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Thursday, December 31, 2015

Info you can use 12/31/2015

Here are links to information I thought the readers would find useful, and enjoy reading and learning about.

We all need to improve our medical skills, so here is some information that will hopefully help: Needle Decompression Location

More medical information, this is a very valuable skill to learn: How to apply tourniquet one handed

First aid kit: Is your first aid kit complete?

How to protect your family from a Influenza pandemic

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Click here for all your prepping/tactical needs: The Tactical Patriot Store

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The High Price of Knowledge

The following is a good article about the increase in the medical field that we have gained from our recent conflicts:

The Laboratory Of War: How Military Trauma Care Advances Are Benefiting Soldiers And Civilians

By Eric Elster, Eric Schoomaker, and Charles Rice

Editor’s note: This morning, in Bethesda MD, the Executive Director of the American College of Surgeons, Dr. David Hoyt, presented the leadership of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center with a plaque recognizing its designation as an ACS-certified Level II Trauma Center. Walter Reed Bethesda is part of extraordinary chain of military health system facilities, providers, organizations, and techniques that have dramatically improved an injured service member’s odds of survival and recovery. As the authors of this post note, lessons learned during more than a decade of war are now being adopted into civilian care, to the benefit of children and adults in every corner of the United States and beyond. For more on emergency care, read the December Health Affairs issue, “The Future of Emergency Medicine: Challenges And Opportunities.“

Out of the ashes of 9-11 and the two wars that followed, a new paradigm has emerged that has benefited more than 50,000 injured warfighters and is transforming civilian trauma care. During the past decade of war, strategic investments in research and clinical care, coupled with contributions from world-class clinician-scientists, have produced the lowest case-fatality rate among combat casualties in the history of armed conflict.

At the beginning of Operations Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Iraqi Freedom (OIF), the combat injury case-fatality rate was approximately 18 percent. Over the subsequent decade, it steadily decreased to 5 percent despite an overall increase in injury severity. This remarkable achievement is grounded in advances in all aspects of trauma care, from the point of injury to optimum treatment in military rehabilitation centers.

As with all previous conflicts throughout history, clinical knowledge generated in the civilian setting was rapidly adapted in innovative ways to address challenges encountered on the battlefield. Now, it is coming full circle to improve the care and decrease the mortality of both injured warriors and civilian trauma victims. This reciprocal relationship between military and civilian medicine, recently highlighted in domestic terrorism attacks such as the Boston Marathon bombing and the mass shootings at Aurora and Tucson, is visible in daily practice in trauma centers throughout the country.

These improvements didn’t happen by accident; the military invested in relevant translational research and developed a flexible, evidence-based trauma system that rapidly developed, assessed, deployed, and refined new advances in trauma care and rehabilitation. In this post we highlight a number of these advances and the science behind them, and we offer a roadmap to ensure that these advances are not only preserved for use in future conflicts, but evolve to benefit all patients — military and civilian alike.

What Has Been Accomplished

Tactical combat casualty care. One of the first important advances was recognition, based on experience gained in the First Gulf War, that combatants themselves are the true “first responders” on the battlefield. Combatants are trained to recognize and promptly respond to life-threatening injuries, and medics and corpsmen are now trained in a realistic, scenario-based, and standardized fashion, based on the principles of tactical combat casualty care (TCCC). TCCC provides the training for the effective use of topical hemostatic agents (bandages with the ability to accelerate blood clotting) and, when necessary, tourniquets to control severe bleeding, along with other skills such as rapid assessment of injuries, airway control, treatment of traumatic pneumothorax (collapsed lung), and immediate pain control.

TCCC is divided into three phases that are relevant in both the combat and civilian mass casualty settings: care under fire, tactical field care, and tactical evacuation care. “Tactical” refers to individual and small unit activities, such as direct care rendered by a first responder at the point of injury, in contrast to “operational” and “strategic” activities, which involve larger units and broader geographic space. This coordinated approach achieved exceptional success; when adopted by elite units of the US military, it resulted in the near elimination of preventable deaths on the battlefield. Today, civilian emergency medical systems (EMS) are adopting the TCCC approach using a course offered by national organizations representing the EMS community.

Bleeding control. Early hemorrhage (bleeding) control, using tourniquets and topical hemostatic agents, are a prime example of how new or improved techniques on the battlefield can produce profound benefits at home. Previously tourniquets were not advocated for routine use for fear of limb loss. However, the need for tourniquets was quickly recognized as essential in modern warfare where severe extremity injuries are common and evacuation is often both timely and fast. Widespread adoption of tourniquets saved many lives in combat without secondary limb loss.4 As an adjunct, the use of topical hemostatics, was more than 90 percent effective. Over the course of the conflicts, these agents were modified several times. This allowed military doctors to optimize their effectiveness while minimizing side effects.

Both of these approaches to hemorrhage have quickly made their way to civilian settings, moving “from the sandbox to the street.” This was most clearly seen following the Boston Marathon bombings, where “without a doubt, tourniquets were a difference-maker and saved lives.”

Massive transfusion protocols. Advances in care did not end on the battlefield; they accelerated upon arrival at hospital settings. This began with new approaches to replacing blood loss from trauma. Prior to our experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, the most severely injured casualties were resuscitated in a step-wise fashion, first with saline solutions, followed by a gradual escalation to the use of blood products. Faced with less than ideal outcomes, military surgeons challenged this approach and looked for better ways to replace blood loss. Based upon solid lab research, these surgeons introduced the concept of “balanced resuscitation”, by immediately countering blood loss with key components of blood when the injured soldier or marine’s injury profile suggested the need for massive transfusion (unstable patients or those with severe injury patterns). This approach not only improved survival, it reduced the rate of complications in combat-wounded patients.

Adoption of “massive transfusion protocols” has become one of the most swiftly adopted changes in care coming from the battlefield. Today, a majority of Level I trauma centers in the US have shifted to this practice. This approach is also being adopted in surgical education, where trainees are taught to activate “massive transfusion protocols” to counter severe injuries.

“Damage control” surgery. The next major advance took place in the operating room where prompt surgical control of bleeding, closure of perforated bowel injuries, and early debridement of damaged tissue are key steps. Focusing on these priorities up front, leaving the abdomen “open” with temporary dressings, and deferring more complex definitive surgery for subsequent procedures has avoided the secondary insult of prolonged periods in the operating room. This led to a practice called “damage control surgery.” This concept was first introduced in the civilian trauma world (utilizing a term adopted from the military, where “damage control” refers to maneuvers to save a ship so it can continue to be effective). The technique caught on with military surgeons, many of whom who had trained in civilian trauma centers, and was swiftly refined under wartime conditions. As with the other advances discussed, the widespread application of damage control surgery has benefited military and civilian populations alike.

