Project Apocalypse

It's been a while, anyone out there?

2013-04-05T10:13:00.001-07:00

I'm going to assume I'd been hearing crickets right about now, but I'll digress anyways lol. It's been several months since my last post, and while I'll admit I haven't done a lot in the way of prepping since my last post, I will however state that I haven't done nothing. A few purchases here and a couple new thoughts there along with some intermittent learning and. Arrive here today. The main catalyst for my absence was a cross country move back in October. Our youngest daughter whom was diagnosed with classic autism at the age of 18 months started to show signs of bipolar disorder at the age of 14. With the two disorders life became very hard, and living in a small community in a small (numbers wise) territory in northern canada with no real services available, the move back to civilization became all too nessisary. Now being a mostly unplanned move made it a. Pretty costly, and b. very badly planned and executed. So with the cost and lack of jobs in place, we've spent these many months with barely enough money to scrape by, hence the lack of anything preppry. I pretty much altogether ceased even looking at stuff online or in person, due to the fact that it drove me crazy not to be ale to purchase anything. So, what have I been up to since my last post? Lets list it off. 1. Upon arrival here I received my last "cool" purchase in the mail, and that was a katana sword which is pretty cool and very not me to purchase. Not that I wouldn't want a sword, but that spending money on something that I definitely will not get to use (properly that is) until the shit really has hit the fan, is really not like me. I have a hard time justifying things I will use, so this was a change of mindset purchase for me. 2. For Christmas I got myself one of those folding pocket style camping stoves and a wire saw.... I know what you're thinking, "whoa big spender, calm down now save some for the next guy lol" but I chose to really not get anything for Christmas so the kids could have something decent, especially with this potentially being our eldest daughters last at home. 3. Over the course of the six months, I've purchased a couple decent used bags to start putting together bug out bags for the rest of the family. So far, my bag is the only one that has anywhere near what one could survive off of, with the others containing more spill ove items from my bag that could be "left behind" if need be. But I eventually hope that all the bags with be self sufficient yet complimentary to each other. One of the secondary bags contains one of those butane stoves that we use to take camping with us, that if we were to have to bug out, would be very nice for cooking. It doesn't take up much space in the bag either, even with extra butane canisters. A little too bulky for my primary, but nicely in a secondary grab if we can handle it bag. 4. I haven't stopped watching any and every eotwawki movie or TV show I can get my hands on over the past few months, I would imagine you can expect reviews on most of them over the next while. Movies and TV shows keep the brain thinking about things I never thought of, s they're good for that. 5. I've recently started another garden, after last years utter failure I decided to try it again. This year I've started planting seedlings inside and hope to plant outside in a few weeks, here's hoping this venture goes better than previously. I'll more than likely write a more detailed description of the garden in anther post soon. On a semi unrelated side note, I alo stopped posting to the TEOTWAWKI CONFESSIONS blog back in October as well. Not that I don't have more confessions to post, I do, and in time I will. So if you follow that blog or wsh to participate in that movement check it out at http://teotwawkiconfessions.blogspot.ca/ and send in some confessions if the mood strikes you, just follow the instructions on that site about submissions. So with all that being said, hopefully this isn't the last post got another six months, do until next time, here's hoping you get why you need before the shit hits.

7 More Overly Reckless Things to Do Before TEOTWAWKI

2012-09-27T08:58:00.001-07:00

A ways back, I wrote a 7 Things list about 7 Overly Reckless Things to Do Before TEOTWAWKI, where I listed seven things you may wanna get out of the way before the end of mankind lol. Due to the dangerous nature of many of them, it would make little sense to participate in these activities once doctors aren't readily available.

1. Cliff Diving - This is the only thing on either of these lists that I've actually done haha, what a boring life I've lived, even though none of these activities particularly scare me. As far as cliff diving goes I've topped out at seventy fivish feet...and it was awesome. But from my 75 foot impact without a hitch I could see how easily this could go way wrong. And videos on AFV and the Internet a like, have shown me that water can mess you up pretty bad haha. So even though you may find yourself in a situation after TEOTWAWKI where you may NEED to leap off a cliff maybe in a desperate act of self preservation, you should go do this one act maybe tomorrow, or the weekend or something.

2. Base Jumping - In the movie Along Came Polly, Ben Stillers character described base jumping as one of the most dangerous things a human being can do, and without sounding too much like a scaredy cat, I have to agree with him. Base jumping is pretty much a combination a cliff diving and skydiving. The bases in base jumping can be anything from mountain faces to skyscrapers, pretty much anything that gives enough free fall time to deploy you parachute and not die. It's not hard to see why this would be something you should do before there aren't doctors or brand new equipment available.

3. Luging (street or ice) - ice luging as seen on the winter olympics is essentially riding on your back on a rocket sled down a waterslide-like track of speed and danger. Street luging is very similar, but you're sledding down the hills on you back on a sled that kinda resembles a fancy skateboard. Goes without saying, that this, especially street luging is insanely dangerous and should. Be avoided post SHTF, unless maybe you need too make a quick evac from a more dangerous situation. Wiping out a speeds approaching 100mph can lead to serious injury, impending infection, and maybe even death are highly probable. Death from impact at this speed is also very probable. Try to avoid head on impacts, goes without saying right lol.

4. Riding a Bull - Who doesn't want to get a raging psychotic of an animal and ride it as its trying to violently buck you off it's back so that it may kill you in retribution for humiliating it. I don't know if you know this, but bulls are massively huge animals that are especially amassed with huge gigantic muscles, all concentrating on killing you. Bull riders the world over find out exactly what the bull wants to do to them all the time. Bull riders get stomped on, kicked, thrown and even gored for their efforts. So if you must go 2.7 seconds on a bull named fumanchu, get'er done before the economy collapses or Yellowstone erupts.

5. Hang Gliding - even though I think hang gliding may be one of the dangerous things we do now, that would be very useful for alternative transportation after the apocalypse, it still is a very dangerous venture. Riggings fail, and winds do strange things, and this planet is riddled with trees and mountains and even the remaining buildings may get fatally in your way. If you were one that may try and use this method of transport after the fall of society, you may want to go and get very apt at doing it before the shit hits.

7. Swimming with Sharks/Cave Scuba - because I couldn't decide which of these two overly dangerous things involving scuba gear would make the list I kept them both as a group based on the scuba aspect of them both. Swimming with sharks is one of those things that people look at as insane, but usually it involves cages and overly trained handlers and whatnot. Traversing through underwater caves via scuba is considered one of the most dangerous things a human being can do, due to the chances of getting lost in the mazes of caves and dying once your oxygen runs out. So get these and all your other scuba related dreams out of the way, because I'm pretty sure you're gonna have a pretty hard time refilling oxygen tanks after the grids down.

So that concludes the second 7 Overly Reckless Things You Should Do Before TEOTWAWKI, if you haven't read the first click HERE. And if you liked this or the other, check out the other 7 Things Lists by clicking here or by clicking on the tab at the top of the blog. So now that they are both posted, that's fourteen overly reckless things you need to get done before the shit hits, let's hope someone does. And if you are one of those people that have done everything on both lists let me know about it.

7 Overly Reckless Things to Do Before TEOTWAWKI

2012-09-17T17:25:00.001-07:00

We live in a reckless time, and because none of us are asked to be primal or responsible anymore we do insanely messed up dangerous things in order to feel alive. This list is a small list of those things that maybe you want to do before the EOTWAWKI for safeties sake. So in no discernible order here's that list.

1. Skydiving - generally thought of as the grand poobah of reckless endangerment, skydiving is on just about every bucket list out there for one reason...you're jumping out of plain high up in the sky! While we are all told that skydiving isn't as dangerous as we believe, stuff goes wrong. Especially when you factor in surviving the fall lol. We have all heard the stories and watched the video footage of people plummeting to the argh and living to tell the tale. As terrifying as dying during a skydiving accident would be, surviving the perilous fall post-SHTF would be more terrifying, especially for anyone in your party. Where do you take your smashed up friend when there is no hospitals? To the nearest hole in the ground, that's where. Not to mention the most obvious reason this would have to be an addition to your "get it done before the fall" list, the plane, chances are that there isn't going to be a lot of operational planes after TEOTWAWKI.

2. Bungee Jumping - while bungee jumping isn't exactly a new idea, the notion of doing such a thing terrifies most of us and intrigues a small percentage of us. Even though, when asked, people consider bungee jumping a more likely activity they would spontaneously participate in over it's overly excitable plungtastic cousin skydiving, few actually go through with it. The thought of the cord snapping and hurtling us toward the ground with nothing but our faces to break the fall, scares the bejesus out of us. While there haven't been very many fatalities from bungee jumping mishaps, many injuries have occurred even from "successful" jumps. Many of these injuries not exactly bad, but in a post SHTF scenario could prove fatal. So bungee jumping is very much a pre-SHTF bucket list adventure.

3. Mountain Climbing (For Fun)- even though post apocalyptic wastelanders will nodoubtedly be doing some mountain traversing, but for fun? Probably not unless that wastelander actually had a death wish. Why? Mountains are tall, and if you fall off one, you usually die. Weird thing about mountains, not only are they tall, but usually made out of rocks, hard, jagged, skull crushing rock. Slipping and falling pre-SHTF is bad enough, slipping in the post is pretty damn bad if I dont say so myself. Also, pre-SHTF you could have a team of pros guiding you and taking care of you and making sure you don't die. Also, with the pros comes professional equipment. You know as well as I do, that by the time you're needing to climb a mountain post apocalypse you will have long past used all you para cord as shoe lace replacements, and will be using your homemade braided vine rope to climb your post-EOTWAWKI Everest.

4. Running With The Bulls - after the end of the world as we know it, you would probably only find your self running with the bulls in an effort to kill one for food, but before the collapse of society you wanna get it done to fully embrace life. One little known fact about bulls is that they a really huge and very aggressive lol, so armed with that knowledge you can safely bet that the probability of injury when participating in this long running tradition could possibly lead to you being trampled or even gored, injuries one doesn't want after Armageddon.

