An Urban Survival Course with Selco: Your Gear and How to Pack It

This article was originally published by Selco at The Organic Prepper

Editor’s Note: Did you ever wish you could drop everything and fly over to the Balkans to be trained in urban survival by Selco? Wouldn’t it be great to be able to pick his brain and have him beside you as you learned to deal with an SHTF scenario? Well, here’s the next best thing. Selco recently finished teaching a hardcore 5-day course in Croatia. With 6 students, they went through high-stress exercises and learned about living through an all-out disaster where danger lurks around every corner. Selco has generously agreed to write a series for us so that we can learn from him. It’s not quite like being there, but it’s the next best thing. ~ Daisy

What to Pack for a 5-Day Urban Survival Course

We have just finished our flagship Urban survival course in Croatia.

For 5 days Toby Cowern and I, as instructors, taught students skills and through the different exercises and scenarios, we stress-tested their knowledge and abilities.

For me, the most important thing was to give them a piece of the mindset needed for a real SHTF event and to give them a clear starting point from where they can build more skills, knowledge, and competence.

In some moments it was hard for them, both physically and mentally, but one of the most important points, of course, was to test them in not so perfect conditions.

The whole course cannot be transferred here for reading, but some highlights can be given in a series of articles, reflecting on the most interesting moments of each day. This time, we will start out with the gear necessary for the class.

Equipment (items that  you have with you)

I am a very big fan of carrying items that are multipurpose, and I have adopted over the time the philosophy that “less is more.” In reality,”more skills-less items” is the key to survival. That said, I am aware that we will have many items in our backpack when we talk about urban survival.

Because there is a big chance the items that you carry are gonna be used when you are in a hurry, in danger, in the dark, or simply when you are very tired, those things need to be organized in a practical way.

Add to that fact, there is a chance that sometimes you’ll be in a situation to lose (or throw away) your backpack, then it makes more sense to organize it.

The whole philosophy of having one bag (or backpack) that have “all that you need inside” is kinda wrong if ALL important items are inside.

It is essential to think about “layers” of equipment.

Everything that you carry with you must have a clear role in your survival, otherwise, it should not be in your backpack (or on you) so think about the “comfort vs. necessity” philosophy.

It is very good to have many items, but it is not so cool to go through a tough situation with 50 kg backpack on your back, so choose carefully what you gonna have.

You should organize it in layers.

Let’s take the “fire” category, for example. In the first layer you could have small fire starter around your neck, the second layer is lighters or matches in your waist bag or pocket, the third layer is fuel cubes or whatever other fire help you have in your backpack.

For the food category, you may have power bars in your pocket and then in your backpack, you may have food that is more adequate or “serious”.

It is easy to follow this logic and organize other equipment in the same way. Sometimes you do not need (or you can not have) 3 layers. Sometimes only 2 layers are possible.

It is important to understand that you need to have layers so you maximize your chances for success when you lose equipment, for example, while running away from some danger and throwing away your backpack.

First aid kits

The best example of what often goes wrong with buying, packaging and carrying items are first aid kits.

There are many reasons for that. A few are:

• People buying “pre-made” first aid kits with useless things inside


• No knowledge of how to use items in first aid kit


• No knowledge of what is really needed to have in a medical emergency and what not to have

So as a result, a lot of people have their first aid kit buried deep inside their backpack, or some of them having their first aid kit on a belt but inside they have painkillers, antidiarrheal medicines, a few plasters (band-aids) and nothing more.

I agree that plasters, antidiarrheal medicines, and painkillers may have a place in your first aid kits but use common sense and think about:

• what is really important and can make difference in seconds or minute


• what needs to be available all the time, and in an easy and fast to access way

Again, think in layers.

So, of course, you can have antidiarrheal medicines, plasters, painkillers, and hand sanitizers but in your first layer (available immediately) need to be items that can save a life in a matter of minutes, for example, shears, field dressing, bandages, tourniquets, and similar.

If you got a headache you will not die if you do not take a painkiller in a few minutes, but if you get serious wound it may be different if you do not act fast and have the means to treat it immediately.

The best way is to package your own kit, based on your circumstances and your needs. But be sure that you know about every item inside, how it works, and try to test it in the best possible way.

In the photo above, there are two bandages. Each of those bandages was packaged, and for an average man both are just bandages: they look the same and they are supposed to do the same job.

Actually, the bandage in my right hand can do the job like 3 bandages in the left hand, because of the quality, elasticity, texture, and density. Just test everything or you never know what you have until you really need it, and then it might be wrong.

If somebody told you, for example. that you need to have scissors (or shears) in your first aid kit (and he is right) then be sure to test quality of that item because you may find out that in the prepackaged kit you have something that can not do the job needed even for a sewing kit, not to mention working with heavy fabric to treat a wound.

A small difference like having paper medical tape or heavy-duty tape can mean a lot if you are doing something important like treating a wound in a rain-soaked environment.

Clothes

Over time I have started to believe that word “tactical” has become one of the worst enemies in common sense prepping/survival today.

We have tactical caps, tactical boots, pants, stickers, and whatnot.

People start to believe that by buying an item that is “tactical” (or manufacturer states it is) they are solving huge problems in their survival.

