Dave Givens

Good article. Great coffee read and food for thought. Could you live this life? Some of us grew up this way, and I don’t want to do it again, but I have the skills and experience. What would you need to make it? Think about it. -Dave

It’s one or two years after an EMP attack and you are safely tucked away in your retreat somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Your storage foods have mostly been used and your high tech electronics is useless. The really bad stuff is mostly past. Now it’s try to stay fed and alive and pray that civilization as you know it is coming back. You’re going to have to work your environment to live. Ever wonder what life might be like? What would it really be like to have no running water, electricity, sewer, newspaper or Internet? No supermarket or fire department close at hand?

I have a good imagination but I decided to talk to someone who would know first hand what it was like: my mother. She grew up on a homestead in the middle of Montana during the 1920s and 1930s. It was a two room Cottonwood cabin with the nearest neighbor three miles away. She was oldest at 9, so she was in charge of her brother and sister.  This was her reality; I feel there are lessons here for all of us.

There was a Majestic stove that used wood and coal. The first person up at four thirty A.M., usually her father, would start the fire for breakfast. It was a comforting start to the day but your feet would get cold when you got out of bed.

A crosscut saw and axe was used to cut wood for the stove and after that experience, you got pretty stingy with the firewood because you know what it takes to replace it. The old timers say that it warms you when you cut it, when you split it, and again when you burn it. The homes that were typical on homesteads and ranches of the era were smaller with lower ceilings than modern houses just so they could be heated easier. The saw and axe were not tools to try hurrying with. You set a steady pace and maintained it. A man in a hurry with an axe may loose some toes or worse. One side effect of the saw and axe use is that you are continuously hungry and will consume a huge amount of food. Lights in the cabin were old fashioned kerosene lamps. It was the kid’s job to trim the wicks, clean the chimneys and refill the reservoirs.

The privy was downhill from the house next to the corral and there was no toilet paper. Old newspaper, catalogs or magazines were used and in the summer a pan of barely warm water was there for hygiene. During a dark night, blizzard, or brown out from a dust storm, you followed the corral poles-no flashlights.

There were two springs close to the house that ran clear, clean, and cold water. The one right next to it was a “soft” water spring It was great for washing clothes and felt smooth, almost slick, on your skin. If you drank from it, it would clean you out just as effectively as it cleaned clothes. Not all clean water is equal.

The second spring was a half mile from the cabin and it was cold, clear, and tasted wonderful. The spring itself was deep – an eight foot corral pole never hit bottom- and flowed through the year. It was from here that the kids would fill two barrels on a heavy duty sled with water for the house and the animals. They would lead the old white horse that was hitched to the sledge back to the buildings and distribute the water for people and animals. In the summer, they made two trips in the morning and maybe a third in the evening. In the winter, one trip in the morning and one in the evening. They did this alone.

Breakfast was a big meal because they’re going to be working hard. Usually there would be homemade sausage, eggs and either cornmeal mush or oatmeal. More food was prepared than what was going to be eaten right then. The extra food was left on the table under a dish towel and eaten as wanted during the day. When evening meal was cooked, any leftovers were reheated. The oatmeal or the mush was sliced and fried for supper. It was served with butter, syrup, honey or molasses.

The homemade sausage was from a quarter or half a hog. The grinder was a small kitchen grinder that clamped on the edge of a table and everybody took turns cranking. When all the hog had been ground, the sausage mix was added and kneaded in by hand. Then it was immediately fried into patties. The patties were placed, layer by layer, into a stone crock and covered with the rendered sausage grease. The patties were reheated as needed. The grease was used for gravies as well as re-cooking the patties. Occasionally a fresh slice of bread would be slathered with a layer of sausage grease and a large slice of fresh onion would top it off for quick sandwich. Nothing was wasted.

Some of their protein came from dried fish or beef. Usually this had to be soaked to remove the excess salt or lye. Then it was boiled. Leftovers would go into hash, fish patties, or potato cakes.

The kitchen garden ran mostly to root crops. Onion, turnip, rutabaga, potato and radishes grew under chicken wire. Rhubarb was canned for use as a winter tonic to stave off scurvy. Lettuce, corn, and other above ground crops suffered from deer, rats, and gumbo clay soil. Surprisingly, cabbage did well. The winter squash didn’t do much, only 2 or 3 gourds. Grasshoppers were controlled by the chickens and turkeys. There was endless hoeing.

Washing clothes required heating water on the stove, pouring it into three galvanized wash tubs-one for the homemade lye soap and scrub board, the other two for rinsing. Clothes were rinsed and wrung out by hand, then hung on a wire to dry in the air. Your hands became red and raw, your arms and shoulders sore beyond belief by the end of the wash. Wet clothing, especially wool, is heavy and the gray scum from the soap was hard to get out of the clothes.