Neurocritical care. Patients with specific injuries, most notably penetrating head and extremity injuries, have also benefited from military medicine. In previous conflicts, many of these patients were assumed to have non-survivable injuries and were treated as “expectant” (i.e., only comfort care). Now, they are aggressively managed using techniques similar to those applied in damage control surgery.

For example, in cases of massive head trauma, a portion of the skull is temporarily removed to allow the brain to swell without creating a lethal rise in pressure that would stop blood flow to the brain. This is particularly important for patients faced with long medical evacuation times. Another technique involves preventing the spasm of major blood vessels that are necessary to support brain survival and function. Although this practice has not yet been widely adapted in civilian trauma, it may come to be widely used in future mass casualty events and conflicts.

Treatment of badly damaged limbs. Another advance that has seen widespread use is an integrated approach to early limb salvage versus amputation in patients suffering from massive extremity injuries with significant tissue loss and neurovascular damage. Military and civilian researchers have found that, for certain patients, early amputation results in better long-term functional outcome. For patients who remain good candidates for limb salvage, the innovations in soft tissue reconstruction have produced survivors who not only recovered, but in many instances returned to full duty and extremely active lifestyles.

Two key adjuncts to the successful treatment of severe extremity wounds are adequate pain control and aggressive, early rehabilitation. The adoption of regional pain control and integrated pain management teams has allowed rehabilitation to start while the patient is still in the hospital. All of these efforts come together in the treatment of the multi-limb amputees who face substantial challenges. Without these approaches, the amazing functional results that have been seen would not be achievable. Many of these techniques are now working their way into civilian practice, such as treatment of victims of the Boston Marathon bombings.

Rapid evacuation to tertiary care centers. Transporting injured personnel to centers capable of providing advanced levels of care required comparable innovations in tactical and strategic casualty evacuation. In conflict zones, tactical evacuation is largely accomplished by medical evacuation helicopters, while inter-theatre strategic evacuation over thousands of miles is achieved with large Air Force fixed wing aircraft outfitted with ICU pallets and staffed by specially trained Critical Care Air Transport Teams (CCATTs). This integrated approach has resulted in a reduced medical footprint in the conflict area as compared to previous conflicts. Equally important, improvements in hand-offs of care were devised to assure seamless transitions between the military, the U.S. Public Health Service, the Veterans Health Administration, and, ultimately, civilian trauma and rehabilitation facilities. The collective impacts of these advances in care are unprecedented in military history.

How It Was Done

Almost as remarkable as this progress is the manner in which it was done. Normally, progress in patient care is achieved through painstaking, incremental research, often tested and refined through large-scale randomized trials involving thousands of patients. It’s been written that the average time frame for research to reach the bedside and be widely adopted into care is measured in decades. The military health system didn’t have that sort of time. Lives depended on swift and sure decisions, backed by the best available evidence.

Much of the progress was made possible through creation of the Joint Trauma System (JTS), whose mission is to improve trauma care delivery across the continuum of care through careful data collection and analysis, to improve clinical outcomes in near real-time. This effort represents the largest combat registry ever created. In addition to monitoring the quality and outcomes of care, the JTS develops and implements clinical practice guidelines system-wide, and identifies the training and research needs for trauma care in the military.

The ability of the JTS to rapidly identify emerging injury patterns, develop best practices and research-based CPG’s, and subsequently disseminate and track such guidelines represents a paradigm shift away from costly, multi-year clinical studies to “focused empiricism” and continuous process improvement. Driven to address challenges identified by the JTS, the DoD continues to invest in mission-relevant research focused on biomarker-based care, regenerative medicine, and advanced approaches to hemorrhage control. While many civilian centers have adopted similar models with a degree of success, the widespread implementation of this approach could serve as a model for other large health care systems.

Early in what has proven to be the longest armed conflict fought by the U.S. to date, military medicine recognized that it needed to fundamentally change how it approached the care of wounded warriors. It did this by implementing data-driven decisions at every step in the continuum of care, from battlefields in two nations across 8000 miles and three continents to world-class hospitals and rehabilitation centers in Germany and the United States. Importantly, this work was done while the individuals involved were doing their utmost to provide the best possible care to every injured combatant and civilian they touched. As was true following the conflicts in Korea and Vietnam, lessons learned in the crucible of war are beginning to transform care in civilian hospitals in the U.S. and around the world.

The progress that has been made over the past decade is tenuous at best. Some of those who led these efforts have retired from the military, and others are struggling to contend with budget cuts, furloughs and funding constraints. It won’t be easy to maintain surgical skills honed over a decade of conflict. But this is essential to assure that military healthcare in any future conflict will be as good, and ideally better, than in the most recent ones. There is little doubt that thousands of service members and veterans are alive today thanks to the work of dedicated military and civilian health care professionals. Many of the insights they developed are beginning to transform care in the civilian world and millions will benefit.

The knowledge gained over a decade of war cannot be taken for granted. Continued work is needed to identify and manage challenges that are only faintly understood today. The progress that is made will not only help our warfighters in future conflicts, it will help save the lives of civilians as well.

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Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Info you can use 12/30/15

Great information in the following links to enjoy.

Survival Blades Part 1

Survival Blades Part 2

Here they come! Cal gun confiscation law (effective 01 Jan 2016)

Here is a great force multiplier: Thermal evasion suit

You need to always have a PSK on, or close to you Video about personal survival kit

This is sweet, but it takes a prescription to get one: Wound stopping sponge gun

I hope you guys find this information useful or at least interesting. Thanks for reading this blog. If you enjoy it, please join up.

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Unconventional Warfare

This is a very good article that the readers of this blog and any involved in the patriot movement need to learn. We need to be ready to do our part, and to do so means we need to learn/train/practice things that will increase our survivability and our ability to perform the role we will be called on for.

Understanding Unconventional Warfare As It Applies to Conservative Families, by Swamp Fox

Before reading a book, watching a YouTube video, or obtaining any form of information from any source, a wise consumer will ask a few questions. What is the worldview of the individual imparting the information? Is the individual, who is imparting that information, qualified to do so? Is this person sufficiently capable of relaying this information through his or her chosen means of communication? It is said that one “cannot judge a book by its cover”. I disagree. As a man who has, from a very young age, frequented used book sales in search of hidden treasures among tattered covers, I firmly believe in judging a “book by its cover” or, if not purely by the cover, the summary on the inside flap, the biography of the author, and a quick skim of parts of the book, its illustrations, and the author’s writing style. Is this book worth my time? To preface this article I will give you my cover story, which is basically why I believe that my worldview is valuable, worth my time to put on paper, and therefore worth your time to read. As stated in the book of Proverbs, “Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift is like clouds and wind without rain.”