In reality, a lot of the items that are “tactical” are actually produced to look nice and cool, but have many flaws that are not so tactical.

For example, if you have tactical camo urban survival jackets that make you stick out so bad in an urban setting, there is nothing tactical about that.

Or there are survival tactical pants that have cool pockets for your stuff and look really cool. But when you walk they produce a hissing sound (because of the fabric) that on a calm night and “tactical” situation can be heard 100 meters away.

Or urban survival tactical bags and pouches with cool fluorescent emblems on it that makes you shine so cool in the dark, but also make you visible when you maybe don’t want to be seen.

Being seen and heard from a distance makes sense in some survival situations, but in others, it is completely undesirable and dangerous. Choose your clothes based on that, not based on how “tactical” they are, or how cool they look.

Stay tuned.

Be sure to watch for the next articles in which Selco “takes us with him” on his Urban Survival Course. Learn more about his online courses and his physical courses.

About the Author

Selco survived the Balkan war of the 90s in a city under siege, without electricity, running water, or food distribution. In his online works, he gives an inside view of the reality of survival under the harshest conditions. He reviews what works and what doesn’t, tells you the hard lessons he learned, and shares how he prepares today. He never stopped learning about survival and preparedness since the war. Regardless what happens, chances are you will never experience extreme situations like Selco did. But you have the chance to learn from him and how he faced death for months. Real survival is not romantic or idealistic. It is brutal, hard and unfair. Let Selco take you into that world. Read more of Selco’s articles here: https://shtfschool.com/blog/ And take advantage of a deep and profound insight into his knowledge and advice by signing up for the outstanding and unrivaled online course. More details here: https://shtfschool.com/survival-boot-camp/

The Gentleman’s Guide to Self-Defense Part 4: Inexpensive Self-Defense Tools

Preface: Also take a look at the BulletProof Shirt and Knife-Resistant Clothing.

Here"s a quick round-up of inexpensive but effective self-defense tools ...

Hoffner Folding Knife

In many "blue" states like mine, it"s illegal to carry switchblades or even assisted-opening knives ...

A reader suggested a Hoffner knife. Made by a top firearm and knife trainer to U.S police departments - law enforcement officer Brian Hoffner - the Hoffner folding knife is incredible.

It is legal in my blue state, because it does not have a spring-assisted opening. However, the Hoffer cleverly uses gravity to easily open with one hand. So even with my tendinitis (I injured my wrists lifting way too much at the gym), I can easily open the Hoffner one-handed with a quick flick of my wrist.

Bottom line: Even in my big brotherish anti-self-defense state, I can legally carry a knife with which I can handily protect myself with quick-deploying, one-handed action.

Purpleheart Armoury Hickory Cane

If you"d like to carry a baseball bat around - but don"t want to look so conspicuous - you can carry an elegant, all-hickory cane with a beefy metal handle. This thing is incredibly well-made, solid hickory, and as elegant as they come:

(My pictures don"t do it justice.)

It is built like a tank - one whack on the noggin and the bad guy is going night-nite - and as classy as any cane in the world.

You can leave it in the car, in your bedroom, or take it with you. 

$85 from Purpleheart Armoury.

Nitecore P12GT 1,000 Lumen Flashlight

I conducted hours of research to find a small, portable, tactical flashlight which would actually work to blind an attacker long enough to mount a defense or get away.

It turns out that there are 4 criteria for an effective self-defense flashlight:

(1) It has to be really bright

(2) It has to have a "strobe" mode. Specifically, it is very hard for a thug"s eyes to adjust to a bright strobe than a constant bright light. It is also disorienting af.

(3) It has to be a great "thrower". That is, it has to shine really far, as opposed to casting a wide arc. Thinking of being able to reach the bad guy"s eyes, and (metaphorically) have the light basically hit the back of their head.

(4) It has to be small enough to easily fit in your pocket.

When I started looking, nothing met all 4 criteria ...

But recently, Nitecore released the P12GT, and it passes all 4 tests with flying color.

At 1,000 lumens, this is crazily bright (there are also 3 other settings for normal household uses).

It has a good strobe. And you can program the button on the thumb-end of the flashlight to "remember" the last setting you used. So you can auto-program the main button to go straight to the self-defense strobe setting.

It is a crazy good thrower ... the light shines 401 yards. (That"s more than 3 football fields!)

And at only 1 inch in diameter and 5.5 inches at length, it can easily fit in your front or back pocket.

I haven"t received a cent for writing these reviews. I received a test sample of one of the above-described tools ... but not the other two. I vouch for all three of them.

As Farmers Go Broke, John Deere Ramps Up It's Captive Financing Operation To Keep The Ag Party Going

So what do you do when your John Deere and your entire business revolves around selling really expensive equipment to farmers who have been absolutely decimated financially by low crop prices and can no longer convince commercial banks that they"re worthy of additional debt needed to buy fancy new tractors?  Well, you take some plays from the automotive industry, that"s what.  Here"s how it works:

Step 1:  Setup a captive financing arm to underwrite all of the credit risk that no reasonable commercial ag bank would touch with a 10 foot pole.

Step 2:  Boost your tractor sales volumes by financing every farmer who walks through your door with a soybean dream and pulse.