Personal baths were in a galvanized wash tub screened by a sheet. In the winter it was difficult to haul, heat and handle the water so baths weren’t done often. Most people would do sponge baths. Everybody worked including the kids. There were always more chores to be done than time in the day. It wasn’t just this one family; it was the neighbors as well. You were judged first and foremost by your work ethic and then your honesty. This was critical because if you were found wanting in either department, the extra jobs that might pay cash money, a quarter of beef, hog or mutton would not be available. Further, the cooperation with your neighbors was the only assurance that if you needed help, you would get help. Nobody in the community could get by strictly on their own. A few tried. When they left, nobody missed them. You didn’t have to like someone to cooperate and work with him or her.

Several times a year people would get together for organized activities: barn raising, butcher bee, harvest, roofing, dance, or picnics. There were lots of picnics, usually in a creek bottom with cottonwoods for shade or sometimes at the church. Always, the women would have tables groaning with food, full coffee pots and, if they were lucky, maybe some lemonade. (Lemons were expensive and scarce) After the work (even for picnics, there was usually a project to be done first) came the socializing. Many times people would bring bedding and sleep out overnight, returning home the next day.

A half dozen families would get together for a butcher bee in the cold days of late fall. Cows were slaughtered first, then pigs, mutton, and finally chickens. Blood from some of the animals was collected in milk pails, kept warm on a stove to halt coagulation and salt added. Then it was canned for later use in blood dumplings, sausage or pudding. The hides were salted for later tanning; the feathers from the fowl were held for cleaning and used in pillows or mattresses. The skinned quarters of the animals would be dipped into cold salt brine and hung to finish cooling out so they could be taken home safely for processing. Nothing went to waste.

The most feared occurrence in the area was fire. If it got started, it wasn’t going out until it burned itself out. People could and did loose everything
The most used weapon was the .22 single shot Winchester with .22 shorts. It was used to take the heads off pheasant, quail, rabbit and ducks. If you held low, the low powered round didn’t tear up the meat. The shooters, usually the kids, quickly learned sight picture and trigger control although they never heard those terms. If you took five rounds of ammunition, you better bring back the ammunition or a critter for the pot for each round expended. It was also a lot quieter and less expensive [in those days] than the .22 Long Rifle cartridges.

If you are trying to maintain a low profile, the odor of freshly baked bread can be detected in excess of three miles on a calm day. Especially by kids.

Twice a year the cabin was emptied of everything. The walls, floors, and ceilings were scrubbed with lye soap and a bristle brush. All the belongings were also cleaned before they came back into the house. This was pest control and it was needed until DDT became available. Bedbugs, lice, ticks and other creepy crawlies were a fact of life and were controlled by brute force. Failure to do so left you in misery and maybe ill.

Foods were stored in bug proof containers. The most popular was fifteen pound metal coffee cans with tight lids. These were for day to day use in the kitchen. (I still have one. It’s a family heirloom.) The next were barrels to hold the bulk foods like flour, sugar, corn meal, and rice. Everything was sealed or the vermin would get to it. There was always at least one, preferably two, months of food on hand. If the fall cash allowed, they would stock up for the entire winter before the first snowfall.

The closest thing to a cooler was a metal box in the kitchen floor. It had a very tight lid and was used to store milk, eggs and butter for a day or two. Butter was heavily salted on the outside to keep it from going rancid or melting. Buttermilk, cottage cheese and regular cheese was made from raw milk after collecting for a day or two. The box was relatively cool in the summer and did not freeze in the winter.

Mice and rats love humanity because we keep our environment warm and tend to be sloppy with food they like. Snakes love rats and mice so they were always around If the kids were going to play outside, they would police the area with a hoe and a shovel. After killing and disposing of the rattlesnakes- there was always at least one-then they could play for a while in reasonable safety.

The mice and rats were controlled by traps, rocks from sling shots, cats and coyotes. The cats had a hard and usually short life because of the coyotes. The coyotes were barely controlled and seemed to be able to smell firearms at a distance. There were people who hunted the never-ending numbers for the bounty.

After chores were done, kid’s active imagination was used in their play. They didn’t have a lot of toys. There were a couple of dolls for the girls, a pocket knife and some marbles for the boy, and a whole lot of empty to fill. Their father’s beef calves were pretty gentle by the time they were sold at market – the kids rode them regularly. (Not a much fat on those calves but a lot of muscle.) They would look for arrow heads, lizards, and wild flowers. Chokecherry, buffalo berry, gooseberry and currants were picked for jelly and syrups. Sometimes the kids made chokecherry wine.

On a hot summer day in the afternoon, the shade on the east side of the house was treasured and the east wind, if it came, even more so. Adults hated hailstorms because of the destruction, kids loved them because they could collect the hail and make ice cream.

Childbirth was usually handled at a neighbor’s house with a midwife if you were lucky. If you got sick you were treated with ginger tea, honey, chicken soup or sulphur and molasses. Castor oil was used regularly as well Wounds were cleaned with soap and disinfected with whisky. Mustard based poultices were often used for a variety of ills. Turpentine, mustard and lard was one that was applied to the chest for pneumonia or a hacking cough.

