If you're not fluent in Ancient Roman, today we'd say "Knowledge is power".

As a survivalist preparing for the post-apocalypse, it behooves us to learn as many useful skills as possible. Despite my general billing as a "Jack of All Trades (Master of None)", no one individual can specialize in everything, which is where the survival "group" comes in. Beyond that, or in the absence thereof, reference material becomes a vital resource. Having the right bit of information can mean the difference between muddling through and failing catastrophically.

Knowledge vs. Information vs. Data

Let's begin with a few definitions. I started to define these myself, then turned to the vast resources of the internet, where I found this article entitled Data, Information, Knowledge, and Wisdom. Go ahead, take a moment to digest that.

Done? Great! I found it very interesting... Occupational hazard, I guess. Let me summarize for those of you who just come here for the thin survival content and naked girls with guns (hello, search engines!):

- Data is raw, unstructured facts with no context, meaning, or intent.
- Information is structured data.
- Knowledge is the application of information, which allows us to take action or make decisions.
- Wisdom is the ability to extrapolate events based on knowledge and experience.

The Internet
Clearly one of the best sources of both data and information is this wonderful internet. There is a myriad of readily accessible "stuff" on any topic, available for the taking, much of which was not available to the public just a decade prior.

Take, for example, Google Maps. Simply by typing in the address, you have immediate access to high quality satellite photography, and in many cases street level photographs. It wasn't too long ago that you needed to work for a three letter agency to have access to satellite imagery, yet I used it to evaluate properties for purchase. Sites like Terraserver allow you to order poster sized, laminated copies of these images - instant map table for defending your BOL!

Unfortunately, the internet of the post-apocalyptic world will likely be pretty bleak, so we must consider alternatives. The timeless fallback of stains applied to dead trees seems the easiest solution.

The Survival Library
My survival library contains books on a wide array of topics, including
- gardens and orchards
- raising, butchering, and preserving livestock
- cooking and storing food
- navigation and wilderness skills
- construction and vehicle maintenance
- first aid, emergency medicine, and firefighting
- shooting, reloading and tactics.

I've got staple texts such as Carla Emery's Encyclopedia of Country Living. I've got military field manuals and books on guerrilla warfare and counter-insurgency. I've got survival fiction. I've got atlases and maps. I've got political treatises and manifestos, and the foundational documents for this great nation. I keep subscriptions to appropriate magazines, and store the back issues after I've read them. I've tried to cover a broad spectrum of things that interest me, not just today, but also for the future I want to experience.

Now obviously, having a book on emergency medicine does not qualify me to perform abdominal surgery, nor does having a book on firefighting qualify me to rush into the nearest raging inferno. Reading a book on snipercraft does not mean I can make a 1200 yard cold bore shot on an 8" target. A book on square foot gardening does not guarantee I will feed my entire neighborhood on just 64 square feet of soil. Ability comes with training, experience, practice, success and failure. Further, the time to read has passed once an appendix has burst or the goat is kidding.

These books provide information, and the benefit of someone else's experience. There is a lot of value in that. I try to read everything cover to cover. Frequently, I end up taking a book off the shelf and just browsing for 10 or 20 minutes, or however much time I have instead.

Here are some recent additions to the library:

Data in Real Time
Lately I feel that I've been missing a lot of activity around me, specifically that of public safety and emergency crews. I used to run a scanner almost around the clock, and always had a very good feel for what was going on in my town and county. I could usually anticipate when I would be called upon as an emergency responder, based on chatter on the radio. Eventually I gave that device to someone just entering the emergency services.

I've now decided to replace it, with a Uniden Bearcat BCD396XT. This is a small portable scanner, capable of storing many more frequencies than the base station I had just a few years ago, and capable of monitoring most of the traffic in the area (damn OpenSky system!). I selected it over another base station because I think the ability to have the information on the move could be vital in an emergency. I can easily attach it to an external antenna to use as an extended range base station.

Another option is to stream scanner feeds from the internet. Radio Reference hosts many live scanner feeds, for many areas. Downsides are that you can only listen to one feed at a time, and you are limited to what the person hosting that feed is monitoring. But, it provides another option, like listening to police activity near my home when I'm at the office in the next county over.

Summary
Having the correct information to influence your decisions and action is a good thing. Having a well stocked survival library is a big step in that direction for when the lights go out.

Hermit wrote a great post on building a rural home - go read it!

My friend is in the process of picking his first (and he says "only") handgun. I started to write him some notes on my opinions, trying very hard not to come across as a FKIA, then realized I could get some blog mileage out of it. So, here we go - general thoughts on selecting a handgun.

Form follows function
What do you want the gun for? Is this a fun gun for the range, or a working gun?

With range guns, everything that follows in this discussion is moot. While range guns can be used for serious work, they won't be your go-to guns, and thus get treated a little differently. You may or may not have holsters for them; you have only one or two magazines, and no spare parts; your ammunition supply for this gun is small, maybe only enough for a single range trip.

