen, Ibuprofen, antibiotic creams, Listerine mouthwash - rotate them as they will expire over time (their Achilles heel). Have a still to make your own disinfectant and purify water.
8. Books of all types, but especially educational ones and those that teach basic skills like gardening, farming/ranching, food preservation, hunting, fishing, firearms, reloading, chemistry, carpenter, military experience, ham radio, bio fuels, medical care, the ability to fix broken mechanical devices, tying knots, teaching and other important skills. 
9. Maps, especially water proof ones are valuable during migrations and a good Silva compass. 
10. TBD - to be determined - I will complete this with your suggestions 

Here are some additional items that are good to have and valuable for barter, but are not necessarily a good investment because they don't meet our criteria, so they didn't make the top 10 list: 

1.  Items like tobacco, alcohol/whiskey, chocolate; too expensive and not essential, however for people who are addicted, these are important.
2. Cross Bow or Bow and Arrows for long term for stealth and security after, ammo runs.
3. Bicycles with trailers, padlocks, chain and parts for them (along with horses) will be essential for travel. But these are far too expensive to invest in for Barter, unlike can openers.
4. BB Guns (higher powered) and lots of BB's for hunting birds and small game but which also do not represent a security threat to you like trading ammo does.
5. Rolls of heavy PE film (black & clear)
6. Pesticides for gardening and insect repellent for security watch (short term) but develop natural sustainable sources for long term needs.
7. Fly Swatters, old fashion pest control before other means were available.
8. Lanterns, candles and matches, especially waterproof ones.
9. Pencils, paper, and a sharpener.
10. Smokers for preserving foods
11. Mason canning jars & lids.
12. Fishing line, hooks and nets.
13. Duct tape, glue, screws and nails
14. Camping, travel supplies, and collapsible water containers.
15. LED flashlights, both battery and crank dynamo powered.
16. Para cord
17. Salt
18. 12-volt electrical components, LED bulbs, AC inverters & Solar Panels
19. Your suggestions? 

Credit/ATM cards and paper money will be worthless.  There will be swap events, traveling salvagers/traders and resale shops along with fix-it shops that will be popular.  No nail salons, gyms or video games.  Only Silver and Barter are sustainable over time.  Our post on Investing for Preppers talks about the value of goods in terms of silver coin.

By this time, it obvious to the few who have survived that things have changed, reset you might say, from an era of stupidity and laziness.  The degree of the break down will largely determine the length and slope of the recovery. Foreign "help" (a.k.a invasion) is likely, whether wanted or not. Not only will we have to fight to survive, we will have to fight to keep our freedom from Communist China, Socialist Europe or the Muslim Middle East. But that is a topic for another post.

For additional information see the following links: 
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Top 10 List of Prepper info
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Top Rated Prepper Website

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Country Home Security Plan

Security for a Country Home or Retreat is different than an Urban Home.  You generally have more area to cover with fewer people. I recommend at least 4, preferably 6, wireless security cameras powered from solar charged batteries.  This will allow you to watch more area, both night and day although night attacks are the most dangerous threat, especially if you don't have Night Vision or Thermal Vision gear and the attackers do.  In addition to the cameras surrounding the Retreat, motion detectors, trip wires and traps along key avenues of access are needed to provide several layers of security.  

Monitor the cameras 24/7 in 6 hour shifts and have Security Patrols and Rovers that have practiced Group Security Drills. The Security patrols would consist of ideally two groups, each containing 2-4 people and a dog (Rover).  Dogs see and smell better than humans, therefor will detect intruders much faster than people, plus they make good companions. German Shepherds are probably the best choice of dog. Each member of the Security Patrol should have certain common supplies in their Security Patrol Pack.  These Teams will later be your Scout Patrols to gather Actionable Intelligence and Salvage for Supplies. Game cameras, strategically located, can show where potential threats have probed or investigated your group. 

Good Security Patrols do not follow a pattern, as patterns can be learned, thus rendering the patrols vulnerable. By doing a 6 hour rotation, you could use a minimum of 15 people for security. Every group would work each of the shifts, so as to not stick the same group on at the same time everyday. The Command Post Leader would monitor the cameras, trip wires, alarms, etc. so that he/she can alert the Security Patrol to potential intruders using a good set of Radios for communication. 

In addition to, or alternately in place of your Security Patrol(s), having Lookout, Out Post or Listening Posts might be advisable with cached supplies nearby. Having a Rapid Deployment Team to support these Out Post Teams is good if you have enough people, but be careful not to over react to a diversionary attack and leave your retreat or back side weak and vulnerable.  When encountering threats it may be better to fall back toward your retreat and regroup than to send man power forward and leave the retreat under-staffed.  So have planned fall back locations.

As I sit here thinking about this, I have many scenarios running through my head, and planning for every possible action is impossible. I suggest drafting some standard operating procedures (SOPs), detailing travel routes, primary and secondary defensive positions depending on where an attack may come from, home invasion plan medical and trauma guides, etc... Then practice the SOPs with your team, determine what works and what doesn't, then fine tune your SOPs. The goal is for everyone to know what to do when something happens, i.e. attack from the west, security and residents take up positions to repel that attack. You'll want people guarding all key points of the compound.  Have several defensive plan options with code names.  

If I ran an enemy unit, I would use small groups to attack key structures (rain water collection unit, solar grid, livestock, etc.) as this would require people to come out and fix it, as well as bring security out in the open to protect whoever is working on the unit. Knowing approximately where the guards will be during repairs, I would position snipers to take them out of action... wound if possible, kill if necessary. A wounded person slows people down and causes more burden than a dead person.  Our defensive counter to this is to determine where these snipers are likely to be and deploy a Scout Team to check them before going back out. 

Walls would be ideal, but they might not be practical, it all depends on the overall setup. Walls don't necessarily have to be strong enough to keep people out; they just need to keep people from seeing in

The last step is to have evacuation plans along with primary and secondary regrouping locations. Topics like these are covered in the Prepper Handbook available on Amazon Kindle for $4.99, but in the end, you must develop your own confidential plans. These can only serve as food for thought. Good luck and stay safe.

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Home Invasion Response Plan

At the sound of breaking glass, the alarm going off or some sound that clearly indicates a home invasion is in progress, it is time to spring in to action.  The senior household leader should loudly call out Intruder, Intruder, Intruder.  This is important to alert others and insure the suspect Intruder is not actually a family member. Do this as you grab your gun, flashlight and cell phone.  Call 911 and put it on speaker as you immediately move to a vantage point that provides cover and a view of the direction(s) that the intruder is likely to approach from. At the same time your spouse, partner or the designated backup leader (if any) gets their gun, flashlight and cell phone, and also calls 911, then at this point you have two options:

1. Your back up person can gather any family members or children into your designated safe area, and stand guard, ideally close enough behind you to serve as a back up.
2. Have family members stay in their room and/or proceed to a designated hiding place that would provide cover, minimize the risk of being struck by a stray shot and make it hard for an intruder to find them and use them as a hostage.  In no case would I surrender my gun to an armed intruder, but each of us should have thought this out and have stashed guns as back up. 

Wait for the police to arrive and proceed with caution when they do so you are not mistaken for an intruder.  Only if necessary, should you proceed to clear the house which might occur if your family members chose step 2 above, in which case, you should secure them first. Should any intruders get past you, the others should be to defend them selves but not leave the safe area until the police or you tell them it is safe to do so.

Practice this exercise with the whole family to see how it works and fine tune the plan as needed.

For additional information see the following links: 
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Urban Survival Plan

Country Home Security Plan

Advanced Prepper Resource

Group Security Drills
Urban Survival Perspective

Passive Layered Security

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