Contact with the outside world was an occasional trip to town for supplies using a wagon and team. A battery operated radio was used very sparingly in the evenings. A rechargeable car battery was used for power. School was a six mile walk one way and you brought your own lunch. One school teacher regularly put potatoes on the stove to bake and shared them with the kids. She was very well thought of by the kids and the parents.

These people were used to a limited amount of social interaction. They were used to no television, radio, or outside entertainment. They were used to having only three or four books. A fiddler or guitar player for a picnic or a dance was a wonderful thing to be enjoyed. Church was a social occasion as well as religious.
The church ladies and their butter and egg money allowed most rural churches to be built and to prosper.

The men were required to do the heavy work but the ladies made it come together. The civilizing of the west sprang from these roots. Some of those ladies had spines of steel. They needed it. That’s a partial story of the homestead years. People were very independent, stubborn and strong but still needed the community and access to the technology of the outside world for salt, sugar, flour, spices, chicken feed, cloth, kerosene for the lights and of course, coffee. There are many more things I could list. Could they have found an alternative if something was unavailable? Maybe. How would you get salt or nitrates in Montana without importing? Does anyone know how to make kerosene? Coffee would be valued like gold. Roasted grain or chicory just didn’t cut it

I don’t want to discourage people trying to prepare but rather to point out that generalized and practical knowledge along with a cooperative community is still needed for long term survival. Whatever shortcomings you may have, if you are part of a community, it is much more likely to be covered. The described community in this article was at least twenty to thirty miles across and included many farms and ranches as well as the town. Who your neighbors are, what type of people they are, and your relationship to them is one of the more important things to consider.

Were there fights, disagreements and other unpleasantness? Absolutely. Some of it was handled by neighbors, a minister or the sheriff. Some bad feelings lasted a lifetime. There were some people that were really bad by any standard and they were either the sheriff’s problem or they got sorted out by one of their prospective victims.

So to summarize:

These homesteaders had a rough life but they felt they had a great life and their way of life was shared by everyone they knew. They never went hungry, had great daylong picnics with the neighbors, and knew everyone personally within twenty miles. Every bit of pleasure or joy was treasured like a jewel since it was usually found in a sea of hard work. They worked hard, played hard and loved well. In our cushy life, we have many more “things” and “conveniences” than they ever did, but we lack the connection they had with their environment and community.

The biggest concern for our future: What happens if an event such as a solar flare, EMP, or a plague takes our society farther back than the early 1900s by wiping out our technology base. Consider the relatively bucolic scene just described and then add in some true post-apocalyptic hard cases Some of the science fiction stories suddenly get much more realistic and scary. A comment out of a Star Trek scene comes to mind “In the fight between good and evil, good must be very, very good.”

Consider what kind of supplies might not be available at any cost just because there is no longer a manufacturing base or because there is no supply chain. In the 1900s they had the railroads as a lifeline from the industrial east.

One of the greatest advantages we have is access to a huge amount of information about our world, how things work and everything in our lives. We need to be smart enough to learn/understand as much as possible and store references for all the rest. Some of us don’t sleep well at night as we are well aware of how fragile our society and technological infrastructure is. Trying to live the homesteader’s life would be very painful for most of us. I would prefer not to. I hope and pray it doesn’t ever come to that. How long would it take us to rebuild the tools for recovery to the early 1900 levels?   Beans? There was almost always a pot of beans on the stove in the winter time. Chickens and a couple of milk cows provided needed food to balance the larder. They could not have supported a growing family without these two resources.

This is copied from Mike’s excellent website over at Von Steuben Training and Consulting.  He’s got the good stuff in information and training!  https://vs-training.com/   -Dave

This article is not for most of you readers, as you probably already have at least a basic understanding of what gear you do and don’t need. I am not writing this article for you, I am writing it so you can show it to your friends who are just breaking into the realm of preparing for the coming fight, and need a little guidance. At the very least, read it so you can make recommendations to them so that they will be assets, not burdens, when you eventually strap up and take them on a patrol. I have never and will never claim to have reached the pinnacle of knowledge on anything.  We are all constantly learning and improving ourselves, and no one is perfect.

WARNING: Opinion

If you’re just starting out into building up a fighting kit, all of the info out there can be pretty overwhelming. The natural tendency is to focus on the cool-looking points of your gear, but this can be counter-productive, especially when you have a fixed income. For example, it’s natural to immediately buy an AR with a bunch of accessories, and maybe splurge on a high-end plate carrier and plates because that’s what you see all the “cool guys” wearing, and you need body armor right? The problem is that you just spent a ton of money on your rig, and you haven’t invested into some other basic things you need to sustain yourself during operations, like a good pack, ammo, or even canteens.

In this article I will list the purchasing priorities for building a rifleman’s kit piece-by-piece, so that you can efficiently build up your gear and yourself to be as ready as possible for when it’s time to defend yourself and your liberties. I am trimming away all of the tacti-cool fat and unnecessary gear so you can make the most out of your limited budget and keep your priorities straight.

