I received my first Ham radio license when I was about 10 years old; the old-timers in the room thought it was pretty amusing to see some young kid coming in to take the tests.

I guess I wasn’t your ordinary ten-year-old kid, even back then I was into survival. I would order Cabelas’ catalogs and fishing magazines, making sure to circle all the gear that I needed to make my great getaway into the wild!

While I never trekked off and escaped into the wilderness, well, not at that age, HAM radio allowed me to take all sorts of wild adventures around the world. I stayed up until the wee hours of the night, using my Grandfather’s radios to talk to and listen to people from around the globe. It was amazing to be able to pick up the mic and talk to someone on the other side of the world.

This may not seem like a big deal to today’s generation who grew up with the internet and iPhones, but when it comes to preparedness Ham Radio is still very relevant and something I would argue is a skill every preparedness-minded person needs to learn.

Why Become a Ham Radio Operator?

When it comes to Survival Communications, Amateur Radio (known affectionally as Ham Radio) is the way to go. It has a number of real-world survival advantages over cell phones, the internet, CB, GMRS, FRS, and other radios or forms of communication.

To begin with, the knowledge that you will gain as a licensed ham radio operator will allow you to listen to and communicate with people throughout the world. While that might not sound important as you are starting at this article on the internet, during a disaster situation where the internet goes down and all other forms of communication fail, do you have a plan for gathering relevant survival-related information or making contact with those in your group or family?

In a survival situation, knowledge is a very valuable asset. The ability to know what’s going on around you will be extremely important in just about any survival situation you might find yourself in. Having this knowledge will definitely give you a leg up in a survival situation.

With little power, and a minimal amount of equipment, Ham Radio allows you to communicate with other Hams, receive radio broadcasts from around the world, and gather important intel during times of crisis – even when cell towers and other forms of communication have failed.

In an emergency situation, you will be able to stay informed on what’s going on locally, nationally, and worldwide. Even in today’s modern age of high-tech gadgets, cell phones, and email, when the grid goes down it’s often HAM Radio operators who still provide emergency communications until things return to normal.

During almost every major disaster, local officials rely heavily on Hams to coordinate rescues and organize search and rescue missions throughout the affected areas. In fact, when regular communications systems like cellular networks, Internet access points, and public safety radio systems are compromised, ham radio can act as a substitute until normal communications have been repaired.

The FCC allows Hams to assist agencies like FEMA, the National Weather Service, and the military during times of crisis. Their ability to communicate when the grid goes down is one of the major reasons I advise our readers to look into Ham Radio.

Requirements to become a Ham Radio Operator:

Unlike when I got my license, The FCC’s new licensing requirements have been simplified and now only require you to pass a single 35-question written exam; no Morse code required (although I do advise you learn it, as it has a number of advantages in an emergency situation).

The tests are made up of questions relating to things like standard operating procedures, identifying radio frequencies, understanding radio propagation, electronic circuits, and electrical principles, antenna theory, equipment repair, non-voice communications, and emergency preparedness.

Why you need to be Licensed:

I often have people ask me if they really need to go through the hassle of becoming a licensed Amateur Radio Operator. Some people argue that during a SHTF situation having a License is meaningless. While this may be true, the knowledge that you’ll obtain while studying to get your license is well worth the time and the effort.

You will learn things like the:

• The basics of how to operate your radio
• Which bands are open during different atmospheric conditions
• How to reliably use your radio during an emergency
• How to build a variety of basic antennas.

In my opinion, studying for the test and going through the process is the only way to ensure you’ll be able to use these skills when it counts.  You will be far better off learning these critical skills now instead of haphazardly trying to figure how to use your radio during an emergency situation.

If you are serious about survival communication, I strongly suggest that you look into becoming a Ham Radio Operator.

Licensing Study Guides and Material

• Ham Radio For Dummies
• The ARRL Antenna Book: The Ultimate Reference for Amateur Radio Antennas
• ARRL Ham Radio License Manual

Other Important Ham Radio Resources:

• Communications Monitoring: The Importance of Radio Monitoring and Intelligence Gathering During Crisis Situations
• Ham Radio FAQs: Everything you need to know about Amateur Radio
• Emergency Communication: Frequencies to Monitor when Things Go Bad
• The ARRL Antenna Book: The Ultimate Reference for Amateur Radio Antennas
• The ARRL Ham Radio License Manual
• Morse Code Teacher

What Ham Radio Gear do you need to ensure your ability to communicate during a disaster?

Once you have your license, you are going to need a couple of things to help ensure your ability to communicate:

• Radios – A VHF/UHF band Radio for Local Coms (Can also be used with linked repeaters for state and regional Coms) and an HF (High Frequency) Radio for local, nationwide and worldwide communications.
• A Power Supply – We suggest having a power supply for your base station, a mobile vehicle setup and some solar/battery setups for bugout situation or field communications.
• Antennas – This is a huge topic in and of itself but all of your radios are going to need antennas and it’s a good idea to learn as much as you can about Antenna Theory and building your own antennas.

Recommended Ham Radios – VHF/UHF band Radios and a Good HF (High Frequency) Radio

Let’s start out with covering our local and statewide coms because when it comes down to the reality of survival communications most disasters that you will face will be local in nature and the ability to get updates on what’s going down in your neck of the woods is going to play a vital role in your ability to survive.

VHF/UHF Band Radios

The first thing you want to do is make sure you have a radio that covers the  2-meter band and 70CM ham bands, these types of radios will usually cover 136-174 MHz & 400-480 MHz FM, where you can find everything from local fire and police, weather radio, and of course the ham bands and repeater networks that you will utilize to communicate locally or regionally through repeater networks that are linked to other areas of the country.

Here are a couple of Dual Band Radios that we like:

• The Yaesu FT-60: This is probably the #1 most recommended radio by Hams. The thing is rock solid dependable and it’s going to be hard to find a better handheld dual-band radio.
• The Yaesu FT-65: While not as good as the FT-60, this radio still rocks and it’s going to be a good option for those watching their budget. You can read our full review on this radio here.
• BaoFeng UV-5R: I thought long and hard on whether or not to include this radio — if you look at my reviews and other articles on this site you know I am not a fan of this radio. That being said they are cheap as hell, they allow you to send on more than just ham bands, and if you’re really broke then they are better than nothing – but I would not trust my life with one!
• Yaesu FT-2980R Mobile Rig: For a vehicle setup or a home base station, the FT-2980R is going to give you a hell of a lot more power than a hand-held rig and is something we recommend having both at home and in your vehicle.

HF (High Frequency) Radio

Now we want to start looking at being able to gather intel from around the world; that’s why we think every good Emergency Communication setup needs to include an HF (High Frequency) Radio – preferable something that covers 6-180 meters. Here you will not only find a number of Ham Bands that will allow you to send and receive information locally, nationwide and worldwide, but you will also find worldwide shortwave broadcasts, military and government stations, and a huge range of emergency broadcasts systems.

The recent global stock market turmoil amid the coronavirus outbreak has left investors panicked and worried. The S&P 500 index has dropped more than 12% in the last couple of weeks. This is nothing compared to what we (and our ancestors) have seen in the past. Here we take a look at the most devastating financial crises that wreaked havoc through modern history.

The financial markets reflect the irrationality, optimism, and panic of market participants. Sometimes extreme optimism causes asset prices to disconnect from the reality, only to fall dramatically when the bubble bursts. Examples include the Tulip Mania (1637) and the South Sea Bubble (1720).