5.
White Water Rafting - another one of those tasks you may just find yourself doing after the collapse of civilization, but again not for fun. Hard rocks again and raging waters this time, scary stuff when there's no one to fix you. Relying only on your basic understanding of biology and first aid, and using nothing but your basically useless beginners first aid kit, may be a little hard to swallow, but that's life post-SHTF. Nobody likes drowning, but after it all goes sideways, they may not be anyone to mouth to mouth resuscitate you.

6. Rolling Down a Hill in a Tire - a favorite past time of many the children over the years, dying down now that kids don't go outside anymore. Doing it now would be prudent, as it's wildly dangerous. Getting inside a tractor tire and flinging yourself down a hill, may sound easy peasy, but you're spinning at a phenomenal rate and have no real control over yourself or the tire, and that could lead to your demise if you have no one around when you're doing it. Not that I can think of a logical reason for you to be rolling down a hill in a tire post apocalypse haha.

7. Arrow roulette - a favorite event from SNL alumni riddled Adam Sandler joint "Grown Ups" arrow roulette is game where a group of guys (because only guys would be this dumb) get in a group and one of them shoots an arrow straight up in the air, the object is to be the last man to leave the area. I would imagine that stuff like this was being done by tribesmen thousands of years ago to prove their manhood, but with nobody to fix the impending hole in your body, you may wanna get this one out of the way now.

And because as a species we do sooooo many crazy things, while writing this post I came up with too many things for one article, so you can look forward to "7 More Overly Reckless Things to Do Before TEOTWAWKI" later in the week. If you haven't already and like this post, up at the top of the blog (or in the pull down menu if you're on a mobile browser), click on the "7 Things Lists" tab to find more outlandish 7 Post Apocalyptic Things Lists. Thanks for reading this, and don't forget to communicate by leaving a comment in the comment section below. Until next time here's hoping you can get all seven of these overly reckless things done before the shit hits.

EOTWAWKI Movie Review "Hell"

2012-09-09T18:01:00.001-07:00

Firstly, this movie is German made, which if I had known that I probably wouldn't have rented it. However, I gotta say I'm glad I didn't know that because I'm glad that I watched this film. Even though for the most part I hate having to read my movies lol, this movie was well pieced together and as far as could tell well acted. The scenery was grim and dark, well as dark as one can get when the sun is catalyst for the end of the world.

The premise of the film is that due to solar flare activity the earths temperature has risen ten or degrees and everything has either died or withered due to the lack of drinkable water. Within the storyline a small group of people interact with the post apocalyptic landscape and the other people in it. Situations from bartering water for gas, or fighting for you life, to people hunting people and kidnapping. Improvised weapons and on the fly tactics for evasion, retrieval and escape make everything seem like its actually happening. The pace of the movie isn't fast paced but it feels like its moving, probably due to the never ending end of the worldness of it. The small group of protagonists are constantly trying to circumnavigate the EOTWAWKI world and always coming out on the short end of the stick. One of the best parts of this film, is that every character in it acts like you would imagine they should act. It wasn't long into the film that I hadn't noticed I forgot that the film was in German and that I was reading it, it just kept me so interested in what was going on that I didn't care that I was reading the dialogue, but at the same time I could still feel all the emotion, anger and terror in all the characters involved. Like I stated earlier the scenery is very impressive, the filmmakers did a very good job of making the landscape look like it WAS the end of the world as we know it. Singed dried up trees and dusty desert like roads and ground. Dirty old everything, all the evidence of mankind and all mankinds supremacy, dirty and warn down, torn up by the remaining people looking for food water and fuel or anything else they can use to trade for supplies. The direness of the worlds situation is so evident in near every shot in this film, from the bundled up people avoiding being burned from the sun, to the lack of any wildlife to the importance of seeing a bird of all things, it is very evident that this world is in trouble and trouble for a long time to come. The film never even tries to portray a future that looks anything other than grime, which I like, as most EOTWAWKI films want to try and end with the "hero" of the film saving mankind and all humanity from the turmoils of post apocalypse life. Life just goes on, grim and bleak...but onward life always goes. But like the people in this story, I hope my people and I are the type that can keep moving forward, keep staying alive and perhaps one day, way in the future, bring humanity back from the brink, not because I'm so good I could save mankind, but because I can adapt t the situation at hand and help and lead my family through the darkness and back to a civilized society, stronger, because we saw humanity fall apart and almost destroy itself only to come or stronger the other side. But hey, maybe I'm just dreaming haha, but dams move humankind forward right.

New Blog TEOTWAWKI CONFESSIONS

2012-09-05T09:12:00.001-07:00

Last week I started a blog that came to me as I mindlessly worked at my day job, a blog where people could anonymously confess to thoughts, wishes or fears that they have pertaining to the end of the world as we know it. I was thinking of this as I thought how I feared my youngest daughters autism would be a hindrance or at the very least a difficulty after the end of the world. I immediately realized the importance of this idea, I almost wanted to leave work and go home and start it IMMEDIATELY. But I didn't lol, but I did start it as soon as I got home. What I did do with the rest of that work day, was talk with people that understood the concept of theorizing about TEOTWAWKI and asking them their fears and thoughts on the matter. So along with some of my own, and those people's thoughts made up the first several "confessions" on the blog. I've since received other "confessions" I'm people not directly related to me in any way, so the blog is off to a legitimate start. After some start up "tweeting" I have gotten a few other preppers at least interested in the concept and hopefully with their involvement, even a tiny involvement, and word of mouth movement on the web, I hope that this concept can gain traction and take off, as I think that this can provide some good value to the prepping community. How so you say, well I'll digress lol. Through confessing our worries, thoughts, and wishes, we can learn how others, not us, are thinking about every aspect of the end of society. We often talk about violence and disparity after what ever event occurs, but we don't often go into deep, gritty, and dark details about it. We don't know how we each intend to specifically deal with these worries as well. The little details into how we all think could be the difference between surviving and not. So I think getting everyone's deepest darkest thoughts as they pertain to TEOTWAWKI definitely has a value, and really hope the community embraces and nurtures this mission of mine.

Here's a link to the blog http://teotwawkiconfessions.blogspot.ca

Check it out, and even if you don't want to partake or even see the value of it, spread the word to those who might, try and not to deprive those around you from the chance to be a part of something that could be great.

So now, with that said and explained, I'll just repost the submissions post from the blog so that if you feel inclined to partake in this movement, you will know the ways to go about it. Especially considering most bloggers that use blogspot are unfamiliar and almost afraid of Tumblrs format.

"Confessions can be light hearted, funny or even heavy, it’s up to you how real you want to keep your confession. But keep in mind that these are confessions and some people are baring their souls, so show some tact when submitting content. At this time I do intend to publish every confession I receive, but retain the right to disregard any submission at my discretion. Once you’ve submitted your confession it/they become to soul property of TEOTWAWKI CONFESSIONS and it’s operators and may be posted on sister-blogs and subsidiary promotional sites such as but not limited to pinterest.com , Facebook.com , and Twitter.com.
If you would like to submit you own teotwawki confession(s) you can do so in These three ways.
1. Send it in an email to DUROGITY (at) GMAIL.COM
2. Tweet it as an @reply to @durogity on twitter, however this would take away some of your anonymity.
3. You could join the Facebook group http://m.facebook.com/groups/461888493831770 and contact me there.
When submitting your confession write it exactly as you would like it posted. Also if you have a picture that you would like used, either send a copy to me or send a link to the picture along with your confession. If a picture or link to one is not included I will assume you trust my judgment in finding a suitable picture to accent your confession. "

The Katadyn Vario From Beginners Perspective

2012-09-01T13:11:00.001-07:00

Firstly, I should have written this post months ago as that was when I originally purchased it and tested it, but laziness on the matter and other "more interesting" posts lured me away from this post and essentially almost made me forget it all together lol. So, the katadyn vario micro filter is in one word, good. Where I live we have extreme cold in the winter, so the river, Hay River, for which my town is named after freezes solid during the winter, leading to a big thaw in spring which usually breaks up in late may leading our town to have a boil water advisory. This usually leads to four to six weeks of the townspeople buying water either in bottles or bottled 5 gallon jugs). So needless to say, being a newly formed prepper and recent katadyn vario purchaser, I decided to try this filter out on some good old fashioned dirty river water lol. So, I tried two samples. Firstly I tried water from the tap that was coming out with a pretty good brownish tint to it, and secondly, water directly from the river. However, for science sake lol, I did these two samples about a week apart to see if either samples would make me sick haha. So I took the safer road and tried dirty water from the tap. Right off the get go, I was pretty impressed how fast the water was going through the filter, after a minute maybe a little longer I had almost a gallon of clear water. Made me feel pretty good about the filter right away...fast, clear water. Now sniff test lol, I smell it and say to myself, self that smells like regular water...so at this point I decide to take a drink and slowly drink my way through a 16oz glass slowly appreciating the clean flavor of good drinking water. Did it taste as fabulous as the filter ed water from the store, no, but was it good, yes. If I had access to no other water this would be completely satisfactory to me to drink for the whole rest of my life, for sure. So now that it was filtered and drank, I waited haha. Thinking that maybe the next day I would wake to have "problems" I kinda worried a little, not having any experience with filtering dirtied water myself....that's why I pay the city to do it lol. But after the first day with no ill feelings and with each prevailing day afterward I determined that it must have worked swimmingly. After about a week, I crossed the street over to the river and got me some "wild" dirtied water haha. The water was pretty sedimentary, brown is what I would call it. This worried me a little...I don't like being sick, even a little. So when I hooked it all up and pumped out a glass of water (even with more debris in the water this time the filter still filtered pretty damn fast...impressed again). Again the water came out crystal clear. Sniff test number two, smells like water. Clearly watery smelling as the first test, but couldn't explain what I thought I might be smelling as it was so faint. After tasting the water I thought I tasted a bit off, but after remembering something I had read about oxygenation, I poured the water from the cup I had brought to another cup, back and forth to oxygenate the water (which my faucet had done for the first test). Second taste test...brilliant. Amazing how important oxygenating your water is for the taste of it. So now on to stage two, the waiting haha. To my amazement, nothing happened. Filtered the crap out of the murky dirtied "wild" water. Can't say anything to the science of what microns are filtered and what "bugs" it can and cannot handle, but I can say that it handles river break up and what not lol. I would trust this filter in a post SHTF scenario. One note though, the second time, with water from the river, I noticed some very minimal leaking from some of the seals, may have had something to do with the added sediments in the water and maybe the speed in which I was filtering. I would imagine next time I use it I try the slower setting for murky water. Like I imagine the manual would have said lol. So with all that being said I would recommend this product to other beginner preppers or just regular campers for that matter. I can't attest to the fact that I would live up to the high high standards of more veteran preppers. Especially when you throw on the price tag of $95 Canadian on amazon.ca with free shipping. I love you Amazon.ca and sometimes Amazon.com when I can't find what I'm looking for on .ca except for when its militaryish which makes it unavailable to me cause I'm in Canada lol.