I am the oldest of nine children: eight boys and one girl. We were homeschooled from kindergarten through high school. I was raised on the words of Ralph Moody, Paul Hutchens, Jack London, Jack O’Brien, and G.A. Henty to name a few. I have spent time in two of America’s armed forces– the Navy and currently the Army, where I remain employed as a Special Forces Engineer Sergeant. I am married and have five children: four boys and one girl. We live on five acres with goats, chickens, and one awesome Boerboel. A few of my childhood heroes were John Mosby, Francis Marion, and the Apostle Peter, who struck off the ear of a high priest. Honorable mention goes to Sampson for the unconventional fighting award, tying 300 foxes together by their tails, lighting said tails on fire, and driving them into his enemy’s camp.

I will not offer advice on subjects for which I am not a subject matter expert. So this essay will be on how conservative families can wage unconventional warfare; specifically, it’s on raising boys, both from my experience as a homeschooled boy as well as my experience as a homeschooling father. It will define the current war we are engaged in and our role in winning that war. For OPSEC, any military-related items covered will be open source; Wikipedia will be my manual.

When we hear the phrase Unconventional Warfare (UW), it may drum up ideas of ninja clad warriors stalking through dark, murky swamps, armed with knives, seeking to kill the Vietcong. We think of Mosby’s Rangers and the Swamp Fox. What might not come to mind is the Civil Rights movement, the Socialist invasion of our education system, or the degrading of Christianity in America’s worldview. In fact, if you pay attention, there are UW campaigns, with their accompanying propaganda, going on all over our country and the world. The battle is being fought. Do we even recognize that we are at war? Wikipedia states that “Unconventional Warfare consists of activities conducted to enable a resistance movement or insurgency to coerce, disrupt or overthrow an occupying power or government by operating through or with an underground, auxiliary and guerrilla force in a denied area.” My challenge is to convey to you the following facts:
1.A war for the hearts and minds of our children is being waged by covert, and, at times, overt means.
2.We, ourselves, posses the tools of UW to fight back.

Growing up as a sheltered homeschooler, I was indoctrinated from a young age as to the evils of the government. The evil Democrats, the church down the street, or that music that has too much beat are all “tools of the devil” to lure our hearts and minds away from God, or so I was led to believe. Escaping home, I traveled, read, watched, and learned. I noticed that everyone had pet peeves. Historians and wealthy homeschoolers on a tour of old battlefields in the northeast United States waxed eloquent on our loss of freedoms as Americans. Libertarians and Conservatives cried “taxation without representation”. The list of fractured political protests goes on and on. What I didn’t see were answers. At a well known Christian conference, I cornered the keynote speaker. At 19 years of age, I was young and full of venom. Since he considered himself such an orator on the evils of our society and our rights as Americans, I asked what his plans were to fix those problems; if he were elected POTUS tomorrow, what would he do? After hours of getting a whole lot of nothing, I realized he was “clouds and wind with no rain”. A light bulb went off, and I realized that nobody had a plan. It was all talk, negative talk, with no solution and best left to gossips and drunks. Young men have work to do. Then I learned about American Redoubt.

I Kings 19:10 says, “And He said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword: and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.” Verse 18 of the same chapter says, “Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which not bowed to Ba’al, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.”

Elijah was a great warrior for God. He did not have access to do a Google search on men who had not bowed the knee to Ba’al. He believed himself alone, the last servant of God in the world, and he believed his enemies surrounded him to kill him and that their victory was assured. Today we face a world in which our families are encompassed on all sides by the enemies of God, but unlike Elijah the prophet, we have the tools to find like-minded people through the Internet.

I was led to survivalblog.com, through the guidance of a friend from church. We were discussing some of our common beliefs and he told me to Google the American Redoubt, which I in turn did. For the first time in my life I was looking at action. Make no mistake, moving like-minded people to areas where they can affect elections through peaceful means and engaging in recruiting such freedom-oriented individuals to join the fight is UW. It is brilliant, engaging, and practical. Before reading about the American Redoubt, my individual opinion was that the world was doomed and the best I could do was train my children in critical thinking and survival skills to weather the storm. The idea behind peaceful utilization of our right to vote and voting with our feet is beautiful. So I firmly believe the long-range goal for all conservative families should be to consider voting with their feet.

Practical Preparations

My worldview is pretty simple– we are at war. The war is already won and the outcome secured, but in the meantime we fight. The TV blasts propaganda at us and our families. Modern literature, newspapers, and other types of media are all tools to dull our minds and lure us into complacency in order to slowly take away our freedom to raise our children as we see fit. So how can we fight? The battle begins with examining every thing that enters into our home. We must filter all information through the worldview of what is good and right and return it to our children clean and sanitized. What follows are practical things I have done with my boys to prepare their minds for battle.

Structure and Detail

First, structure and attention to detail are absolute imperatives. In a world full of excuses and weakness, boys need to know that blaming others and government for personal problems is unacceptable. One of the first talks I had with my wife when we married was far from politically correct. I explained that in our household we do not use excuses like being tired, hungry, or “that time of month” for weakness. Do we follow this to a T? No, but the premise is there, and we attempt to transform our excuses into victory. Soldiers are expected to perform at high levels whether or not they are tired or cold, whatever the weather, bugs, or other distractions. Soldiers must accomplish the mission no matter what. We are all soldiers in one way or another, and I teach my boys that when they demonstrate toughness and are able to accomplish difficult things when under duress, they have done a great thing. As a second-generation homeschooler, I would say one of the worst flaws of homeschooling is that it is easy to become lazy and allow children to escape accountability. We teach them to be self-taught, but we don’t follow up and insure that they are abiding by standards of excellence. Boys need the discipline of fathers or they will run circles around their mother, manipulating her, and doing what they please. Fathers must be a part of the process of homeschooling boys; they must lead by example.

Even when very young, boys must be taught that for every action there is a reaction. For example, if you leave a terrible mess with your toys and refuse to diligently clean them up in a reasonable amount of time, then you have too many toys. Obviously, you are not prepared for the great responsibility of owning so many great things, and therefore, until you learn to properly steward what is yours, five toys a day will be thrown away or something to that effect. Boys need to be weaned or driven off of electronics, movies, and other forms of indoctrination. Don’t get me wrong, the iPad is a great learning tool, but structure must be observed and laws established. Let’s talk about movies. Remember the hero? Yea, he was rather pathetic, weak, and uninspiring, but have you noticed the trend in children’s movies for the anti-hero? Young children are supposed to empathize with this character. He isn’t big or strong or particularly good looking. He is passive aggressive and hip. This disgusting role model mocks his parents and always has a wiser way of doing everything, inevitably leading his family and friends to his or her way of thinking. Young soldiers should not be subjected to watching this filth. In our house, we watch our share of movies, but if you actually listen to the propaganda being fed our children, you will perhaps agree that there are better forms of entertainment, such as books, projects, and shooting. Open the world of literature to boys, and steer them towards what is good and right. Give them room to re-enact what they read. Give them space to run and get dirty, make bows, and wrestle. Monitor their behavior and watch for teachable moments to drive home important life lessons about character and manhood. Bullying and weakness are never acceptable.

