Preparing

One of the things that a person needs to do first when preparing for a disaster is to have a definite plan of action. This can be a problem as there are a multitude of things that can put you in a survival situation. This is the reason I like to revisit the subject of preparing from time to time. It seems like things change as time goes by and a good survivalist needs to change with them. As I stated last week, I think things are going to happen prior to the 2008 election. Let us take the possibilities one at a time.

This week let us look at martial law. What exactly is martial law and how will it affect us? First, martial law will set the constitution aside and you will have no rights. Once that happens the many presidential orders that were signed will be brought into play. Guns may be taken away by the military. This is a reason for secreting at least some of your guns and ammo. I do not believe that it would be our own military that would do the confiscation. I believe that foreign military personnel would be the ones doing the confiscating. I do not believe that our own military would do something like that. I feel that that is one of the reasons that most of our military, including the national guard, are overseas. This gives our government a reason to call on the U.N. to help them out. That is like asking a coyote to help guard the rabbits. One of the methods of hiding guns and ammo, which I have in my book "Stash It" is to drill a post hole between the roots of a large tree and slide a gun encased in PVC pipe down into the hole and then cover it. This puts the gun under the tree itself and makes it difficult to find even with a metal detector. Another method is bury the gun (again in PVC) next to your garage or garden shed. Now pile some pipe and other metal on top of that area. This is not foolproof but depending on where you live may be your best bet.

The main running of the country will be turned over to Homeland Insecurity or some department thereof. There are already plans to limit the amount of food one can have on hand. Anything more will be considered hoarding. Here again, hiding a certain amount of your food supply may be the best thing to do. Bury an old refrigerator or freezer in the ground and fill it with non-perishable food such as freeze-dried, dehydrated or other long lasting well packaged foods. Try to have all storage foods vacuum sealed for even longer storage.

Have items on hand for barter. .22 caliber ammo, other common ammo, shotgun shells (12ga), pre 1965 silver coins, etc. Anything that will be valuable to others when they are not allowed to purchase them will be of value. Some of the stored freeze dried food may be good barter items if it leaves you with enough for yourself. All of these things need to be hidden also as there are executive orders that prohibit hoarding of any kind. Some you may want to put in with your food in the buried freezer, some you may want to bury separately and some you may want to hide right in your house our outbuildings (if you have some).

These are three main items to remember if you expect martial law. You can also have some seeds on hand and tools and equipment to make do if the government decides to come down hard on h citizens of this country. If you do not have a garden now, you should. Even if it is just enough to have a couple of salads or meals from. Attempting to learn how to garden under stressful times like martial law is not the thing to do and is not being a good survivalist. Another thing that it helps is that you can use up your seeds from year to year. Seeds do not last forever.

Think about some of these things and make your plans now. The day martial law is declared is too late. If it happens there will probably be troops in place and you will have no time to plan.
More on this and other scenarios next week.

Is It Time?

Sorry about the month between postings. I have been out of town and have been very busy on a couple of other projects. Now that they are off the ground maybe I can get back to work helping everyone to prepare. You will also notice that I am not following up on my previous posting. I have an idea that we may be nearer than any of us had imagined to the time to put our knowledge to use. This week's entry will be a short entry on what I see happening and what to do about it. Then next week, back to where we left off.

I see either a civil war or martial law coming to our country in the very near future. The flash point is the immigration issue. If the immigration bill passes, giving twenty million invaders amnesty, I am not sure that American citizens will be able to be controlled. If no immigration bill is passed, there will be twenty million invaders who will be up in arms. They have been doing much rioting to get the bill passed and for their so-called "rights". I cannot see them taking it peacefully if they are denied everything. Due to the fact that most of the National Guard is in Iraq or Afghanistan, I do not believe that even martial law will be able to contain them. As for the other way around, I do not believe that Americans will start shooting the way the Mexicans probably will. However, there are more and more people coming to realize that it is not right to give millions of invaders every thing they want when they have broken the law to try to get it. I do not know what they will do, but it could be anything from simple marching and civil disobedience to actual fighting with the invaders. This is where the militia is needed. If every state had a militia that the constitution called for, we could quell the riots either way.

Part of our survival preparation should be the joining of a good militia. I am not talking about the good ol' boys that go out and shoot up a lot of ammo, but an organization that can help in emergencies. Oh, guns, ammo and the practice with them is a necessary part of a militia but not the only part. Learn about first aid, crowd control, what to do in the event of a disaster, be it a pipe bomb or a tornado. As the National Guard is being used as part of the standing army, the militias need to be formed to do what needs to be done in an emergency. So join or start a good, honest, constitutional militia. Be open about it and let people know what you are doing.

Now is the time to make many of the other preparations that we have discussed in the past. Make sure you have plenty of seeds for your next year's garden. Make sure you have your guns in good shape and plenty of ammo. This is as much for hunting for food as it is for defending yourself and your family. Get plenty of practice with you weapons. Make your plans now as to how and when to leave your area if that is in your plans. Make sure that your weapons and ammo are secure, maybe even bury some of them. Now is not the time to have weapons stolen by someone who is out to get you. If martial law is declared having some of them buried may save them for you. Have several different methods of communications. Cell phone, land line, CB radio, hand held FM radio and if possible short wave. I do not communicate on short wave but I do have a receiver. With the controlled media being what it is, short wave and the Internet may be our only real way of finding out what is going on. Also, make sure you have a supply of gold or silver, preferably silver. You may need it to purchase items. If you do not have any gold or silver, keep something on hand to barter with.

Make sure your vehicle is in good shape and that the tires are good. Even if you do not intend to bug out (and I do not) it may become necessary. Having a backpack full of food and other essentials that is kept in the vehicle at all times is also a good idea. Having food stashed where it cannot be found and stolen or confiscated is another priority.

As you can see, what I am suggesting now is beginning to do what I have always talked about on this blog. I feel that the time to make ready is "NOW". No one can be sure of just when it will happen, but my feeling is this fall or next spring, but definitely before the election of 2008. I hope and pray that I am wrong, but I will not have lost anything by being ready even if it does not come about. Survive.