These are the top 10 most devastating financial crises:

10- Argentine economic crisis, 1999

Much like other Latin American nations, the Argentine economy was hit hard by the Latin American debt crisis in the 1980s. Its forex reserves were running low. The rampant corruption, sky high inflation, military dictatorship, and the Falklands debacle drove the Argentine economy to the verge of collapse.

The steep devaluation of the Brazilian currency in 1999 hurt Argentine exports. Soon the Argentine economy was in full-blown recession that lasted three years. Following the dramatic run on banks, the government froze everyone’s bank accounts. Violent protests erupted all over the country. In the absence of cash, people bartered for goods. Two consecutive governments failed to bring the economy out of recession. It took Argentina three years to recover from the crisis.

9- Russian financial crisis, 1998

Five years prior to the financial crisis, Russia issued GKOs – inflation-free treasury bills – to fund its budget deficit. The GKOs attracted a huge number of foreign investors because of high interest rates. The government was using proceeds from GKO sales to pay off interest on existing debts.

But the Russian economy continued to struggle due to corruption, political instability, and lack of economic reforms. The falling oil prices also hit the Russian economy hard. The government owned more than $12 billion in unpaid wages to employees. In 1997, Moscow tried to raise more money by selling GKOs with interest rates of up to 200%!

Eventually, investors lost confidence in the Russian economy, selling the rubles and other Russian securities en masse. The markets tanked more than 60%. Many banks vanished within weeks. The Russian central bank used its forex reserves to stabilize the ruble, but couldn’t. Even an IMF loan proved ineffective. Russia emerged from the crisis when oil prices started rising in 1999.

8- The 1987 crisis

On October 19, 1987, the US stocks tumbled 22.6% in what is now known as Black Monday. No one is entirely sure what caused the Black Monday, but it wiped out hundreds of billions of dollars from the stock markets. By the end of October 1987, the Australian stocks fell 42%, Hong Kong stocks went down 46%, and the UK stocks fell 26.4%.

Some believe the Black Monday crash was caused by the growing influence of computers on the Wall Street. Others blamed monetary policy and inflation. Following the 1987 crisis, many of American’s leading savings & loan entities such as American Savings and Loan, Gibraltar Savings and Loan, and MCorp collapsed.

7- German hyperinflation, 1918-24

The German hyperinflation was not as bad as the Zimbabwe hyperinflation, but it was one of the most devastating financial crises in history. After the First World War, the ‘victors’ blamed Germany for starting the war. They demanded retributions for the cost of war. Whatever land, precious metals, and other assets Germany had wasn’t enough to cover the cost of war.

So, Germany started printing Mark like never before. The exchange rate skyrocketed from 4 German Marks per dollar in 1914 to 1 trillion Marks per dollar in 1923. Inflation was running high. Many countries accused Germany of deliberating sabotaging its economy to avoid the financial retributions of war.

The country tried to control the hyperinflation in 1923 by introducing a new currency called the Rentenmark. It destroyed the middle-class and paved the way for National Socialism in Germany.

6- Asian financial crisis, 1997

During the early 1990s, the Asian Tigers – Thailand, South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia – had become the hottest investment destinations. Developed countries were pouring billions of dollars into the region. Asset prices shot through the roof. Some of these countries were clocking annual GDP growth rates of above 12%.

Favorable exchange rates made their exports less competitive. Amid extreme optimism, investors failed to notice that the Asian Tigers were also running huge fiscal deficits. The Asian Tigers began facing fierce competition from China in the export market in 1996. The massive debts and falling exports hurt these economies. Panicked investors from developed countries withdrew credit. The asset prices started falling, leading to massive debt defaults.

The crisis began in Thailand and quickly spread to other countries. Regional currencies fell dramatically against the dollar, making dollar-denominated borrowings even more expensive. The International Monetary Fund launched a massive bailout program to help Asian countries bring their economies back on track.

5- OPEC oil crisis, 1973

The United States was sending arms and supplies to Israel during the Fourth Arab-Israel War. The OPEC nations retaliated by stopping the export of oil to the US and its allies. As a result, oil prices jumped significantly in developed countries.

Inflation was running high and the economic growth had stagnated. The NYSE lost $97 billion in value within six weeks. Japanese automakers started selling smaller and more fuel-efficient cars to compete with the American gas-guzzlers.

The oil embargo lasted only five months. But the Arab nations realized the power of oil in the global economy. The US had to enact several regulations to conserve oil. In 1977, the US government created the Department of Energy to build a strategic petroleum reserve.

4- Japan’s Lost Decade, 1991-2000

The Japanese economy witnessed a strong growth after the Second World War, thanks to the country’s high savings rate and sheer hard work. By the 1980s, Japan had become the world’s second largest economy behind the US. Japan was the world’s largest exporter of goods.

The booming economy and record-low interest rates brought prosperity. Consequently, the stock market and real estate valuations shot through the roof in late 1980s. At one point, the Japanese Imperial Palace was worth more than the entire real estate in California. It all ended in 1990s when the speculative bubble burst.

In the 1990s, the Japanese stock market lost more than $2.2 trillion in value while the real estate market declined by more than $8 trillion from the peak. It was a slow rather than a sudden decline. Borrowers failed to repay debts backed by speculative assets. The stock market and real estate bubble burst led to a decade of low growth as the economy stalled. The country is still struggling with low growth and deflation.

3- Dot-com bubble, 2000

Between October 1990 and March 2000, the S&P 500 index gained 417%. Investors had just realized the potential of the Internet Age. The rally was fueled by tech stocks. Even many non-tech companies were adding ‘.com’ to their names to attract investors’ money. In March 2000, the NASDAQ reached a peak market capitalization of $6.6 trillion. Most of the technology companies didn’t have a viable business model back then.

The NASDAQ started declining in March 2000. By 2002, investors lost an estimated $5 trillion as hundreds of technology companies vanished into thin air.

2- The Great Recession, 2007-2009

It was the most devastating financial crisis since the 1929 Great Depression. On the back of low interest rates, excessive leverage, and subprime mortgages, the US housing market was on steroids between 2002 and 2007. People with low or unstable income were able to buy exorbitantly expensive houses with zero down payments.

It was only a matter of time before the borrowers started defaulting on their loans. The S&P 500 index plunged 56.8% between October 2007 and March 2009. It wiped out more than $6.5 trillion from the US stock markets. The effects were felt all over the world. Several financial services giants including Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual, and Bear Stearns collapsed during the Great Recession. The US government launched unprecedented bailouts to revive the economy.

1- The Great Depression, 1929

The Great Depression was the most devastating financial crisis in modern history. Prior to the 1929 crash, American experts and economists predicted that the country had entered an era of ‘permanent prosperity.’ People were borrowing money to invest in the booming stock market. Countless middle-class people had turned millionaires.

Investors panicked when the government raised interest rates. On October 29, 1929, investors lost more than $10 billion ($95 billion adjusted for inflation). Within a week, the stock market had lost about $30 billion in value, which was even more than what America had spent on the First World War.

Between 1929 and 1932, the US stocks lost 86% of their value. The Great Depression lasted about a decade. More than one-third of American banks collapsed during the crisis. In 1933, the US government established the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to restore people’s faith in the American banking system.

Millions lost their jobs. Unemployment rate reached 25% in 1933. Billionaires went bankrupt. The stock market did not reach its 1929 peak again until 1954.

We Americans are an expressive lot. We like to tell the world how we feel to the world around us. We have recruited an army from China to assure that we can express our thoughts on signs, bumper stickers, and shirts very cheaply.

The things you wear and the signs you hang can affect your life in more ways than just spreading your personal mantra or message. In fact, what you hang and what you wear can make you both liable in certain situations and even make you a target in others!