Step 3:  When you run out of farmers willing to buy your brand new shiny green tractors then just start selling all your production volume to yourself and then lease it to customers at an attractive price.  This way you can still show sales growth and never have to cut production volume.

Step 4:  Finally, when it all goes horribly wrong because used tractor prices crash due to the flood of off-lease volume and brings down the new market with it then you take a one-time charge to write-off the losses, wall streets forgives you...it was just a 1x charge, right...and then you promptly rinse and repeat.

From the looks of the charts below, we"d say John Deere is currently on the tail end of "Step 3" as loan and lease balances are soaring and write-offs are just starting to spike.

As the Wall Street Journal points out today, John Deere has literally become the 5th largest agricultural lender in the country behind commercial banks Wells Fargo , Rabobank, Bank of the West and Bank of America, according to the American Bankers Association. But it"s not just equipment financing risk the John Deere is underwriting these days as they"ve also started financing short-term working capital loans to help farmers buy everything from seed to chemicals and fertilizers and equipment spares. 

Since 2013, the total value of equipment leases held by Deere is up 87%. Loans for farm equipment purchases, meanwhile, have fallen 10% since peaking in 2014, reflecting sliding machinery sales.

Short-term credit accounts for farmers—used for items such as crop supplies and equipment parts—are up 38% since the end of 2015. As of early 2017, the bank operation of Deere Financial had handed out about $2.2 billion. It is close on the heels of the No. 4 agricultural lender, Bank of America, which has about $2.6 billion out.

“Deere Financial is a massive force,” said Robert Wertheimer, a Barclays analyst. Deere, which accounts for about two-thirds of all the big tractors sold in the U.S., “is able to influence this market. They have more market power than most companies.”

Of course, the best possible thing for an industry plagued by oversupply and below market commodity prices is for someone to step in and subsidize even more production...it"s just basic economics really.

In shoring up the ailing sector, Deere’s loans may be helping draw out the pain for farmers, allowing them to continue to rack up debt despite a glut of grain world-wide that is keeping a lid on crop prices. The increase in equipment leasing, meanwhile, is weakening Deere’s own market for sales.

If crop prices remain subdued, “you’re just prolonging the agony and potentially building up [farm] losses instead of cutting the pain, cauterizing the wound and stanching the flow of financial blood now,” said Scott Irwin, an agricultural economist at the University of Illinois.

Meanwhile, John Deere shareholders have been handsomely rewarded for the company"s strict adherence to the 4-step plan we outlined above which would seemingly serve to prove that selling extremely expensive equipment into and extremely cyclical end market is, in fact, recession proof and immune from the ag cycle...who knew?

“Our core mission is to support sales of equipment,” said Jayma Sandquist, vice president of marketing for the U.S. and Canada for John Deere Financial, the company’s financing unit. “It’s a cyclical industry. We’ve built a business that we can manage effectively across all cycles, and our performance would indicate we can do that.”

The financing arm has shielded the Moline, Ill., company from the worst of the farm slump, keeping factories and dealers intact and investors satisfied with profits. Despite a 37% drop in sales of its farm equipment since a record high in 2013, Deere’s stock price is up 72% from its recent low in early 2016 and up 22% since the start of 2017.

Of course, we"ve seen how this movie ends before.  As it turns out, there"s a step-by-step guide to that process as well:

Step 1:  A flood of off-lease volume crushes pricing for used ag equipment

Step 2:  New sales and lease volumes tank due to more attractive deals for used equipment

Step 3:  John Deere buries its head in the sand and refuses to cut production volumes because that would be an admission to shareholders that recent volume declines were something more than "transitory."  So production is maintained and new dealer inventories around the country surge.

4.  Now, it"s only a matter of time before new equipment prices crash as well....

5.  ...and that"s when the write-downs start...

Then again, maybe we"re wrong and "everything actually is awesome". 

Times Change Out From Under Us - Paul Craig Roberts Opens "The Floodgates Of 'His' Memory"

Authored by Paul Craig Roberts,

He had lugged the 50 lb. bag of Milorganite into the garden in order to discover, as on many prior occasions, that he had nothing with which to open it. He blamed this on the war on terror and the TSA. As a youth he, as did every boy, had a pocket knife. Always. It was expected. There was no school rule against pocket knives. Once for a period they even all had switchblades. You could get them for 99 cents, a large amount in those days, enough to buy a case of 24 Coca-Colas. The switchblades met with school and parental disapproval as they smacked of New York gangs. But before teachers and parents came up with a policy, the boys had abandoned the switchblades. The knives had weak springs. Fascinated with the speed with which the knives opened with a satisfying click and locked the blade into place, the boys quickly wore out the springs on their switchblades. Unlike their trusty pocket knives, the switchblades quickly became useless.

He no longer carried a pocket knife. He had learned long ago that things that go into pockets become habitual. He would forget to take the knife out when he rushed to catch his flight, just as he always forgot to put the knife in his pocket when he went to work in the garden. There would be a scene at the airport, confiscation of the knife, which had been his grandfather’s, and TSA questioning. They might want him to be strip searched. He could miss his flight. Such a large expensive organization as TSA needs justification, and so whereas the TSA officers might be reasonable, he could not count on it. Under the law he could be accused and prosecuted. One never knew.