A working gun, on the other hand, you're depending on to protect your life, and that of your family. It's the gun that will wait on your bedside table while you sleep. It's the gun that will ride on your hip throughout the day. It's the gun that you will have with you when you need it, when you least expect. As such, it will be the gun you're most familiar with, the one you shoot the most. It's going to be abused - sweated on, scratched, banged against doorways and furniture, shot a lot, rained on, dropped, and shot some more. You will lightly maintain it daily; meticuliously after each time you shoot. The first time it goes click when it should have gone bang, you're going to lose confidence in it, strip it to individual pieces, clean everything to a shine, replace the springs and worn parts, and make it earn its way back to your good graces. You'll have multiple holsters to accommodate multiple styles of dress, many magazines, a box of spare parts, and enough ammo to keep your gun running if you can't get any more tomorrow.

And here's the real rub - your working gun, your constant companion, is disposable. It is essentially a single use item. If you are involved in a lawful self-defense use, you can expect your pistol to be confiscated as "evidence". Even if you're acquitted, charges are dropped, or never pressed, it may be years before you see that gun again, if ever. (That might be some Philadelphia bias showing through.) Having duplicate firearms available suddenly makes sense, no?

Manufacturers
You'll find every manufacturer has its own groupies, who claim their gun is the best around - Beretta, Colt, Glock, HK, Kimber, SIG, S&W, Springfield Armory, and so forth. The magazines will rave about any gun company that's paying for advertisement. But, you could post your question on any number of gun-specific forums (GlockTalk, SIGForum, HKPro, etc), and I think you will ultimately get one similiar answer - get a gun that you shoot well. Stick with the major manufacturers, and you should be fine.

Caliber
There's a lot of colloquial advice on caliber selection, like shooting someone with a .22 will just make them angry, or you can't win a gunfight without a caliber that starts with a "4". Carrying a 9mm makes you a girly man, but carrying a .45 says you're compensating for something. Some will say you need the latest high-tech round from the Eargesplitten Loudenboomer family. (I'm not making that up - it's a real cartridge.) Others say if .45 Long Colt was good enough for Bill Hickok, it's good enough for me.

My advice is pick a common caliber (9mm/.40/.45/.357SIG in Semis, .38/.357/.44 in wheelies) that you shoot well, and can afford to shoot often. Ultimately, shot placement trumps hole size.

Price
While a $1000 gun is good, a $500 gun and $500 of practice ammo is better. Better yet is a gun, ammo and professional training that will teach you to shoot it well.

Accessories
There are just a couple of things necessary to enhance a good working gun.

I feel night sights are mandatory to know where your gun is pointing in the dark. After that first night-vision destroying shot, you likely won't see them again, so you must make the first one count.

If you're using an autoloader, you'll need a small collection of magazines. I'd recommend at least two, preferably three, dedicated exclusively to carry / defense purposes. Then have at least three more for training purposes - these will get dropped and dirty. If you can afford more, buy more.

You'll need a good quality holster, molded specifically to your gun, that covers the trigger completely. There are many options - which I've covered before. You'll also want a carrier for a spare magazine.

More important than the holster is a good quality GUN belt. Thin, flexible belts don't have the stones to support a handgun. A belt made specifically to support a gun spreads the weight across the hips, and won't flop away from the body like a lesser belt.

My Bias
Here are my biases, not that they should matter in your choices:

- My working guns are Glocks. Yes, they're plastic. Yes, they all look alike, and some would say they're without soul. They're also ubiquitous police firearms - something like 60% of law enforcement in this country is toting a glock. That means accessories and parts are easily available. They're simple to clean and work on. The tenifer finish is second to none in my opinion. Some lament the lack of external safties - I like the simple controls.

- My caliber of choice is 10mm. Granted this is an enthusiast's caliber, and isn't available in every store that sells ammo. Thus, my working guns are in 9mm.

- S&W semis & Berettas: I find these guns unattractive, and thus they don't interest me.

- 1911s: These guns are sexy. I've been a fan since long before I was old enough to drive, let alone shoot or own one. However, it seems to me most folks feel the need to send them to a good 'smith for tweaking and polishing before using them for carry purposes. Add to that a single stack, low capacity magazine, and the weight of a steel frame gun, and I'm not interested in carrying one. Mine are just for the range. Besides, I don't train with one, so those extra controls require too much thinking.

- SIG: I love the look of SIG pistols, and they shoot very well for me. The bore axis is a little high, which always gives me a strange feeling of not quite aiming them properly. The DA/SA trigger takes a bit of work to master, but can certainly be done. The advantage of this action is double strike ability, which is lacking in both glocks and 1911s. (Of course, TRB takes precedence over double strike.)

Those are my opinions, please feel free to stop by and give my friend your thoughts.

Oh, and if you want a reference "text" on selecting guns: Boston's Gun Bible.

In my experience, survival minded folks tend to be of a secretive nature. There are many possible reasons for this: a distrust of people in general, an introverted personality, personal security, or the simple belief that folks don't need to know things that aren't their business.