Guidance

Secondly, let us abolish this lie that we must not steer our boys towards liking anything, that we have to let them choose their own path. Children would wallow in their own fecal matter, eat nothing but sugar, and participate in a myriad of other ridiculously barbarous acts, if we did not teach them otherwise. There is nothing wrong with teaching a boy the skills of his father. There is nothing wrong with understanding that every boy should have a foundation of skills to enter the halls of manhood. Perhaps they don’t like to shoot or do wood projects or change the oil in their car. Big deal. Like the Nike commercial says, “Just do it.” If we equip them with critical thinking skills and a philosophical view of the world through literature, then, with our aid, we can steer them toward whatever vocation they please, but they will have basic, practical skills before they leave the house.

Reading

Another benefit to survivalblog.com is that it has a great reading list. I have read a few on the list, and one that stands out is Boston’s Gun Bible by “Boston T. Party” or Kenneth W. Royce. With American Sniper setting so many records in the box office, it would appear that America recognizes our need for riflemen. On second thought, maybe not. Still, America needs shooters, America needs Minutemen, and America needs boys trained by their father’s to become riflemen. The best illustration of the grave necessity for rifleman is watching Europe cringing and hiding in fear from Sharia militias. The Charlie Hebdo shooting in France further illustrates the point. Ask yourself if this could happen in America, where many of our citizens are armed? Could terrorists waltz around with apparent impunity stating, “What up, St. Louis Taliban says hi?” I would hope not. Even our criminal elements would shoot back, because they can’t have the Taliban on “their” turf. Will history remember our generation as those who allowed themselves to be herded into cattle cars by evil forces? You can say God would not let that happen, until you are blue in the face. Tell that to Christians in Iraq or North Korea. Train your boys to shoot and shoot straight. Train your girls to shoot, train your wife to shoot, and train your neighbors to shoot.

Battle the Dragons

When I was on my first trip, in Special Forces, to a mountainous region in Asia, I left my wife and two small boys in Japan, where we were stationed. I returned during the day and knocked on the door. My oldest son opened it and calmly asked me, “Are they all dead?” Slightly confused, I played it out. “Are who all dead, buddy?” He replied, “The dragons. Mommy said you were overseas killing dragons, so are they all dead? Is that why you came home?” What could I say? Honestly, what a great illustration of a little boy’s mind that is. A boy’s mind is full of dragons, of princesses and castles, of good and evil. From the time my boys were very young, we have fought “dragons”; the vile things show up at the worst times. In Japan we didn’t have guns, and we didn’t have much land, but we had those dragons. We would stalk them in a wedge formation, using only hand signals in the dark, where the boys were scared. I taught them to face their fears. One of the coolest things I’ve heard was on another military sponsored “vacation”. My wife emailed me to tell me about my boys. A tropical storm was brewing and the wind howled around our house in Okinawa. My wife walked into the living room to see a triad of small Spartans, clad in an odd assortment of my military gear and swimming goggles and carrying spear guns without tips that I had let them play with. With the wind howling and darkness falling, they were terrified. However, when my wife asked them what they were doing, they responded that they were scared of the dragons outside and that their dad had taught them to face their fears, so they had no choice but to do battle and engage the dragons. She of course let them out to face their fears.

I’ll leave you all with this. Teach your boys to turn the light on, to clear under the bed, the closet, or wherever the bogie man is hiding. We know him for what he is– weak and cowardly. The enemy is scared of all that is good and true. All we have to do is stand like a man, face his shenanigans, and send him to hell, where he belongs.

In the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior.

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Click here for all your prepping/tactical needs: The Tactical Patriot Store

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Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Information of the day

I just wanted to post up some links to information that is relevant to us as Patriots.

Great podcast with tons of great information and years worth of episodes: Radio Free Redoubt

Fun read for those of us "crazy" preppers: 30 Reasons why you might be a crazy prepper nut job

What Thomas Jefferson had to say about taxes: Thomas Jefferson on Taxes

Great read about the relevance of the 2nd Amendment today: The Second Amendment and its relevance in todays society

I hope you guys like the information I am posting up, and the articles. Please make a comment if you have any feedback about this blog. Thanks.

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Click here for all your prepping/tactical needs: The Tactical Patriot Store

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Soft Power

I found this great bit of information over on the Forward Observer site and knowing it's importance re-posted it here for you to read. This article makes some really good points, especially about your group's/your reputation, and how it will affect things during SHTF.

Community Defense & the Elements of “Soft Power”

If hard power is violence and coercion, then soft power is influence and motivation. American power projected across the globe teaches that violence has its limitations. To modify a turn of phrase, war is not always the answer. Coercion causes resentment and, as we’ve seen in Iraq and Afghanistan, creates unnecessary enemies. (Just look at the popular backlash against law enforcement when violence is used as an action of first resort. Many individuals not directly affected by police action have changed their opinions on just how peaceful “peace officers” are.) Violence indeed solves some problems, but it may also cause more problems than it solves — and that’s why we need soft power, too.

In his book, The Accidental Guerrilla, author David Kilcullen writes that soft power on a regional or global scale includes, “international reputation, moral authority, diplomatic weight, persuasive ability, cultural attractiveness, and strategic credibility,” arguing that soft power is a critical piece of enabling hard power and not an either/or proposition. It was America’s soft power after 9/11 that enabled a global response to al-Qaida. American leaders persuaded and gained the cooperation of other nations not directly affected by al-Qaida to join a coalition to wage the Global War on Terror (GWOT). The nations that did not participate in kinetic operations tracked and prosecuted terror financiers, stemmed the flow of foreign fighters and materiel, and cooperated with U.S. intelligence to hunt down known and suspected terrorists.

Now consider America’s soft power in the world in the years following the Iraq War. Between perceived unilateral action, the global battlefield, warrantless spying on U.S. citizens and other “perceived human rights abuses,” America’s standing in the world is diminished, both among its foreign and domestic audiences. In short, U.S. soft power is diminished because the government has harmed its credibility and reputation. To reiterate, your soft power is a critical enabler of your hard power, as Kilcullen writes.

For individuals and communities preparing for a future that incorporates violence and morally ambiguous situations, to omit developing soft power is an unwise move. We can imagine lots of realistic scenarios in which soft power will enable us to achieve or maintain security: gaining the trust of community members to contribute to the security effort, working with local authorities to fight known threats, sharing information with neighboring communities and security groups, and persuading at-risk segments of a community to not support threat elements.