Following Along @$40 Week ? +Heavy Mail Day

2012-08-27T17:20:00.001-07:00

Because of the Canadian postal strike I have many packages floating out there in limbo, just waiting for me to open them. Today, two of those packages came, one of which was a MSR 1.1L AlpineTM Stowaway Pot which was TEOTWAWKIblogs prepping for $40 a week item about a month ago. Along with that I purchased a 32oz Nalgene wide mouth bottle, and separately I purchased the ever so emergency preppertastic impulse buy, the WaterBOB.

Firstly let's cover the Following Along @$40 a Week post portion, which was the MSR 1.1L AlpineTM Stowaway Pot. First off I would like to say that this is the type of item that I'm glad Alexander over at TEOTWAWKIblog has picked items to help people like me get completely prepped because I, at this time, wouldn't buy something like this on my own. At this point in time my brain is all about buying the cool tools, like crank radios, water filters and knives, not pots. The pot itself wasn't the only thing included on this purchasing mission, included were all the things you would need to use the pot ie; fire making materials and tools. Included were a couple of lighters, fire-steel and some tinder type material. So because I own lighters and fire-steel along with tinder (dryer lint stored in sealed straws, may post about that later if you are one of the few that don't know what that is), so I didn't have to purchase those items. Upon opening the package I was instantly pleased with the purchase. The pot is seemingly very sturdy, and has a simple yet well thought out design. The handle of the pot folds over the lid and locks the lid in place for storage. When you load the pot full of all your fire starting materials and tools the locking mechanism securely stores all your items inside, so that when you're rooting through your bug out bag for something you don't accidentally pop the lid off and dump your whole kit. It's very nice.

So when I was on Amazon and looking for that pot, I determined that I wanted to add on something, but what to add on...the 32oz Nalgene wide mouth bottle, that's what. I had had the bottle on my Amazon wish list for a while with the Intent to buy one or two for each bug out bag I make to carry water in, as they are the perfect size to fit most side pockets of most outdoors backpacks. The bottle itself is nicer looking than I thought lol, not that a bottle can be overly nice, but it's a decent looking bottle. For us metric Canucks, 32oz is essentially a liter of water. The plastic it's made from is a material designed not to leech chemicals into your water like a lot of plastic containers can do after prolonged use, these bottles are guaranteed for life not to leech. For what it cost me, it's a decent purchase, but again something I would have had a hard time purchasing if I wasn't already buying a cooking pot and wanting to spend about ten dollars more.

So the third item to be unpackaged today was the WaterBOB emergency drinking water storage system for your bathtub. A complete and utter impulse purchase. I'd seen this item first on pinterest.com on many EOTWAWKI boards or zombie apocalypse survival boards, and thought that for a simple time, it seemed like a good idea. The idea is, if the power goes down, and the city stops pumping water to you, you deploy the bag in your bathtub and fill from the tap before the water pressure is gone, saving you up to 100 gallons of drinking water to use after the water no longer pumps from the tap. So you may be saying, why would I need a bag to hold my water when the tub itself will do just the same? Yes would be the short answer, and many people on a state of emergency will have to do just that, but if you were like me and now have a waterBOB, the waterBOB will keep your wAter clean and safer from potentially dangerous particles in the air from keeping your family and you better off. Also, the waterBOB has its own pumping system built in so that you have the ease and control of a tap to fill bottles and whatnot. One thing the waterBOB definitely did though was be the most definitively crazy like item I've purchased to date lol. All the other stuff can be explained away as things I can use for camping or work or something, but having a big bladder for your bathtub? You can't explain that away lol. Buuuuuut, at least now I have one and now that I have it I may as well have it right? Lol. So that's my awesome mail day, hopefully I get more boxes of wonder in the mail soon, I love mail days.

7 Things To Do Before You Can't Due to TEOTWAWKI

2012-08-26T16:39:00.001-07:00

This 7 Things list is a list of the seven things you should do now, that you won't be able to do if the collapse of society occurrs. From lack of materials to lack of power to the shutdown of the supply chain, these are the seven things to do while you still can.

1. Roller coasters - riding a roller coaster is something that millions of people do everyday all over the world, but one day it'll become the last day anyone does. So before that day comes, if your a roller coaster enthusiast or even if you're not, try going on at least one or all of the top ten biggest fastest meanest most puke-tastically awesome roller coasters in the world, or at least in your area. Roller coasters are one of those simply terrifying things that we think will always be there if we want it, and sadly, if things keep going downward like they are, one day they'll stop running. So go be a badass and ride the lightening.

2. Fly a plane - Something that a lot of people dream of doing one day and never do, is flying a plane. Our modern society makes it pretty darn easy for one to do such a thing, you don't even have to learn how to fly or even get a license...you can just buy time to fly once the pilot has done all the hard taking off and ascending bologna. Flying a plane is one of those amazing things we take for granted that we can just do if we want to. If its something that you've dreamed of doing, you should go do the research and find out where in your area they'll allow you to fly for a bit supervised, or go the next step and actually get your license and fly like a boss lol.

3. Skydiving/Wingsuiting - because these two are essentially the same thing yet different I've combined them into one "thing" on this list. Again because of the lack of airplanes this would be one of the first things we do that would become nearly impossible to do after TSHTF. So if you feel like jumping out of a plane, especially if you never have, you better get on it, you may very well be running out o time to do such a thing. fairly new and in the same category as skydiving, wing suiting is jumping out of a plane not with a parachute, but wearing a wing suit, that essentially allows you to fly, like the flying squirrels do. Giving your body webbing between your appendages so that you can glide through the air like you're floating.

4. Talk to Someone From Every Time Zone in One Day - because we live in a highly technological age, we are eternally linked in with the rest of the world, from twitter, to Facebook, to unlimited long distance calling, we are always within a thought of communicating with anyone in the world. But eventually, if the lights go out, that access disappears in an instant. One of the most amazing things we are capable of doing and don't is the ability to talk to someone in every time zone in one day. Now I don't know if anyone has ever done it, but this is something that we all should at least attempt while we still can because one day it may become something we dream about being ale to do again one day.

5. Have a Big Mac - Like Woody Harrelsons characters neverending quest for twinkie in Zombieland, that familiar comfort food that you just can't get anymore, the Big Mac may be one of those mass produced foods that when TSHTF disappears in the blink of an eye. So maybe you could add some Big Macs to your preps in the form of frozen burgers in your freezer. We all know from countless Internet photos of McDonalds food not decomposed after like four years, so maybe we use that knowledge to our advantage lol. You old be the last human being to eat a Bog Mac haha.

6. Plastic Surgery - we live in a material world and there are a lot of material made girls lol. Plastic surgery is definitely something, if you want it done, that you should get done before the shit hits. Plastic surgery has very good success rates now in comparison to say twenty years ago, but deaths and dismemberments still occur. So throw in the lack of clean working spaces and materials, shady post apocalyptic doctors and plain old nefarious liars, and that's a recipe for you dying. So you think that bigger boobs will help you score that post collapse wasteland sugar daddy to protect you from the hordes of rapey marauders, then get it done now, don't wait for the fall to try and hook yourself up with fun bags to impress. Infection of the humpty dumplings ain't gonna help you with anything.

7. Go to space - As far as things on this list of things to do before you can't, going to space is the most unlikely for you to be able to do...at least at this time. For years now the aerospace industry has been trying to create a space tourism industry, but costs and logistics have really slowed that market. And even if they get to the point where people can regularly go to space on their own dime, it will more than likely be for a lot more dimes than most of us have to toss into the wind for a short jaunt into the heavens, but, if you did have the means and the opportunity, you'd be crazy not to go...now wouldn't you.

Now with all that said, go out and do all of these if they are your list of things you ever wanna do, because who knows, you may not have much more time to do so. And as usual with all these lists, if you or someone you know has done all seven things, let me know...especially this list, what with going to space being one of them lol. So good luck on your list completion and hopefully you get it all done before the shit hits.