He could remember the air shuttle between Washington and New York. The planes flew on the hour. You could show up 10 minutes before takeoff and be seated. If one airplane wasn’t enough, they would provide a second. There was no security, no delays.

He didn’t like being drawn back into memories of the past. It made him acutely aware how difficult just simple things had become over the course of his life, like carrying a pocket knife.

A couple of weeks ago he had been on vacation at a gated mountain resort. He enjoyed hiking along the streams and visiting the waterfalls. He had managed to rent at the airport a sports sedan and was looking forward to a morning workout at the exercise center and then a semi-spirited drive along mountain roads outside the resort. As he was changing into his workout clothes, the telephone rang. As he rushed to stay on schedule his billfold with driving license did not make the clothes change.

He discovered this at the exercise center. It was 10 minutes back to his cabin and then 10 minutes back in the direction of the exit gate. Why had he agreed to a telephone interview? If he went back for his license, his drive would be rushed and not enjoyable. He could go without his license, but suppose something happened, such as a collision with a deer. Would the police accept a reasonable story and the car rental papers for ID, or would he be hauled to jail, a long flight away from his lawyer? The days of reasonable police, he thought, were bygone days. The morning was shot. The only thing to do was to vent his frustration in exercise and return to his cabin for the telephone interview.

Even the innocence of words had been lost. There were many words that could no longer be used. They had been banished down the memory hole. A professor friend had told him that he was subjected to a dressing down by a dean because he had used the word “girl” in class. “Girl” is now considered offensive to womyn.

In restaurants in the South, waitresses called the men “honey.” “What will it be, honey?” The men called the waitresses “darling.” He wondered about that today. Perhaps in small towns. Since the advent of interstate highways, small towns had passed out of his experience. He wondered if they still had restaurants or just fast food franchises.

It got worse. The floodgates of memory had opened. He was given his first firearm at age 10. It was a single barrel .410 shotgun. When he was 12 he was given a .22 pistol. Many of his friends had guns. The countryside was nearby and many urban families had farm relatives. He remembered, too, that all the kids were subjected to corporal punishment. Today a parent who spanked a kid or provided one with a firearm would be arrested, likely prosecuted, and the kid put into foster care where there was risk of being leased out to a pedophile group.

He could remember riding his horse into the town three miles from his grandparents’ farm with a real pistol strapped to his side and a rifle in the scabbard when he was 12 or 13. No one said a thing. Today a SWAT team would be on the scene. He would be lucky not to be shot dead and never know the fate of his grandparents, who would be guilty of all sorts of offenses, including failure to supervise a minor.

That reminded him of what he had recently read in a newspaper. On a cul-de-sac devoid of car traffic a mother sat in a chair outside the house while her child played in the front lawn. A busybody neighbor, trained to report parental malfeasance, whose view of the mother was blocked by shrubbery, saw an unsupervised child at play and called the police. When the police arrived, they arrested the mother on the basis of the unverified report from the neighbor. The mother was taken to jail. The newspaper did not say what had happened to the child, whether the kid was taken to foster care and whether the husband had to rush home from his job and ply lawyers with money to help put his family back together. These kinds of horrors inflicted on families by public authorities often have worse consequences than the predations of criminals. He wondered if parents and children would be safer if the police were disbanded and outlawed.

Yet, society had accepted these abuses as justified. What, he thought, would have been the public reaction when he was a kid? The policemen would have been fired, the chief disciplined, and the mayor would have lost the next election. It would not have been possible for them to become heroes by destroying a family. The busybody neighbor would have become a pariah in the community.

Just the other day he had seen a grandmother at the supermarket with tattoos and face piercings. A grandmother? How had this come about? At the mountain resort pool and exercise center it wasn’t just the men. He had seen young women who were covered in tattoos. A friend told him that some women not only had face and tongue piercings, but also navel, labia, and clitoris piercings. Piercings were what he remembered from boyhood days of looking through stacks of National Geographic magazines from the 1940s and 1950s. Articles explained with words and photographs facial piercing practices by tribes in “darkest Africa.” Now they were the practices of upper class womyn who played in resorts.

He recalled his father’s first rule of business: “Never hire anyone with a tattoo.” Tattoos were what sailors did who got drunk in Asian ports. They demonstrated poor judgment and a lack of self-restraint. If anyone sober got a tattoo, it indicated a lack of self-respect. If an employee did not respect himself, he would not respect the job. His father would have a hard time assembling a work force today.

A couple of years ago a college classmate told him that their noble old fraternity had been suspended by the college president. A black female student claimed that racial slurs had been shouted at her from an open window. The fraternity was able to show that all the windows had been painted shut for years, probably dating back to when the house was air conditioned. But the college president wasn’t going to dispute a black female’s word on the basis of evidence. It could mean protests, charges of racism, broken windows, newspaper and trustee inquiries. Bad PR for the college. It was safer to hand the fraternity a bit of injustice.