I must note here that this is not a post about prepping. Things such as alternate energy, homesteading, and water purification are indeed important, but are beyond the scope of this article. I am writing purely from the perspective of someone who is gearing up for a potential civil conflict/WROL scenario looking to make themselves an asset to their family, their team, and their country. Again, everything you’re about to read is my personal opinion based off my experience, feel free to disagree with anything I say.

Rifleman’s Essentials

This is the bare minimum of what you need to be proficient in a firefight, and thus where you should start.
The first step is simple, as a rifleman you need a rifle. Notice I said a rifle, not a rifle with a scope, laser, bipod, and flashlight, those are much further down the list. I’m talking about a bare-bones rifle with a good sling AND THAT’S IT. For now.  Also note that rifle was singular.  It’s better to have one rifle and a full kit and ammo than ten empty weapons collecting dust. There’s too much that goes into weapon selection to cover here in depth, so I’ll be brief. Your rifle should, if possible, meet the following criteria:

It should be easy to feed. 6.5 Creedmore or .300 BLK are neat cartridges, but you can’t afford to be paying over a dollar/round. These days the best choice is probably 7.62×39, which can still be had fairly cheap. This is, however, a call you should make yourself. If magazine-fed it should use affordable, commonly available mags.

It should be reliable. There’s a lot of gimmicky weapons out there, try to stick with combat-proven platforms that don’t have a tendency to go click when you need them to go bang.

It should, if possible, be matched to your environment and mission profile. To determine this you will need to consider how you will be operating. At what distance will you most likely engage targets? Will you need to make shots through brush, or is your terrain more open? A quick survey of your surroundings will determine factors such as caliber, barrel length, etc.

If you have a limited selection, any rifle is better than no rifle. Even if you have a bolt-action Mosin-Nagant or a hunting rifle, you can be effective with it if you train accordingly.

You need a good sling for your rifle.  Slings are useful for saving your arms during long patrols, stabilizing the rifle in a prepared firing position, freeing your hands for other tasks, and keeping accountability of your weapon so it’s ready to go at any time. Get an easily adjustable 2-point sling, single-points are only good for CQB and in mounted vehicle operations. My personal go-to is the Blue Force Tactical Vickers Sling, but there are other good ones out there.

Next you need the ability to feed said rifle. You should purchase 1,000 rounds of whatever caliber you are running, put it in sealed ammo cans, and DO NOT TOUCH IT. This is your emergency reserve, you only pull it out if you need it to protect life, liberty, and property in SHTF. Buy in bulk online for the cheapest prices. Any ammo you buy beyond this you can shoot in training.

Also in the realm of feeding your rifle, you need additional feeding devices (magazines, stripper clips, enblocs, etc.). For a start, you need to be able to carry at least 120 rounds on your person plus whatever’s in the gun, so at a minimum 5-6 magazines or that equivalent amount in stripper clips. If you can get more, get more. You can never have too many magazines, but at this point 5-7 will suffice.

Now you need a way to carry all those magazines on your body, so you should get some kind of load-bearing gear. There’s a ton of articles, videos, and posts about different kinds of kit so I won’t go too in-depth here. Suffice to say that you don’t yet need body armor, just a way to carry your combat equipment and ammo on your body.

Medical equipment is next. You need a trauma kit to quickly mitigate life-threatening injuries so you can survive the trip to the hospital/casualty collection point. You need items like quick clot, bandages, chest seals, etc. in your IFAK somewhere on your gear. You also need tourniquets, 2-4 of them. Get the same type so you only need to practice one way, and then get an extra one to practice with. Make sure your IFAK is somewhere you can easily access it, i.e. NOT on your back.

You need a way to carry water on your load-bearing kit. You won’t last long in combat operations without water, so you need to have some on your gear, at least 2 liters OR half a gallon. Camelbacks work great, but make sure you have extra bladders in case it pops. Canteens work as well.  2-quart sized canteens can collapse as you drink them like camelbacks do, so they don’t make slosh when half-full. However, if all you have is 1-quart canteens then you will need to get used to drinking a whole canteen all at once to prevent a half-full canteen from sloshing and making unwanted noise. It is possible, Marine Recruits do it every night in boot camp before going to bed.

Sustainment Gear

Now that you have all the Rifleman’s Essentials, you need to have the ability to sustain yourself in combat operations for a few days or even weeks. Sustainment gear satisfies basic human needs for survival such as water, food, and shelter, to keep you alive during extended periods of time in the field. For our purposes, we will assume a 1-week field stay without resupply.

First and foremost, you need a pack to carry everything. There’s a ton of models out there, so let me save you some trouble. Get a medium ALICE pack, preferably with a frame. It’s simple, been in service with the military for decades (even though no longer issued, trust me it’s still in use), and is big enough to hold everything you need without a lot of extra space. It’s also much cheaper than newer packs of comparable size and durability, making it ideal for the budget warrior. That’s my recommendation, do with it what you will.