The Power Of Deterrents

That said, the most powerful tools you can use when setting up real home security are deterrents. Deterrents are usually affordable, and they can be incredibly effective. They are things like cameras, locks, lights and even signs that can be used to keep criminals moving when they happen upon your home.

If your house is a just a little less appealing than your neighbors or another home, they have been casing, well, your deterrents are working. It only takes a little thought to make criminals rethink breaking into your home.

Many Americans use signs for this, but some signs are actually going to make matters worse in a break in. Do you know the five signs to avoid using on your property?

Variability In State Laws

Neither this website nor I, are offering up legal advice in this article. We are not qualified to offer this kind of advice! We are simply pointing out some issues and concerns that come about when you begin hanging certain kinds of signage on your home and property.

These are trying times and we are all looking for a little something that we can do to be more prepared for the future. We must be careful and thorough with what we do.

No Trespassing Violators Will Be Shot

This is a common sign that helps to empower the owner. A sign like this gives you the ability to basically threaten all who might step foot on your property.

Let’s be honest, when we see terrible things happening in the streets of our nation, it is hard not to be scared. Many fill that fear hole with aggression.

What’s important to remember is that you can only shoot in self defense. If you do it for any other reason you are likely going to jail! So, if someone sees your sign and disregards it, they can pretty much take whatever they want off your property and, so long as they are not posing a physical threat to you and yours, you cannot shoot at them.

Where these signs can get you into even more trouble is if you are defending yourself on your property and they can make the legal case that you are a crazy prepper who has been dying to shoot someone with your AR and even hung signs up about it!

Beware Of Dog

One of the more interesting and dangerous signs that you can put up, is the ‘Beware of Dog’ sign.

While you might be able to understand that a sign that says something like “My Rottweiler is the Security System” or something like that, will not help your case, if your dog bites someone.

However, the ‘Beware of Dog’ sign can do as much damage to your case as not having one! This is dependent on the state laws but just understand it could be an issue.

The Takeaway: If you knew your dog was vicious and the sign can prove it, when it bites you have offered up the first bit of evidence by way of signage.

Fake Security Signs

While it might seem enticing to post some fake security signs as a deterrent, be careful with this.

Seasoned criminals will know the difference between a fake sign and a real one. If a criminal spots a fake sign in your yard they will instantly know that you have no security system.

Don’t think that criminals are not well versed in the technology they might face when breaking into a home.

This could embolden someone to take advantage of breaking into your home. They will assume you are unprotected.

What About Bumper Stickers?

In this age of hypersensitivity everyone has something to say and something to hide! This can often manifest itself in the form of tee shirts and bumper stickers.

Even if your home is free of any signs, you can tell people a lot by the things you place on your bumper.

What do you think a criminal sees in an anti-gun bumper sticker? They understand that the homeowner is likely not protected by a firearm.

There are all kinds of things that criminals can deduce from the messages you plaster on the back of your parked car.

Flags

While you might not look at flags as signs, they certainly convey a message about the people who hang the flags.

Don’t believe me? What would you think if you were driving down your street and you saw an ISIS flag flying on one of your neighbor’s home? What about a swastika?

Much like the signs we mentioned, flags can both build a case against you and deter people from making your home a target. I have to imagine if you fly a flag with an AR15 on it you are not going to see a lot of incidences of looting.

It’s the same old story. There is no flag, sign or bumper sticker that gives you legal immunity. The flag you fly tells people a lot about you and you need to be aware of that.

Whether it’s a sign, a bumper sticker, or a flag, when you put a message out to the public you must be thoughtful. While your buddies might think it’s cute to be radical and dangerous in your signage just understand that kind of language can be turned against you.

Simple and effective signing with clear language can be very effective for the property owner. These signs can be used as further proof against someone who might be looting, casing or just sneaking onto your property and wrecking.

In most cases, the less you put out there the better your defense. A simple “No Trespassing” sign establishes your domain and can be used against anyone who decides to ignore the sign and be malicious.

The forces are mounting that will eventually overwhelm most Americans and send their standard of living to unknown depths. Americans that have only known the post WWII prosperity are ill equipped and educated to deal with depression level living. Easy credit and instant gratification have created a nation of whining, self absorbed, entitlement minded people with no moral or mental toughness.

Doug Casey believes we are headed for what he calls a super depression created by the ending of a debt super cycle. The bigger the debt cycle the bigger the depression that follows. That’s how reality works and most people are not prepared for reality.

In this video, i will unearth a long-forgotten secret that helped our ancestors survive famines, wars, economic crisis, diseases, droughts and anything else life trew at them.
So pay chose attention because this video will change your life forever for the good!

When this depression, which has already started, gets momentum, it will overwhelm the plans of a society that is expecting to get things like social security, pensions and payouts from retirement plans they have paid into for many years. All of those things will disappear almost overnight and leave society gasping and stupefied over what to do. Their reactions will be to yell and scream and try to identify who to blame but the only person they should blame is the one in the mirror.

Many very smart people have raised the alarm and done their best to warn the sleeping public, but those slumbering masses have ignored the warnings and hit the snooze button one more time. The masses do not understand economics, do not want to understand economics and they will pay dearly for that ignorance in the coming days.

When the real unemployment rate becomes common knowledge as it increases substantially, people will be left to survive on what resources they have saved up outside the banking system that cannot be stolen by the politicians and bankers. That is a key point here. The assets you have outside the system that cannot be stolen from you with a few key strokes on some computer.

Those hoping for some miraculous event that will send the U.S. back to the days of manufacturing might and jobs for all will never see it happen. Those days are gone. The west line theory tells us our economy will slow down and become more modest as the shipping center of the world moves west to the next powerhouse region which is Asia. This is what history teaches us.

When people suddenly wake up one morning and they have no job, their retirement is gone and they need to care for their family, what will they do? When government services have collapsed and they suddenly realize they are now living in a third world country with few government services, what will they do? When the banks are closed and only a select few connected people have any type of money or access to goods, what will they do?

This is the reality that many people will face in the future and they have no idea how bad it can get. They refuse to contemplate the harsh reality they will be living in and take steps to mitigate the effects. To do so would be to acknowledge it could happen and they are taking personal responsibility. Personal responsibility is a dirty phrase in today’s entitlement society. To see some of the effects one only has to look at the collapse of society in Venezuela today to see what awaits.

When it happens it will all fall back to you to take responsibility for your family and take care of them for the duration. To do that you need to plan now for that eventuality and build up the resources you will need to provide food, shelter, clothing and security when the system fails to do it for you. You need to be Noah on his ark not the people watching as he floated away.

Having resources stored up is a must but it may not get you all the way through if the situation lasts for many years. That is why you need some type of plan to replace those resources as time goes by and have some way to generate some type of income or at least items to trade. Usable goods are for the short term and things like gold ,silver and production equipment are for the long term to help you get through the crisis with the least amount of pain.

Even with proper planning the days ahead will not be easy as the standard of living of society will fall substantially to levels only seen in failed third world countries or old pictures. The assets actually owned by people today is very small compared to how they live. They will default on their home loan, their car loan, and their credit card debt leaving them with very few real possessions and few ways to move what they have left even if they have some place to go. Ultimately these people will become the new serfs to the wealthy class that will take possession of anything of value. Feudalism will once again rule.

The lack of planning by society will make this a reality if it is allowed. What will you do when everything you have worked a lifetime for is suddenly taken away? Do you have a plan to keep what you have? Do you have a plan to make money when you cannot find a job? Do you have a way to take care of your family until things stabilize? Do you have a home you will not lose if the whole system breaks down? What will you do if electricity or fuel is too expensive to buy or not available to the general population? These are the questions you should be asking yourself now and you better have a good answer because your family will be asking them when the greater depression sets in.