Recently, he had arrived at the supermarket in a cloudburst. There were a dozen parking spaces by the entrance, but they were marked “Handicapped Parking $500 Fine.” He remembered when the handicapped said that they wanted to be treated like everyone else. Now they had privileges. He wondered about those signs. Did they give offense? “Handicapped” was one of those discarded words. They hadn’t got around to replacing the signs.

He remembered, too, when males did not use four-letter words in front of parents or females. Now the young womyn could out-cuss his male generation.

More memories. If you scraped a car while street parking, you were expected to leave a note with name and telephone number and expect to pay for the repair. He had once told some young people this and they laughed at the joke.

Something had happened. He had been brought up to be a citizen in a world that no longer existed.

At least there still were gardens. He put away his thoughts and went to get his knife.

Is This The World's Scariest Chart?

Most every nation is massively in debt, (broke) and in direct correlation manipulative central fucking banks and their fraudulent and bankrupt "primary dealers". Sales are down, companies go up in value without ever delivering "profit" or in some cases even an actual product, the market is a complete sham, deep state spys on everyone, lies are told with frequent and alarming regularity by the folks that are suppose to be runnin things, .gov numbers are grossly manipulated more than ever, false flag operations every fucking where, we"ve got a reality tv star fronting the shitshow, and there is a general disturbance in the force, possibly leading up to but not limited to WW lV ...

Hope this helps,

Be Ready And Prepped Before the Next Crisis “Or Wind Up Begging The Government”

This article was written by J.D. Heyes and originally published at NaturalNews.com.

Editor’s Comment: Society has lost its way, and there are a million reasons for things to go south at a moment’s notice. Preppers know that with survival skills and supplies ready, there is a better chance that they will be able to survive almost anything that comes their way, and be able to keep a healthy distance from unruly and dangerously dependent urban populations.

If a truly widespread disaster were to set in, martial law, FEMA camps and violence civil unrest could quickly follow. Those who aren’t ready will be left fending for remaining supplies from empty shelves, and ultimately have no other alternative but to submit, and ride out the crisis begging from the government. Only those with a clear headed approach and a prepared mindset can avoid such degradation… will you be among the ready few?

Master these 7 basic skills before SHTF… or you’ll wind up begging the government for basic supplies

by J.D. Heyes

No one can predict the future and it’s not likely most of us will know when the next ‘stuff hit the fan’ scenario will occur, but we can make some educated guesses based upon experience and common sense.

For example, for much of the country – especially the Midwest – we are approaching tornado season, when spring and early summer weather can often turn violent. The same is true for the Atlantic coast and the Gulf of Mexico, which could see hurricanes in a few months.

Out West, especially in California, there is always the threat of a major earthquake, though the New Madrid fault, the epicenter of which is located in southeastern Missouri/northwestern Kentucky, is also a threat.

Then there are world events which could erupt at any moment, such as a nuclear attack, or a cyber attack on our financial infrastructure. Or maybe political violence stemming from the insanity the political Left still harbors over the election of Donald J. Trump to the White House. (RELATED: How To Construct A “Bugout” Home For $250)

There are any number of things that could disrupt our world. We simply don’t know when something will happen. But before SHTF, there are some basic skills you should learn no matter what the triggering event happens to be, because they will come in handy regardless of the situation.

“If you want to become more prepared for a survival situation, the information available can be overwhelming. Some sites are trying to teach you how to start a fire with a block of ice, while celebrities on television are telling you to drink your own urine. What? Thankfully there are a few simple skills that you can learn to make a huge impact on a survival situation,” writes “Ryan” from Modern Survival Online.

Making a fire

This will be one of the most important survival skills you need to learn because fire can accomplish a number of important things – cooking, sanitizing water, and heat are just a few of those things.

Any preparedness bugout bag you put together should have at least two and maybe even three methods for starting a fire. This can be a disposable lighter, flint and steel, 9V battery and steel, etc. You can build a fire in any number of ways – gathering paper, small pieces of wood, sticks – but the ability to actually light the fire is the most important part of the skill.

Sanitizing water

In an SHTF scenario, potable (clean, drinkable) water is going to become pretty scarce pretty quickly. You should make sure you have an emergency supply of it on hand, but eventually you’re going to need to find some ‘in the wild,’ and it’ll have to be sanitized or you’ll get sick, then dehydrated, then you’ll die. Boiling water for just a few minutes works best, but you can also buy emergency water filters and filter straws.

Food on the fly

Food will also become a scarce commodity, so it would behoove you to learn about what kinds of plants grow in the wild where you live that are edible. You may not think much about that now, but when you’re getting hungry, living off the land will become necessary. Check with your local conservation department for starters; their experts can tell you what grows wild that you can eat in a pinch.

Communications

You’re going to want to pick up any information you can about the situation, so having some kind of radio that doesn’t require batteries (solar, wind-up) will work best. AM-FM and CB combination if you can find it. (RELATED: Best Ways To Escape Disaster When A Crisis Strikes)

Self-defense

How you personally want to handle this is, of course, something you have to decide. Most people think of a firearm as being best for self-defense, but others choose bows/crossbows, knives, a baseball bat, etc. Whatever you decide, take time – a lot of time – now to learn how to use your self-defense weapon of choice. This is particularly true if you choose a gun.