The first basic human need for survival is water. You cannot carry enough water in your pack for a week’s worth of combat operations, so you need a way to purify/filter water in the field. I highly recommend Sawyer Mini water filters. They’re small, weigh almost nothing, re-usable for more water than you will ever drink in your life, and only cost about $20 each. If your environment is such that filtration is insufficient, you also need a purification method.  I use a unscented bleach.  You should also have about half a gallon more water in your pack in addition to what’s on your gear, so two additional canteens will do nicely.

The next basic human need is food. Technically, you can survive for 40 days without eating before facing any permanent harm to your body, but you’re not planning on merely “surviving” are you? We’re talking about combat operations, and whether it’s patrolling, manning an observation post, or getting into gunfights, there’s a lot of physical exertion involved and you need calories to keep going. If you can get them, military MREs are a great option that is lightweight, compact, and calorie-dense. Plan on eating 2 per day, field strip them, and put them in your pack. If you can’t get MREs, there are similar options on the civilian side of the house such as Mountain House. Canned chilis and soups are also decent options if you have nothing else, but they get heavy.

Gas camp stoves, while nice and compact, are luxury items. Up to you if you want to spend your money on one, but if we’re trimming all the fat, save your money.

The final basic human need is shelter, or protection from the elements. This will vary greatly depending on your environment. If you live where it gets chilly at night, you will need a compact sleeping bag. If you’re further north you will need two sleeping bags, a lightweight one for summer and a heavier one that can stand freezing temperatures. If you live further south, you can probably get away with just a light blanket or even no warming layers at all in summer. If you live in mosquito country, you may choose to invest in a bug net for sleeping in just your clothes.

Unless you live in an arid climate, you will have to contend with rain at some point. During the daytime this may not be an issue, but being wet and cold at night trying to sleep is miserable, and could be lethal if you get hypothermia. Invest in a military surplus GI poncho or tarp, and learn how to make a Royal Marine Rig or lean-to out of it. Sleeping under a tarp may not be appealing to many, but it is well worth it not to carry around a tent everywhere. You will probably also want a sleeping pad, both for comfort and to keep your sleeping bag dry and out of the mud. Sleeping pads are also a lifesaver when you’re resting on your elbows for hours in an observation post.

Speaking of rain and mud, you will need some kind of rain gear to wear with your kit. Rain jackets, like Gore-Tex, are great options for colder environments, not so much in hot climates because they make you sweat a LOT.  Ponchos work great and are excellent multi-purpose items, but don’t integrate well with all types of load-bearing gear.

You need a solid pair of boots to protect your feet.  This is another topic that is far too vast to do justice in one paragraph, and there are many videos and articles on this topic if you just do a quick search.  Suffice to say that your boots should be rugged to withstand harsh treatment and heavy loads, but also comfortable so you aren’t a liability 5 miles into a 9-mile movement.  Sneakers and work shoes are insufficient, you need good hiking/combat boots.

A great tool to have for field living is a good fighting knife/bayonet. Besides poking the blood out of people, a large (5”-8”) fighting knife can be used for a huge number of tasks in the bush, such as building a shelter, preparing a fire (tactical situation permitting), opening cans, cleaning fish, etc. Trust me, you won’t regret having a good knife somewhere on your kit.

Force Multipliers

Once you have the Rifleman’s Essentials and the ability to sustain yourself for up to a week during operations, then you can begin investing into force-multipliers. Force-multipliers are so called because they are tools which greatly enhance, or multiply, your lethality on the battlefield.

Another rifleman. Yes, that’s right, you shouldn’t be preparing and training alone, you are much more effective as a member of a team. Even if you just have one buddy working with you, it’s a huge leap in combat ability. Don’t just assume that if a civil war breaks out the militias will come to recruit you, – you are the militia. Get a buddy, then get two more, and boom you got a fire team. And if you want to learn how to train up the other members of your fire team effectively, I have a class for that.

Night vision. The ability to move and fight at night is a massive bonus, especially for us as civilians. Our friends at Ready Made Resources have a great selection of NVGs at pretty decent prices, so go check them out. Now, be cautious here. You will need to save up a few thousand dollars to get a good quality night vision unit, and this will take time. You will be tempted to spend your money on other things as you save up, RESIST THE URGE. If you constantly say to yourself “yeah, I need night vision, but I can buy body armor and a cool scope right now,” you will never get your NVG. This needs to be a priority, so be patient.  This is such a high priority that I’d even recommend selling any extra weapons/gear you have to get night vision sooner.  I did, and have no regrets.  (Dave says, consider well a good Thermal Imager such as the FLIR Scout.  I almost like it better than by PVS14)

IR laser. Once you get your NVG (yay!) you will next need a way to aim your weapon using it. The most common way to do this is with an IR laser mounted on your rifle. There are a ton of expensive lasers out there, most of which cost over $1200. I highly recommend ordering a Perst-4 out of Russia. At $450 it’s a cheap, rugged military laser with great ergonomics, with the added bonus that it’s a full power class 3 laser.  Although now they may be hard to obtain due to *ahem* current events.