As a "technology professional", for me this secretive nature quickly translates into security of my electronic data and communications. I've got two freely available tools that I'd like to share with you - Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), and TrueCrypt. The first is an excellent tool for encrypted communications via e-mail - I've been using it since 1995. The latter is a relatively new tool to encrypt and decrypt files on your computer, transparently and real time.

PGP works on the concept of public-key cryptography (PKC). Wikipedia has a decent write-up, so I won't go into extensive detail here. Simply put, PKC encryption uses two keys: a private (secret) one held securely by you, and a public one broadcast far and wide. The two keys are mathematically related, but the private can not be determined from the public. You use someone else's public key to encrypt a message; only they can decode it by using their own private key. The encrypted message can be sent in the body of an e-mail, but looks like an arbitrary block of characters. Additionally, PGP can be used as a secure digital signature, by signing the message one's private key, and verifying with the public. It sounds a little complicated, but the software makes it easy, walking you through the steps of creating a key pair, and reducing encrypting & signing to a couple quick mouse clicks. You can download the software from the link in the second paragraph. While it says that it is trialware, at the end of the 30 day trial period, some functionality is shut off, but the basic encrypt/decrypt remains available for use at no charge.

The second piece of software is TrueCrypt. This software lets you set up an encrypted vault in which to keep sensitive files. It handles all of the encryption and decryption on the fly. That is, the software decrypts the file you want when you open it, and encrypts it again when you're done. All you need to do is enter your passphrase once to open the vault. Once you've done that, it looks just like another physical disk on your computer. I've been using it for about a year with only one problem. (The software allows you to use a file as part of your password - if the keyfile changes, you can get locked out of your vault.) I even run applications from my TrueCrypt drive with no significant performance hit. (Probably not the case for intense apps, like games.) Again, you can download from the earlier link - it's a pretty simple setup.

So, with no further ado, I present to you my PGP Public Key, should you decide to experiment with encrypted communications, or want to talk with me without the prying eyes that abound on the internet.

Edit: I tried signing (but not encrypting) this message with PGP, so you could see how it's done. However the blog formatting seems to corrupt the signature, so I'm forgoing this for now. Of course, I'm happy to trade PGP e-mail with anyone so inclined.

Warning & Disclaimer
Firefighting is inherently dangerous work. The following article is not a substitute for professional training in fire suppression activities and good common sense. If a fire breaks out in your home, the best course of action is to evacuate immediately and dial 911 for assistance. Attempting to extinguish a fire puts you at extreme risk of injury and/or death.

Now with that out of the way, let’s talk about what you can do to prevent, slow, or suppress a fire when the nearest fire truck is far, far away. By way of background, I was a volunteer firefighter for ten years; six of those years were spent in a rural fire district where our farthest border could take 20 minutes to reach. We ran in the neighborhood of 300 - 400 fire & rescue calls per year. (We also ran in excess of 3000 medical emergencies per year.)

Prevention

The best way to fight fire is to prevent one from ever happening. Inside your home, eliminate or contain sources of ignition as best you can. Choose battery powered LED lanterns over candles or liquid fuel lanterns. If you must use a lantern, make sure it is placed a safe distance from combustible materials such as papers and curtains, and placed on a fire resistant surface. Make sure fireplace screens are in good repair, and that your chimney is kept clean. If you have a freestanding wood stove, keep combustibles a safe distance from the sides. Make sure electrical wiring meets code, is in good repair, and protected by properly sized over-current devices (i.e. circuit breakers). Limit the use of extension cords and power bars, and avoid overloading outlets and circuits. Take care to store flammable household products safely, preferably in a flammable cabinet in a building detached from the residence. Oily rags from household products should be sealed in metal cans or submerged in water.

Outside of your home, you can construct a fire break to prevent nearby fires from reaching your house, particularly if you live in an area susceptible to forest fires. At a minimum, the nearest tree line will be 100 yards away. (This results in a circle of about 1.6 acres, with the house in the middle.) Within that area, grass should be kept trimmed short, preferably irrigated and green. Small bushes or gardens can be in this area. No bushes should be within 50 feet of the house. Avoid stacking firewood or other fuels near or against your walls. Bulk tanks of liquid fuel such as gasoline or propane should be away from the house, ideally buried or bermed. If the house is new construction, consider using fire resistant materials such as brick, stone, or HardiPlank, and topping with a metal roof. (Consider installing piped roof sprinklers if you have a good water supply and fire pump – see below.)

Detecting a fire

If a fire does break out, it’s vital to catch it while it is small. This is when it’s easiest to contain and extinguish. A fire will grow exponentially in a very short time.

Working smoke detectors are vital to alert occupants to an incipient fire. The best detectors are hard-wired to the electrical system, have a self-contained battery backup, and are interconnected to one another such that activation of one causes all to alert. The detectors may be wired to your monitored home security system, and can alert the fire department automatically of an alarm situation. Detectors should be located in every bedroom, at the top of every staircase, near (but not in) the kitchen, near fireplaces or woodstoves, in the attic, and in the utility room with the furnace / boiler and water heater.