First aid

You don’t need to become a certified emergency medical technician or go to nursing school, but learning basic first aid is vital. You’ll want to know how to clean and dress wounds, treat burns, flush chemicals from your eyes, and basic splinting for fractures or sprains, at a minimum. Learn about nutrition and hydration, too, and what to do if you get diarrhea, which can kill.

Know your area

If you have to leave your home and “bug out” to a safer environment, it will help if you have paper topographical and road maps of your area. Even if you’ve lived there for a long time, you likely don’t know every bend, dirt road, creek and hill. Having paper maps at the ready will help you navigate your way to safety.

This article was written by J.D. Heyes and originally published at NaturalNews.com.

J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for NaturalNews.com and NewsTarget.com, as well as editor of The National Sentinel.

The Foundation – Squaring Away Communications Needs in 2017

On January 3, 2017

By ncscout

I’ve received a number of emails over the last several weeks requesting info on various issues, recommended gear, etc…and while I certainly don’t mind answering the plethora of questions (it’s part of the reason I run this blog) much of the info has been previously addressed.  Due to the size and scope of the information contained, I know it can be cumbersome to find answers when you don’t even know what questions to ask, especially if you’re brand new to the signals and communications game.

So in the interest of the greater good, I’m compiling a list of previous posts to get you going. All I ask in return is that you use it, keep an open mind, and at a minimum try some of this stuff at home. Nearly everything I’ve written over the past year-plus in regards to commo covers field implementation and improvisation, sourced from identified needs as a LRSD member and RTO (if you don’t know what this is, google ‘special reconnaissance unit’ ) which at least in my worldview, has transitioned to the Survivalist networking paradigm quite well.

CA over at WRSA said among his New Year Resolutions is making all of those new AR15 owners shooters- Let’s up that ante and make all of those new Baofeng owners efficient communicators in addition to shooters. How do we do this? Follow this list.

Improvised Field Antennas

The Jungle Antenna: The first antenna you should build. Dirt cheap, simple, effective. Great for community networking and a perfect way to get your feet wet into constructing your own gear.

Moxon Antennas: The second antenna you should build is a directional antenna in a similar vein as the yagi- but just a tad bit simpler and more compact. While that Arrow yagi is nice, building a few Moxons for field use not only provides a good learning opportunity but also doesn’t cost $80.

DIY Dipoles for Any Band: The dipole is, hands down, the easiest antenna to build. In fact, the Jungle Antenna above is a dipole, stretched vertically, with two extra ‘cold’ radials added to form the bottom pyramid. It’s versatility is a large force multiplier, and understanding how to build one and how they radiate will lay the basic groundwork for all the other skills.

The Best DIY Resource Online, for any Band: Check this resource out. Once the basics are understood, there’s very few things you can’t build versus buy. if you’re of limited resources (or just a cheapskate like me) you seriously need to consider homebrewing.

Understanding Capabilities

QRP- Low Power in the Field:  Whether it’s a Multi-Day or simple security Patrol, Clandestine Communication across non-permissive environments, or just Survivalist power conservation, QRP is your bread n’ butter. Read and Do.

Commo Basics for Small Units: The requirements are listed and described here; there’s lots of carry-over between Survivalist needs and say, Militia needs, but the two are different. The planning process however is the same.

Maximizing Your HT: I can tell you all day that the Baofeng is a waste of money, and even show you why, but you’ll still buy them. Y’all just can’t help it. Well, might as well figure out how to make the best use of it.

Deployable Communications Concerns: That’s deployable, not deplorable, but meant to be deployed by deplorables. Building on the rather painful lessons to watch from the events of nearly a year ago, having the ability to rapidly create your own infrastructure is critical. No one is going to do it for you, and failure to build an effective package in the event you wanna take on ‘the man’ is going to all but seal your fate.

Operating Skills

The Signals Operating Index (SOI):  Before you key a mike, before you think about stepping off on that patrol, before you do anything at all, you plan. If you don’t, I promise, you’re gonna fail. We worked very hard on creating a competent SOI regularly before every mission. MSG Morgan’s (a retired Special Forces Communications Sergeant) instructions are top notch, simple to follow and on-point.

Intelligence vs. Information:  These two are not the same, yet all too often I’m served to some moron passing ‘intelligence’ my way which is little more than click-bait disinfo. Most often I delete and block those people- sounding like idiot street marxists (aka SJWs) they’re just as useless in the real world as the drivel they pass on. Written amid the “jade helm is martial law and the end-times sky is falling” moron hysteria, the lessons resonate just as true today as they did then.

SALUTE and SALT Reports: The bread and butter of field intelligence reporting, these two formats should not just be committed to memory but should be practiced on a regular basis. Failure to competently follow this format should result in that person’s expulsion from your unit or group. I know, that sounds awfully harsh, but it’s a Army-wide Skill Level 1 Task (every soldier has to demonstrate they can do it in Basic Training) so the reality is that this is so simple that if it can’t be followed competently, that person is too stupid or ill-disciplined to be reliable.

Planning Your Footprint: Your equipment doesn’t just magically work wonders and communicate over impossible distances; conversely we must know the exact capability of our equipment and where our signals are going in order to mitigate possible interception and interference (or at a minimum, gain an idea of how far away that OPFOR possibly is). Again, as with the SOI, failing to plan equates failure.