How to Fail at Post SHTF Container Gardening Letting Your Family Die

2012-08-24T15:07:00.001-07:00

Back in May I posted that I had started a container garden on the patio of my apartment. With little to no experience in gardening at all I started it all on a whim and with no information at all. Big mistake number one. I didn't take into account when anything should have been planted, or sprouted first or whatever, never took into account different soil variations for different plants and so on and so forth. I definitely had some special issues due to my patio being so small and adding on a full sized BBQ that we had purchased so that I could get familiar with BBQ'n before the shit hits the fan (yeah, I'm that much not a man). Needless to say at this point in the year I can safely say that if we were post apocalypse right now, my family would be f@$?ed right about now...I just killed my family lol. The good thing is, we're not post SHTF so the groceries are still coming. A few things I mentioned earlier attributed to my agriculturist demise, but also add on August having uncharacteristically warm days for here and me having no plan to supplement my crops with water in a consistent manner and my crops have been drying out frequently. Also apparently I've got aphids, which at this int doesn't matter as everything is pretty much dead and pathetic, so I've caved on my first year of growing. A complete and utter failure. For a while it was looking pretty good, had carrots growing pretty well, the cucumber plants were going crazy, little baby cucumbers everywhere, the peas were doing well for a while and the tomatoes were looking good. But in the end I got lazy and discouraged and everything died. I know for sure, that I'm going to spend a lot of this fall and winter preparing mentally for next year. Going to learn everything I can about anything and everything that I would want to grow, so that when spring comes around next year I'll be good to go, and living large once the product hits the table. Just goes to show that there is a lot of this that you can't just jump into without the information to back it up. Exactly what I got into this stuff for...information and knowledge. So I guess from one beginner to any of you that are considering yourselves beginners, learn your trade before you apply it lol. So with all that being said, I won't be discouraged from trying again. I know it's not uncommon for people to fail at their first attempts at gardening, and I'm fully aware that that attempts was pluralized for a reason, I may very well fail again next year, even armed with the information I acquire this year. So if your reading this, and you've failed only to become a good gardener one day, why don't you leave the tale of your failed garden and maybe perhaps what turned the tide for you and your gardens since. Maybe links to sites that directly helped you, or books you've read. Help a pre-post-SHTF-EOTWAWKI-brother out lol.

NBC's Revolution Will Be EOTWAWKI Awesome

2012-08-21T13:49:00.001-07:00

This fall NBC will be unveiling the most exciting tv series for me since they released the original season of Heroes and that new show is called "Revolution", and I'm sitting here typing this out as a guarantee that as far as EOTWAWKI series goes, this WILL be disgustingly awesome. Bold statement, maybe, based on science....a little bit lol. Let's just start with the basic premiss, TEOTWAWKI peeps are going to love this.

"Our entire way of life depends on electricity. So what would happen if it just stopped working? Well, one day, like a switch turned off, the world is suddenly thrust back into the dark ages. Planes fall from the sky, hospitals shut down, and communication is impossible. And without any modern technology, who can tell us why? Now, 15 years later, life is back to what it once was long before the industrial revolution: families living in quiet cul-de-sacs, and when the sun goes down lanterns and candles are lit. Life is slower and sweeter. Or is it? On the fringes of small farming communities, danger lurks. And a young woman's life is dramatically changed when a local militia arrives and kills her father, who mysteriously - and unbeknownst to her - had something to do with the blackout. This brutal encounter sets her and two unlikely companions off on a daring coming-of-age journey to find answers about the past in the hopes of reclaiming the future. Written by NBC Publicity "

Isn't that just sick? Now that you have read that....try watching this

So the first time I saw that I literally "FUCK YEAH'd" when it was over. From reading that, and watching this I was stoked about the show. At the time I felt like this was going to be a hit or miss show, could be so good it gets picked up for years to come or get cancelled first season, like the aforementioned awesome EOTWAWKI tv show Jericho. I was a little reassured of its impending awesomeness when I read that the series pilot was directed by Jon Favreau director of Iron Man 1,2,&3 as well as Cowboys and Aliens. And even more stoke when it mentioned it was produced by JJ Abrams who wrote and produced both TV's Lost and Fringe. Both strikingly imaginative and expertly pieced together shows (except for the ending of Lost, don't get me started). So with those two people and the plot and preview trailer I was really thinking this has a shot. Then, when looking for a screencap for this post, I came across and article that was laying out everything that I am laying out here, but the only new piece of information I gained from that article was the best of all. Series producer and writer of all six currently written shows...Eric Kripke!

Now if you know that name, you just shit your pants, if you don't, let me explain. Eric Kripke is creator/writer/producer of the WB/CW's epically awesome battle between good and evil story arc-tastic para-drama SUPERNATURAL. Now, Supernatural dealt with, well, supernatural stuff. Vampires, ghosts, demons, angels etc etc. So if that isn't your cup of tea I understand why you aren't getting me. I'm not overly into those entities either, but what originally got me into watching Supernatural was the story arc, like story driven para-drama brethren The X Files, the continuing storyline draws you in and never lets go. So I have the feeling that due to Kripkes invested inclusion into this para-drama, will lead to awesomely well put together plot sequences and twists that will keep the viewers tuning in week after week.

So when you add all that up, it rings TV's New Best Show. The only thing that bothers me about this at all is when, as a partner you include NBC into the mix. This show would be a guaranteed hit show on say the CW or AMC or other cable networks, but being on one of the "BIG 4" networks puts a lot of pressure on the show to produce potentially unrealistic numbers to survive. Hence the fall of shows like Jericho, Heroes and other stoically EOTWAWKI para-drama Millenium. The big networks expect every show, especially dramas to draw huge numbers to be worth their "effort" and I fear that a show that shows the end of the world as we know it and the impending aftermath, may be too much for the American viewing public, as it surely was when Jericho first aired. However, the numbers that show a growing number of preppers or followers of TEOTWAWKI in the US could potentially sway the viewership over to Revolution. Who knows, but what I do know is this, this show WILL BE AWESOME, the only thing is, will the viewing public give the show the time to show it? That remains to be seen. But if you feel like I do, that this show has the great potential to be awesome, let everyone you know know, that this show is coming and they should clear their schedules on Monday September 17, and every Monday after for the next foreseeable future.

EOTWAWKI Movie Review "The Dead"

2012-08-18T14:47:00.001-07:00

Set amidst the African landscape "The Dead" is a throwback to zombie movies of long ago. The zombies in this movie are the classic slow moving, mindlessly wandering zombies of classic zombie movies past. The movie really focuses on two protagonists an American army engineer who's plane crashed after narrowly escaping an army base over run with zombies, and an African soldier that's trying to be reunited with his son. I have mixed feelings on this movie. One thing I've never liked about the original slow moving zombies is that, they are slow moving and easy to get away from. They don't even try to actively get you, at times they seem to randomly fall onto victims by chance and then bite them. But the freaky thing about them, and what gives this movie a creepy ambiance is that no matter where they are or what they were just doing, there's always a zombie like ten meters away, always. So they can never stop or rest or anything, without the ever present zombie horde eventually making its way over to them. The one thing I liked about this film though, is that it seemed really real. What some have called long and drawn out, I take as well perceived and real life like to the point of at times being boring. But real life is that way, even in a zombie apocalypse there isn't always going to be something going on at all times lol. So like I said, I'm mixed on whether or not I liked this film. I give it credit for wanting to be different in a genre that is overly cgi'd and overly action packed for the sake of entertainment. I'll try to keep this as spoilerless as single, but the ending was rather weak. It almost seemed like they didn't know what to do next, so they decided to just be over lol, and ended it as lamely as possible. But over all I don't hate that I'd watched the film, but I didn't find it worthwhile other than the Africa aspect of the film. As far as prepping aspects go there were little mention of anyone being prepared for anything and other than stopping to search bodies for ammo and gear, the people didn't do anything worth while mentioning. So I could say you should watch this film, but I can't say it would be the best movie viewing experience of your life.

Governmental reacquisitions, Should You Believe the Law is Back

2012-08-13T15:10:00.001-07:00

So a ways back I wrote a post called"The Human Remnants of Military, Lawless Mercenaries At Your Door" where I wrote about the notion of lawless mercenaries tricking communities into believing they are government sanctioned convoys sent to restore law and order, only to turn their weapons on everyone once past that communities defenses. So this article is the flip side of that same coin, what do you do, when the government is seemingly taking back the control of the land? Do you believe it blindly? Or do you need proof? What proof? What could They possibly show you that would prove that law and order were back? Let's just say that we lost contact with one another, say an EMP fried everything, or the power went down from whatever and we couldn't communicate, so there wasn't even a way to forewarn each other that it was coming. How many of us would just attack and ask questions later, but later never comes because we're carpet bombed in retaliation. Depending on what even happened to put us into this predicament, what would you do if you didn't WANT the government to have control again. Now at this point all sorts of patriotic ethical situations occur. Is it unpatriotic when your existing government screws the whole country and leaves us all to fend for ourselves and refuse to submit to THAT government when it gets back on its feet and rolling over all the small little fiefdoms that we create? Could the people recreate government? Could a new governmental structure exist and not destroy what the country used to be? Is it against who we are as people whom are devoted to our countries to turn our backs on the government that screwed that country? Is it possible to separate the country from the government that governs the country? If we ever got past these debatable questions, what do we do, when we don't believe that that existing government deserves the right to control us again? Is it ok to attack without warning if we believe it's our only advantage, or do we owe it to the new government we hope to form to diplomatically disband the previous government?

Don't get me wrong, I don't think that we'll need to blame our government for our downfall, and we won't need to overthrow the returning government, these are just thoughts that could be something we'd need to figure out. Who knows what we will need to do post SHTF. But when we get back to the original question, if and when the government comes rolling back into our lives, so you believe the law is back? Or do warily require proof or guarantees that our best interest is their main objective? Who knows. Being that we could go through years of turmoil before the return of the government, and all that we had seen or gone through, could really jade our ability to trust or even care about anyone, but what would you do?

Survival iPhone Apps Winners & Losers Episode 1

2012-08-08T16:01:00.001-07:00

So a few of us EOTWAWKI people out there own iPhones, iPads, or iPod Touches and while our devices may not be useable after some EOTWAWKI scenarios, but it couldn't hurt to pimp out your device for the apocalypse. So I decided that I would download every EOTWAWKI useful apps I could find and start this new post series where I pit a couple of mismatched apps against each other where one is the clear winner and one is the clear loser.

So I think I'll start off with the winner app of the week, as you generally want to here the good news first right. So here we go.

"Survival Guide" by SusaSoftX $0.00

This is a pretty darn good app, especially for free! When I started downloading so many of these apps I forgot which were which and which ones were free and which were pay and how much I paid, so when I went back to the app store after reviewing this app, I was shocked to see that it was one of the free ones. I was expecting it to be one of the $3.99ish ones but no, free, pretty cool. So I can safely say that as it is free, there is no reason for me to be apprehensive in any way about recommending that you go and download this app. So with that being said I can get to the info.

