The irony of blending prepper /survivalist articles with conspiracy is not lost on me lol.
We work hard to live up to those stereo types lol.
I come by it naturally and maybe it runs in the family. I did have an “eccentric” great uncle who had a house full of guns and was ready for
the inevitability of when the Pope would give the Catholics orders to rise up and “kill us all”.
That part of the family were “prods” of Northern Irish tradition.
The problems with the Pope aside in this article I’d like to do a summary of prep articles,some ideas and links I have up to this point. Link to our Facebook Survival and Prepping Group.
That group has a lot more specific vids, articles, tips and docs you can get for free!
The latest project is called “Project Nomad“. This is one of those electronic equivalent of the Doomsday Seed Vault aka Svalbard Global Seed Vault.
Imagine post apocalypse you have a laptop with the worlds important knowledge and working AI and whatever else on it you decide is important. A real life Book of Eli. We have a tech
on it right now to see how small we can go with it like on a touch pad and also optimal size which seems to be an older gaming laptop so far. So far out of all my preps so far this is one of the most exciting of late.
From their site: “
When infrastructure fails, NOMAD keeps working. Medical references, survival guides, and encyclopedic knowledge — no internet required.
Run local LLMs, self-host your knowledge base, own your data. Built for beefy hardware and those who want full control.
Cabin, RV, or sailboat — bring a complete library, AI assistant, and offline maps wherever you go. True digital independence.
Khan Academy, Wikipedia for Schools, and more — complete learning resources for families anywhere, even without connectivity.
If you have a bunch of these you can rebuild the internet. Of course you’ll need cables, batteries and solar panels. But it’s doable.
World War 3
how likely is it? Some would argue it’s already kicked off with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Some might say it’s been going on since the Korean War. Without getting into the weeds too much let’s say it hasn’t kicked off just yet. The bad thing with this scenario is it will create everyday shortages, food, medicine, electricity, fuel. Pretty much everything we take for granted will be controlled, rationed and limited if available at all. Then if things get spicy like limited nuclear exchanges over a period of time could result in the “broken back war” scenario that was posited during the Cold War. Cole’s Notes: Limited nukes used, long protracted war grinds down industry and economies of participants. Society fails. Insert mass starvation, diseases, social collapse. In Ukraine if it wasn’t for Western and Chinese intervention on both sides the war would have ground both Russia and Ukraine’s economies into dust. The war is fairly “stagnant” with Russian gaining ground in 1000’s of dead per inch gained. This could change but even with Starlink being taken off line for Russia it was a limited time gain for Ukraine.
The next Civil War
This one seems to be the subject of the day for the last while. With increasing political polarization, national financial instability and general uncertainty there are times where this seems almost inevitable. I really hope not because it would suck. It almost always results in the ruling government becoming increasingly authoritarian to try to contain things which then creates even more problems. The former Yugoslavia was a 5 sided ass kicking contest with continuously shifting alliances, shtf everyday for more than half the population, collapse of authority, banditry, starvation, ethnic cleansing and pretty much every shitty situation you could imagine.
EMP or the next Carrington Event
This is one of those society destroying events. Learn about how EMP works as that could easily happen. A Carrington level event is also possible at pretty much any time but more likely closer to a solar maximum period. We should be out of the wood’s till about about 2030. I recommend the “One Second After” series that is fiction but reads like a how to survive. That and have a laptop with NOMAD installed on it and secured in a Faraday, box, bag or whatever.
The most likely SHTF scenarios
Job Loss is a SHTF level event for any individual or family. Especially if the bread winner’s job is suddenly gone. Our family faced this one in 2008 during that times financial crises. That was a tough one for most. I seen quite a few people I used to work with at a factory lose their homes. Luckily we had prepared for a long while before this, limiting our financial burdens, stocking up on everyday items, toiletries, canned food, pet food and all the usual stuff. I didn’t have a crystal ball or even a prediction it would happen. Just the prepare in case something happens or even if it doesn’t. We didn’t go into debt to stockpile. Just grabbed what we could when we could for cheap and set goals for financial, food, shelter and water for minimum 3 months. Then increased that stretch of time. That’s what saved our house during that time until I could find a steady job. Another major factor was buying a house we could still afford even if we had to take really shitty jobs. I get that’s a very tall order for people just getting into home ownership today but homesteading is still a thing and very doable. It takes a lot of intestinal fortitude and planning but happens all the time.
Sudden Illness this sadly happens all of the time to too many people. Something to be said about social safety nets or a job with good insurance. That’s why it’s important to keep healthy, avoid drugs and alcohol and habits or lifestyles that have a high chance of contracting diseases or poor health. Get regular check ups. Many times diseases or illnesses can get sorted out if detected early. My cholesterol was too high after years of drinking, smoking and pretty much eating only meats or whatever was saltiest. So made some changes, I have a daily smoothie now with all of the super food stuffs in it. Quit smoking and drinking, lost weight. Do gardening and turned my animal protein sources more to wild meat and fish. I still enjoy the odd burger or pork roast but keep it to a minimum instead of the everyday food source. Lot’s more of those yucky vegetables and paying more attention to the food labels and contents. Cut way down on the refined sugars, found more alternatives like stevia or use maple syrup. Pretty much the less processed and more whole foods you’ll be better off. Those fad diets are bullshit. Worry about waist size and not weight you’ll be a lot better off.
other top contenders are fire, flooding, crime, accidents
fire: knowing where you live and potential flash points, have an escape plan, have fire extinguishers, fire safety systems, fire blanket or baking soda.