Report Formats: Building on our SALUTE/SALT format, these reports are used from covert or clandestine communications among special mission units. While a bit more complicated than the aforementioned SALUTE report (which is an Army entry-level task) these formats have been perfected by SOF troops since Vietnam.  Set formats are critical to efficient communications. End of story.

The Base Radio Station:  We’ve talked about how to communicate; who are you communicating with? How might that place or group be organized? What sort of requirements do they have, aside from a giant coffee maker?

Commo Windows: A couple posts back, dealing with our little math problem that only a few attempted to work through (but plenty felt the need to argue over), the issue of commo windows was at the real heart of the human problem, and constructing these in that context revolved around the time of day that particular HF band would be most effective for the intended task, which needed to be mathematically figured out. What the hell am I talking about, exactly? Read up.

Bulletproof Local Communications: Just about the simplest formula I can come up with for indestructible, damn-near-100%-reliable networking. The same basic needs can be met with MURS or CB if you’re not into the whole licensing thing, but the equipment needs and implementation (HT on the move, mobile in the truck or base, groundplane antenna up high) are pretty much identical. Secret Squirrel Cool-Guy Freq-Hop Digi-NSA-snoop-proof? Nope, just the opposite. But it works when all that complicated shit fails. And when done right (the human part of the equation) you can be just as sneaky, in plain sight.

Running Your Radio Semi-Covertly:  Another of the painful lessons of Malheur was telegraphing your equipment capabilities, allowing them to be not only easily compromised but rendering them all but useless. Professionals do it quite a bit different- and sure as hell don’t use the antenna of their set to point at people like some half-assed community organizer.

Scanning, Monitoring, Signals Collection

SIGINT for the Small Unit: Identifying what you need to cover before telling you what equipment you should buy. I know, pretty much the opposite of the consumerist-nature of the Prepper movement. Nonetheless, this just might kinda-sorta be the identification of the requirements and then how to do it on the cheap.

Creating a Signals Collection Section from Scratch: A re-iteration which builds on the previous post, consider this post a rudimentary crash-course in the functions and layout of a SOT-A or LLVI team. You should know what those two teams do, and if your group is composed of only shooter-ish types, you’re far behind the power curve. At a minimum you should use this post and the preceding to broaden your knowledge base.

Open Sources Primer on Equipment:  The Russians are coming! The Chinese are coming! Jade Helm Sky-Warriors in metal avatars are coming! DOOM! Wouldn’t it be nice to be rational for once, and realize there’s actually very few ‘secret’ technologies out there, if you put two and two together? I compiled a list of places to look, along with identifying frequency sets of foreign ground-use communications equipment. Those might just be important, should you wish to bring the pain all Red Dawn style.

SIGINT Software for SDRs:  This is fairly self-explanatory, with only four words in the post. But the programs contained in the two links are very valuable. Download them, learn them, use them. Also, have a computer with a Linux distro.

An SDR Signals ID Primer: Written and contributed by a signals collection pro, this post should be read multiple times over as a valuable introduction to exactly what you’re looking at and for using SDR.

REDZ SIGINT Jeep: A whitehat hacker did (and built) some neat stuff. Detailed is what he did and possibly how to use it.

SIGINT and the Guerrilla Radio: The granddaddy of this blog, this article predated the whole ‘brushbeater’ experiment by a bit, originally appearing in Sparks31’s Signal-3. Based on my experience of scanning analog traffic on the ground in Afghanistan, the article contains useful tips for both listening and transmitting, going beyond the technical skills of each and focusing on the human factor as well. Interestingly, it must have ruffled a few feathers, because a handful of trolls (and one who grossly over estimated himself) came out of the woodwork in force. Oh well…this ain’t a free speech zone nor is it a forum. Their presence is an indicator I’m doing something right.

Signals Intelligence Resources: The primer page that outlines the basic equipment requirements from simple and inexpensive to progressively more complex. Contained is the model I follow, based upon my real world experience. Your mileage may vary, but if you feel you know better than I, you don’t need my advice and I’ll offer a full refund in exactly the amount you paid for this information.

Summarization

Hopefully this compiled list of posts deep down in the list is found helpful in identifying and resolving your communications needs. While bewildering (I know it’s a lot of info to swallow), take it in chunks, read and then re-read, all the while comparing it to the capabilities you currently have and see if those needs can be filled. It’s not so much about the equipment itself, but about the skills and necessary capabilities. This is a concept foreign to many in contemporary society, but a critical one nonetheless. HF was left off the list- purposefully omitted, as the focus here is on building a basic station and gaining the essential ground-level skills. The foundation starts here, and there are no more excuses. And in case you were wondering in the post-election fog, you are not safe. Not even close. This nation is in just as much danger currently as it was on the afternoon of 9/11-01, perhaps more so (I believe we are in much more danger) and it is not the time to go to sleep. The street marxists have one logical move left having lost all other legitimate means. The governing entity would likely default to an increase in the consolidation of power (look at the friction in Chicago between the Mayor and President-elect; what’s being said is an indicator of the future response, although still better than option H). We cannot afford to lose sight of the very real enemies out there. Equally we cannot afford the same follies and missteps of the past. Take every step you can to be ready, including securing means of communications off the grid from social conventions.