This app is loaded with information. The app itself is completely based on the US Military Field Manual FM 21-76. There is many sections in the app, I'll list a few starting with survival planning, basic survival medicine, shelters, water, survival use of plants, signal techniques, poisonous plants, ropes and knots, and many more sections. Each and every category is very informative and extremely thorough and highly detailed, with many pictures and diagrams. It even has a section on military survival kits and what are in each type of military kit. I guess I couldn't expect less from something that's basically a carbon copy of a US Military manual, but it's very in depth and for free is very well designed and aesthetically pleasing to use and look at. I think the only thing I can see as a negative for this review is the simplistic and vague name "survival guide" isn't overly imaginative but I guess they were going for the phrase people would be searching for, so I guess it makes sense. But otherwise there's no reason I can think of to not get this app...free, decently designed, and a wealth of information...I can say nothing but good things about this app and would feel no guilt for telling you to go and spend no money to get it lol.

And I figured at this point I would start off this weeks loser app by stating that this is truly an awful app, and after writing my review, then reading other users reviews at the app store, it seems like I'm not alone.

"Prepper Me" by GTR Solutions $0.99

This "survival" app is hilarious, I know it's not supposed to be hilarious, but it is. Even though it does cost 99 cents this app is worth the download for the entertainment value alone. Some of the most poignant expert information are lost in translation as the app is written by a guy from Deutschland, but at the same time some of the "better" more "entertaining" information is just from his "sense of humor" lol. I'll give a couple examples of his expert advise.

"How do i build a shelter?
you are in the forest, you need shelter, it's getting dark and you are scared.
The first problem is obvious: you barricade yourself in a house.
No house nearby? Fuckin' idiot"

Haha he states that if you are in the woods that you should find a house and if you can't you're fucked hahaha. Precious. Then he goes on to state as a tip in the section about being on an "lonely" island lol, that you should observe "natives" and if they torture sacrifice or murder one of their own that you should, in his expert advise, GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM THEM! Lol. Seriously? And his plans to get off this "lonely" island, tie yourself to two sea turtles lol.

So needless to say, this app is pretty much useless as it pertains to survival information and TEOTWAWKI. But I think it's worth a read based on entertainment and laughable moments of insight beyond normal comprehension. Many moments while reading I literally laughed out loud at the absurdity of this app. But you should check it out for yourself.

So there you have it, the first ever "Survival IPhone Apps Winners & Losers" post of hopefully many as I try out the rest of the apps I've downloaded and will post semi regularly, and hopefully people out there keep making apps that could be used by preppers for the apocalypse. Also, if you know of any apps that are poignant to our goals, let me know what they are and who makes it in the comments below, even if it's not apple device related, maybe one day I'll do some android posts as well if I get enough of you letting me know of apps for android.

EOTWAWKI Movie Review "The Carriers"

2012-08-06T17:21:00.001-07:00

Firstly, I would like to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this film, I would have enjoyed it even If I wasn't into TEOTWAWKI right now as well.

So, let's hit the synopsis of the film. Everyone is dead from a viral outbreak, and the survivors are all scrambling to find a cure. This story follows four main protagonists that are trying to get to the coast to stay in an abandoned hotel the two brothers in the group used to summer at as children. The film seemed to me anyway, to be trying to keep as close to reality as possible in this tale. All the characters interactions with each other and with others they encounter are as real as I could imagine, I never found myself thinking that this seems forced for the sake of storyline. As the groups encounters people and or obstacles the argue and agree with each other as you would think that people really would. The violence and paranoia that comes with the foreseeable end of the world scenario are very plausible and even likely. Some of the acting may be forced at time and even overdone at others, but overall I felt the cast did well with what ethey were given, and I felt at no time during the film that this person shouldn't be in it. I did however notice, and have with many EOTWAWKI films I've watched over the past few months, even films I had previously viewed before my walk into preparedness, that I find I watch movies like this differently than I would have before. You know you do it too lol. Watching movies from our perspective makes them a little more either interesting or more implausible depending on how much thought the writer and or director have put into the film. Things people take or have with them, and I find myself thinking that that would be a good thing to keep. Or watching them walk right on past something they should need. Don't do this, and why aren't you doing that lol. This movie had a lot of preppery people or situations that give this story a little more legitimacy than most post apocalyptic films.

NOW FOR THE SPOILERS LOL, IF YOU DON'T WANT THIS MOVIE WRECKED, SKIP TO THE LAST PARAGRAPH

A the beginning of this film the foursome encounters a makeshift roadblock made by a father and young daughter duo that have run out of gas and need has to get going again. When the four stop to assess the situation they discover that the girl is sick and peel off away from them going off road to get away from the father. This encounter and fleeing attempt eventually wrecks their vehicle and has them returning to the father later that day. Later when they return, the return to take the vehicle from the father and daughter with the goal of using the remaining fuel from their broken car to get their gas less one going. Eventually they agree to take the father daughter team to a specific town they were heading to and keep their vehicle in exchange for not leaving them on the side of the road to die. They bleach the shit out of the vehicle and make a pseudo quarantine are in the back of the SUV with plastic sheeting and a lot of duct tape.

What I like about this encounter is that it shows us the fuck you attitude we all have towards each other until we need something from you guy we all truly are. People use each other a lot and the end of the world is just going to intensify the situation. I would hope that I would be willing to try and problem solve around a situation and help a fellow father out, but I can't discount that chance I'll fuck that guy to further my families chances.

Another situation in the movie that I thought was pretty cool was when the foursome crashed a golf resort and stumbled upon a movie version of a prepper stronghold. Fully stocked with jugs of water, dozens of rolls of duct tape, plastic wrapped walls, and guns to the tits. It was a fairly short portion of the movie but interesting to me lol.

From who lives to who dies, the situations that they are put through are hard but they muscle through and life goes on.

END OF SPOILER SECTION YOU MAY COMMENCE WITH READING

With all the situations that happen, most people would give up or die, but our heroes move on. Situations we could all one day find ourselves in. A massive viral outbreak could happen at any moment without any notice at all, that's pretty damn freaky. So this movie, I think, pretty accurately portrays what we may be looking at in our certainly likely future. So with that said, I going to conclude this post by saying, while this movie isn't the most interesting most entertaining movie ever made, it is a pretty darn good EOTWAWKI film and I would recommend you watching it.

Could Outbreak of Whooping Cough Save Lives?

2012-08-02T17:48:00.001-07:00

It has occurred to me, and I have tried it out, that with the current outbreak of whooping cough, doomsday naysayers are seemingly more open to talking about prepping when you bring up the topic of world wide pandemic whilst an outbreak is actually occurring. Throw on the current financial woes of Greece and Spain along with our own over here, and you got the perfect conversion formula. It's amazing that people need to be encountering a problem before they can see the problem exists. Naysayers may argue that if I can't see the problem it must not exist, to which one could argue, if there's a bear right outside your door and you don't see it, does that make it not a problem... You go right ahead and open that door then ya' hear lol. Now I myself don't know how bad the whooping cough outbreak is, they say it's the worst in fifty years, and I don't know if I will find myself panicking about it any time soon, but a lot of people are. And those people, are pretty damn easy to talk to right about now when it comes to being prepared for a major burial outbreak. At that point you have a small time convert, maybe a fanatical one as it pertains to viral protection. With that being said, you could slowly introduce other events to prep for, by slowly pointing out that other events may be even more likely than a massive mankind destroying virus. If you can get that viralphobe to come out of the medical supplies store and into the sporting goods store, you've now opened the door to being prepared for anything. Stating things like, "you know, since you have all the viral outbreak preps, and some preps for (insert your ares most prevalent natural disaster), if you bought these few other items, you'd be prepped for this (insert third event)". Once you're prepared for an outbreak of Ebola and a tornado or earthquake and let's say a zombie apocalypse for kicks lol, you're pretty prepared at that point for just about anything. It's easy enough at that point to get prepped for any and all other contingencies you may need. A few items for this event, one or two for that one. The more you prepare for the easy each one is.

So while pessimists see a plain old viral outbreak of pertussis, the optimist sees the opportunity to get their acquaintances prepared for any and all ends of the worlds as we knows its out there. So if you have some naysayers or friends that look at you weird when you say you just but a crossbow but don't hunt lol, use this potential shit storm of a viral outbreak to you advantage and convert someone all ready. Maybe if more people thought this way back when the avian flew had the world aflutter back in 97-99, we could have converted more people to prepping before Y2K without the actual threat of Y2K, which really hurt the prepping communities legitimacy. If there were a lot more preppers before the Y2K scare even began more people could have been educated on the continuation of prepping after The Shit Doesn't Hit The Fan. Anyways, just a thought, so I put it here...dismiss it or file it, makes no nevermind to me lol. Until next time fellow preppers, let's hope we convert some more before the shit hits.

The Human Remnants of Military, Lawless Mercenaries at Your Door

2012-08-01T14:50:00.001-07:00

In the movies, when bad ass unattached soldiers get discharged from the armed forces, that bad ass becomes an even more bad assier mercenary. So with that being said it occurred to me that those same unscrupulous soldiers may also decide to band together and become post apocalypse wasteland overlords. Taking some of the worlds best trained killing machines and giving them access to some of the deadliest weapons on earth and unlimited amounts of ammunition and setting them free on the unsuspecting survivors isn't exactly fair to us lesser men. I imagine they'll use that fact that they are military against us, maybe try and convince us that they are the first wave of government sanctioned military convoys returning law and order to the land, and before we figure it out, it's too late. Then I can see, if we were to figure it out before they breached our "walls" , they would over run a lot of us with their superior training and weaponry. Which ever way, it doesn't look good for the most of us that get in their path. So planning for something like this would more than likely be imperative and very difficult. Not going to say I know what to do, because I don't, I'm not a military tactics expert and or civilian savant, I'm just a dude that thinks this is a very likely occurrence and important to be prepared for. This is one thing I thought of and then when I was reading "Lights Out" by HalfFast and they encountered a very motivated heavily armored and armed group, where I realized that lone wolfing the apocalypse was only an option if you didn't want a home or safe haven. If you are the type of person that wants to put down roots and fortify, you can't do it alone, and the notion of super mercs just makes it all the more unlikely that you'll survive the firefight. I don't even want to do the math on how many regular dudes with regular dude guns and tactics it would take to defend a communal compound post SHTF against a large group or even a small group of marines gone rogue. I know they say that the group that is fortified has a four to one chance ratio over the attacking force, but I would imagine that the number changes when the fortified are townspeople and the attacking force is merciless former marines. Other than implementing a lot of the tactical fortifying methods used in such a book like "Lights Out" I have no idea how to defend a compound from anyone let alone blood thirsty psychopaths on a power trip. How do you combat the shear force of gun power they would have, or grenade...GRENADES!...imagine dealing with grenades being flung at you, or long range snipers...how the hell do you protect your self from long range professional snipers, when you're just a dude. I don't know the answers to any of these questions. Holy jebuzz tanks, how do you stop a tank if one day one roles up on you and your encampment? Just a few questions, would love some answers lol, you got any?