Radios. Absolutely necessary if you plan to coordinate a large squad, or work alongside another team. With radios you can call for medevac, send tactical reports, and coordinate with an extraction team. Baofeng UV-5Rs are pretty good for the price, get a couple of them so you have somebody to talk to. Eventually you may choose to get a more advanced radio, but keep the Baofengs for your friends and teammates to borrow. While you’re at it, get trained so you can make the most out of your investment.

Once you have these investments out of the way, you can begin to add little bits and pieces to your gear as you train and find out what works for you and what doesn’t. Get to a training course where you can experience running your kit and find out what changes you need to make. Grab your sustainment pack and go camping with it for a couple days, see how it works for you. The more you train and practice using your gear, the more context you get for how to make practical investments in equipment that is useful and not just “cool looking.”

Additional Investments

I would like to add a few final notes on some other pieces of kit that you will at least consider buying during your journey, to put them into context as to their actual utility.

Body armor: Good kit, will stop incoming rounds to vital areas of your body. However, this must be weighed against the fact that it is heavy and uncomfortable, so you should do a realistic evaluation of your level of physical fitness as well as your mission profile. If you plan to wear body armor, plan to do a lot of workouts with it on. Don’t just look at yourself in the mirror and take it off, wear it for a couple hours walking around the house. Go for a run with it on. If you can’t run/jog 3 miles with your armor on without stopping, you’re not ready to use it as your main kit.

Ballistic helmet: Same deal as with body armor, protection at the cost of added weight. This time the weight is on your head. If you’re not used to wearing a kevlar helmet on your head for a few hours, I can tell you right now that it sucks. Your neck gets tired, parts of your skull get more pressure than others and start to hurt, and it makes you sweat. The new helmets aren’t immune to this either. I’ve worn LWHs, ECHs, OPS-Core high cuts, and MICH helmets, they all suck. Still a good thing to have, but if you’re gonna plan to use it for the real thing, make sure you use it in training a lot.

Optics: Red dots, LPVOs, fixed magnification scopes, etc. Whatever you get you should get for a purpose to enhance your existing skill.  Magnification helps with target ID and longer ranges, illuminated reticles assist with aiming in low-light situations. Don’t buy cheap scopes, you get what you pay for with optics. I’ve seen amazon/wal-mart red dots randomly shut off due to recoil and even snap off the rifle during shooting.

Fore-grips: There is no objective “best option” here, it is literally user preference for comfort and has little to no effect on your shooting.

Weapon lights: Unless you primarily work in an urban environment, tac-lights have no place on your rifle.  The risk of accidentally hitting the on switch and getting you or your teammates killed is too great in a rural patrolling situation. If you do get a tac-light for that small chance that you actually enter and clear a dark structure, get a light with a QD mount that allows you to keep it in your pack until you need it, and take it off when you’re done.

Other rifle accessories: Before you put anything on your weapon, ask yourself, “does this make me more effective?” If the answer is yes, buy it. If the answer is no or probably not, save your money.

Handguns: You don’t need a handgun unless you conceal and carry. The reason is that there is nothing your handgun can do that your rifle can’t do better. The myth that “a transition is faster than a reload” is only true if you suck at reloads. You can better use the weight and space that your holster takes up by holding extra rifle mags, your night vision, or a fighting knife.

Assault Packs: These are actually great for carrying stuff that you’d use on a 1-day patrol when you don’t need everything from your sustainment gear. Ideally, you’d get one that either fits inside or clips onto your sustainment pack. Use your assault pack to hold 1 day’s worth of chow, extra ammo/batteries, and anything else that your specific mission requires. Avoid the ones that strap directly to your plate carrier/vest, as you need to remove your fighting equipment to get anything out of it.

Magazines and ammo: This is never a bad idea. You can always use more mags and ammo, and so can your buddies if they’re running the same caliber as you (they should be).

Camouflage fatigues: Get a pattern that matches your environment and helps you blend in. If working within a team, try to have everyone wear the same pattern to avoid friendly fire. Keep in mind, however, wearing a “uniform” makes it easier for an enemy to PID you as hostile, but if you’re wearing a bunch of tactical gear with a rifle they can probably PID you anyway.

I hope this helps someone. As I stated at the beginning, everything here is simply my humble opinion, you are welcome to disagree with me

If you do not have the Alton’s web site bookmarked, do so now.  Lots of good stuff.  www.doomandbloom.net  I copied this from there to here because it is so important, and Dr Alton says it well  -Dave

Doom and Bloom Medicine: How Community Affects Your Survival Chances

We’ve all seen programs that follow the adventures and misadventures of individuals in survival settings. Sometimes, one or two rugged survivalists will successfully survive an off-grid challenge (sometimes naked) for a period of time. Despite this, having seen the results of extended time alone in hostile backcountry, I come away with the feeling that isolation is a bad thing for human beings.

Let’s imagine that a monumental disaster has occurred, and you have survived. The power grid is down, and is unlikely to be up again for years. You, however, have prudently stored food, medical supplies, farming tools, and hunting equipment. You’re safe alone in your shelter.  You are a fine, young, reasonably intelligent person with no medical issues.