There are no more excuses.

From Brushbeater

“I am a former Infantry Scout in one of the Army’s best Reconnaissance Units, a former NCO, serving in both Iraq and Afghanistan. I seek to share what I’ve learned to help folks build a skill set that may be needed in the near future. Liberty is at a tipping point, inching further and further to the cliff of tyranny each day. Good men cannot stand idly by.

All of my posts come from my own experience. I’ve learned a lot of lessons, mainly the hard way through my own mistakes and the those of others around me. In addition, everything I post revolves around the Small Unit; like it or not that’s what you are and your survivability and success relies solely upon you and how well you train now.

My sole aim is to provide a solid baseline for the reader to build upon at the individual and Small Unit level. Teamwork is paramount. Hopefully it resonates, and thank you for reading. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at khaos @ unseen (dot) is.”

In Obre Terrum Non Visi

If you believe in the mission of Oath Keepers, to defend the Constitution against all enemies,  foreign and domestic, please consider making a donation to support our work.   You can donate HERE.

5 Gadgets Tested In Real Survival Situations: “What To Carry, And What To Pass Over”

Do you have everything you need?

If you had to put back a handful of items from your bug out bag to make room other essentials, which would you choose to carry no matter what, and which would you put back as extra weight?

When compact and lightweight travel matters the most, you might consider a more serious class of multi-tools. With the prepper market exploding, and millions of people wondering what will happen if the economy crashes, or another Great Depression falls upon the troubled land of America, some serious thought has gone into what to carry, and what to pass over.

When the time comes to count on yourself, and little else, you want some well-thought out items that can cover all your needs – both those you considered in advance, as well as all the situations you didn’t see coming.

So, what should you carry? That’s up to you.

But these items speak for themselves. In this YouTube, the people at Zip HD purport to test each clever utility tool, addressing the gimmicks inherent in many similar items. If this video is persuasive at all, these are the next generation, evolved from a mere novelty categorization. Most of these items are made of rugged and reliable materials, an a variety of functions could be used over-and-over – improving upon past devices that would become too flimsy or tangled to put back into their proper place, or to count upon when they are needed most.

More and more, the multi-tool 13-in-1-style functions could actually be useful if needed in a true survival situation, and these preppers detail to pros-and-cons of items you might consider for your bug out bag.

You can find the products via the Zip HD page.

No two preppers will agree on the merits and drawbacks of everything you may need, or simply find useful. Simply acquiring everything, and as many items as possible, may not be beneficial either, and could quickly drain your wallet. Find items that can actually serve your needs, and that would match the surrounding environment you will be dealing with.

Of course, tools alone can’t guarantee how you’ll make it out of a dire situation.

Survival is about a mindset, a well-thought out and instinctively grounded individual who calculates ahead, minimizes risk, meshes with the environment and uses resources wisely.

You’ll need to improvise, make do and get by. It’s worth putting some thought into, because you never know what’s ahead.

A Step-By-Step Guide To Survive Any Disaster

Don’t Be Without These Prepping Essentials: “Survival Fuel You Must Have”

The Six Laws of Survival: Strategies For Beating the Worst Case Scenario

A Green Beret’s Guide to EMP: Practical Steps to Prepare for a “Lights Out” Scenario

The Ag Paradox: Farm Incomes And Equipment Purchases Tank While John Deere's Stock Soars

Last week we wrote about the U.S Department of Agriculture"s latest biannual report of farm incomes which painted a very bleak picture for the American farmer.  In its first forecast for 2017, the USDA saw real farm cash receipts down 14% versus 2015 and 36% from the previous high set in 2012 as farm debt continued to soar and leverage surged to all-time highs.

Below is a summary of some of the key takeaways: 

Real farm incomes in 2017 are expected to sink below 2010 levels which represents a 36% decline from the recent peak and a 14% decline since 2015.

Meanwhile farm debt continues to rise at an astonishing rate...

While farmer leverage has spiked to the highest level since at least 1960.

And of course, lower incomes means less money to spend on shiny new John Deere tractors with equipment capex expected to decline 35% compared to 2015.

And finally, farmer returns have crashed to the lowest levels ever.  We"re not sure about you but a 2.1% ROIC seems a "little low" even in our current rigged interest rate environment. 

In summary, farmers are making no money but are managing to barely stay afloat by adding a massive amount of debt and slashing capital expenditures.

Moreover, the summary above was seemingly confirmed recently when ISI released their latest data on North American sales volumes for tractors and combines.  Not surprisingly, January volumes were down anywhere from 20% to nearly 50% YoY, as they were for most of 2015 and 2016. 

Which leads us to our final point, which is, what exactly are John Deere investors seeing that we"re not? 

While we certainly understand the concept of investing in cyclical stocks at the bottom of their earnings cycle, we"re somewhat less familiar with the strategy of completely pricing in a recovery multiple years in advance while continuing to buy those same cyclical stocks at all-time highs and peak multiples.

That said, we"re sure those multiples have room to get even "peak-ier" tomorrow when John Deere reports earnings...we can"t wait to see efficient markets at work.