If you are reading this, and you have any ideas how to thwart rogue military forces I would really like to hear them, and not to discourage you from commenting, but I would also like you all to comment on others comments so we can all talk out all the ideas posted. Not that there are many of you adding this lol, but the conversations have to start somewhere. So leave a comment, comment on comments, and let me and the rest of us know your great idea to out military the military. Here's hoping we can get this very important post SHTF theory 101 scenario figured out, you know, before the shit hits.

Following Along @$40 a Week: Week 4 the Survival Knife

2012-07-30T14:52:00.001-07:00

I gotta start this post off by saying, I really really want to buy the stuff Mr. Wolf posts every week, but so far I have had most or not been able to justify the purchase. This week is kinda with that and against it at the same time lol.

So two weeks ago, Mr. Wolf posted the Mora Bushcraft Triflex for $29.50 leaving $10.50 left over to bank for a future week. The post went on to list all the wonderful attributes that this specific knife and how well it's made and all that jazz. While I wanted to buy the well made, very useful wee little knife, I just couldn't. I already have my Gerber folder so at this time I couldn't justify buying something I already had a reasonable counterpart. Buuuuuuutttt, I could justify something I didn't have in the same category and price range, and that's why I was happy to buy a large Bowie knife from Winchester Knives. I figured I could stay on par with the $40 a week program and buy a similar item to the one of the week, and stay with in the price s range of Mr. Wolf's pick, it was actually only about $2 less. That knife came today, the box was huge, I thought maybe the was a shipping error, the box was 16" by 8" by 8 so I was like wtf is going on here lol, so I opened it. Inside there was about 6" of packing material, and in the bottom 2" of the box...a BIG @$&?ing KNIFE. (pictured below) the fantastically large blade is damn near the length of my iPad...good god my wife says, that knife makes me nervous lol. I assured her if I was going to kill her it wouldn't be with my BIG $@&?ing KNIFE, if anything I would push her down the stairs or something lol...I kid I kid. I gotta say though, I'm liking the unnecessarily large knife that for all intensive purposes I don't need lol...but hey, it's a hobby lol.

So with all that we cover week 4 the survival knife, if you're a follower of this blog and noticed that there wasn't a week 3 post, you're very observant and probably the only follower of the blog lol. Week 3 was the Bug Out Bag...Bag. And since I've just recently purchased a very similar bag, I skipped week three all together. And week five, was skipped due to technical problems on Mr. Wolf's blog due to Internet outage. So week Six better be a good one, and something I can buy....cause I really really want to buy what he tells me too.

Netflix Trying to Bring Back JERICHO!

2012-07-29T17:12:00.001-07:00

Chances are, if you're into TEOTWAWKI you've at least heard of the tv chow Jericho. The show originally ran from 2006-08 on CBS. This was way before I ever even thought of preparing for such an event, but the first time I saw the commercials for Jericho I knew it was going to be a good show, and from the first episode on, it was. I think the downfall to Jericho was that I was too soon after 9/11 for Americans to watch a show based on domestic nuclear attacks, and because of it didn't get the ratings this show should have. The show was cancelled after its first season and after a well executed display of loyalty from the fans of the show CBS decided to bring it back for another season. Season two was short lived and when it was cancelled for good my wife and I were sad lol. All the time I talk about Jericho as an example of when the people and the networks got something wrong. That combination doesn't happen often, both the viewing public and a tv network not seeing a good thing when they see it. Jericho was a breath of fresh air when it came to dramas on tv, it wasn't a cop show and it wasn't a hospital show...holy crap! Let's get rid of it. The show was like nothing on tv at the time and I think the world is ready for it now. That's why when I read an article stating that Netflix was trying to bring the show back and start season three...I damn near shit my pants, pardon my French. I'm so damn excited I sat down and wrote this right after I read the article. Now don't get me wrong, the show isn't back, Netflix is on in very preliminary talks with CBS, but preliminary or not, someone out there recognizes a good thing and is fighting to bring it back, and dammit that means something.

EOTWAWKI Movie Review "The Collapsed"

2012-07-27T14:55:00.001-07:00

I don't even want to get into what the movie is or is about before I tell you NOT to watch this movie. Whilst at the video store renting the latest Mission Impossible (the wife was out of town and once I start a series I have to watch them all lol), I glanced over at a near rack and the words, The Collapsed caught my eye. I picked up said DVD case and started reading the back. It described a synopsis of a man his wife and two essentially grown children trying to escape from the city and out to he country to find their younger son and safety after the end of the world. This had me intrigued to say the least, and coupled with winning several film festival awards, I decided to give it a try.

SPOILER ALERT... IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW ANYTHING SPECIFIC ABOUT THIS MOVIE SKIP TO THE LAST PARAGRAPH.

What I liked about this movie; from the beginning, this film seemed to be on the mark for what I was looking for in the way of TEOTWAWKI scenario. The family is moving through the city looking for a way to get far away from the "chaos" of the city after the event. Stealing a car from a dead woman and making their way to the country. The paranoia and mistrust of others is there, making me feel that this is really trying to fill a niche in the movie disaster world that doesn't have an adequate following. The family stops and collects supplies and weapons. It really does seem like this movie is really trying to portray a families bugging out scenario. But alas, this is where my likes of this film end.

What I don't like about this film; to start with, the acting is a little over done in parts and under done in others, very seldom hitting a good mark throughout the film. In the middle of the film it goes from being a bug out tale, to a "I'm going to try and blindside you with a surprise ending" that wasn't surprising AT ALL! The test in the tale was that the family was actually dying at the hands of the father who was afflicted by the debilitating psychological affliction that IS the end of the world, causing the afflicted to not be aware or "blackout" such violent events such as murdering their whole family. The whole thing went from being an awesome premise to just anther film maker trying to blind side the viewer like M. Night Shamylan did with the Sixth Sense but failing miserably. From the first "hint" of the fathers involvement I knew exactly hat was going on, so for every "event" after I felt insulted lol.

END OF SPOILER AND BEGINNING OF LAST PARAGRAPH

So, because of the predictability and sub par acting and getting away from the plot I wanted, I truly hate this film. Aside from the brief point at the beginning where it seemed like they were starting to "after prep" for the end of the world, the rest of the movie just bit, I kept thinking that it was going to get back to the act of urging out, but never did. If I was a blog that gave ratings this would be a one whatever out of ten whatever's lol...it was so bad. I guess if you skipped the spoiler section, this has been a pretty short post lol...well my next movie breakdown with probably be better than this one, it couldn't possibly be any worse lol.

Post Society Historians, the Wasteland Writer

2012-07-24T09:28:00.001-07:00

Now I know that you wouldn't think that post SHTF that your first inclination would be to sit down and write down the history of things happening, but that's what humans do. Throughout history society has been built upon the words of historians and storytellers. So it goes without saying that even though our society may indeed be in complete and utter shambles, but we will record what we encounter, we can't help it, we refuse to forget. And even though we think we will remember everything that happens in such an extreme new world, it's also human nature to forget. So unconsciously we write because we know we will forget.

Previously I stated two distinct types of wordsmiths and those were historians and storytellers, both are very much the same but different as well. Storytellers were really the first newsmen of the ancients and onward, they went from village to village telling the tales they had either witnessed or heard of secondhand or even made up, but people enjoyed hearing about the goings on of far away lands and all the different people. Underneath it all, they didn't really care if it was true after all... It was essentially tv of the day. Storytellers were usually very good and telling the stories, even if the stories themselves weren't all that good to start with, but the way they were told made them entertaining. I'm sure after TSHTF we would easily slip into this type of historian role, the whole lot of us to some degree. The downside to this type of historian is that the level of truth becomes more of a question the longer this type of history is being told, so people begin not to believe spoken "stories", as soon as it becomes apparent that these storytellers are doing just that, telling stories, to gain some kind of profit, be it food or lodging etc etc for their storytelling prowess. But out of this loss of trust comes the second type of wordsmith, the historian.

Historians are just like their storytelling counterparts except that they tend to lean more towards the written word ie. newspapers or books about their topics of choice. Historians are the types that would point out inaccuracies in the storytellers tales and that the stories should just stick to the facts and leave out the fanfare and entertaining hoopla. It's this longing for the facts that create newsmen today and the historians of long ago that take pen to paper and record what happens, not because what is happening is entertaining, but because it's worthwhile. Historians generally don't record for wealth or fame, they do so because it should be done, we should remember....so it is written.

Both types will have two subtypes within them based on their current situations. Both the historians and storytellers will have ones that stay put and document what they see in their immediate area, and then there will be the ones that travel the wastelands looking for the story. Either has its benefits and limitations, but once they start gathering and sharing it should all balance out.

The historians and storytellers alike will tell the tales of trials and tribulations that mankind navigates it's way through towards rebuilding society. They'll tell of the chaos and mayhem that ensued as the event was happening. They'll tell of the every man for himself mentality we will go through next. They'll tell how we killed each other over beans. The horrible things we'd do to each other as our society fell apart. Gangs, dictatorships, plagues and genocides...all of it. Then they'll tell of the small communities that band together and build safe havens for themselves and like minded individuals. Farming and agriculture returning. Leadership, not dictatorship. Reason over violence. The return of law and order. The reworking of government. And schools.