Today I’d like to share with you a “3-second survival hack” you can use to skyrocket your chances of protecting your loved ones during ANY crisis.

This technique is so powerful it can give you almost superhuman powers during the ugliest nightmares imaginable….

From natural disasters like earthquakes or tornadoes…

To explosive situations like mass shootings or even nationwide martial law.

And It doesn’t matter if you’re out of shape…

Or have no equipment…

Or even if you’re disabled living in a wheelchair.

This technique has been tested and proven by elite soldiers and real world “miracle” survivors from around the world.

Our modern society is highly dependent upon we’ll call the “system.” Not only do we rely upon utility services to bring us electricity, water and natural gas, but also on an incredibly complex supply chain which provides us with everything from food to computers. Without that supply chain, most of us wouldn’t know what to do.

This situation is actually becoming worse, rather than better. When I compare my generation (I’m in my 50s) to that of my children, I see some striking differences. In my generation it was normal for a boy to grow up learning how to do a wide variety of trade skills from his father, and seemingly everyone knew how to do basic carpentry and mechanic work. But that’s no longer normal.

If we extrapolate it back, we can see that my father’s generation knew even more – and my grandparent’s generation even more. Those older generations were much more closely tied to the roots of an agricultural society, where people were self-reliant. There are multiple survival skills they had which modern society no longer considers necessary.

In this video, i will unearth a long-forgotten secret that helped our ancestors survive famines, wars, economic crisis, diseases, droughts and anything else life trew at them.
So pay chose attention because this video will change your life forever for the good!

But if we were to have a breakdown in society, those survival skills which we never bothered to learn would become essential. Those who don’t know these survival skills would either have to learn or die trying.

Here are 10 skills our grandparents knew that most of us have long forgotten:

1. Gardening for Food

During World War II, there was a campaign for people to plant “Victory Gardens” at their homes. These vegetable gardens were needed to alleviate food shortages, because so much of the nation’s produce was being sent overseas to keep our troops and those of our allies fighting. With fewer men available to work the farms, there was less produce available.

This custom of having a vegetable garden in one’s backyard survived for many years after the war was over, but it gradually died out. Today, when many people think of gardening, they are thinking of a flower garden. While those are nice to look at, they don’t give you much to eat.

Starting and growing a vegetable garden can be harder than most people think. When I started gardening, it took me three years to get more than just herbs and a smattering of produce out of it. I’m glad I didn’t wait until I needed that garden for survival.

2. Animal Husbandry

Although the industrial revolution took place more than 100 years ago, many people continued to raise at least a small amount of their own livestock at home. This led to cities enacting ordinances limiting what animals people could keep within city limits.

Raising dogs and cats is much different than raising chickens, rabbits and goats for the table. A large part of being able to raise these animals is recognizing their needs and being able to diagnose their sicknesses. Farmers don’t depend upon the vet for most illnesses; they take care of it themselves.

3. Food Preservation

It’s rare to find people who preserve their own foods, but in our grandparent’s generation, it was common. Canning food, smoking meats and even making one’s own sausage were all common home tasks, which ensured that people had enough food to get through the winter. Today, it’s rare to find people who know these methods of food preservation, let alone having the equipment needed.

If we go back very far in American live, pretty much every middle class home had a smokehouse for preserving meats. I’ve seen some homes where the smokehouse was actually in the kitchen chimney. Instead of building a normal chimney, they had a very wide one, with enough room to hang sides of beef in it for smoking.

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?

4. Blacksmithing

You might think that blacksmithing goes all the way back to the Old West, but in actuality it is a skill that stayed around much longer than that. My dad was a blacksmith in his later years, although most of the work he did was ornamental.

I remember traveling in Mexico about 20 years ago and having a spring on my car’s suspension break. A local blacksmith fashioned me a new spring, tempered and shaped exactly right for my vehicle. Blacksmiths can make or repair just about anything out of metal. Yet few today know this valuable skill.

Maybe we don’t need blacksmiths today, but if an EMP hit the country and we were without electrical power, the skills of a blacksmith would allow people to have their tools repaired — and new ones fashioned. Since the manufacturing plants presumably would be shut down, that ability would be essential for rebuilding America.

5. Basic Carpentry

Everyone should know how to make basic repairs to their home. Without the ability to repair damage from a natural disaster, it might not be possible to use the home as a survival shelter. Woodworking skills also allow one to make furniture and other items to help survive.

6. Basic Mechanical Repair

Depending upon the type of disaster that hits, the family car may just end up being a large paperweight. But there are many survival scenarios where it would be useful to be able to fix your car, keeping it running for general use. As long as there is gasoline, that car would be useful.

The ability to diagnose and repair an engine is useful not only for keeping a car on the road, but also for fixing lawn mowers, chain saws and other power tools.

7. Herbal Medicine

The roots of medicine were herbal medicine. While doctors have existed for millennia, it hasn’t been until recent times that those doctors had such a wide range of pharmaceuticals to work with. Before that, doctors made their own medicines.

Many women also learned to use what nature provided for medicine. It was not uncommon a few generations back for mom to take care of her family’s medical needs, using recipes that she had learned from her mother. Today, that sort of medicine is called “old wives’ tales” but it works just as well as it always did.

8. Horseback Riding

This may not seem like much of a survival skill, but in the Old West, stealing a man’s horse was a hanging offense. That’s because being stranded without a horse was generally a death sentence. While horseback riding today is only done for sport, if the automobile becomes no longer usable, people will be looking for horses once again.

Riding a horse is actually more complicated than the movies make it appear. Breaking a horse is a skill that few know. Likewise, there are few today, outside of the drivers for the Budweiser Clydesdales, who know how to hitch and drive a team of horses. But in America’s past, our ancestors drove teams with as many as 40 horse or mules in them.

9. Hunting

Now, I know there are a lot of hunters out there, maybe even some who are reading this. But I have to say that a lot of what we call hunting today and what I learned as a kid are nothing alike. I have a hard time calling it hunting when corn is put out as bait and the hunter hides in a blind, waiting for their choice deer to come to eat.

Real hunting, at least what they did in the past, involved knowing the animal’s habits and staking out a place where the animals were likely to come. It required patience, understanding of the animals being hunted — and a pretty good shot with the rifle.

10. Butchering an Animal

Raising an animal is one thing, butchering it is another. Few hunters even know how to properly butcher an animal, as most take them to a butcher for cutting up and packaging. Yet, an animal which is not properly cleaned and butchered can cause disease. You can also waste a lot of good meat by not doing it correctly.

Today I’d like to share with you a “3-second survival hack” you can use to skyrocket your chances of protecting your loved ones during ANY crisis.

This technique is so powerful it can give you almost superhuman powers during the ugliest nightmares imaginable….

From natural disasters like earthquakes or tornadoes…

To explosive situations like mass shootings or even nationwide martial law.

And It doesn’t matter if you’re out of shape…

Or have no equipment…

Or even if you’re disabled living in a wheelchair.

This technique has been tested and proven by elite soldiers and real world “miracle” survivors from around the world.

What will it take to rescue the global economy in the wake of COVID-19? Are adjustments, improvements or amendments enough? Haven’t we done this before? Maybe it’s time to rethink this with a mindset, not of ‘starting again’ which would tend to invite ‘again’ thinking, but instead to begin with a completely blank slate – no preconceptions – just goals.

 I suggested a new paradigm, a total reset.

