Continue reading »]]> Consider this from The Advocate:

Mayor-President Kip Holden and the group Together Baton Rouge said Thursday that they have teamed up to try to find a solution to the problem of “food deserts” in East Baton Rouge Parish, which are areas defined by poverty and poor access to supermarkets and large grocery stores.

This article focuses on bringing the fresh produce to the “food deserts”, but does not speak to making them affordable to low income families.

All of this discussion about people living in “food deserts” and because of their poverty can’t travel to a grocery store which carries produce makes me think about another issue.

Are preppers who have the income to prepare and support more than one household willing to include poverty stricken families if the families are willing to trade skills or labor for their place in the prepper bug-out location?

What do you think?  Would you adopt people in poverty if they came to you today and asked to be included in your preps?

Josh

The Daily Prepper News

Reference:

“Subscriber Services.” EBR Officials Tackle ‘food Desert’ Problem. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2013.

Continue reading »]]> So much of what you see on television about “preppers” is negative.  Or at least it comes off that way.  It seems they think we all stash weapons and food and plan to kill off anyone who tries to take our stash.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

Most people who prepare for a disaster of any kind are conscious of the issues our society faces and the limitations of the government to be everywhere at all times.  The reasonable person would realize that the government is going to be there to help.  Not to do everything for you, but to help us out.

In the mean time, there will be those people who didn’t plan and prepare, for what ever reason, that will require the assistance of the community more than others.  And I know I am not alone when I say most of us would not mind helping out someone who is unable to prepare for reasons beyond their control.  For instance, what if you had a child whose condition required every dollar you earned and every spare minute?

Every prepper I know would not mind helping such a family, but they would appreciate a heads-up because even if your situation is that difficult, there are things you can do to contribute to the community.

Evidence of this desire to help others is found all over the internet and examples are shown on popular television show Doomsday Preppers.  Everywhere you look people are helping other people learn how to take care of themselves and their families in case of an emergency.

Josh

The Daily Prepper News

Continue reading »]]> by CCCooper

Preppers are all about mind-set. Making the right choices. We understand the concept of “Sacrifice NOW for greater rewards later”. We understand that living a prepared life is just as gratifying as a life that includes the normal excesses and fluff that most people have as their priorities.

We try not to SPEND money or time. We try to invest money and time. Invest in knowledge and stored information that will make things easier in the event that we need to use it. Invest in family and friends of good character, high moral standards and good ethics. We have FOOD INSURANCE in addition to the generally accepted Home, Life, health, Dental, and Auto Insurance. We believe in personal responsibility and place absolutely NO FAITH in the US Government to solve problems. We are Constitutionalists. We understand history and the IMPORTANCE of understanding history. Also, that those who fail to learn from History are doomed to repeat it.

Your whole life should be consumed with Freedom, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Use some common sense and understand the true meaning of that. Understand the meaning of personal responsibility. Maybe, just maybe, you will have a revelation. I sure hope so.

Continue reading »]]> by CCCooper

A friend asked me one day “What do I do? It’s too much to handle. Food, Shelter, Self-defense. Do you have any advice?”

I rarely talk to people about the very long list of “bad things” happening in our world. Most do not want to know. (Cognitive Dissonance)

I did, however, write a quick list to address a few points.

1. Acknowledgement of the pressing need.
2. Read and be familliar with your daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly requirements.
3. Choose the 5 or 6 scenarios that concern you most and take the steps to minimize the negative impact on you and your family.
4. Learn skills that you will NEED to use on a regular basis should the SHTF.
5. Start off with buying a little extra canned food when you grocery shop. Choose store brands that are less expensive. Consider storing Ramen, Pastas, Salt, Beans, Rice. Staples with long shelf life. Rotate.
6. I’ve built shelters before with only scavenged and donated materials and lots of sweat equity. A shovel, wheel barrow, concrete blocks, treated lumber, and a measuring tape. Plans are on the internet.
7. Some of the pricier items such as radiation detectors, Rad meters, CBRN filter systems, PV systems, water treatment and filtering systems need to be budgeted in over time and planned for. Some people may have to change their lifestyle. Some may have to forego some luxuries, some may have to lead an austere life for a while. Depends on how much importance you place on your preperations.
8. BE DISCREET. Learn what OpSec is and practice it.
9. Ask questions of the anonymous on the internet.
10. Have ONE trusted friend. Maybe 2. Three would be a blessing. More than 4 is highly unlikely.
11. Until you have 100% buy in from your family, you must shoulder the responsibility yourself. It is not a burden, but a duty.
12. Living a prepared life is not living a scared life. It is not living in fear of the unknown. It is living with the knowledge of the possibilities and planning to limit their negative effect on you and your loved ones.
13. It is a journey. Not a sprint. The sprinters are the ones who waited too long to start. They may very well fail. Failing is not one of YOUR options.