While smoke detectors great for alerting occupants, they are passive devices which do nothing to contain or extinguish a fire, requiring someone be present to begin firefighting operations. The absolute best option for home fire safety is residential fire sprinklers. They can easily be added to new construction, and can be retrofitted to existing structures for a cost. If a sprinkler activates due to a fire, not only does it sound an alarm, but it actively delivers water to the fire to contain, or in many cases, extinguish the fire while it’s small. Unlike in the movies, sprinklers do not activate en masse (generally), but instead activate individually nearest the fire. While there may be some water damage, it will be less damage than if the fire runs rampant.

On that note, when fighting fire, anything goes. Do not hesitate to do damage to your home to make sure you completely extinguished everything. Punch holes in the ceiling, rip cabinets off the wall, cut holes in the roof. The damage you do will be less severe, and more easily repaired, than the fire damage should the fire rekindle. (Assuming a post-TEOTWAWKI event. If you can get a fire truck there, call the professionals to make sure it's out!)

Firefighting 101

Before we talk about extinguishing fires, let’s discuss a little bit of theory. Fires generally fall into one of four categories based on their fuel type, i.e. what’s burning. These classifications are:
- Class A: Solid combustibles – wood, paper, etc. A house fire falls into this category.
- Class B: Flammable liquids – grease, oil, gasoline, kerosene, etc.
- Class C: Electrical fires when there is still live current involved.
- Class D: Combustible metals like magnesium. These fires burn very hot and require special chemicals to handle efficiently.

We also need to discuss a little bit of basic fire chemistry. A fire requires four things to burn: fuel, oxygen, heat, and a chemical chain reaction. These things make up what’s referred to as the “Fire Tetrahedron”. If you take any one of these away, the fire goes out. Right there is the key to extinguishing a fire, so I’m going to say it again:

Take away any leg of the Fire Tetrahedron, and the fire goes out.

Fire Extinguishers
The basic tool for fighting small fires is the fire extinguisher. Extinguishers come in many sizes, with many different suppression agents. The agents are classified by fuel type, matching the fire classes defined above. For general use, I would keep several 10 pound ABC dry chemical extinguishers around the house. These are good, general purpose extinguishers capable of putting out most small, common household fires. Get a good quality one with a metal handle and you will be able to have it serviced and recharged after you use it. (By the way, extinguishers are single use devices. Once it’s been discharged, even just a little bit, it needs to be professionally serviced and recharged.) Keep an extinguisher near the kitchen, but not right next to the stove. You need to be able to reach it if the stove is on fire. I would also recommend keeping an extinguisher in the bedroom, near the utility room, and in the garage. Make sure you have them in any outbuildings that you might occupy.

Another useful tool to keep around the house is a pressurized water (PW) extinguisher. These cans hold about 2.5 gallons of plain water, and can be recharged at home using an air compressor. This makes them very useful for hosing down a campfire, burn barrel or small mulch fire. There is very little cleanup required after discharging one, unlike a dry chem extinguisher.

If you’ve never used a fire extinguisher, you should find one to practice with. A lot of fire departments are willing to help, and will set up a class if you can get a group of neighbors or coworkers together.

A fire extinguisher is very easy to use, and is even easier if you remember the acronym P-A-S-S. It stands for:
- Pull the pin.
- Aim at the base of the fire.
- Squeeze the handle.
- Sweep side to side.

When using an extinguisher, always keep an escape route to your back, and never turn your back on the fire, even if you think it has gone out. Before approaching the fire, test your extinguisher by squeezing the handle briefly – you don’t want to approach if your extinguisher doesn’t work! Avoid spraying the chemical agent straight down into the fire, as that can cause the fire to splash up onto you. Instead, sweep the agent across the burning surface, like moving dirt across the floor with a garden hose. If your extinguisher runs out, back out of the room, evacuate the house, and call for help. If you can’t put a fire out with one extinguisher, it’s too big to fight by yourself, and you need professional help.

Forest Fires / Wildfires

Forestry firefighting is a far different beast from structural firefighting, and is not my area of expertise. While structural firefighting generally depends on massive amounts of water to cool the fire (taking away the heat, above), forestry work generally depends on taking away the fuel to starve the fire. Around the homestead, the firebreak described above is a huge step in the right direction. Keep rakes, shovels, and PW extinguishers at hand to extinguish any burning embers than find their way into your perimeter. By keeping the fire well back from the structure, a defensive application of water to keep the building cool will likely preserve the structure. If you live if wildfire areas, talk to your local fire departments to get additional suggestions.

Fire Pumps & Hoses

If your homestead is lucky enough to have a good source of water (i.e. a large pond or lake), it may be worthwhile to invest in a fire pump and some firefighting hoses and nozzles. This will give you more options for firefighting, particularly for forest fires. (It could also be used to provide irrigation when not needed for firefighting, to help offset / justify the cost.) This option requires a more detailed knowledge of firefighting, including pump operation, water supply, and hose stream operations, all of which are outside the scope of this article.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Some of the dangers of firefighting can be mitigated through the use of proper PPE. I don’t suggest everyone needs a full set of structural turn-out gear and SCBA. However, for forestry firefighting around the homestead, a set of nomex wildfire gear, with helmet and hood is affordable and may help prevent some burn injuries.