Flooding
this is another one that is way to common, Katrina being one of the worst examples within memory. Depending on the scale it could lead to complete breakdown of services and order. You could be literally on your own. Disease, homelessness, job loss, injuries, financial ruin. If you leave your home due to evacuation turn off the damned breakers. I knew a combat engineer who was killed going into a flooded basement during an emergency because the people who left didn’t hit the breakers on their way out.
Crime: a big concern but still not as much as heart disease or car accidents. Get familiar with the crime triangle. Don’t walk around like a victim waiting to happen. Sure you can be indignant about how society ought to be and you should be able to dress or do as damned well as you please. But not everyone revolves around you. There are and will always be opportunists to take advantage of people. That is the way of the world. It’s just a lot less prevalent in some countries, areas and communities than others.
Accidents: like many pitfalls and perils these are mostly avoidable and can be prepared for. Comes down to identifying hazards, take steps to avoid or mitigate them and have a back up plan in case it goes wrong. Once you get into a safety mindset it really is dirt simple. Ask yourself if something is necessary. Could something bad happen if I don’t do XYZ? Can something bad happen if I do do XYZ? It really is that simple. Don’t be complacent. I’ve seen professionals screw up and get hurt for something that seems routine and they gave zero thought to it. Know your limitations. Ask for help if you need it.
Final thoughts:
Finances: one of the best financial advisors I’ve ever seen is Gail Vaz-Oxlade. She used to host a show called “Till Debt do u$ Part”.Wikipedia-” It is hosted by Gail Vaz-Oxlade, who each week visits a couple who are in debt and having relationship troubles.[3] The participants are given weekly challenges, some of which are to help bring the finances and debt under control, with the others meant to help the couple’s relationship. At the end of one month, Vaz-Oxlade gives the couple a cheque for an amount up to $5,000, depending on how well they did during the challenges.[2] A 52-Week Life Planner based on the television series was released in 2013 and offers day-by-day, step-by-step strategies and tips for successfully managing household finances.” I watched an interview and discussion group with her and a few other financial people a few years back. The VP for TD Waterhouse was on the show as well. He said that him and his wife love Gail’s show but he hopes nobody follows her advice as the economy runs on debt and he needs to make money.
Essentially comes down to have a budget and stick to it. Avoid credit when and where you can as it is a potential trap. Don’t forget to pay yourself and get out the odd time. Just plan and budget for it is all. Have a buffer to pay mortgage,bills, car payments or whatever you can’t NOT pay for 3 months. Also your time is finite. None of knows how much we have so use it wisely.
Learning; Gardening, food preservation, networking, hunting, fishing, sewing,medical, first aid, carpentry, cooking home and car repair, tons of other skills. Know when to delegate. Learn what you can when and how you can. There are tons of free college courses online and in person. Your local library has courses and training. Lots of different groups locally and online for pretty much any skill you might want or need to learn. Having said that we have limitations, commitments, time constraints and a bazillion other things that need our time, resources and attention. Also with networking you’ll know who is good at what. In a lot of special forces teams there are experts in particular skills but those experts train a seconder so the team has skills overlap in case on team members goes down. You don’t have to be a mechanic but you should know how to change a tire, replace a wiper or car battery, add fluids. Also know when something is not worth your time or money. Prioritizing. Like one my friends gave me advise a long time ago when I was going to do some renos at the house. He said why would you do that work when you can hire someone for cheaper and probably better at that reno when you could go to work and do some overtime to pay for it? Financially he was right. Just a small example of knowing yourself, budgeting,
Have 3 immediate actions ie fill the tub with water, load the guns, set up the radio“. Or in the case of “Shaun of the Dead” had 6 immediate goals. Although a comedy it’s a good illustration of the thought process of an emergency plan. Better a bad plan executed well than no plan at all!
Inaction gets more people into trouble than not.
I say 3 immediate because you’ll actually remember that when everyone else is running around, skin on fire. In most armies around the world there are “Immediate Actions” that are practised to react to various scenarios, such as actions on ambush, action on contact, action on mines, etc. These are rehearsed until they become instinctive. Not saying most of you need to run around practising those necessarily but be aware they exist and just like doing bear or fire drills they can save your life or the lives of others.
Networking: having a crew, team, family, neighbourhood, tribe, etc. Humans are built for community and teamwork. Sure there has always been hermits and mountain men, they have always been an exception and not a rule. Lone wolves eventually get hunted down and killed. Nature sucks and can be cruel. You have to sleep sometime. I’d feel better having that rack time knowing who is watching over me can take care of business. Nobody builds a hospital or school by themselves, you need community for big projects, planting and gathering large crops etc.
Figure out who around you knows what and bring in the subject of prepping in things like how people got through the depression and natural disasters, etc. That’ll go farther than asking em what there plans are for when the Pope gives order 66.
Prepping for others
Prepping for others, having extra meds, rice and beans, tampons or other neighbourhood preps. Maybe you have lots of storage space to be a community hub like a barn or sprung shelter etc. Going to be really bad going when your eating well watching your neighbours starve. Maybe they wait till your sleeping and then come in to take what you won’t share! Have a plan folks. Know if there’s medical conditions for your immediate neighbours. If Bob flops over at the BBQ do you know he carries nitro in his left shirt pocket? Maybe find these things out. Could save a life including your own or a loved ones.
If you find yourself living in an area where you don’t or won’t get along with your neighbours then realize when push comes to shove you will be seen as a target not an asset. Have a plan for that. Better to get along. Encourage gardening and other self sufficiency, offer to show neighbours how to do different things. Lend tools, help out. Build that community.
Thanks for tuning in. EvS!