Just wanted to share.

Continue reading »]]> by CCCooper

Being mentally aware is an important step in preparedness. Actively seeing and assessing information is crucial when it comes time to actually put a plan into action. And remember, you MUST have a plan.

Be aware of your surroundings. Notice the sun’s position at different parts of the day. Notice the cars/trucks you see on a regular basis in and around your AO.

Practice getting home with no vehicle once or twice a month. (Make sure your better half understands why). Use this practice to develop your must-haves at all times list.

Kill the gas and electric for a weekend. Extend that to 3 or more days if possible.

Do a hasty position 100 meters behind the house or more and spend some time figuring out if it is suitable for a defensive position.

Use your imagination (and your growing distrust of govt.) to come up with ideas that may help save or improve your life.

Continue reading »]]> Survival Communities

I’m sure most of us have heard the dreaded words, “I’ll just come to your house” when trying to convert the masses to the advisability of prepping. How do you handle it? How do you choose who to help? Do you help your parents? Your in-laws? What about your ex-wife/husband? What about your ex’s new spouse? How about those 8 little boys that were spending the night at your house when the world as we knew it came to an end? Where do you draw the line?

My best advice is if the situation is short term- like a hurricane, tornado, loved ones injury or job loss. Help them all you can. Take them food. Loan out that generator that you’re not using. Share your garden skills. It may help change how they view prepping.

If it is TEOTWAWKI you may need to reevaluate.

I love my family. I love my husband’s family. They all own guns. Most of them hunt and garden. We’re country folk. They would be assets in an end of the world situation but I also know that I cannot spend the day with them without wanting to pull my hair out. The idea of living in the same house with them INDEFINETLY???…..makes me shudder just to consider the possibility. Somebody would die, not joking it would come to a physical fight. My family puts the fun in dysfunctional. There is no way that that would add to my family’s survival. Me staying sane will add to my family’s survival.

I belong to several prepper groups online and I see a lot of topics about starting prepper communities. I think in theory they are great ideas! I see those same members get into outrageous and ridiculous fights on stupid, simple disagreements (what shovel to buy, what seeds to plant). If you can’t agree online, on little things; how do they plan on surviving when living in close, stressful proximity to one another? Who will be Boss? Who’s going to cook, do the laundry, watch the kids, hunt, garden, and dig the latrines? Is everybody going to take turns? Is it share and share alike? Ever been in a preschool class where there are 3 new toys and 10 kids? Do you remember that new cutie from high school that everybody liked? Let the tantrums and back stabbing begin!

My oldest children (both 18) no longer live in my home because they couldn’t live by my rules. Will that magically go away when the SHTF? You’re delusional if you think disaster will bring out the best in people. If you don’t think you could go camping for the weekend in the August heat with everyone you hope to provide for, how will you fare when you can’t go home and take a break from all of the togetherness? And if you think it will be terrific or that it would all work itself out, I encourage you to try that weekend campout. Good luck!!! (You’re gonna need it)

Surviving alone is not an option either. Who’s going to keep watch while you sleep? Communities of like minded people were, are and always are the safest approach. So how do you make it work? Find people you LIKE and get along with. Got one that has the “If I can’t be the Quarterback then I’m taking my football and going home” mentality? Figure that out now and weed them out before it’s too late. You wouldn’t give someone your car keys without making sure they knew how to drive. Why would you give your safety and security to a group without first making sure that they know what they are doing? Like with all things prepping related PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!

Continue reading »]]> Children are ????

I really wanted to title this, these Children are Stupid but children and my son in particular are not stupid, they are just children. He’s actually very smart. However he is 14 and at this age they seem to be bound and determined to drive me to homicide. I say that because he is my 3rd and final teenager. Hubby and I also have two 18 year olds and our mantra has become…last one, he is the last one, the end is in sight, don’t strangle him and bury him in the backyard, we‘re almost there repeated until the desire to murder has passed.

The subject of this article is not actually about my son’s intelligence or his attempt to drive me to kill. It is about his ability to apply what he has been taught all of his life and my misconceptions.

