Getting Your Kids Off the Internet and Out to the Range!

By CTD Blogger published on in Safety and Training

I am a huge advocate for getting kids outdoors. With warmer weather now upon us, many of our kids are home for the summer. Too many pre-teens and teenagers find themselves inside on a beautiful day, either on the Internet or playing video games. Depending on their ages, there are a lot of outdoorsy ideas that can help get your kids outside this summer. It’s not only fun, it’s good for them!

Depending on their ages, there are a lot of outdoorsy ideas that can help get your kids outside this summer. It’s not only fun, it’s good for them!

A guest post written by Annette Doerr.

One of the initial reasons I joined my sportsmen’s club was because it listed a “Junior Rifle Club” on its website. Great, I thought, a way to get my girls involved and possibly into competitive shooting! I was so disappointed to find out after I joined, that the junior rifle club had not been running for several years—no leaders, no kids, no club.

Fast-forward several monthly meetings, and multiple inquiries later, and I was able to find a member who had his NRA Rifle Instructor Certification and was willing to help! Between the two of us, we were able to assemble a small team of knowledgeable and qualified volunteers. As it turned out, a few other members of my club had children they wanted involved. We opened membership to kids between the ages of 12 and 18, who had an NRA Junior Membership. Parents did not need to be members of our club; we were ready, willing and able to teach anyone interested (with parental permission of course). To top things off, we made it free! All parents who were not club members were required to stay for the safety lesson. We wanted them to know what we would be teaching and why. This also helped a few of our more nervous parents gain trust that we did indeed know what we were doing!

Sometimes when you see a need that is not being met, you have to roll up your sleeves, jump on in and figure out a way to make it happen. The junior club had been stagnant for years, yet seemingly, we had several members interested in getting their kids involved and plenty of well-qualified, competent volunteers. The simple fact of the matter was nobody had taken the reins in order to get things rolling again. Sadly, the kids were missing a wonderful opportunity.

If you’re not a member of a shooting club or don’t have access to a Junior Club in your area, don’t despair! There are plenty of ways you can get your kids to the range with you. You know your kids best; depending on their ages and maturity level, you might want to start with an Airsoft rifle. If you’re into the classics, every kid should have their own Red Ryder BB gun, just don’t shoot your eye out! Readily available across the country, bb guns and pellet guns can help you teach your children firearm safety and have some fun while you’re doing it. Always treat these types of firearms as real firearms. While some may consider them as “toys,” they are still a firearm.

Anytime you’re working with kids, you have to keep it fun! If you want them on the range with you, there are varieties of ways to keep things fresh, fun and interesting! Reactive targets are a great way to make things fun. Another way is to take a little notebook from the dollar store and turn it into a passport of sorts. Write some progressive goals on each page, and a reward on the reverse page. As an example, maybe the first few pages look like this:

1. Hit a paper plate at 10 feet. Reward: Gold star.
2. Hit a paper plate at 20 feet. Reward: Gold star and ice cream cone.

Keep the progression simple and get your kids excited about progressing with their shooting. The cost of an ice cream cone is well worth spending quality time with your kids outdoors on the range. Find a fun stamp to stamp their “passports” with as they achieve their goals.

Anytime you’re working with kids, you have to keep it fun!

I’m a big fan of the NRA Winchester Marksmanship Program. The program is self-guided and makes a great way to work with your kids in a structured, fun program. Working individually, you and your kids can work your way up the various rankings. Rockers, patches, certificates and pins can all be ordered through the NRA Program Materials Center. Once your child has earned a ranking, you can reward them with some swag. The program works on a step-by-step basis with increasing difficulty as you progress. There are marksmanship programs for air gun rifles, air gun pistols, pistols, rifles and shotguns, so everyone in the family can gain competency while having fun.

Teaching our youth to safely and responsibly handle firearms should be a must for preparing for adulthood. If you’re not a certified instructor, or just don’t want to be the one teaching your kids to shoot, there are some great organizations out there that can help.