Change most often happens incrementally, over decades, if not centuries and many historical truths define the present long past their relevance. For one, the fundamental principles of our global economy still rest on the agrarian and industrial revolutions. Tilling the soil and staffing factories remain the foundations of today’s economic planning – despite the fact that we have well entered the digital, automated world.

Another of these historical, yet increasingly outdated conventionsis the pervasiveness of male leadership.

The position of women has evolved incrementally and at best- unevenly – throughout the world. Although women comprise half the population, the world’s political, economic and social systems continue to be based on designs stemming from and reflecting men’s nature. 

All things being equal, it is very costly to knock down the entirety of something and start from scratch. Perhaps fortunately, the devastation caused by COVID-19 is happening at a time of acute and increasing awareness of the imbalance in society. This offers a rare, first-ever opportunity to revisit the definition of effective.

That is whyit make sense to re-architect these systems now, imbuing governance with a mix of qualities of success that are peculiar to women as well as those of men.An op-ed in the British Medical Journal recently noted that to avoid ‘groupthink’ and blind spots, policy decisions must include representatives with diverse backgrounds.  But during the outbreak of covid-19 the male-led governments of the UK and Sweden relied mainly on epidemiological modeling by internal advisors. Few channels were open for dissenting views. By contrast, Merkel looked to outside sources, beyond epidemiology to medical providers, and as far as South Korea’s successful testing and isolation procedures.

Two notable characteristics of leadership of women leaders during Covid-19 were inclusiveness and compassion: embracing diversity in political institutions and empowering society. In the battle against corona this meant transparency, clarity of responsibility with everything visible – not behind the scenes. It meant swiftly finding ways to allow the populace to become stakeholders in the solution. It included appealing to the citizenry with an executive demeanor that conveyed commitment and a sense that there was a consistent plan of action that demanded civic responsibility while at the same time, leaving the people with a great deal of discretion and personal influence over their own experience. 

Compassion informed a compelling vision presented with warmth. 

Some like Peter Huang of the University of Colorado Law School, have already noted the most important leadership lesson of COVID-19:put more women in charge. But is that enough when the system itself is informed by and imbued with male characteristics, language, energy?

Societal norms are defined and shaped by millennia of men at the helm.  Thus most women remain compelled to conform to the existing framework, created by and for men, to attain and hold their positions. In most cases, that means; act like a man. Adapt to systems where leaders are expected to be aggressive, domineering and cut-throat.

The devastation wreaked by COVID-19 shows that the existing framework is no longer relevant, opening an opportunity to invent something totally new. The virus has created a moment where we can begin to see the possibilities devoid of the limitations of our old ways. The time has come to expand the definition of what is effective and reimagine measures for governance based on entirely new systems that emerge from a cooperative process of creation. For the first time in the history of humanity, society can be built on foundations rising from a fully cooperative process between men and women.  With a clean slate and a balanced – male and female, yin and yang -defined approach, we have the opportunity to do it right.

f we step back from the details of daily headlines around the world and try to make sense of larger patterns, the dominant dynamic defining world geopolitics in the past three years or more is the appearance of a genuine irregular conflict between the two most formidable powers on the planet—The Peoples’ Republic of China and the United States of America. Increasingly it’s beginning to look as if some very dark global networks are orchestrating what looks to be an updated rerun of their 1939-1945 World War. Only this time the stakes are total, and aim at creation a universal global totalitarian system, what David Rockefeller once called a “one world government.” The powers that be periodically use war to gain major policy shifts.

On behalf of the Powers That Be (PTB), World War II was orchestrated by the circles of the City of London and of Wall Street to maneuver two great obstacles—Russia and Germany—to wage a war to the death against each other, in order that those Anglo-Saxon PTB could reorganize the world geopolitical chess board to their advantage. It largely succeeded, but for the small detail that after 1945, Wall Street and the Rockefeller brothers were determined that England play the junior partner to Washington. London and Washington then entered the period of their global domination known as the Cold War.

That Anglo-American global condominium ended, by design, in 1989 with the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the disintegration of the Soviet Union by 1991.

Around this time, with the onset of the Bill Clinton presidency in 1992, the next phase– financial and industrial globalization– was inaugurated. With that, began the hollowing out of the industrial base of not only the United States, but also of Germany and the EU. The cheap labor outsourcing enabled by the new WTO drove wages down and destroyed one industry after the next in the industrial West after the 1990s. It was a necessary step on the path to what G.H.W. Bush in 1990 called the New World Order. The next step would be destruction of national sovereignty everywhere. Here the USA was the major obstacle.

“A little help from our friends…”

For the PTB, who owe no allegiance to nations, only to their power which is across borders, the birth of the World Trade Organization and their bringing China in as a full member in 2001 was intended as the key next step. At that point the PTB facilitated in China the greatest industrial growth by any nation in history, possibly excepting Germany from 1871-1914 and USA after 1866. WTO membership allowed Western multinationals from Apple to Nike to KFC to Ford and VW to pour billions into China to make their products at dirt-cheap wage levels for re-export to the West.

One of the great mysteries of that China growth is the fact that China was allowed to become the “workshop of the world” after 2001, first in lower-skill industries such as textiles or toys, later in pharmaceuticals and most recently in electronics assembly and production. The mystery clears up when we look at the idea that the PTB and their financial houses, using China, want to weaken strong industrial powers, especially the United States, to push their global agenda. Brzezinski often wrote that the nation state was to be eliminated, as did his patron, David Rockefeller. By allowing China to become a rival to Washington in economy and increasingly in technology, they created the means to destroy the superpower hegemony of the US.

By the onset of the Presidency of Xi Jinping in 2012, China was an economic colossus second in weight only to the United States. Clearly this could never have happened–not under the eye of the same Anglo-American old families who launched the Opium Wars after 1840 to bring China to heel and open their economy to Western financial looting–unless the Anglo-Americans had wanted it.

The same British-owned bank involved in the China opium trade, Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank (HSBC), founded by a Scotsman, Thomas Sutherland in 1865 in the then-British colony of Hong Kong, today is the largest non-Chinese bank in Hong Kong. HSBC has become so well-connected to China in recent years that it has since 2011 had as Board member and Deputy HSBC Chairman, Laura Cha. Cha was formerly Vice Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, being the first person outside mainland China to join the Beijing Central Government of the People’s Republic of China at vice-ministerial rank. In other words the largest bank in the UK has a board member who was a member of the Chinese Communist Party and a China government official. China needed access to Western money and HSBC and other select banks such as JP MorganChase, Barclays, Goldman Sachs were clearly more than happy to assist.

“Socialism with Xi Jinping Characteristics…”

All told until 2012 when Xi took charge of the CCP in Beijing, China seemed to be willing to be a globalist “team player,” though with “Chinese characteristics.” However, in 2015 after little more than two years in office, Xi Jinping endorsed a comprehensive national industrial strategy, Made in China: 2025. China 2025 replaced an earlier Western globalist document that had been formulated with the World Bank and the USA, the China 2030 report under Robert Zoellick. That shift to a China strategy for global tech domination might well have triggered a decision by the globalist PTB that China could no longer be relied on to play by the rules of the globalists, but rather that the CCP under Xi were determined to make China the global leader in advanced industrial, AI and bio-technologies. A resurgent China nationalist global hegemony was not the idea of the New World Order gang.

China:2025 combined with Xi’s strong advocacy of the Belt Road Initiative for global infrastructure linking China by land and sea to all Eurasia and beyond, likely suggested to the globalists that the only solution to the prospect of their losing their power to a China global hegemon would ultimately be war, a war that would destroy both nationalist powers, USA AND China. This is my conclusion and there is much to suggest this is now taking place.