We are a gun family. There is not a single place in my home where you cannot lay your hands on a gun in three steps. All of our children started handling guns at a very young age, my oldest couldn’t even sit up in her stroller the first time I took her shooting. The oldest two started with their BB guns at age two, 22 rifles at 4, pistols hunting rifles and bows at 7 and were hunting on their own around 9. Shotguns were a bit different for them because of their size differences (a girl and a boy). Our youngest is 5 years younger than the older two. He got a bit of an advanced course because he was following behind his siblings. He knocked out his first four baby teeth learning to shoot an AK-47 from a prone position. He was doing wonderfully with it when at the last second he turned his head and placed his mouth against the butt as he pulled the trigger. He never cried, he just got up, walked over to me, spat four tiny little teeth into my hand and said, “That hurt. I not do that no more.” and asked if he could shoot it again. They have all received their Hunter Safety Certifications and excel at marksmanship.

Hubby and I have drilled gun safety into their heads. REPEATEDLY!!! We were considerate parents when the kids were small and wanted to have sleepovers we always informed the other children’s parents that we had guns in our home. We always reviewed the safety rules with the children and again when their friends arrived. And we watched them like a hawk. We have never had any problems with any of them, until we did.

This weekend 14 yr. old Slick (nickname for the baby of the family) had his 14 yr. old friend stay the night. They have been friends since they were 4 and have spent countless nights at each other homes. This weekend was different….for me.

They were in Slick’s room playing video games and discussing how many Loco Taco’s they were going to order. I was getting ready to make a run to Taco Bell. My son comes to my room and asks me if he can show his friend Daddy’s bayonets, which are stored in one of the gun cabinets. I stop what I’m doing so I can go into the living room and supervise. I remind them that these are not toys, that the guns in that cabinet and in my home are NOT toys. They are weapons. They are loaded with real bullets. They are not for play. They will KILL you DEAD! THEY ARE NOT TO BE TOUCHED WITHOUT MY PERMISSION AND SUPERVISION! Then I allow my son to remove the bayonets, show his friend and replace them. Slick asks if he can show his friend Daddy’s black powder pistol. I told him I didn’t know where it was (it is Hubby’s gun and not one I use). He knew where it was…in an old wooden military ammo box in the corner of the living room next to the entertainment center under a huge plastic tub filled with dog food. I told him “not right now. I have to finish getting ready to go get our food.” When I get out of eye sight I hear my son whisper, “I’ll show it to you in a little while, after my mom leaves”

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT???????????????

What happened to all of our safety lessons? What happened to ‘These are NOT toys? They are weapons. They are loaded with real bullets. They are not for play. They will KILL you DEAD! THEY ARE NOT TO BE TOUCHED WITHOUT MY PERMISSION AND SUPERVISION!’ What happened to the chorus of “Yes Ma’am’s” I had gotten not 2 minutes before? What happened to all that my husband and I had strived to teach our children about guns? What happened to my sweet obedient child?

Turns out nothing had happened to him but something had happened to me…I forgot.

I forgot that he is a child. I forgot that teenagers don’t listen to their parents. I forgot that their frontal lobes are not fully formed and that they make rash irrational decisions. Yes he is bigger than me. Yes he is growing up. Yes he is my last one. Yes the older two had never tried anything like this. But I am the parent. I am the adult and I should have remembered that children are always children (no matter how big they get) and they will try to get away with as much as or more then they think they can get away with.

No my child (nor your children) is not stupid but he is still a child. No matter how much he would argue with me for calling him a child the fact remains that he is still a child. Children don’t think things through. They don’t consider the consequences of their actions. They act on impulse. Children never think that they could die from one tiny little mishap. That is our job as parents.

Don’t make the mistake I did. Don’t get complacent. Don’t take the chance. Don’t depend on your children to remember the lessons that you have worked so hard to teach them. In a crucial moment their bravado will override your voice in their head. They may do something stupid and it may cost them their lives. Had I not heard my son’s whisper, our weekend could have had a very tragic end.

?

Continue reading »]]> by rebelgirl

Good Samaritan or Victim Volunteer

Have the times changed or have we? Are people meaner and more vicious then they used to be or are we just more aware and less trusting? I have memories of my grandfather offering rides to strangers or even bringing them home to his family for a meal. I can remember him doing business deals with nothing but a handshake and a man’s word. That’s right no lawyers no de facto Latin legal language that you have no chance of understanding with out your own law degree. Just a handshake and a promise. Was my grandfather ever ripped off? Probably…if he was I never heard about it and it never stopped him from doing business that way. Did that make him naïve or was he just good at reading people and their intentions? Is it just a case of the generational gap?