I don't doubt that post EOTWAWKI people will once again begin to rebuild what once was, and recording history will be one of the first disciplines to return to us from our past society. People can't help but record, I mean look at all of us preppers that blog just for the hell of it. I never intend for anyone to ever read my posts, but when someone does and understands where I'm coming from I become part of history in a small way, and after what ever event takes us down a few thousand notches, someone will write about it, maybe it'll be me, maybe you, who knows.

Project Apocalypse Articles "To Do List"

2012-07-20T17:18:00.001-07:00

As I've stated many many times on this blog, I am very "un all this stuff" lol, meaning I have very little experience with anything that pertains to surviving anything. So being that I intended this blog to be a place for beginners to follow along with another beginner, and for me to plan for everything and anything that I can think of out loud I've decided to make a list of blogposts that I intend to write as I A.) learn what is required for the article or B.) get to writing the theoretical posts. As I write the articles this post will become a launching board for all those posts as I intend to turn all the titles below into working links to the posts they are about as they are posted. But as for now these are all just ideas that I've thought of up to this date to write about in the future. If any of the titles don't convey efficiently enough to you what I intend that article be about, just leave a comment and I'll explain in further detail what that article would be about.

Building a simple garbage can faraday cage

Starting fire without matches
- starting fire with flint/magnesium/fire steel
- starting fire with light
- starting fire with friction
- starting fire with water

Acquiring Water
- Available Chemical purification, pros and cons
- mechanical purification, review devices
- collecting water from the field
- collecting rain water
- reuses for used water
- makeshift water storage pre-SHTF
- makeshift water storage post SHTF

Apartment Prepping
- Project Space, building added storage
- closet shelving for preppers
- post power grid refrigeration
- securing access points to your apartment
- gardening in an apartment pre-SHTF, the balcony garden
- gardening in an apartment post SHTF, the Penthouse Green House

Post Apocalypse Skills
- How I learned to ride a horse
- How I learned morse code
- How I learned to fish
- trying out fishing
- my first time ice fishing
- ways to prepare fish after TSHTF
- preserving fish in a post apocalyptic world
- How I learned to hunt
- what to hunt, and tips for dummies like me
- after the shot, what to expect
- dressing game
- ways to prepare game after TSHTF
- ways of preserving game in a post apocalyptic world
- trapping prey, a how to from one dummy to another
- trapping for breeding stock, worth the effort?
- How I learned to use guns
- first time shooting a gun/shooting range
- getting license
- buying guns
- Shooting something
- learning long range shooting

When Modern Products Run Out After TEOTWAWKI
- The Straight Razor, Shaving For Real For the First Time
- Making Soaps and Shampoos Yourself
- The Last Roll, Wiping After TSHTF
- Foot Sores Could Get You Killed, How to Cobble Shoes
- Hide Yourself Post SHTF, Creating Leather Products
- When You Can See Through Your Clothes, Learning How to Make Clothing
- The Girlie Girls Post Apocalypse Wish List
- Fancy Soaps, Body Washes, Body Lotions & Scrubs
- Perfumes For the Post Apocalyptic Gal
- The Makeup Kit, Lipsticks, Powders & Nail Polishes Oh My
- Bitchin' Hair After TEOTWAWKI, Hairsprays & Leave In Conditioner
- Ladies Don't Stink, Deoderants, Toothpastes & Mouthwash
- The Ladies Monthly Doesn't Stop For Doomsday
- The Ladies Straight Razor, Smooth Legs After TSHTF
- TEOTWAWKI OMG Its the Chocolate Post

The Post Apocalyptic Bakery
- Making Bread in a Solar Oven
-The EOTWAWKI Cookie Jar

Post SHTF Tradesman = You
- How I learned small engine repair
- How I learned auto repair
- How I Learned Basic Plumbing
- Zap! Electrician Post SHTF
- Elevator Repairman, Getting Lift After the Grid's Down
- Pa Bell, Can You Get the Phones Working Again
- Getting Power After TSHTF
- Harnessing the Power of Wind
- The Waterwheel, Hydro Power for the Wastelander
- Solar Power, As Long as the Sun's Still There

Sustainable Bartering
- how I learned to grow produce
- growing tobacco from seed
- Growing Coffee Beans? Is it Worthwhile
- Ye Olde EOTWAWKI Pub, learning to make alcohol for trade
- All the Spice in China, Growing the Afterworld Spice Trade

Post EOTWAWKI Medicine
- First Aid? You're the Only Aid, What to Do When You're Hurt
- MacGyver First Aid, Improvising in the Moment
- Bug Out Bag First Aid Kit, What's the Basics?
- Post Apocalypse Medical Prescription Coverage, Take Everything
- Post Apocalypse Medical Prescription Coverage, Shelf Lives
- TEOTWAWKI and Your Water Just Broke

Post apocalyptic urban survival
- Making Your Dwelling Seem Deserted
- All Access Pass to TEOTWAWKI, How I learned to pick a lock
- Every Guy Needs a Hot Ride, How I learned to Hotwire a car
- Kicking in a door, is it as easy as in the movies
- ascertaining your neighbors worth before and after TSHTF
- eviction ploys and/or planning, emptying your building
- team up or go it alone
- Is Ok to Scavenge Yet? When is It Morally Ok?
- setting urban traps to catch people?
- fortifying apartment building
- aftermath, what to do with your enemies bodies
- aftermath, what to do with your allies bodies
- Every Castle Falls, ways to bug out once you've lost
- advantage you, taking back what's yours
- post apocalyptic demolition, clearing your line of sight
- creating shelter once yours is gone
- In House Outbreak, Having a Quarantine Floor

ReStarting Societies Arts & History Program
- Learning How to Draw and/or Paint to Capture Life
- Beginners "Old School" Photography, Life After Digital Pics
- Post Society Historians, the Wasteland Writer
- Post Event Disaster Mapping, Where Not to Go
- The Peoples Printing Press, Societies Are Built Through Books
- how to make or build a printing press
- how to make paper
- how to make paper from used paper

The Unfortunates, when wasteland wanderers come a knocking

The Human Remnants of Military, Lawless Mercenaries at Your Door

Governmental reacquisitions, Should You Believe the Law is Back

O' Prepper Brother Where Art Thou? Encountering Preppers Post SHTF

Post SHTF Prepper Ham Network, How Much Could We Trust Each Other?

Society 2.0 Pros and Cons of Trying
Society 2.0 Should You Be The Starting Point
Society 2.0 Rebuilding One Town at a Time
Society 2.0 Restoring The Postal Service
Society 2.0 Restoring Communication CB & Ham Radios
Society 2.0 Road Block, Unwilling Townships and What To Do
Society 2.0 Crime & Punishment
Society 2.0 Leadership During and After the Rebuild
Society 2.0 Learning From the Empires, Don't Stretch Yourself Too Thin
Society 2.0 Bringing Essential Services Back to the People
Society 2.0 Education 2.0 - Teaching Without Books

Project Apocalypse Library: "Lights Out" by HalfFast

2012-07-17T15:34:00.001-07:00

By FAR, the most gripping EOTWAWKI story I will probably ever, and I mean EV VAR read. If you have read "One Second After" (which in my opinion pales in comparison to this book) you gonna love this book. This story, written within a forum as posts by user HalfFast is of the harrowing tale of the citizens of Silver Hills Subdivision in a small Texan town after an EMP cripples the American infrastructure. There isn't anything wrong with this novel at all, at all. The writing is clearly by someone that truly believes that the end is coming and this account of it is something they truly believe could happen, but the story is beautifully woven together as only a true writer can accomplish. The plot and story creation, character development and building towards the climax as expertly done. Even though this story is 611 pages on my iPad I couldn't put it down, any free time I had went to reading this story...hence the no posting as frequently lately lol.

THE BREAKDOWN

WRITING: like I said, the writing in this story wasn't obviously TEOTWAWKI followeresque as I was originally anticipating. I was thinking that this story was going to be overly preppery making it too easy for our protagonists to survive based on this tale being penned by a prepper type person. About the only thing in the writing style that I didn't like about the writing style was that the author got a little two detailed on the types of guns being used. But it's a small thing that can be overlooked once the plot takes off.

PLOT: now being that that this story was told on a forum, there had to be more plot twists and cliffhangers than I think there would have been normally due to there being an audience to its creation, but I think that is what made the plot so good. And the plot was SOOOO good. The main plot of the story followed a select few people from the small Texan subdivision as they react to America after an EMP attack. So the main plot overall was great, but it was all the little subplots within the story that made this story so great. Plot twists I saw coming more so because I wanted them over them being predictable, and smaller twists that completely blond sided me, made the story move at an alarming rate at times. Page after page would evaporate as I furiously tried to navigate the tale until the latest ordeal was weathered. The forethought put into this saga must have taken forever to think through, so many aspects of the plot, even small insignificant moments come back to mean something in the end. I found at times, many times that my heart was actually pounding as I awaited the unknown outcome of the event at hand. Brilliant.

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: I have often fond in stories where there is going to be many main players that few writers differentiate the characters enough in the beginning for me always know who the writer is talking about immediately, but this author somehow, and effortlessly achieved this for me. Not once in this story did I find myself wondering if he was talking about how I thought was Jim or maybe Jim was someone else lol. The characters throughout this story are as different and the same as everyone in society is, and the conflicts that come when rational people try to figure out the rules in an irrational time was nice structured so you, the reader, could see both sides of the opinion. All the characters struggle through the ethics of complete mayhem and utter lawlessness and try to weigh out survival of each other versus the survival of humanity. I really think for the first time, this writer has convinced me that communal teamwork out ways my trust of others, and truly shows me that one can not survive lone wolf, community is the only way we could survive.