Tit for Tat

If so, it will most likely be far different from the military contest of World War II. The USA and most of the Western industrial economies have “conveniently” imposed the worst economic depression since the 1930’s as a bizarre response to an alleged virus originating in Wuhan and spreading to the world. Despite the fact that the death toll, even with vastly inflated statistics, is at the level of a severe annual influenza, the insistence of politicians and the corrupt WHO to impose draconian lockdown and economic disruption has crippled the remaining industrial base in the US and most of the EU.

The eruption of well-organized riots and vandalism under the banner of racial protests across the USA has brought America’s cities to a state in many cases of war zones resembling the cities of the 2013 Matt Damon and Jodie Foster film, Elysium. In this context, anti-Washington rhetoric from Beijing has taken on a sharp tone in their use of so-called “Wolf Diplomacy.”

Now after Washington closed the China Consulate in Houston and China the US Consulate in Chengdu, both sides have stepped up rhetoric. High tech companies are being banned in the US, military displays of force from the US in the South China Sea and waters near Taiwan are increasing tensions and rhetoric on both sides. The White House accuses the WHO of being an agent of Beijing, while China accuses the US of deliberately creating a deadly virus and bringing it to Wuhan. Chinese state media supports the explosion of violent protests across America under the banner of Black Lives Matter. Step-wise events are escalating dramatically. Many of the US self-styled Marxists leading the protests across US cities have ties to Beijing such as the Maoist-origin Revolutionary Communist Party, USA of Bob Avakian.

“Unrestricted Warfare”

Under these conditions, what kind of escalation is likely? In 1999 two colonels in the China PLA, Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui, published a book with the PLA Press titled Unrestricted Warfare. Qiao Liang was promoted to Major General in the PLA Air Force and became deputy secretary-general of the Council for National Security Policy Studies. The two updated their work in 2016. It gives a window on high-level China military strategy.

Reviewing published US military doctrine in the aftermath of the 1991 US Operation Desert Storm war against Iraq, the Chinese authors point out what they see as US over-dependence on brute military force and conventional military doctrine. They claim, “Observing, considering, and resolving problems from the point of view of technology is typical American thinking. Its advantages and disadvantages are both very apparent, just like the characters of Americans.” They add, “military threats are already often no longer the major factors affecting national security…these traditional factors are increasingly becoming more intertwined with grabbing resources, contending for markets, controlling capital, trade sanctions, and other economic factors, to the extent that they are even becoming secondary to these factors. They comprise a new pattern which threatens the political, economic and military security of a nation or nations… The two authors define the new form of warfare as, “encompassing the political, economic, diplomatic, cultural, and psychological spheres, in addition to the land, sea, air, space, and electronics spheres.”

They suggest China could use hacking into websites, targeting financial institutions, terrorism, using the media, and conducting urban warfare among the methods proposed. Recent revelations that Chinese entities pay millions in ad revenues to the New York Times and other mainstream USA media to voice China-positive views is one example. Similarly, maneuvering a Chinese national to head the US’ largest public pension fund, CalPERS, which poured billions into risky China stocks, or persuading the New York Stock Exchange to list dozens of China companies without requiring adherence to US accounting transparency increase US financial vulnerability are others.

This all suggests the form that a war between China and the US could take. It can be termed asymmetrical warfare or unrestricted war, where nothing that disrupts the enemy is off limits. Qiao has that, “the first rule of unrestricted warfare is that there are no rules, with nothing forbidden.” There are no Geneva Conventions.

The two Beijing authors add this irregular warfare could include assaults on the political security, economic security, cultural security, and information security of the nation. The dependence of the US economy on China supply chains for everything from basic antibiotics to militarily-vital rare earth minerals is but one domain of vulnerability.

On its side, China is vulnerable to trade sanctions, financial disruption, bioterror attacks and oil embargoes to name a few. Some have suggested the recent locust plague and African Swine Fever devastation to China’s core food supplies, was not merely an act of nature. If not, then we are likely deep into an undeclared form of US-China unrestricted warfare. Could it be that the recent extreme floods along the China Yangtze River that threaten the giant Three Gorges Dam and have flooded Wuhan and other major China cities and devastated millions of acres of key cropland was not entirely seasonal?

A full unrestricted war of China and the USA would be more than a tragedy. It could be the end of civilization as we know it. Is this what characters such as Bill Gates and his superiors are trying to bring about? Do they plan to introduce their draconian dystopian “Reset” on the ashes of such a conflict?

With much of the U.S. finding itself in increasing lockdowns due to the Coronavirus and COVID-19, and many countries in a complete lockdown, we thought this article from 2014 would be worth re-publishing.

We’re still seeing a lot of people who are ignoring basic self-distancing protocols and espousing a “government can’t tell me what to do.” I agree that government overreach has the real potential for getting bad, but voluntarily choosing to stay home or isolate is a much different scenario than the government imposing martial law.

The first is OK, the second abhorrent. With food availability possibly becoming an issue, what we don’t want is the government to be another obstacle in our wish to survive.

Be safe. Wash your hands. — Pat

The news has been almost completely focused on Ebola for the last couple of weeks and information outlets are pouring out details by the minute. This type of event is what the 24-Hour news cycle was created for and pundits on every side are breathlessly announcing news, interviewing witnesses and experts and showing hour after hour of footage of hospitals, people in yellow gowns, nitrile gloves and face-masks. It is enough to make a sane person crazy and it is a sober reminder to preppers everywhere that precautions for events like this are valid, prudent and perhaps in some of our cases, just in the nick of time.

Well, the Prepper Journal audience is full of sane people. I believe that most people who call themselves preppers are focused on taking simple logical steps to ensure the safety of their closest loved ones. It makes sense to pay attention to the news and shore up any supply needs that you might have. I believe it is very wise to keep an eye on the events in Dallas and elsewhere in the world in the event that this virus does grow outside of the limited scope that we have seen so far in the US at least.

When it is all said and done, this “outbreak” which isn’t really an outbreak at all here thankfully could end up disappearing from the news just as quickly as it came. Of course, it could also grow more serious. We aren’t clear exactly how Ebola is transmitted although very smart people are saying that it is hard to catch. So far, I am inclined to believe them only for the primary reason that we only have 3 cases at this time. Should that change I will be prepared to act and I am not going to relax simply because experts tell me not to be alarmed. I am not alarmed, but I am watching events closely as I am sure the rest of you are as well.

Self-Quarantine to reduce exposure risk

If Ebola does start to become a larger problem; if we begin to see a spike in cases, one possible option for limiting your exposure could be as simple as staying home.  Self-Quarantine is the practice of taking yourself out of the world so to speak to avoid contact with others completely. This is pretty much bugging in by definition. The NBC News crew that returned from reporting on Ebola had their cameraman test positive for Ebola so they agreed to Self Quarantine themselves to eliminate exposure to the public for the recommended incubation period of up to 21 days. In the case of Dr. Nancy Snyderman, this proved too long and soon they were caught out at a local restaurant which led to a huge public outcry and a weak apology from the doctor.

I won’t argue that staying in quarantine for up to 21 days would be very difficult, especially if you were alone, but if things do turn worse we might all be better off staying indoors. If Ebola cases increase substantially, we might not have a choice if Executive Order 13295 is put into action. 13295 allows for the “apprehension, detention, or conditional release of individuals to prevent the introduction, transmission, or spread of suspected communicable diseases.” Would you rather stay in your home and ride out the Ebola event or wherever the government wants to stick you? If you were faced with voluntary or involuntary quarantine to protect your family from Ebola, what would you need to consider?