How can we develop soft power as a part of community defense? First, focus on your reputation. There are militias, security teams and prepper groups that have poor reputations, stemming from poor leadership, unrealistic, unethical or immoral goals, past indiscretions, and incompetence. When cooperation is a necessity for community defense, these groups are going to have a much more difficult time finding partners to push in the same direction. You don’t want to be a security partner of last resort with a team reluctant to work with you.

Second, be virtuous people. I foresee that communities who seek justice and do the right thing, even at great personal cost, will be more able to exercise its soft power in an area. Community members, neighbors, and others in the regions will be more likely to trust you and therefore more willing to cooperate towards greater security and stability.

Third, focus on developing an ability to persuade. Influence, by Robert Cialdini, should be on everyone’s bookshelf. Those who are just as interested in solving another person’s problem as they are their own, are more likely to find satisfactory, win-win agreements. If you want to persuade someone to cooperate with you, demonstrate your value and trustworthiness.

Lastly, be technically and tactically proficient. That’s a bit from the U.S. Army’s Noncommissioned Officer (NCO) Creed; which, by the way, many of us here at FO have had to recite from memory on more than one occasion. Tactical and technical proficiency should be the standard for those outside the military, too; especially those working towards security and defense. Technical proficiency means knowing your tools and equipment. Whether it’s a radio, rifle, or medical kit, know how to use it and be able to teach others. (Being able to teach and mentor others will go a long way in gaining a positive reputation, too.) Being tactically proficient means knowing how to employ your tools, equipment and teammates to accomplish the mission. You may not need to have been a career infantry soldier to accomplish community defense, however, obtaining tactical training for you and your team, as well as continuing education and follow-on training, is the absolute minimum effort that will be required.

If you can set aside some time to consider how to further develop these four things — your reputation, making virtuous choices, your ability to persuade, and becoming technically and tactically proficient — then you will be developing “soft power” that will benefit you and your community in any SHTF scenario.

Community Defense & the Elements of “Soft Power”

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Monday, December 28, 2015

Being Anonymous

Disclaimer: I did not write the following article, the credit is listed below. I posted it here because I felt that it is good information, and that the readers of this blog would gain something from this information.

Being Anonymous, by Spotlight

As posted on the Survival Blog.

I walked out onto the driveway to greet my wife as she backed the car in, arriving home from a long day at work. Right away, I noticed a magnet on the back of the car, proclaiming us to be members of our church, complete with our town name. “What’s up with that?” I said, looking at the magnet, as she got out of the car. She laughed and said the pastor of our church had put it on there when he saw her in the parking lot. I think she had laughed because she knew what I was going to say next , “That won’t make it until bedtime!” (It didn’t.) When I got into preparedness, I came across the “grey man” theory at some point. Reading it, I realized that I fit the profile, for the most part. I think of it more in the sense of being anonymous, but it’s close enough. The grey man theory is the idea of remaining unnoticed in general and not standing out, not being the one on television who’s being interviewed in regard to some controversial position, not being the guy everyone noticed because of his loud mouth or loud clothing, and that sort of thing.

I have actually been fairly anonymous all of my life, although I didn’t realize it until more recently. You know how some people are very noticeable? Do you know how everyone takes notice when they walk in a room, people talk about them when they’re not in the room, and everyone generally remembers what they said? I am the opposite. It never really dawned on me for most of my life. I’ve always been an introvert, always being more comfortable alone than in a group. In school I always had one or two close friends and never really a big group of them, despite being on numerous sports teams.

When I grew up, I became a police officer in the small town I grew up in. After a few years, I was promoted to detective and spent the rest of my career in that role, which I really enjoyed.

Since I was a cop in the town I grew up in, which as I mentioned was a small town at that, I was particularly careful about telling people where I lived and even more so after I got married and had a family to protect. People think that only big city cops have to worry about retaliation from criminals, when in fact I suspect that it is much more prevalent against small town cops. We’re a lot easier to find, since most big city cops I ran into didn’t live in the cities they patrolled. Those of us in the small towns tend to have repeat contact with the same criminals, and it’s easier to run into a small town cop on a force of 50 or less on purpose, than to find some cop in a city of thousands. On the occasion people asked me where I lived, depending on who they were (i.e. criminal or non-criminal), I either flat-out lied (to the criminals) and named a city where we had looked for houses so I could be somewhat knowledgeable of the area or was vague enough (to the non-criminals) so that it sounded like I had answered but really hadn’t told them much. In addition to being careful what I told people, I had an unlisted phone number and a PO box to get my mail, which was necessary since we first lived in an apartment with no direct mail service. The PO box just became another layer of security after we moved.

As I got into prepping and became familiar with the grey man concept, I realized that I had been born a “grey man” to some degree. For some reason, I am really good with names and faces, but no one seems to remember mine, even people I have met on more than one occasion. Perhaps it’s because of my introverted nature that I am not “rememberable” to people, but I have always found it somewhat humorous to go up to someone I met once or twice, call them by name, and watch as I see them looking confused as to who I am or why they know me while we talk. (I’ve often told my family that men are lucky. We can call each other “buddy”, “pal”, “boss”, and the always flattering “chief”, and no one is the wiser as to the fact that we have no idea who this guy is that we’re talking to!)

So, let’s get back to the car magnet my wife received. Why on earth anyone would drive around with a sign saying where they worship (and probably live) on the back of their car? It’s like those family magnets people put on their car, showing how many kids they have and what gender they are, then add a sticker from the local elementary school as well. So, you have just notified the world that you have X number of young children, what school they go to, and what town you live in. It doesn’t make any sense to me. Don’t get me wrong; I do know why people do it. They’re showing pride in their church, school, or even their family. I just think it’s poor OPSEC, at a minimum, and in some ways, dangerous.

Before I list my tips to being anonymous, here’s one word on the Internet. It was a game changer for privacy as we all know. Anyone who wants to can probably find me pretty easily, since a lot of public records are online for free or for a small fee. However, as one of my former co-workers said when we were discussing why we bothered taking privacy precautions as police officers, “Just because they can find it if they look hard enough, doesn’t mean we should give it to them for nothing.”

Being Anonymous:

1.Unlist your phone number. If you’re already listed, I don’t know how much this will do to remove what’s already out there. At a minimum, tell the phone company you don’t want your address listed. (Yes, you can do that!) My unlisted number costs me less than $5 per month. As a bonus, I almost never get telemarketing calls. If I’m asked in a store for my phone number, I tell them it’s unlisted or give them my cell number, which is not connected to my home.

2.Use a PO Box or UPS store mailbox. Yes, it’s a hassle to have to go somewhere other than the end of your driveway for mail. We actually do get some mail at our house, but we use the UPS store mailbox that I set up for a side business for most of our bills, checks, DMV paperwork, et cetera. It’s particularly helpful on the DMV paperwork. In the event my car gets stolen, the thieves won’t have my home address. In my state, the DMV is okay with a PO Box or UPS store address on the actual license or registration, as long as you provide them with your real street address for their records. Anytime I’m asked for my address, it’s the UPS Store one I give.