• Boy Scouts of America —(Boys only) BSA has been teaching outdoor skills including shooting sports since its incorporation in February of 1910. Frequently Asked Questions about its shooting program can be found here.
• 4-H —(Boys and girls) 4-H also has a wonderful program for kids. Included is a great shooting program. Click here for more information and to find a chapter near you.
• Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation —Interested in clays? SSSF has you covered. SSSF is a leader in youth development shooting sports programs.

While these are just a few examples, there are many resources available for youths interested in shooting sports. A great general resource is the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Information on many of the available youth programs can be found on its site.

Our children are our future, and if we don’t make the time to get them involved in the things that matter, no one will. It is our responsibility as parents to help them gain the skills necessary to be well-rounded adults. There are plenty of ways today’s kids can be led astray and get into trouble. Giving them a great foundation and education in shooting sports is one way to combat that. Let’s get our kids off the Internet and outdoors. The lifelong skills they learn now, will serve them well into the future!

How do you get your children interested in the shooting sports? Share your ideas and strategies with others in the comment section.

Annette Doerr is a freelance writer, self-employed businesswoman, wife, mother, equestrian, and is active in Greyhound rescue. She and her husband Bob are avid shooters and are both NRA Certified Pistol Instructors and NRA Certified Range Safety Officers. You can read more of her writing on her blog, weshoot2.

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Tags: How To, Women's Guide to Guns and Shooting, Youth Shooting

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Maps for Survival

When there is an EMP, Solar Flare, Terrorist Attack on our Power Grid, or other cause of a Power Outage, there will be NO GOOGLE MAPS and possibly NO working Electronic devices like a GPS.

These are disastrous sounding events, but it could be nothing more than being in NO Cell Signal area, or a cell tower being out when you happen to be lost.

For this reason, it is prudent to have an old fashion Road MAP &/or Road Atlas.  For under $5 you can have a Folding Map.  Why would anyone not have such a low cost item in their Bug Out Vehicle as well as in their every day car.

The PREPPER HANDBOOK RECOMMENDATION is to have a Plastic Coated Folding Road Map for your State and a Plastic Coated Folding US Road Map, in your vehicle glove compartment and also in your vehicle Bug Out Bag, and then a Road Atlas in your vehicle trunk. Remember the value of redundancy, and on low cost items like this, it is very affordable.

It is also good to have a DC to AC inverter in your vehicle to use as a 120 VAC power supply. For under $50 you can use your vehicle as a back up power supply.  An area Phone Book is also a good information source if foraging to Salvage Supplies becomes necessary.

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Backup Electricity for under $50

Most US families own a power generator, even if they don't realize it.   

It is your Car.

For this reason,  it is a PREPPER HANDBOOK RECOMMENDATION to have a good DC to AC inverter in your vehicle to use as a 120 VAC power supply. For under $50 you can use your vehicle as a back up power supply.  

This 300 watt (continuous) inverter is enough to power most refrigerators, or Freezers as long as your vehicle motor is running.  For this reason, it is good to never drive with your fuel tank near Empty.  Here is a list of estimated power requirements. that will allow you to see what you can run (power wise) using this.

A typical Car Battery stores about 50 Ah (Amp Hours) at 12 VDC (Volts Direct Current) which is 600 watts but you can only use a vehicle battery when the motor is running. You can however add an additional 200Ah Deep Cycle Battery for about $400 that will store 2,400 watts (12 VDC X 200 Ah) or 1,200 usable watts (2,400 X 0.5). While the above 300 watt charger could charge your 200Ah battery, it would take at least 4-5 hours.  Buying a dedicated Battery Charger for $200 could keep this 200Ah battery charged using your household electricity and have it at peak readiness when the power went out.  