Entire books have been written on the subject of selecting a property for use as a homestead and/or retreat (a.k.a. a Bug-Out Location). With this article, I hope to address some of the more salient points, as I begin the search for my ideal property.

Location, Location, Location

As with all real estate, the three golden items to look for are location, location, location. For a homestead, that most likely means a rural property. For a retreat, it may mean a truly remote property.

A brief definition: To me, "rural" means an area consisting primarily of farm land. The property likely borders a state or county road, has electricity and telephone wires immediately accessible, is relatively near a small town, and is serviced by local emergency services, even if they're 20 minutes out at best. A “remote” property is not only off grid, but beyond the grid - wires just don't extend out this far. It may be surrounded or bordered by government land (e.g. national forest), and access may require four-wheel drive for most of the year. Its well off the beaten path – driving anywhere is a time commitment. Emergency services are a distance, if available, so you are on your own if something bad happens. Both rural and remote properties have pros and cons; you’ll need to identify your needs and decide which is right for you.

Securing access to your property is paramount. It may border on a public road, which guarantees access. Alternately, you may have a deeded right-of-way through private property, which is acceptable. Anything less could result in your property becoming inaccessible to you on the whims of the owners of surrounding property.

Another item to take into consideration when looking at property is employment opportunities. As much as we might like to live entirely off our own land, it is naïve to think that we won’t need some form of outside income. It may be possible to generate income by selling something you raise (eggs, chicken, milk, beef, rabbit, lamb, duck, herbs, vegetables, lumber, firewood, wool, breeding stock, honey), build (furniture, fences, cabinets, clothing, baked goods, soap, cheese), or by offering a unique or in-demand service. Regardless, you will require a customer base, which must be taken into consideration. If you require (or desire?) a regular “9 to 5” position, availability of jobs and travel time must be considered.

You may also consider potential neighbors when reviewing properties. How close are they? How long have they lived here? Do they grow or raise anything you might like to trade for? Do they seem trustworthy and friendly? Neighbors may be difficult to assess, depending upon your people skills.

Lastly, conduct a thorough threat assessment of the property. Is it in a hurricane zone? Does it sit upon a fault line? Is it located in forest fire territory? Is it susceptible to flooding? Is there evidence of frequent trespassers cutting through? Is there wildlife that may consider you a meal? Are there near-by highways or rail lines that might bring hazardous materials into your backyard? Is it downwind of a likely nuclear target or power plant? Is it near a graveyard that will produce roaming hordes of zombies after the apocalypse? (Just checking to see who’s still reading.) A frank review of potential hazards, including possible mitigation, will help you select a safe, secure retreat.

Utilities

Unless you desire a 16th century rustic retreat, you will need to think about utilities. If you’re buying an existing structure, they’re likely already in place. If you’re purchasing undeveloped land, or an existing rustic structure, what will be necessary to utilize 21st century technology?

If an electric utility grid is available, it may be as easy as “plugging in”. If you’re a distance from the grid, it can range from pricey to prohibitive to make the same connection. In that case, an off-grid renewable energy system based on solar, wind or microhydro generation may be an option. A generator may also be an option, but will require a constant source of fuel which may become unavailable.

For water, is there a spring on the property which can be developed and utilized? Can you sink a reliable well? How is the quality of the water – is there contamination from industrial or agricultural runoff?

Waste management can be as simple as building a septic system (or outhouse). Other options, including composting or incinerating toilets are available, as are books on humanure.

No matter how remote we go, I know I can’t live without my internet connection. Remote data communication is available through satellite services such as Hughes. Television and radio signals are available the same way, but I find those to be less necessary to my happiness.

Size & Use

How you intend to utilize the property will largely determine its size. Will this be your primary residence now or at some time in the future? Or, will this always be a secondary residence? Or, will you leave the property undeveloped indefinitely?

Do you plan to keep livestock on the property? If so, what kind, and how many? Do they require pasture? Will you grow feed for them? Will you grow your own food? If so, what percentage of your diet will you supply, and how large of a garden will you need to accomplish that? Does that include storage foods? Will you also grow row crops, such as corn or grain? Will you have fruit and nut orchards, or vineyards?

Will you have a woodlot for heating or lumber? Is it big enough to be self-sufficient? Will it also provide sufficient and diverse wildlife habitat for hunting & trapping purposes?

Water Features

Any piece of property will be enhanced by natural water features. The price will reflect this enhancement. However, the advantages of year round water can not be understated. A good supply of water for washing, irrigation, fishing, drinking (with proper filtration / treatment), and recreation makes the increased price worth paying. Natural water will draw wildlife. Perhaps the most important point of having a substantial supply of water is for firefighting operations, whether you equip your homestead for “Do It Yourself” or will depend upon the local fire department.