It sounds like you’ve figured out the formula for success, but you haven’t. The problem with the description in the last paragraph is one word: “alone.” Lone wolves are considered to be resourceful and tough. And they are, for a while.

Unfortunately, the lone wolf usually ends up  a pretty miserable creature. Face it, wolves should be in a pack. The sad creature in the above photograph is a Thylacine, sometimes called a Tasmanian wolf. Despite the name, it’s actually related to the kangaroo.

Why did we choose this animal to illustrate our point? This specimen is certainly much less impressive than a gray wolf. Heck, it’s not even a real wolf. The reason is simple:  Because the Tasmanian wolf is extinct. If you try to go it alone in a long-term disaster, you will be too.

The most basic way to help assure your medical well-being is to have help. The support of a survival group, even if it’s just your extended family, is essential if you are to have any hope of keeping it together when things fall apart.

Off the grid, you’ll have many responsibilities. You will have to stand watch over your property and supplies. You will have to lug gallons of water from the nearest water source. You will have to chop wood for fuel. You’ll have to search for food. To get a real idea of the situation, just fill a 5-gallon bucket with water and carry it around the block. Piece of cake? Now chop some wood, but do it after staying up all night outside your house.

Maybe you can accomplish the above for a few days, but on a daily basis for an extended period, don’t be so sure Just do it for one day and you’ll begin to understand what I mean. For most of us, it would be the very definition of a miserable existence.

It wouldn’t take very long before your health would suffer. Exhausted and sleep-deprived, you’ll be an easy target not only for marauding gangs of desperados, but marauding bacteria as well. Since your immune system weakens when exposed to long-term stress, you’ll be at risk for succumbing to illnesses that a well-rested individual would easily weather. Division of labor and responsibility will make a difficult situation more manageable.

You can imagine how much easier this would be if you have a group of like-minded survival individuals helping each other. It’s not just the physical exertion: You can’t possibly have all the skills needed to do well by yourself.

For example, we are medical professionals that graduated from the Master Gardener program for our state. We have a working food and medicinal garden, have ham radio technician’s licenses and have even raised tilapia in ponds as a food fish.  We have some skills, but have never done any carpentry or raised livestock. Neither have we ever been in charge of the security of others. There are those, however, who have done these things, but could use some of the skills we possess.

Put enough people together with differing skills, and you have, even in the middle of a devastated city, a village. A village filled with people that will help each other in a crisis. A rugged individualist might be able to eke out a meager existence in the wilderness alone, but a society can only be rebuilt by a community.

There’s no time like the present to communicate, network, and put together a group of like-minded people. How many? The right number of able individuals to assemble for a mutual assistance group will depend on your retreat and your resources. If each of these people have accumulated food, medical supplies, and other essentials, you’ve got a pretty good start.

The ideal group will have people with diverse skills but similar philosophies. This is difficult to  accomplish after a disaster has occurred. Before the you-know-what hits the fan, however, you can work to find like-minded folks that wouldn’t have an argument every time something needs to be done.  Identifying people who you can work with before a catastrophe hits pays dividends down the road.

Unless you are already in such a community, you may feel that it is impossible to assemble a group of people that could help you in times of trouble. That isn’t the case. Whether online or in person, there are others who think like you do. Start at your local place of worship, civic club, or similar groups and you will, over time, find them.

It’s not enough to just be in a group, however. The people in that group must have regular meetings, decide on priorities, and be ready to set things in motion. Devise a Plan A, a Plan B, and a Plan C and decide what trigger events that would set them in motion. Keep lines of communication open so that all your group members stay informed.

In normal times, it’s easy to become complacent about this stuff, but during many disasters, things go downhill fast If your group isn’t on the same page, especially about what to do if a trigger event occurred, some of your members may not make it to, say, a backcountry retreat. This results in your community losing some important skill sets. It just takes a road closure or two to block the success of a mutual assistance group.

Just some random thoughts about preparedness I sent out in an email the other day.  If you have never read any of Joe Dolio’S Tactical Wisdom books or Don Shift’s books, I really highly recommend them! Take a look at these threat postures and see where you think we are. I see us in several, not just one. As usual, no one answer… just some cherry picking from each category as to where I think we are today. And of course, as we travel to other areas the threat changes…..  – Dave

Defense posture 1: elevated threat
Description: Police are spread thin, but “the system” is still functioning. Unrest is generally confined to urban areas.
Threat: There is an elevated chance of theft or violent crime in your area beyond the normal baseline. Urban deprivation of rural areas is still unusual.
Criminal status: Displaced urban criminally inclined persons may have relocated to your area and brought their existing behavior with them.
Watch status: All interested parties should be discussing defensive group and RRF/QRF formation.
Guard status: Be more alert to what’s going on around your home, any persons/vehicles arriving, and incidents in your area.
Barricade status: No road modifications.
Weapons: Rifles not necessary but extra magazines, larger handguns, and trauma kits should be carried regularly.
Rules of engagement: Normal rule of law.