Include a Battery Clip-on Car Cigarette Lighter Socket Adapter (above) for $10 and you have a standby battery back up system for about $660 that will provide 1,200 watts of power. Here is a list of estimated power requirements. to show what 1200 watts can run.  For example, it would keep a small refrigerator or freezer running for approximately 2 days, and a large one for over 1 day. 

Combine this with other Backup Power options to have more power available for longer periods.


Another low cost item for power outages are solar powered lights.

It provides solar powered lighting for outside security AND lighting for the inside of your home. In addition, these can be used as a solar charger for rechargeable batteries and make great stealth Prepper gifts for family members. With a package of extra rechargeable batteries, these will provide lighting for years.

Here are a few good passive lights that are solar powered and use common AA so they can double as solar battery chargers:

1) LED version
2) Economy version

I would avoid solar powered lights that use non-standard battery sizes as you will not be able to use these as battery chargers nor their batteries to run other devices like your radios.

Both of the Inverter and Solar Powered Lights are handy to have and very affordable (under $50), making them each a PREPPER HANDBOOK RECOMMENDATION.



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Backup Power Supply

The cost for back up power is very affordable starting around $260 for a highly rated DuroStar DS4000S that can run for 8 hours on 4 gallons of gas.  At $2.00 per gallon, this is $1.00 per hour for electricity.  This could save your food from spoiling in the refrigerator &/or freezer, and easily pay for itself in one power outage. Short of running a heater, air conditioner unit or an electric dryer, this 4,000 watt generator will power all of the important things in most homes.  Here is a list of estimated power requirements.

Add to this, a cover (for the long periods where you hopefully don't need it) at a cost of $20 and an extra 14 gallon gas can that will run your generator for 28 hours.  This is the first backup power system I would purchase.

Another option I actually prefer is the Champion 3800 Dual Fuel Generator which will run for 9 hours on its 3.4 gallon tank or 10.5 hours on a 20 pound Propane Tank, which is much safer to store and has an infinite shelf life vs the commonly used E10 gasoline (we put in our cars) which has a 8 to 12 month shelf life.  This is about $0.76 per hour to run on gasoline and about $1.90 per hour for propane. Short of running a heater, air conditioner unit or an electric dryer, this 3,800 watt system will power all of the important things in most homes.  Here is a list of estimated power requirements.

Granted the propane is more expensive but it is safer and has a much longer shelf life which could make it lower cost long term.  I would keep propane stored for long term use, but use low cost gasoline while it was easily available.

 A generator is affordable short term, but even the lowest operating cost option ($0.76/hour) becomes expensive long term, costing $550 per month for electricity and requiring regular trips to the gas station  Solar power on the other hand requires a larger investment for equivalent power, but is cheaper to operate.

 A wind generator in conjunction with a solar power system is actually the best combination for long term, sustainable power, that will continue to operate long after the gasoline supply is gone.  When the sun isn't shining, the wind is probably blowing, providing a supply of electricity during the cloudy times, during the night and during the day.

Such a system might start with a Goal Zero Yeti 3000 Lithium Portable Power System for $2,400, as an addition to your generator system above.  This is basically a big (280 amp hour) battery that can be charged by your homes power, your generator above while its providing power for your home, or by solar panels or a wind mill once there is no gasoline to run generators with.  Fully charged, this will run your refrigerator for 50 hours. You can buy batteries at a much lower cost to build your own Starter Solar System, but this includes a lot of extras.

You can also run your Generator above for a few hours and charge this large battery to use during the rest of the day, extending your Generator fuel for potentially weeks.

For $575 you can add 200 watts of portable Goal Zero Solar Panels specifically designed for this battery power pack.  It is pre-wired and ready to go by plugging one connector in. This 200 watt system will run your refrigerator, an LED light and a box fan.  Here is a list of estimated power requirements.

The addition of 8 Solar panels for $2,500 will keep this battery charged and provide 800 watts of 12 VDC power for each hour of sun shine. This 800 watt system will run a refrigerator, freezer, LED lights, radio, charge your phones and more. Here is a list of estimated power requirements.