Defensibility

While reviewing the property, evaluate how you would defend the property. Do you depend on remaining hidden, or on having superior numbers on the high ground? Can you make use of the natural lay of the property to restrict and control access?

There is a trade off between remaining hidden and holding the high ground. Building on a ridgeline may offer the best views, solid sniping positions, and good opportunities for renewable energies, but it also makes you visible from long distances. That makes you a flashing neon target.

Alternately, by building in a hidden location, people may move right past your retreat without knowing you’re there. However, if they do find you, you will have little to no warning before they are right on top of your retreat. Additionally, you may limit your defensive (read: shooting) and tactical withdraw (read: running like hell) options if you’re nestled away somewhere, surrounded by places for bad guys to hide.

Find a happy medium: build on the edge of a meadow or just below a ridgeline, so that you have options available to you.

Structures

When comparing properties, you may be faced with judging a property with one or more buildings against one completely undeveloped. This can severely complicate your decision.

Developed properties are clearly going to draw a premium price. You are paying for an existing infrastructure, which can be costly to create from scratch, particularly in a remote location. Developed properties are likely move-in ready, and provide shelter and function with relatively little work. However, you are largely locked into someone else’s vision: how the property is laid out, materials of which the structures are built, even many of the aesthetics. You can attempt to retrofit your vision into existing buildings, but this can also be a costly endeavor on top of the already more expensive property.

Alternately, you can purchase undeveloped land, and create your own infrastructure. Doing so requires a great deal of planning, organization and forethought, as well as money and/or sweat equity. However, the payoff is a homestead that fits your exact vision.

Viewing Properties

Today, many potential properties can be located on-line, using sites like Realtor.com or Land & Farm. Additionally, sites like Google maps make it easy to view maps and aerial photographs of sites. However, there is no substitute for walking a property before you purchase. You need to put boots on the ground, and walk as much of the property as you can, on more than one occasion. Make sure you walk the entire perimeter. Inspect fences, waterways, and rock structures. Take a good look at the trees. Watch for signs of wildlife and visiting humans. Does the property look healthy? Does it readily support life? If you can, you may want to span your visits across multiple seasons, as perspective will change in different times of the year.

Before buying, make sure you have a professional survey completed. It is important that you are aware of the legal boundaries of your property, and that you have them clearly marked. That doesn’t necessarily mean constructing a perimeter fence or posting signs. Surveyors will drive rebar or otherwise mark the corners of your property. Taking the time to note these locations (maybe using GPS waypoints) will likely come in useful in the future.

Affordability

For most of the population, home ownership is the largest single purchase they will ever make, and most can not afford to make a single outlay of cash to the full purchase price. Financing a property is a common solution. While many decry credit as evil, used intelligently, it is a safe, useful tool. However, if your personal threat assessment includes the economic collapse of society, it is in your best interest (pun intended) to pay off your loan as quickly as possible.

You will also need to take annual property taxes into account while determining your purchasing budget. It would be unthinkable to lose your carefully developed, fully stocked survival retreat to the government because you can’t pay the taxes in times of economic collapse. If you can afford to do so, it may be beneficial to pay your taxes a few years in advance.

Also consider in your budget expenditures on developing and improving your property, whether you buy developed or undeveloped land. Ideally, these improvements should be paid for in cash. Currently, many big home improvement stores (Lowe’s, Home Depot) will float purchases over $300 at 0% for a period of six to twelve months on their own credit accounts. This is another example of credit used smartly. Just be sure to pay it off before the offer ends, lest the interest from the entire time period will come back to haunt you.

Lastly, consider your ultimate return on investment. This point may not apply to everyone, as some people can be absolutely sure they will die on this property, and it will pass down to children for generations. For most, however, the day will come when the property will change hands for some amount of money. A well designed, built, and maintained homestead will demand a premium, as discussed above. However, remote properties, no matter how exquisite, may be difficult to sell. Compound that with bad design, shoddy construction, and poor maintenance, and you may not recover the equity poured into the property. Location, location, location drives the market, but quality closes the deal.

Holding Title

For any property, be it city condo, homestead or retreat, there may be advantages to keeping the owner’s identity concealed. Deeding the property via Living Trust or LLC can shelter the ownership, as well as provide tax and estate planning benefits. Consider speaking with an estate attorney prior to making a homestead purchase.

One of the first kits a survivalist may put together is commonly referred to as a Pocket Survival Kit (PSK) or "Altoids" kit, so named due to the popularity of using an empty candy tin as a container.

This kit serves the purpose of a last-ditch stash of gear that is always with you in the event all other gear is lost. In my mind, if it comes down to using this kit, I "Done Fucked Up". It is not designed to be comprehensive, but to provide a few basic tools to make a bad situation more managable. Because of it's small size, it can easily be carried in a pocket at all times when in the wilderness.

Here is my kit. Let's open it up and take a look inside.