Defense posture 2: low threat
Description: Urban areas are in chaos and there is some refugee outflow. Shortages/famine may be placing pressure on rural supply chains leading to criminal opportunism. Local police may be sent to cities on mutual aid and rural responses degraded.
Threat: Low to medium chance of theft, home invasion, or robbery. Businesses are at greater risk for robbery, theft, or looting as local and urban desperation increases.
Criminal status: Desperation drives much theft and bolder criminals are looking to commit mainly opportunistic crimes in less-well prepared rural areas that have fewer police.
Watch status: Intelligence on outsiders, suspicious activity, and crimes should be shared, investigated, and analyzed by defenders. All suspicious activity should be reported to police.
Guard status: As above, but neighbors may want to check on each other, patrol discreetly, and check vulnerable local businesses.
Barricade status: No road modifications.
Weapons: As above.
Rules of engagement: Normal rule of law.

Defensive posture 3: medium threat
Description: Domestic order and the economy are collapsing; urban areas are experiencing serious unrest and violence, often without police intervention (i.e. Hurricane Katrina New Orleans but everywhere). Rural areas are facing pressure from urban refugees who are depredating local residents and businesses out of desperation. Criminal attacks are now widespread opportunism with occasional intentional, organized raids.
Threat: Theft is common but actual violence less so. Certain areas may be experiencing a higher threat but random incidents can be expected anywhere.
Criminal status: Crimes are very common as police are overtaxed and this is being exploited by criminals. Most crimes are borne from desperation and are unsophisticated but organized crime may be involved with thefts. Home invasion type raids are not widespread but not rare any longer.
Watch status: As above.
Guard status: As above with greater coverage, geographically and around the clock, and with greater vigilance.
Barricade status: As above. Driveways and gates should be closed when not in use.
Weapons: Long guns in the home are readily accessible and it may be prudent to travel with them in a vehicle.
Rules of engagement: Standard justifiable homicide but more individual/group challenges of wrongdoers.

Defensive posture 3.5: high threat, non-WROL Description:

As above, but worse, and police can really only make arrests after the fact.
Threat: Urban areas are near-warzones, refugee pressure is high, and rural criminal activity is high.
Criminal status: Professional criminals, gangs, cartels, and organized predatory groups are attacking easy targets. Unsophisticated criminals are engaging in opportunistic violence or theft freely.
Watch status: Common radio frequencies that coordinated criminal groups may be using are monitored. Someone at home is always on watch. Homeowners should ensure that no one enters their yard uninvited or unverified.
Guard status: Patrols monitor the neighborhood and surrounding areas as above. Defensive groups and the RRF/QRF exist and are ready for call-outs.
Barricade status: As above.
Weapons carry: All adults carry weapons at home; pistols holsters and long guns at hand. Rifles and tactical gear are brought when traveling.
Rules of engagement: Standard justifiable homicide but with freer use of less-lethal weapons to discourage attack or deescalate a situation before it turns violent. Offensive: A hard target is presented as a deterrent. Shelter in place: Anyone leaving the home should travel in a well-armed group only when necessary (shopping, medical, church, etc.). Children should play within fenced yards under adult supervision. If you don’t need to go out, don’t. Do not travel far from home or leave the home unattended.

Defensive posture 4: high threat, WROL
Description: Police and government have collapsed and a restoration of order will not occur in the near future. Prosecution for crimes is unlikely and criminality is rampant. The situation is “survival of the fittest.”
Threat: Rural areas are experiencing theft, robbery, and looting generally. Elevated risk of home invasions, carjackings, and robberies in public. Genocide and warfare may be a risk.
Criminal status: Professional criminals, gangs, cartels, and organized predatory groups are attacking even hard targets. Regular persons who are otherwise law-abiding are preying on others to survive.
Watch status: Someone is always on watch, awake and alert. Patrols monitor the immediate vicinity and the wider area. Homeowners should ensure that no one enters their yard to steal food or enter homes. Intelligence is regularly shared and collected.
Guard status: As above, but the defensive force and RRF/QRF are on their highest alert (other than standing by for an incident in progress). Any unexpected visitation or human activity is scrutinized.
Barricade status: Residential roadways may be barricaded or have speed obstacles installed. Community-level decisions may be made to close certain strategic roadways or guard them.
Weapons carry: As above. Tactical gear and long-guns are carried on patrol, guard duty, or watch. Outside the “wire,” everyone moves in a heavily armed group or as “gray” men with discreet backup and long guns.
Rules of engagement: Preemptive force (lethal or otherwise) is used as is morally and ethically justified. Actual or highly suspected threats are engaged with lethal force immediately.
Defensive: All defenses are deployed in full and defensive plans are implemented (actually in-action). Offensive: A hard target is presented as a deterrent. Very little leeway is given to actual or suspected threats. Preemptive engagement of future threats may be reasonable. Doing what is necessary to survive is done. Shelter in place: As above. All non-essential activities cease. During heightened threats: consolidation to one or a few specially hardened homes may be warranted; and no one should be leaving home except in large, well-armed groups, and only when absolutely necessary. Non-combatants are briefed on evacuation criteria and routes.