Estimated crime in United States-Total
Violent Crime Rates
Crime rate per 100,000 population
Year        Population     Violent Crime    Murder    Rape    Robbery   Aggravated Assault
1960       179,323,175      160.9                5.1         9.6         60.1              86.1
1970       203,235,298      363.5                7.9        18.7       172.1            164.8
1980       225,349,264      596.6               10.2       36.8       251.1            298.5
1990       249,464,396      729.6                9.4        41.1       256.3            422.9
2000       281,421,906      506.5                5.5        32.0       145.0            324.0
2010       308,745,538      403.6                4.8        27.5       119.1            252.3

Notes: National or state offense totals are based on data from all reporting agencies and estimates for unreported areas. United States-Total -
The 168 murder and nonnegligent homicides that occurred as a result of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995 are included in the national estimate.
The 2,823 murder and nonnegligent homicides that occurred as a result of the events of September 11, 2001, are not included in the national estimates.
Sources: FBI, Uniform Crime Reports as prepared by the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data

While the population hasn’t even doubled; violent crime rates, rape, and aggravated assault have all almost tripled. In the good news department, your chance of being murdered has decreased. (I don’t remember the 80′s and 90′s being that violent.)

What started me down this morbid road of thought? A case of it could have been me…

About a month ago a neighbor of mine’s son (I will call him “Joe” so I don’t have to keep typing my neighbor’s son) was driving to visit her. It was almost dark. The weather was turning bad. It was starting to rain and the temperature was rapidly dropping. Joe came around a curve in the road and noticed a women standing next to her van, on the side of the road, with the hood raised. She did not look scary or threatening. She looked cold, wet, and alone. She looked like she needed help. Joe did what I like to think someone would do for me if they came across me in that situation. He pulled over, got out of his truck and walked towards her to see if he could offer assistance. Before he could get to her, a man stepped out of the woods and stuck a gun to Joe’s head. While the man held Joe at gun point the poor, alone, defenseless (sarcasm) woman preceded to plumage his vehicle looking for valuables. The man then ordered Joe to hand over his wallet and watch. As the gunman cocked the gun to shoot Joe in the head at point blank range, fate intervened and another car came around the curve. Instead of shooting Joe the gunman bashed him in the head hard enough to drive Joe to the ground and put him on the verge of loosing consciousness. The perpetrators then ran to their vehicle, got in and drove away. (Never to be heard from again.) Had that car not appeared when it did Joe would most certainly be dead. Joe had a gun in his truck (they stole it). Joe was former military. Joe thought he had it covered. Joe was trying to be a good Samaritan. Joe almost died.

The scary part for me was realizing that that could have been me. We live in the country, outside the city limits of a small town, where neighbors help neighbors and we are not used to strangers. Had I come upon that same scenario instead of Joe…it would have been me. I like to think that I would have been smart enough to stay in my vehicle and to offer to call help for her instead of getting out and exposing myself to danger but, chances are I wouldn’t have left her standing out there all alone and “defenseless”. I would have at least offered her a ride. And I very well would not be here writing this now.

Have the times changed? I don’t know.

Have we changed? I don’t know.

Have I changed? Most definitely!!!  I’m not entirely sure it’s for the better but it is safer. I will not volunteer to be a victim.

Continue reading »]]> by rebelgirl

This is my story of how I became a Prepper. Let me give you a little history here. I’ve always been a country girl and I grew up being the only girl in a family of all boy cousins. I can remember learning to skin squirrels and rabbits by tying their legs onto my swing set. I loved running the woods, I played softball, I did every event a girl could do in a rodeo (and I worked the chutes for the guys events) and I loved riding my horse and pawpaw’s 3 wheeler. I didn’t get to hunt cause guns were a boy thing and the only time I got to go fishing I came back with 2nd degree sunburn on the top of my head (Daddy forgot to pack me a cap and I had white blonde hair). When I got married for the first time (3 days after my 18th birthday), Grandpa took me to a local store, bought me a little .22 semi-automatic pistol and a box of bullets, and told me to learn to use it. That was my intro course to self-defense.

Fast forward, many years…and now I’m married to a wonderful man. He’s a good husband; he’s a good father and just one of those rare breeds of really good men. He doesn’t get drunk, he doesn’t mistreat our kids or me, he doesn’t run around but he does have a weird hobby, he likes to stock up on things, lots of things. I’m a good wife so when I’m asked “Why did I let him (hahaha as if I could stop him) buy all of this silly stuff?” I respond with my bills are paid, my kids and I are taken care of, what do I care what he spends his money on. So what if I got a rifle for Christmas. I like guns and it’s what I asked for. So what? if I got a camouflage pocketknife with my soon to be initials on it by way of a proposal. I like knives and I already knew what ring I wanted.