3.Skip the flashy clothes or ones with controversial statements. One of the things I liked about being a cop was wearing a uniform. There was no picking out clothes everyday. Then I made detective and had to pick out clothes (and a tie!) everyday. Now that I’m retired, I wear mostly earth tones, nothing that screams tactical (i.e. “shoot me first” in a robbery), and either work boots or hikers. Before I was a cop, I was obsessed with police hats, sweatshirts, et cetera. Not long after I got on the job, I realized that not everyone actually likes the police, so that came to an end quickly. I have participated in events like praying the rosary outside Planned Parenthood without having to wear the t-shirt that goes along with it. I don’t wear shirts that advocate gun rights, but I could still go to a gun rights rally. I don’t think being anonymous keeps you from exercising your rights; it just doesn’t need to be on the shirt you wear.

4.Keep stickers and magnets off the car. Similar to above, I don’t put stickers or magnets on my car that state my political beliefs either. Similar to the family type magnets or what school my kid goes to, no one needs to guess that I’m probably carrying a gun because I have five NRA stickers on my bumper. While we’re at it, maybe take off that license plate frame the dealer loves to put on every car they sell. First of all, why am I giving them free advertising? Secondly, no one needs to know where you got your car, since most of us buy them near where we live.

5.Don’t drive a flashy, distinctive car. Speaking of cars, driving a flashy or distinctive car is definitely anti-anonymity. After I retired from law enforcement, I was a private investigator for a few years. At that time, we just happened to own a navy minivan that was about eight years old and a grey Ford sedan that was about the same age. Talk about perfect cars for PI work! I spent many hours in the back of the minivan, seats folded flat, sitting on a lawn chair, watching worker’s compensation scammers ply their trade. When I wasn’t on surveillance, the Ford was great for riding around in to conduct interviews or accident investigations. If I drove a lifted Ford F-150 with 35” mudders on it, I probably would not be too successful at sneaking around. Which car are people going to remember driving down their street?

6.Avoid publicity as much as possible. As stated above, it’s much harder in the Internet age to do so than it was when I was growing up. My name still appears online in regards to some old cases I worked on and in things related to my old department. There’s nothing I can do about that. However, when I was invited to appear as an audience member on a national TV show in regards to the gun control debate, I politely declined.

7.Recognize that some times you will be exposed. No matter how hard you try to be anonymous, it’s very difficult and sometimes you’ll be identified through no fault of your own. My wife joined a local organization and became its president after a few years. Unbeknownst to her until a year or so after her term was up, the national organization that oversees the locals had put all of the officer’s names, addresses, and phone numbers online! This was prior to our PI business being up and running, and it was during the time where we had moved away from the area where our PO Box was and we were only getting mail at our house. I think she was more upset than I was, mostly because her job sometimes requires her to deal with some angry people, so she wasn’t too keen on our address being so public. Again, we can’t control everything.

8.Don’t be completely forthcoming when talking to people you don’t know. As an introvert, I don’t have too much problem with this, since I don’t spend much time engaged in conversation with strangers. But, even if you are an extroverted type of person, try to avoid giving your life story to everyone you meet. Most people are just being polite when they ask where you live or what you do and don’t have any evil motives. Even then, it doesn’t mean you have to give out your address. Even now, to people I meet who may ask, I generalize where I live by describing its close relation to the next town over, but that description is pretty broad in reality. I can always tell someone more about myself later if necessary, but I can’t “untell” them anything once it’s out of my mouth.

9.Don’t attract attention to yourself by being the big mouth at the event or the one who is complaining loudly about some perceived bad treatment you received. This doesn’t mean not to complain if it’s warranted; just don’t make a big scene when it’s not necessary (and it’s usually not). In this day and age, you can bet your tirade will be on YouTube or someone’s Facebook page as soon as you’re done ranting.

10.Don’t post anything online using your real name. I often see people posting on various websites with what appear to be real names and in some cases definitely are. I used to read one investigation related website that required real names! Note I said “read” as I would never have posted there or anywhere else with my real name. Some people claim it makes it harder for people to hide behind their pen names, which is probably true, but it’s also dumb. Luckily, Survival Blog allows and encourages us to use pseudonyms when posting.

11.Get a shredder. We have had a shredder for many years, since way before they became really popular. Currently we have a small Fellowes brand shredder that cross cuts, which is way better than the old strip style shredding. Now they make ones that micro shred, which is even smaller than cross cutting.

12.Don’t use social media. If you’ve read Survival Blog for any amount of time, you are probably aware of social media and its downfalls. Facebook is notoriously bad at maintaining its users’ privacy. Don’t do it!

13.Turn off GPS tracking. I always keep my GPS software turned off on my phone and digital camera. One of my cop buddies used to tease me by telling me that I thought I was so important that someone would track me. I didn’t think that, but with the NSA listening to regular American’s phone calls, who knows who’s watching us anymore? Again, don’t give it away.

14.Select an Internet birth date. I have what I call an “Internet birthday”, which is not my real birthday. If something on the Internet requires my birthdate, it’s my Internet birthday that I put down. Make it something you’ll remember easily but that’s close enough to your own that you don’t make yourself too much younger or older. Also, be careful where you use it. I once used it for a particular company where I didn’t think it really mattered and then months later when trying to verify who I was the rep asked me for my birthday. I forgot I had used my Internet birthday. Oops! Luckily I was able to identify myself in other ways, but be more careful than I was. Plus, I get to admonish my family every year when no one wishes me a Happy Internet Birthday on that day!

15.Finally, don’t be paranoid. This probably sounds ironic, coming from someone who just described all of the things he does to remain anonymous, but as stated earlier, you can’t control everything. I used to do crime prevention surveys for residents of the town where I was a police officer. One of the things I used to tell our residents was, “if for some reason, someone wants to get into your house (as opposed to any house), they will, regardless of what you do.”

I hope this has been helpful to you in your quest to keep you and your family safe. I truly believe anonymity is an important part of being prepared.

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Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Tme off for Christmas Holiday

I want to apologize now, but I will not be posting on the blog between 23-27 December. I hope you guys understand how important recognizing the birth of our Savior is. I am a man of devout faith, and so is my family, so we will be spending family time together and visiting relatives.

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

4th Generation Warfare (4GW)

First off I wanted to say HOOYA! We have reached a benchmark today!!! 100 Posts and still kicking, actually picking up steam! Thanks to all of you that swing by hear, and especially to those who join the blog to follow it.

This is a very important topic for you patriots that someday will be called upon to defend your nation.