A 2000 Watt Wind Mill for $750 will top off your system and provide a more balanced supply of power, even during cloudy days or at night. Add this to the 8 panels above and you can power all of the important things in most homes, indefinitely. Note that the 800 watt solar system generates up to 800 watts when the sun is fully shining, and the 2,000 watt wind mill generates up to 2,000 watts when the wind is blowing hard.  Figuring a maximum of 50% on both system is reasonable when sunny and windy.  So on a windy sunny day, you might expect about 1,400 watts of power supply.  Here is a list of estimated power requirements. 

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EMP Survival

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$5 Solar Battery Charger
 

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Sustainable Living System

Sustainable Lighting

DIY Solar System

Rechargable Batteries 

 
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Survive a 2 week Power Outage
Complete Sustainable Living Plan
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Prepper Training for Youths

Young children learn rapidly, but are also easily scared.

So what life skills should you teach them to be prepared for a potential economic or societal breakdown, i.e. the proverbial SHTF scenario?

Here is a list to consider:

1. Gardening - the most valuable skill for sustainability.  Let them plant their own seeds.
2. Livestock - Raising "Pet" chickens is a valuable skill for sustainable living. Let your kids check for eggs & see chicks hatch.  Raising pet goats is a most valuable skill for Nomadic living. 
3. Fishing - probably the most valuable skill for living in the wild.
4. Horse Back Riding - is fun and a useful skill as a form of sustainable Transportation.
5. Camping - cooking & sleeping outside in various environments without fear is essential.
6. Water - Safe drinking water is critical to survival.  See the Rule of 3.
7. EDC Survival - Surviving with your Every Day Carry (EDC) items. 
8. Shooting - starting with Gun Safety, followed with shooting a BB Gun at a young age. 
9. Archery - a fun sport and precursor to hunting.  
10. Build your own bow and arrows as well as using modern ones.
11. Paint Ball or Laser tag - a fun way to learn military drills and security skills.  
12. Fire Making - a key skill to teach with caution as they become Teens.
13. Wilderness Survival - Knowledge is free and light weight vs a heavy pack of supplies.
14. Hunting - a key skill to learn as Teens but mental preparation to kill an animal is important.
15. Edible Wild Plants - another good skill for Teens, especially the Universal Edibility Test.

There is so much you can teach your children starting as young as 6 to 8  years old. The most important thing is to make learning fun, where they are looking forward to it.  If some of these prove to be boring, move on to another one.  Avoid talking about dooms day or situations that will scare them; just have fun learning valuable skills.

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NASA Asteroid Warning

Large Asteroid Packing 50 Megatons of Force Might Come Crashing Down on Earth in 2023 — and That’s Not All

A large asteroid could be headed toward us in the near future — barreling through space on a risk trajectory that might cause it to collide with Earth.

The news comes from the Express, which cites NASA sources revealing that the space rock could end up engaged in not one, but a staggering 62 different potential impact trajectories with our planet — each of them waiting to sling the asteroid toward Earth over the next 100 years.

Known as asteroid 2018 LF16, the space rock was last observed by our astronomers on June 16 — notes NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) — who calculated its orbit and its potential to become a threat to our planet. The calculations showed asteroid 2018 LF16 could collide with our planet on 62 different dates between now and 2117.

The first of these unnerving opportunities arises just five years from now — occurring on August 8, 2023. Other potential impact dates in the near future fall on August 3, 2024, and on August 1, 2025.

To make matters worse, the space rock is estimated to measure nearly 700 feet across and is currently hurtling through space at a speed of more than 33,844 miles per hour. This makes asteroid 2018 LF16 twice as large as the Statue-of-Liberty-sized space rock that skimmed past our planet earlier today, as reported by the .

“A space rock this big is about twice as tall as Big Ben’s clock tower in London, twice the height of the Statue of Liberty in New York, and is four times as tall as Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square,” states the Express.