Left to right, we've unwrapped the kit, starting by removing half a dozen "Ranger Bands". These are simply pieces of bicycle tire intertube, cut into approximately 1" bands. They serve to protect the 550 cord wrapped around the kit, keep it neatly organized, and can be used as tinder to start a fire. The 550 cord is wrapped around the box in a double layer: this provides about 21 feet of cord. (550 cord can have the seven inner strands separated from the sheath for individual uses, such as sewing or fishing.) The 550 cord is wrapped over a large contractor garbage bag. This bag can be used to improvise a dry shelter, or can be worn like a poncho. Finally, the candy tin itself is sealed with electrical tape. Two full turns around the perimeter of the box provides about two feet of tape, and should help keep the contents dry if the box becomes briefly submerged.

Inside, you can see that things are quite cramped. Fitting everything in is like completing a jigsaw puzzle. However, in this puzzle, the pieces may never fit together the same way twice. Take some time in putting your pieces together, and don't be afraid to pull your kit apart and start over - that's half the fun.

Here are the entire contents, spread out for review.

• Twenty-one (21) feet of 550 cord
• Six (6) "Ranger Bands"
• Large contractor trash bag
• Three (3) feet - flagging tape
• Leather sling pouch
• Small fishing kit, including shot weights, hooks, and swivels. There's about 50' of monofilament on a sewing bobbin
• Wire saw, with split rings detached
• Several sewing needles taped to lid of tin
• Twelve (12) waterproof matches, with striker taped to lid of tin
• Four (4) large safety pins
• Foil packet of Blistex lip balm
• Whistle
• Eight (8) Katadyn Micropur Purification Tablets - enought for 8 quarts of water
• Small penknife
• 18" x 18" sheet of Heavy Duty aluminum foil
• Diamond sharpener card
• SparkLite fire starter, with 7 pieces of tinder (one in fishing kit, to stop rattles). The tinder can be used to fill gaps in the kit as needed.
• Small synthetic flint

Some might notice that there are some items arguably missing from my kit - a compass, a small light (like a Photon), a way to store water. I agree, but this is still (and always?) a work in progress.

Some people like to include paper to write upon, or snare wire. Some people include band-aids or pharmaceuticals. Some people include pieces of candy, tea bags or bouillon cubes. You will need to use your judgement on what is important for you.

This kit was originally based on Doug Ritter's Mini Survival Kit. Equipped to Survive is an excellent resource on this topic.

Long before the internet, gun nuts have debated the best gun for activities X, Y and Z. I'm going to weigh in on this debate with my own opinion regarding what I consider the ideal "basic" collection of firearms.

If someone asks "How many guns do you need?", I believe the best answer is 7. Let's look at that magic number in detail, in no particular order.

1. .22 Pistol - A .22 caliber pistol is a great gun on which to start out a new pistol shooter, or allow the experienced shooter a great deal of practice at a small ammunition cost. It is handy for taking small game at close range, and is fairly quiet. I'm a fan of the Ruger Mk II or Mk III pistols, in a 5-7 inch barrel, although many good revolvers are available in this caliber. Ammo is very cheap, so lots can be kept on hand for practice, hunting, or pest removal.


2. .22 Rifle - The .22 rifle shares all of the good points of the .22 pistol. Again, Ruger makes the quintessential .22 rifle, the Ruger 10/22. You could also get a .22 rifle in a bolt action gun.


3. Full Size "Combat" Pistol - This is your primary handgun, for both open and concealed carry. It should be chambered in a service caliber (9mm, 10mm, .40S&W, .357SIG, .45ACP), should be semi-automatic and magazine fed, and must be equipped with tritium night sights. I prefer to stick with the well known brands - Glock, SIG, Colt, HK. Whatever make & model you choose, you must test it with your chosen quality hollow-point ammo. You must be confident the gun will go bang every time. I like to keep about a dozen magazines on hand, as well as a complete set of springs for the gun. Good quality in-waistband (IWB) and on-waistband (OWB) holsters are a must.


4. Compact "Deep Concealable" Pistol - Sometimes, you just can't carry a full sized handgun. For these times, a small gun well hidden on your body beats going around unarmed. Like the combat pistol, it should be chambered in a service caliber and have night sights. Kahr has a nice selection of guns that fit in this category, available in 9mm, .40 and .45. I also consider a snub-nosed revolver in .38 Special or .357 Magnum an acceptable addition to this category.


5. Battle Rifle - This is your primary defensive weapon if things go downhill in a big way. This should be a rifle of proven military design, such as the AR-15, AK47, M1A or FAL, in a common military caliber (5.56NATO, 7.62NATO, 7.62x39). It must be equipped with a sling. It should be magazine fed, and may be equipped with an electronic low power optic (such as an EOTech or Aimpoint), however backup iron sights are necessary. Mounted lights can be nice, but you can get by without. Keep at least a dozen mags; get many, many more if you can afford them.


6. 12ga Shotgun - A shotgun is a nice multipurpose gun, capable of shooting light bird loads, heavy buck loads, or devastating slugs, as well as select "Less-Lethal" loads like beanbags and rubber buckshot. They are frequently available with interchangable barrels, allowing you to go from a 26" hunting barrel to an 18" social barrel in just a few minutes. I prefer to keep things simple with a pump action, rather than semi-automatic gun. Remington 870 and Mossburg 590 seem to be the dominant species of social shotguns out there.