The link below is to a draft of FMFM 1 A on Fourth Generation War, it is a good read, so please open it up, read it, print it, give it to your buddies.

LINK TO DOCUMENT

The role that we will play, when called on to do so will be as Light Infantry in an "Asymmetrical War". We will not be "Heavy Infantry" like the Marine Corps and Army are today. Our military today has gone away from the traditional role of light infantry. Now our troops are heavily laden with all kinds of stuff that really takes them out of the light infantry mode. They also have developed a dependence on fire support, such as artillery, and air power, that we will not have in our fight.

A good example of true light infantry are the insurgents in the big sand box. They travel light, carrying an AK, a couple of mags, a little food and water, and that is about it. We may not want to go to that extreme, but we need to take a look at our kit and ensure that it is a load that we can carry through the worst terrain, under the worst conditions for extended periods of time and still maintain the ability to engage our enemies effectively.

Here is another great source of information for your training. It is a PDF about mountain warfare, from which we can learn a lot, and train ourselves to be much more effective since the fight will inevitably end up in the mountains. I really like the idea of modeling groups after the German Alpine Troops (Jaeger's), the idea of lighter equipped, self contained units that are capable to operate without support for extended periods of time, far from support. This is the model we will have to adopt if we want to be successful.

Mountain Warfare

Hopefully you guys will be taking this to heart and incorporating tactics of light infantry, and guerilla warfare into your training. (Hopefully you are training in the first place!)

Please take this stuff to heart, and think about how it will help you and your guys, train on it, learn it, study it. We need to be able to operate in a variety of modes during the up coming difficult times. We need to be as prepared as we can be, and be ready to do our best.

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Monday, December 21, 2015

Contact from Multiple Firing Points

I noticed this article by Max and thought it would be really good information to pass on to the people that read this blog. I hope you do not mind, but this is an article and video from Max Velocity.

Contact from Multiple Firing Points

Posted by Max Velocity in Tactical Comment, Uncategorized on December 16 2015

I sometimes get questions about Break Contact Drills, and what to do if the contact is from multiple directions. We do practice some scenarios like this on the Combat Patrol (CP) class, which take the drills beyond what we do on the Combat Team Tactics (CTT) Class. There are really two types of break contact drills:

1) Patrol immediate action drills, that happen automatically to the call of contact (direction). These drills are briefed /rehearsed as SOP prior to departing on the patrol.

2) Squad/platoon leader decision to break contact depending on the situation.

In the case of (1), the implementation of the immediate break contact drill does not preclude the leader stepping in and changing the plan once the drill has begun to flow, and in the light of a developing situation. In the case of (2) the drill does not occur until decided upon by the leader, in line with a plan developed as a result of a combat estimate (on the fly). An example would be an attempted hasty attack that becomes bogged due to an incorrect assessment of enemy strength, when a break contact may be called.

Given ‘a video paints a thousand words’ I am posting the video below, which illustrates a number of these points, and shows how a section commander (squad leader) will react to the developing situation. This is not a ‘break contact drill’ per se, it is in fact an attempt to reduce the enemy within the framework of a developing contact. However, you can see illustrated some of the techniques of maneuver and break contact, such as the peel, being put to use to maneuver on the battlefield.

You can see the contact develop from multiple directions and how the section commander (great job by the young leader) maneuvers his section (squad) as the situation develops. This relies on the training of his men so they all know what he means when he wants them to maneuver. In this way, basic fire and movement drills, such as bounding and peeling, are used to maneuver the squad to various parts of the battlefield both into and out of contact.

The video also gives a general impression of the range, pace and feeling of these types of situations. It is not all 100mph with massive amounts of enemy fire coming at you. There is time to think. The importance is in maintaining momentum by continuing suppressive fire as you maneuver. I often stress one of the hardest things to do is locate the enemy. You see this in the video, in particular where new firing points open up. You cannot suppress until you can locate, and then put accurate fire down onto the enemy to change his behavior (suppress him).






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Friday, December 18, 2015

What is your "Red Line"?

I am just thinking out loud here (well, thinking and typing actually, lol) and I was wondering to myself where my "Red Line" is? What I mean is what has to happen for me to "Go Active". I am ready and standing by for when I will be needed (I have no doubt that that day will come), but when are we going to stand up and restore this nation to it's former glory? I am sure we all have our individual "Red Lines", but we need to think about what has all ready happened, and continues to happen.

Our government defiantly falls into the category of "Tyrannical", but if that is the case, why have we not stood up yet? We need to find a point of no return, then be willing to stand up TOGETHER! If we do not stand up together then they will win, and we will be labeled as "Right Wing Extremists", and thrown in jail, or shot by "Law Enforcement" personnel while "Resisting Arrest".

I know that most Patriots will agree that door to door gun confiscations is a definite "Red Line", but what else is to you? I know I am just rambling here, but bear with me, I know this topic is important, and I want you to really think about it.

I know one thing, and that is that we need to have our kit ready to go, and we need to be as trained up as possible so that we are ready to go at a moments notice! We need to be there for our nation when she needs us! Please have your 1st line, 2nd line, and 3rd line gear ready to go, have your magazines loaded, have your vehicles gassed up (do not ever let your fuel drop below 1/2 tank in case you have to get out of dodge), have your contact numbers, frequencies ready to go, ensure you are training on a regular basis, and that you are working on your physical fitness so you are ready to go!

What about the UN Arms Treaty, the TPP, the Globalist agenda, and any other thing that threatens our sovereignty? I feel very strongly about defending our sovereignty, and our national identity! I know that most (hopefully all) people that read this blog agree with me about this. I know you guys and gals are good people that will stand up and do the right thing when you are needed. Just remember this is not just about sitting behind a keyboard in our nice warms comfortable houses, this is about being highly trained under all conditions.

Please think about this, and be ready for when you are needed!


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Thursday, December 17, 2015

American Redoubt Concept

I do not know if any of you have heard about the American Redoubt, but it is a great concept. The idea is for a safe haven area for "The Emerging Safe Haven and Refuge for God-Fearing, Liberty-Loving Patriots." to have an area to move to, to be around like minded people.

The Redoubt consists of Eastern Washington, Eastern Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming.

It is a great idea, and I highly recommend people think about moving their families there if you can. Imagine how much better life would be surrounded by like minded prepared people!

Here are some links for the American Redoubt stuff:

Radio Free Redoubt website

Radio Free Redoubt Podbean player

American Redoubt Radio Operators Network

Here is some information about it from the Survival Blog

Here are some words about the Redoubt from John Jacob Schmidt the host of Radio Free Redoubt.

More from JJS on the American Redoubt, in “John Jacob” terms:

Imagine the sea-level of the oceans rising at a rate of 50 feet in elevation per day … across the globe. Naturally, out of self-preservation, any creature in its right mind would be compelled to move to higher ground for safety.