Fast forward 10 more years…I watch the devastation of New Orleans and am horrified by what I see. I’m a good small town Louisiana girl so when the refugees flood our local churches I donate goods and help at the local schools. Just as things seem to get back to normal we get word of Rita coming. My husband has been working in Iraq as a civilian contractor and is home on R& R for 2 weeks. I make an emergency run to the grocery store, stock up on the essentials; toilet paper, sodas, ice, bottled water, bread, bologna, charcoal and fill the truck and gas cans. Then I come home and start panicking, remember we had seen how bad it could get. I decide we are leaving and that is that! We’re going to South Carolina and will stay at my mother’s house (an 18 hr. drive). So I start packing the family pictures, our marriage license, clothes, food, anything and everything I can think of. This whole time my husband is calmly watching me, not arguing, just doing his own thing, (this was 2 or 3 days). Then I ask him an innocent little question…what do you need me to pack for you…he responds “I don’t need anything, I’m not going. I’m going to stay here. I’m heading to daddy’s to check on them, love ya, I’ll be back in a little while.” I’m left standing there with my mouth open thinking WTH!!!!!

Breath girl just breath!
This is where my redneck side rears its little head and I think there is NO WAY I am going to travel half way across the country with just my young son leaving my husband behind not knowing if I’ll be able to get back or even call him. NUHUH!! Not gonna happen! By the time he got back from my in-laws I had called my mother to tell her we were riding it out, unpacked everything that I had packed in the past few days and put it all away. He gets home and wants to know what I think I’m doing. I told him I decided we would stay…long story short he says no I want ya’ll to leave and I tell him if he stays we stay period end of discussion. We are a family and families stick together no matter the outcome.
Rita hits and Rita hits hard. I’ll never complain about not having a shade tree in my yard ever again. Every power line on our road was gone. Roads were flooded. Stores were closed. Cell towers and landlines alike were down.
No power, no phone, no water and no help. Because my husband had prepared all of our marriage (and before) we were able to take gas to my elderly grandmother and aunt and uncle to run their generator, water and supplies to my in laws and we were even able to provide gas and distilled water for my newborn niece so my sister in law could evacuate (my niece had just been released from the NICU the day before after being born 4 months premature and had a feeding tube that ran on electricity inserted into her stomach that she could not survive without, we had already lost her twin sister). For 2 weeks with my hubby and without my hubby, we didn’t lack anything except hot water and after the summer heat, humidity and no AC cold “showers” (5 gallon bucket and a water hose) weren’t so bad.
3 days after Rita hits, my hubby has to get on a plane heading back to Iraq. I’m still worried, I’m still scared, we still have no idea how long this is going to last, FEMA is not riding to the rescue but I am NOT going to send my husband off to a war zone worrying about us. So I kiss him goodbye, tell him don’t be silly of course we’ll be fine and put him on a plane. Then I go home and load the guns , which I proceed to carry around the yard with me.
Thank god, I had done that! I don’t even know if my hubby knows this part of my story, I don’t remember if I ever told him or not.

We live in the country on a dead end road; there is nothing beyond my house but pasture and woods. It’s hard to find when you have directions. One afternoon as my son and I are sitting outside a car full of young (20’s or so) men drive down my road. I did not know them, we have no neighbors, they in no way belonged where they were at, they weren‘t lost, they didn‘t have family in the area. I have my 9mm in a holster on my hip but I’m scared. I tell my son to go inside and stay inside. I reach inside the house and pick up my 410 shotgun that sits by the door and I step into the yard to meet them. They stop the car in the driveway, sit there, and stare for what seemed like a really long time but was probably only a few minutes. I can see them talking, pointing, and looking around but they’re not moving and I’m not going to get any closer. I had been standing there with my shotgun for what seemed like forever when I finally find my voice and yell “Can I help ya’ll” (in that voice that we southerners have perfected that really means YOU ARE WHERE YOU DO NOT BELONG! NOW WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT!) They sit there for a few more seconds and then they reverse down my road. As my heart finally returns to normal and I begin to calm I turn back towards the house to put my shotgun back. I see my 7-year-old standing on the porch. He had gotten his 410 out of his room, loaded it, and was standing there pointing it down the driveway. He says, “I got your back Momma.”

From that moment forward, I knew we could survive and we would be ok no matter what happened. My honey still works overseas, he still preps more than I do (but I’m catching up with him every day). My son’s now more interested in how this all applies to zombies. At least now, we’re ALL in the race to prepare and I’m not scared of what ifs, because I know I’m prepared.
We are a family and families stick together.