Infrastructure for Self Quarantine

Not surprisingly, the CDC website has a lot of information about quarantine mostly from the viewpoint of the SARS epidemic back in 2003, but I believe the concepts and topics are still just as relevant if your goal is to reduce or eliminate possible exposure to infected individuals. Major infrastructure considerations for self-quarantine are:

• Communication Options – Telephone, cell phones, Ham Radio to keep in touch with others outside of your home. Shortwave radio is another good option assuming the regular lines of communication are down.
• Electricity – In a grid up scenario this should be fine, but if the grid goes down, do you have enough electricity for up to 21 days of isolation?
• Heat Source – Winter is approaching so a plan to keep warm is important. I have Kerosene Heaters and plenty of stored fuel but I would personally need to augment my supply for very cold conditions. Right now, cold isn’t a factor, but 21 days without power in January would be tougher.
• Potable Water – A core element of any prepper supply list is to have water on hand. Enough water for one gallon per person per day. If you have a family of 4 and are forced into quarantine from Ebola for 21 days that would be 84 gallons of water at a minimum. In addition to plastic water containers, keep in mind there are water containers on the market that are naturally anti-viral like a copper water bottle.
• Waste and Sanitation – As long as the utilities are functioning this shouldn’t be a problem, but if the crisis explodes (no pun intended) you may not have city water to fill the toilets so alternate accommodations would need to be made. Grid down sanitation options are one possibility but would require you to go outside if the water and sewer lines were out of commission.
• Food – Do you have enough food to last for 21 days for your entire family? Again, with society still functioning I guess you could have neighbors bring food over but you wouldn’t want to be going to the grocery store.
• Entertainment – 21 days in your home is a long time. 21 days cooped up with your family is an eternity in the most easy going and loving homes. You should have a plan to counter boredom if you want to preserve your sanity along with your health.

Accommodations for Self Quarantine

If you are limiting your exposure as a family unit and by that I mean if everyone in your family is together in this then you can go on living (with certain exceptions) as you were although you wouldn’t be going outside. Would you stop your mail or risk exposure by touching something that another individual had contacted?

I am sure that it depends somewhat on the nature of any potential Ebola outbreak. It could be that the current convention that you must come in contact with bodily fluids from infected people in order to contract the disease holds. If that were the case, you could probably safely move about your yard, but quarantine does mean your trips to the malls, movie theaters, school events, plays, sporting events, hospital visits to sick friends would all be out of the question.

• Could you work from home? – In today’s environment there are many of us who could work from home full time. As long as I had internet, power and a cell phone I could work anywhere in the world. Online meetings will probably be more common if travel is restricted during any outbreak. Actually, that would be fine with me too as the last place I would want to be during any kind of disease outbreak is at an airport or any place away from home really.
• Could your children do schoolwork at home? – This would be tough for some but I imagine that a lot of schools would have to offer concessions in the case of quarantine. Certainly if the government locked everything down schools would either forgive homework or lean on online systems that are largely in place already. We still have one child that is home-schooled so she wouldn’t get out of anything, but another already gets her assignments online so staying out wouldn’t be a huge burden.
• How would you pay your bills? – As long as we have money in the accounts, almost all of our bills except my weekly tithe are done electronically. If that goes down we have bigger problems.

Provided you had running water, power and a job that would allow you to stay home you should only need food to survive outside of climatic extremes. Take all of that away though and your self-imposed quarantine could still save your life, but it would be much harder. Again this assumes that Ebola will always and only be passed from bodily fluids. In this case self-quarantine to reduce exposure should be doable for most people with even basic preparations. Let’s hope we don’t see anything worse.

One of the scariest things that we can have happen to us, as a society, is a breakdown in social order. More than anything, that means a breakdown in law and order; essentially a time of anarchy, even if there is still a government in place.

The rioting following George Floyd’s death has put a number of municipalities, or parts of municipalities, in just this place. Police departments are being held back from doing their jobs to avoid confrontation, leaving the streets to those who are inciting the riots and destroying their cities.

Before I go any further, let me say that it has become increasingly clear that those who are initiating those riots are not the peaceful demonstrators, who are exercising their First Amendment rights. Rather, a number of mayors, governors and police chiefs have come forth, stating that they have clear evidence that the riots have been started by imported muscle, not by local demonstrators.

Nevertheless, these cities are in danger from the riots. There are those who are calling to move those riots out into the suburbs, because “that’s where the problem lives.” Whether they are calling for a racial civil war or not, it seems clear that those voices are pushing to further the violence, expanding it out into areas where their perceived “enemies” live and work.

At the same time, there have been a number of calls to “defund the police;” to the point where protesters in Washington, DC painted that on the street in front of the White House. It would be interesting to follow the money trail on that and see who is behind that movement, but that’s not my purpose here. My purpose is that you and I are ready to defend ourselves, our homes and our families, if those riots move into our neighborhoods.

Let’s Think it Through

Before discussing specific firearms that you might want to have on hand to deal with rioters, let’s talk a minute about the defensive strategy that we need to have in place, even if that is just in our own minds.

We must remember that people in that mob are essentially invisible to the law, in that it is hard to identify them and get a conviction; but you are someone they can identify, putting you at risk. On top of that, your actions will be held under public scrutiny, which is a much harsher judge than the law.

For our purposes, the best defense is one in which you never have to fire a shot. We must remember that the law only allows us to use deadly force in self-defense. That means that the courts have to agree, after the fact, that what we did was reasonable and necessary. If you shoot in today’s political and social atmosphere, you have to realize that you might be convicted, just to appease the mob, even if it was in self-defense.

With that in mind, one thing you want to do is to intimidate the mob, if you can, rather than shooting them. We’ve seen that happen recently, as store owners have stood guard at their places of business, well armed and ready to defend their livelihood. In most cases, the riots have passed those places by, and gone on to ravage other places of business.

If you are forced to fire a shot in order to defend home and family, you’re better off if you are able to merely wound the attackers, rather than killing them. This is a risky strategy, as a wounded assailant could still cause you great harm. But on the hand, it lessens the chances of ending up in jail.

You also want to consider ballistic body armor and even a helmet, to go with whatever gun you use. The mob can kill and often does. Even if they are unarmed, there is always the possibility of them beating someone to death. That ballistic armor can even be a help against that, spreading the force of blows and lessening the chance of them causing harm.

OK, Let’s Look at Some Specific Guns

Whenever it comes to “best” guns, everyone has their own opinion. That’s a given. What I’m after here is more to get you thinking about particular types of guns, rather than specific models. While all of the guns I’m going to mention are excellent firearms, I’m presenting them more as categories, rather than specific makes and models, even though I’m listing the makes and models too. I’m also going to talk a little about specific ammo loads, in cases where I feel it is applicable.

Kel-Tek KSG

If there was ever a gun that was designed for close-range firepower, I’d have to say it is the Kel-Tek KSG.

While there are other excellent shotguns on the market, which follow the design of the KSG, this is the original. It is a bullpup shotgun, with dual switchable magazines, giving it a total capacity of 14 + 1 rounds. Seven round of each of two types of rounds, plus whatever is carried in the chamber.

A typical load for the KSG would be 00 buckshot in one magazine and slugs in the other.  That’s great for CQB, especially where breaching is necessary. But breaching is unlikely to be necessary in this case. Rather, you need the ability to defend yourself, perhaps without even killing anyone.

I would load that second barrel with a less-lethal round, like beanbags, rather than slugs. I’d also put something a bit smaller to replace 00 buckshot, such as #4 buckshot. That provides the option of starting out with something that can drive the crowd off, and then escalate firepower if needed. Even escalated, #4 buckshot is less deadly than 00 buckshot.