However, this is not to say that the asteroid will slam into Earth with absolute certainty. In fact — per the British media outlet — NASA estimates that the asteroid has a one in 30 million chance of crashing into our planet. This translates into a 99.9999967 percent chance of a miss in the event that asteroid 2018 LF16 does come wandering too close to home.

This particular space rock ranks as a level “zero” threat on the Torino Impact Hazard Scale — meaning that its likelihood of a collision with Earth is nonexistent or close to nonexistent.

This is the same designation that “also applies to small objects, such as meteors, and bodies that burn up in the atmosphere — as well as infrequent meteorite falls that rarely cause damage,” explains the Center for Near Earth Object Studies at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

3D illustration of a swarm of asteroids entering Earth’s atmosphere. Oliver Denker / Shutterstock

Although NASA predictions show that asteroid 2018 LF16 has virtually zero chances of smashing into Earth, the space agency will continue to keep an eye on this formidable space rock.

An asteroid of this size headed directly for Earth would pack a tremendous impact force that could rival the 50-megaton blast produced by the detonation of the Tsar Bomba in 1961.

“That is more than 1,500 times that of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs combined, and 10 times more powerful than all the munitions expended during World War II,” writes the BBC.

ESA (CC BY-SA 3.0)

“The main challenge stems from the population of middle-size objects, ranging from tens to hundreds of meters in diameter,” shows the ESA.

These smaller asteroids can be found in greater numbers in our solar system and strike the Earth periodically — sometimes causing extensive damage. This was the case of the 60-foot asteroid that exploded over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk in 2013, injuring more than one thousand people and producing damage of millions of dollars.

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Home Security

FBI statistics indicate a home is robbed every 13 seconds and since not all police departments report their statistics to the FBI is is probably more frequent than that.   

The key to strong security is more than a good Security Plan, you must include regular assessment and testing of your security systems.  Any decent robbers will study your patterns for weaknesses and possibly even probe your security by approaching under some false pretense.  

Burglars do NOT like lights, loud sounds (like barking dogs) nor company.  They prefer dark, quite places to rob, preferably when no one is at home.  But what if a burglar doesn't realize that you are home, and quietly comes in while you are sleeping; would you detect an intruder?  Imagine waking to the sound of breaking glass.  What would you do? Do you own a gun for personal protection or home defense?

Predictability is the biggest weakness behind no security at all, or not having a good weapon. During hurricanes and modern day disasters, looters and gangs start rioting and robbing within the first 3 days. So being prepared is important.  The wealthier your neighborhood & more Modern your Home is, the more attractive target you are.

Here are some simple and affordable things you can buy that will help protect your home.

Outdoor solar powered lights can add highlights to your yard, and keep it lit up, even when the electricity is off for less than $6.50 each.  If you get the type that uses AA batteries, they can double as solar powered battery chargers.

Something as simple as motion lights or alarms or even a big dog bowl by the back door can deter burglars. 

Another good deterrent are light timers. They make it look like you are home, even when you are away. By plugging a timer in to a timer, you can add an element of randomness that prevents burglars from realizing you are really gone and just using a timer that is on/off at the same time each day.

If you can't afford a home security system add a good motion detecting game camera which will take pictures when movement is detected around your home. Some will send the pictures to your phone for $10/month.

In a serious event, city dwellers need a neighborhood watch plan while country folk have less neighbors to depend on but also less neighbors to pose a threat to your safety. But there will be mass hoards of people evacuating the cities when their food and water runs out.

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Night Vision vs Thermal Vision
The Best Gun
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Country Home Security Plan

Home Invasion Response Plan
Guns in plain sight
Intruder Detection
Riot Preparations
Double Barreled Defense

Modern Home Security
Sustainable City Survival
BB Gun
Top 5 Combat Rifles
Best Prepper Dog

Random Security
Modern Defensive Shotguns
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Top 10 AR-15s
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AR Optics
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