7. Precision Bolt Rifle - The ability to reach out and touch someone over 300 yards away with pinpoint accuracy can make all the difference in the world. The "sniper" rifle should be bolt action, chambered in a common .30 caliber round (think .308 Winchester or .30-06 Springfield), equipped with a sling and bipod, and topped with good quality magnifying optics (minimum 4x, perhaps even better at 6x). The leading rifle in this category is probably some variant of the Remington 700, but Savage, FN and others make excellent long range guns. These guns also double as hunting rifles, taking any animal in North America with ease.

As will all things, these guns are just tools. Many guns can be made to perform tasks better left to a different gun (ie hunting deer with a .22 vs a .30-06), however, the best functionality comes from an experienced shooter putting the bullet in the right place. To squeeze the most functionality from your tools, you must practice, practice, practice.

Of course, if funds allow, there's no reason to stop at seven guns. Expanding your collection is quite satisfying if you enjoy guns as fine machines.

There is a commonly cited axiom in the preparedness community called the Rule of Three, which states you can live 3 minutes without air, 3 days without water, and 3 weeks without food. With that in mind, we’re going to focus on potable water.

The human body requires water to function. Water helps move oxygen and nutrients around the body as a component of blood, helps eliminate waste, regulate body temperature, moisten tissue and digest food. Even mild dehydration begins to slow and shut down necessary bodily functions. The body excretes approximately 2 liters of water a day through normal function, which needs to be continually replaced.

Additionally, water coupled with soap is a simple, effective way to maintain cleanliness and prevent infection, which can be life threatening following a disaster event. Further, being clean can be a huge morale booster, and provide some semblance or normal life.

Two liters of water per day is considered the minimum ration for an adult to maintain proper hydration. Add to that another two liters for cooking and hygiene, and you are talking an absolute minimum of one gallon per person per day. (Don’t forget to plan for pets!) With minimum intake, you will not be hiking marathon distances, clearing heavy storm debris, searching through rubble for survivors, or any other strenuous activity. Physical activity will greatly increase your body’s demand for water, so plan accordingly.

It is also necessary, although to a lesser degree, to replace electrolytes. This is usually accomplished through food intake, but during heavy activity can be supplemented sparingly with sports drinks like Gookinaid or diluted Gatoraid.

Post event, the municipal water supply may be compromised or unavailable. It will be necessary to have a supply of potable water available to you. The best way to guarantee this is to put some water in storage. Water is bulky and heavy at 8.33 pounds per gallon (or 62.4 pounds per cubic foot). Assuming you are planning to store water in the amount of one gallon for two adults for 90 days (180 gallons), you can accomplish this with four 55 gallon drums. Each drum will weigh 458 pounds - they will not be easily moved when full. Drums can frequently be acquired from a soft drink bottling plant at little to no cost. Drums may also be available in 15 and 30 gallon sizes.

If drums are not to your liking, there are other containers available to suit your taste. You can clean out 2L soda bottles and refill them with treated water. Water can be purchased in 5 gallon bottles for use on a water cooler. Cases of 20oz water bottles can be purchased at warehouse stores. You can acquire military style “Jerry Cans” in 10L and 20L capacities.

Whatever container you choose, it is important to treat the water at storage time, and regularly rotate (every 6 months) to insure it remains potable when you need it. You can add plain Clorox bleach to clear tap water to disinfect. Use 1 teaspoon per gallon of clear water, mix and allow to stand. The water should have a slight chlorine odor; if not, repeat dosing. The taste and odor can be eliminated from treated water by pouring it several times between clean containers immediately before use.

If you use all of your storage water, or no longer have access to your stores, it may become necessary to collect water from natural sources. You could potentially collect water from streams or lakes or catch rain runoff from your roof. Seawater and brackish water should not be collected for consumption.

Any collected water must be treated to prevent illness, such as infection from the Giardia parasite, which can cause stomach cramps, vomiting, and diarrhea. Water can be run through a reliable camping filter, such as one from Katadyn or MSR. It can be chemically treated with chlorine bleach as described earlier, or with iodine or chlorine tablets per manufacturer’s instructions. In large quantity, water can be brought to a rolling boil and allowed to cool, although this requires a large amount of fuel. Large debris such as leaves can be pre-filtered through pieces of cloth.

Water is essential to life, and clean water is essential to a healthy life. Begin to prepare now for the day that fresh, potable water is no longer a twist of a valve away.

(Links are not endorsments of the vendors, simply provided for reference.)

One of my goals for this site is to provide a useful resource to people interested in "survivalism", both new-comers and old-hands. With that in mind, I have created a new blog category for what I'll call Tutorials.

I can't promise that I'll have new information every day, or that everything I post is new to everyone, or even that I'll get every fact correct. I will try to be as accurate as possible, and to make every post useful. Please feel free to comment, enhance what I offer, and make requests on a topic you might like me to address.