Mossberg 590M Shockwave

While the KSG is a great shotgun, it is a bit pricey. For those that can’t afford that, some other sort of a tactical shotgun would be great to have; something like the Mossberg 590M.

Mossberg has long been recognized as the standard for tactical shotguns. The 590M is a removable magazine-fed version of the very popular shockwave shotgun.

This removable magazine overcomes one of the biggest limitations for most shotguns, reload time. Rather than being forced to take the time to hand feed rounds into the loading chute to fill the internal magazine, you can slap a new magazine and keep going, just as you can with an AR-15 or semi-automatic pistol.

One modification I would make, to either this or the KSG, is to add a red dot sight. Most people consider shotguns to be a “point and shoot” weapon; but at the range you’ll probably be shooting, it would be good to have the ability to aim, allowing you to pick your target. You’re not going to have much shot spread and you want to make sure you can hit the right trouble maker.

Glock 21

After considerably ballistic testing, I’ve come to some definite conclusions about what pistol calibers are the best for certain circumstances. For most people, this argument comes down to 9mm vs. .45 ACP. Personally, I’m a fan of both, even though I see them as being useful for different things.

The .45 ACP round was originally developed for the US Army, who was having trouble with Moro tribesmen attacking them high on drugs. They needed a round that would have high energy transfer, increasing the chances of knocking down these tribesmen, even if they didn’t feel the hit. The .45 ACP gave them that and there really hasn’t been another round developed which matches this ability.

If we assume that any rioters will be high on at least adrenaline, if not more serious drugs, then we need this knockdown ability. The Glock 21 holds 10 rounds, three more than the 1911, which is why I’ve selected it. Glocks are also highly customizable, with lots of after-market parts available.

Springfield XDS

Such a time, when there is a chance of riots, coupled with reduced police protection, gives justification for concealed carry, if any were needed. There is always the possibility of being caught by that mob, away from home.

While I personally wouldn’t want to take on a mob with nothing more than a pistol, I’d much rather take them on with a pistol than with my bare hands.

My favorite concealed carry gun is the Springfield XDS, chambered in .45 caliber. I’ve carried other guns in the past and then settled on the XDS. Not only does it give me the knockdown power of the .45, but it does so in an easy to shoot, very reliable handgun, that’s fairly small for a .45. Mine is modified to have both tritium night sights and a laser sight, allowing me to use it any time anywhere.

The problem with this gun, as with any concealed carry gun, is magazine capacity. That’s especially true for a .45 caliber. Those fat bullets take up a lot of room, which translates to a small magazine capacity. I compensate for this by carrying two 7-round magazines, in addition to the 5 round magazine that’s in the pistol. Twenty rounds still isn’t enough to take on a mob, but hopefully it’s enough to scare them away, if nothing else.

AR-15

No matter what else you have, you should have an AR-15 as your backup gun. While I would not want to start shooting with that, due to the lethality of a rifle slug, I would want to have it leaning against the wall, loaded and ready, in case I needed a lot of firepower quickly. There are few civilian guns on the market, which can match the firepower that an AR-15 can offer us.

As for what particular AR-15 you should buy, I won’t even attempt to pick one. There are so many on the market, that it’s hard to pick out just one. Besides, my personal AR-15 is one that I’ve built myself, picking out the parts that I wanted. So I can’t tell you a brand.

More than anything, I’d say your optics are important. I’d be sure to have a red dot sight, as well as a powerful tactical light mounted on the rifle. That should take care of most circumstances. While infrared or night vision devices might be nice, you’ll lose important details in the image, so I’d probably avoid them.

This article is not for the faint of heart, but there is an important point to it that needs to be the central focus.  The focus is simple: We are a nation founded by citizen-soldiers who did not win freedom or liberty playing Yahtzee.  They won it by fighting.  When the time comes, the citizens of this country will need to fight again.  If you don’t believe that, then you don’t believe that there is nothing new under the sun…and you don’t believe that what happened before will happen again.

I have written many articles on a wide variety of subjects from woodcutting to weightlifting, from herbal remedies to first aid.  Many times, I wished to go into greater detail regarding subjects of a military nature or pertinent to combat, but I am limited by the amount I can write: books can be written on the subjects, and we’re trying to introduce readers to concepts.  These will get you started…if you do something with them after reading them.

It is what you do with these concepts and articles that will determine how successful they will be in your employ. 

That being said, there will be a time to fight.  I want to emphasize a concept known in the Army as “Violence of Action.”  This covers precise, measured action…not a berserk, uncontrolled frenzy…but a purposed delivering of the most hurtful response you can muster in a home defense.

Your culture…our culture…is based on authoritarian rules of conformity that (at times) instigate complacency during an emergency.  “Wait on the authorities,” or “call the police,” or that ambiguous “someone will take care of it.”  No.  That “someone,” when the SHTF, will be you.  Successful actions depend on a good follow-through.

All of the articles I have written on physical conditioning, weight training and basics on combat both with a weapon and unarmed…. all of these are your “basics” to build off.  I have suggested different works to read to learn about the warrior mentality and ethos.  Why?  Why all of this preparation and development of the warrior mentality?

Because it is the warrior mentality that you will need to make it through, and protect you and yours.

Let’s cover a few concepts that can further your preparations…thoughts to consider.

1. You are going to be faced with a deliberate decision: to act or not to act when it hits the fan. This may take several forms: escape from a large city or suburb and fleeing to somewhere out of a target zone…with dangers along the way.
2. In a SHTF situation, the resultant frenzy that begins 24-48 hours later (or even sooner) may force you to fight…and “Marquis of Queensbury Rules” will not be honored by those storming your house and front lawn.
3. Fight or Flight: you must weigh the threats and see which are viable…that you will have to confront immediately, or that it is best to withdraw from. Discretion is the better part of valor.
4. Are you “finger-drilling it,” or is it for real? Are you ready…really prepared physically, mentally, and yes, spiritually…to act?  On behalf of you and your family?  There: it’s the next door neighbor trying to jimmy your back door open with a crowbar, and his two sons with rifles behind him.  Are you ready for them?  Or are you going to “offer some of them your canned jellies, preserves, and fruity treats” from your larder?

“Finger Drilling” is a term we had in the Special Forces Medical Course.  One of the instructors was a skinny black guy who had served in Vietnam named Mr. R.V. Johnson.  He was a stickler for taking real pulses and really assessing the patient in a primary survey…not just playing the scenario with taking a “fake” pulse or seeing clear breathing when the patient was told to simulate sonorous breath sounds.  “Finger Drilling” was just going through the motions.

Are you going through the motions, or are you really preparing for what you’ll have to do…fight to protect your home and family?

5. Take action on your training program…of marksmanship, of hand-to-hand combat, of physical conditioning. Take the action now.  Train with the heavy bag, train with family members.  Resolve yourself to carry out the defense of your family…in a controlled, purposed manner…with the violence of action and follow-through.  No finger drilling.  Resolve yourself to prepare.

Resolve yourself to fight, and when you do?  Resolve yourself to win.  Mentally preparing yourself to face the challenge is just as big a part of it as the actual engagement is.  Review all of your materials, find a good instructor or training partner and get to work.  We’re getting “long in the tooth,” and winter is getting ready to arrive in a short time.  Utilize every task of physical labor to prepare you physically and mentally.  We have a fight coming in the United States.  It won’t be in a foreign land on CNN.  It will be in our backyards and at our front doors.  Now is the time to prepare…so that you can fight that good fight well…and win.