No matter how persistent the efforts to build levies with bulldozers and fill sandbags, the waters rush in, over, and through every countermeasure. Eventually, the creatures congregate to safe havens and places of refuge.

Now think of the rising water in human societal and cultural terms. There has already been a shift of people moving to “higher ground,” socially speaking of course. Conservative, God-fearing men and women who love liberty and traditional American ideals are moving to safe havens and joining those already in places of refuge. The waters of Marxism, Communism, Socialism, Humanism, Existentialism, Globalism, Islamo-fascism, anti-Americanism, and
“Tolerance” are rising.

Christianity, Biblical doctrine and traditional American values are under attack from an increasingly hostile and intolerant “ism” culture.

Most certainly one of the most significant demographic shifts in the United States today is the movement of people with fundamental American and Judeo-Christian value systems moving into the inland Pacific Northwest. Particularly, this retreat to higher ground encompasses Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Eastern Oregon, and Eastern Washington.

It’s hardly visible, as a strong current under the surface. But it’s there. That, my friends, is the American Redoubt. A stronghold. A safe haven. A refuge.

-JJS




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Monday, December 14, 2015

To be part of the solution

Fellow patriots; I hope that you are wanting to be part of the solution when things go bad (SHTF/WROL/TEOTWAKI). This means that we need to be prepared not only tactically, but also with our food/water/medical/sustainable items we have.

We need to ensure that we have adequate food storage for ourselves and our families (preferably 1 year, but at least 3-6 months) water storage (at least 1 gallon per person for at least a couple of months) medical gear that is adequate to stabilize all but the worst injuries, and last but not least Non-GMO/Organic/Heirloom seeds to maintain a sustainable living plan. I have not mentioned the topics I am usually concentrating on in this blog which is the tactical aspect of preparedness, due to that topic being covered by other posts. The main purpose with this post is to get people thinking of the other things it will take to keep them alive, and enable them to be part of the solution.

If we do not prepare well across the board then we may end up being part of the problem, which is when people start roving around and trying to take what they need from others. Also if you are not prepared and equipped you will not be able to be ready and available when you are needed to come to the aid of our nation during the restoration.

We really need to train on other topics of which the single most important thing we can train on other than tactics, is communications. We should all really be trying our hardest to get HAM radio licenses, and to own and practice with them. If we cannot communicate with the people around us, or with our group members, or with other groups, then we are severely inhibiting our ability to be the best we can be. Also we need to get other methods of communications such as CB/FRS/GMRS. If you have not checked out AmRRON yet, then you need to, this is the basis of a great communications network that would be a great aid to us in the patriot movement.

Click on AmRRON to go to the site: AmRRON

Gardening will be a great resource for us to be able to feed ourselves over what might become a long term period of turmoil in our nation and around the world. Here is a great system of gardening I have found and plan on using at my house, and at my retreat cabin.

Mittleider Gardening Method This is a great way of gardening that increases production, grows very nutritious food, and makes harvesting much easier.

I highly recommend taking some medical classes also. Take as many as you can, CERT is a good source of getting training such as this, as well as many other good topics that would be of use to us.

The point of this post is to get us all thinking of becoming well rounded if we are not already. We need to be ready for as much as we can. I know we do not have tons of disposable money, and we have lives to live also, and work to go to, but if we all do just a little more, then we will be that much better off. I hope this sinks in, and helps someone, if this only helps one person, then I will be very happy. The more people that are really prepared the more of a chance we will have to restore our great nation to it's former glory and to overcome the forces aligned against us.

For any gear you need check HERE

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Political views quiz

I just found a great site where you can answer a bunch of questions about your political views and then the site will tell you who you are closely aligned with as far as the candidates go. It will tell you which areas of the country think like you do, as well as a bunch of other stuff. I had a lot of fun answering the questions; one thing though, make sure you click the more questions link at the bottom of each category until you have answered all the questions, you will get better results this way.

Here is the link: I Side With

Once done you can click on the "Party" tab on top of the page to see how you align with the various parties. It will also tell you your ideology. (I am a "Right Wing Libertarian")

Here is my results of how I align with the different political parties. (It does not show the last party (Socialist) of which I was 8%)

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Tactical Fitness

Okay guys and gals, to be effective at providing for, and protecting or families, communities, and nation we need to be at a certain level of fitness. I know this is a tough thing to do with everything we already do in our daily lives, but come on, is it important to be physically capable of taking care of your family during a "bad" situation.

With that said, I challenge you to step up your game, ensuring that you can be part of the solution during a SHTF situation. Without the ability to carry your gear across miles of wooded/mountainous terrain you will be very limited to where and how far you can go. This puts you and yours at risk.

I recommend that everyone work out at least 30 min a day 4 days a week, then work up to more. You should get to the point where you can carry all your gear (Battle Belt, Plate Carrier/Chest Rig, and Ruck/Pack) for at least 5 miles.

Being from a military background I know that you do not need a bunch of fancy equipment or a gym to workout. The following are exercises I recommend doing on a weekly basis.

Running/Jogging
TABing (Tactical Advance to Battle) this is where you put on a pack weighing at least 30 lbs (less if you have to)and sort of shuffle run, not a full out run, but not a walk either.
Walking with gear on
Pushups (Shoulder width, Wide and Narrow)
Pull ups (Shoulder width, Wide and Narrow, forward grip and reverse grip)
Dips (Body width, and Wide)
Lunges
Lunge walk
Flutter Kicks
Leg Lifts
Crunches
Plank
Plank walk
Low Crawl
Scissor Kicks
Sun Gods (arms out to side, in front, and above head, small circles, large circles, forward and reverse)
Squats
8 count Body Builders (standing drop to ground 1 do a pushup down 2 up 3 jump your legs out to the side 4 jump your legs back 5, pushup down 6 up 7, stand 8 and repeat)
Rope climb
Walk up and down stairs
Curls with some kind of weight

I will add more information about this topic. Please add a comment at the bottom of this post if you have any input on this topic.

Bottom line is people, that we need to prepare our bodies as well as our souls, and store food, water, firearms, ammunition, medical equipment, seeds, etc... to be able to get through the up and coming difficult times.

Do you want to give yourself a better chance of survival? If you do WORK OUT!!!

Friday, December 4, 2015

My sincere appologies

Hello everyone, sorry for the lack of posts. I am back now though and looking to really improve this blog. I will be making regular posts about preparedness, tactical training, firearms, fitness, gardening, water and food storage, and many other topics that will help you become ready for the coming troubled times.


We are also rebuilding our Amazon Store from scratch so be patient. We are going to try our best to get as many things as we can that you will need to become prepared, the best products we can find for the best prices we can get. We hope you will visit the Amazon Store, and order the things you need.

Link to the Store: The Tactical Patriot