TEOTWAWKIness: this book oozes everything EOTWAWKI. Every aspect of survival is mentioned in this story at some point. From preppers to the unprepared gathering after the event, to travelers and marauders, from the government to gangs, everyone is present. The members of the subdivision while trying to fortify and protect their properties encounter all sorts of calamities and experiences and through open dialogue work their way through a lot of real world problems after an event
Ike this. What I liked about this book, w that during the first half of the story a lot of really cool ideas were made to fix said problems, and I like how the author detailed these problems, and their solutions.

THE FINAL WORD: I really enjoyed this book, it may be the best all around story I have ever read. The amount of stuff that is discussed or happens in this tale is just so...read this book. Go download the file from where ever you can, and read it.

Following Along @$40 a Week: Week 2 The EDC Flashlight

2012-07-09T15:47:00.001-07:00

So Alexander over at TEOTWAWKIblog's Prepping on $40 a Week is on week number two, and this weeks item, the EDC (every day carry) flashlight. His original week two post can be read HERE.

So, in this weeks post Alexander delves into what he looks for in an EDC flashlight. He states that his current EDC flashlight the Surefire E1B is one of his favorite things that he always has with him, however he states at $120 it's far outside the price range of this post. So, for the dollars, Alexanders pick for the budget savvy prepper is the Fenix E11. A nice little flashlight and at $27 on Amazon, it's well below the $40 so $13 would go into the savings amount. Now I gotta say, I came about as close to buying this item as humanly possible without actually buying it. I was at Amazon, I had put enough money on my prepaid card we use for Internet purchases to buy the flashlight, I had followed the link to the item, I had added it to my cart, I had put in all my credit card numbers and address bullshit and clicked through until the final page before you actually own the item... and then I changed my mind. I really wanted to follow along on this item, but I couldn't justify spending the money on a flashlight that I didn't think I really required. Right now as my EDC Flashlight I carry this (pictured below) small crank powered flashlight. Now it may not crank out 100 lumens like the flashlight of the week, but it serves it's purpose and I don't have to worry about batteries with mine. So this is the main reason that I opted out of this weeks purchase at the last moment, I just couldn't buy something I really didn't believe I needed when I could save the money and buy something of my amazon wish list, or hold it over to make sure I have the funds for next weeks item. Either way, this eks item, the EDC flashlight wasn't something I was willing to buy, but most.y due to already having a suitable replacement for the time being. Who knows, maybe down the line I'll feel I need an EDC flashlight capable of kicking out some higher lumens, but for the time being, I'll stick with my little crank flashlight.

Mr. Wolf says next week we are moving into building a budget indeed bug out bag, which i am excited to see, I'm only half way though building my first bug out bag, so anything bug out bag oriented and I get excited lol.

Events To Prep For in Prioritized Levels

2012-07-05T15:53:00.001-07:00

First off, I would like to apologize for how long this post is, it kind of just got away from me, and if you do read the whole thing, kudos to you good sirs and or madams.

So I was reading a survival blog (which i can not remember but I'm sure one of you may recall) as I seem to always be doing, and the writer was describing an exercise wherein you the prepper make a list of anything and everything you can think of that would be made easier to handle via prepping. The list can include simple things as losing ones job, to absurd things such as a zombie apocalypse, everything you can think of. Then, once you have compiled your list, you prioritize your list. I've divided mine into four levels of events. So, this exercise is supposed to help you prioritize what things to get first, making you prepare for the most likely events first before you move on to other less likely events. You would continue on down the list until you're fully prepared for a zombie apocalypse and everything is fine and dandy. So without further ado, here's my list.

LEVEL 1 EVENTS LIST

Level 1 is filled with fairly plausible events, in fact at this very moment there is probably every one of these things happening right now somewhere in the world. These are events that as a race we deal with everyday and survive, for the most part.

Losing job - prepping, especially if you are fairly far along in your prepping will definitely help with losing your job and not have a foreseeable job lined up. A lot of people these days are going without a lot of basic essential needs due to not having the funds to provide for themselves and their families due to the bleak financial outlook right now all over the world. Whereas if they had been preppers they probably would have had a good stockpile of food and other products that would have given some breathing room to recoup.

Blizzard/Ice Storm - probably the most essential level 1 event to prep for as winter months without power can lead to a very quick death for sure. From not being able to access your funds, to powering your heater or cooking your food, winter storms can mess up your life in a hurry, especially if you leave in the northeasterly states and provinces of our two countries. Already overloaded power grids don't take much to completely collapse as seen a few times in the last decade. Camping stoves and makeshift heating devices will benefit you the most, or if you're lucky enough to be living in a house that has wood heat. Food and water preps are important as stated earlier the lack of power could rob you of money to buy more food and water.

Flooding - in my immediate area at the time of writing this, flooding is a big concern, especially when the river breaks up after the winter thaw. Theres a bend in the river down by the old end of town that causes all the big sheets of ice floating down the river to get stuck up on each other and cause a damming effect and this leads sometimes to flooding. On most years the flooding is minor, but every once and a while it's pretty bad...I've seen pictures of the whole town under at least some water. Prepping wold alleviate the need to leave the apartment building if all we were doing was waiting out the flood. Being twelve floors up is going to keep us out of any immediate danger from the flood, so food and water preps are going to help the most in a situation like this one. Also, any kind of camping stove like prep that you have that doesn't require power, as most likely you are going to be without power for some time.

Forest fire - Canada has a lot of nature and with nature comes a lot of trees and with a lot of trees comes a lot of forest fires. Everywhere I have lived has been a hot zone for Forest fires, and this place is no different. There are a few communities that I know of right now that are evacuated do to forest fires. For forest fires, especially maybe ones that quickly engulf an area close to your town, time is of the essence. Breathing issues caused by the smoke can be felt many miles beyond the outer perimeter of the fire, so anything that could alleviate the stress on your respiratory system such as medical masks, gas masks or even modified dust masks can and will help a lot. You gotta breath right? Having your Bug Out Vehicle fully stocked with supplies will be invaluable when your local authorities tell you to evacuate, barring you're the type that would evacuate when told to.

Hurricane/tornado - I personally have never been any where near a tornado, and haven't been within a continent of a hurricane so I wouldnt have any first hand knowledge of what to do. But as far as naturally occurring events that prepping would aid in, these two are it. While Hurricanes give ample warning that they are coming, a lot of the time the actual severity of the storm isn't really known until it hits landfall, which for a lot of people isn't enough time to determine whether or not to evacuate. Tornados though give very little notice that they are even coming, let alone where they are going to touch down, science seems to be quite baffled by the tornado and trying to predict where one may strike well in advance of an event. So depending on the severity of said storms hitting your area, you could be without power or even your home for a long time, and preps are going to save your life and any other lives you choose to provide aid to. In either event as well, proper procedure once you've decided to bug in, is to get to the safest part of your home, which in most cases is your basement. So keeping your preps in the basement is probably beneficial to people that live in an area that these storms are prevalent. Also, depending on the severity of the storm, you may end up buried under your home for an undetermined amount of time, essentially on your own as you or rescuers try to make their way through the rubble of your home and others looking for survivors. Food and water essential to surviving this scenario.

Earthquake - I've only ever been in a small earthquake, after shocks from the Seattle quake of 2000, but it was enough that it cause by first floor apartment to sway enough to concern me, couldn't imagine what the top floor felt like lol, or even what people in Seattle were feeling like. Earthquakes strike suddenly so having a plan set in place if you live in an earthquake zone is prudent as everyone in your plan should know what to do in the event of an earthquake and where to go if at all possible. Bug out bags and alternative transportation, like a bicycle, would be beneficial in an environment where structures could be deteriorating and regular transportation halted by debris.

LEVEL 2 EVENTS LIST
While not necessarily implausible, level 2 events are seen as mostly improbable. Most the average civilian, would believe that these events could happen, but won't happen any time soon. Nothing overly out of the norm in the list, but things the majority of people don't worry about on a day to day basis, based on either rarity of happenstance or general naivety of the inherent probability.

Race Riots - I'm not going to say where I live there is going to be a race riot in the near future, but I'm also not going to be surprised if it ever happens here. Race riots are going to be either a bug in or a bug out situation, no in between, unless you're one of the rioters that is. Getting out of town or holing your self up at home both have their advantages and disadvantages. Bugging in, leaves you in familiar territory with all your food and water preps as well as any and all your weapons of choice. Knowing the layout of the land and your home will allow you easier time dealing with the horde of people trying to kill each other and others just taking advantage of the situation. But, if the rioting turns into looting and/or full out chaos, being trapped in your dwelling could backfire on you. Bugging out gets you out of harms way, but could leave you lacking many preps you had to leave behind when you fled the city/town you lived in. Also, having to evade the riots/rioters could fail and put you and yours in immediate danger, left to fend off countless chaos encrusted fiends all by your lonesome. If you do however manage to leave the area that is affected, you should be safe, and able to find lodging elsewhere until e everything blows over.

Civil Unrest - race riots bigger uglier cousin, civil unrest could be caused by just about anything from a racially motivated social wrong like the Rodney King Trial Riots, or political upheaval like the 99% movement. Complete and utter civil unrest really hasn't been seen in north America in many decades, but could rear its ugly head not to far off in the future here. If the citizens of the United States got to the point where they believed that their local and federal government didn't have their best interest in mind, could get violent...leading to politically motivated civil unrest. Widespread panic by those not involved and complete mayhem by those that are, could cripple the country and halt all production of goods moving from one end of the country to the other. While not necessarily causing TEOTWAWKI, it could take quite a while for everything to get back to normal. Stockpiles of food and water, and weapons to protect yourself from the angry mob on every main street USA, would be helpful, as waiting out the storm is probably your best bet until you really know what's going on.

Tsunami - while the Indonesian boxing day tsunami was one of the biggest disasters in recent memory, people don't fear tsunamis occurring as much as other natural disasters. Tsunamis are the perfect storm of the right thing happening at the right time. If you're caught in a tsunami there's little that could help you other than having a bug out bag strapped to you at the moment it happened. Having some sort of flotation device would help but not a whole lot. Surviving tsunami when in the direct path seems to be more luck than anything. Now surviving the aftermath of a tsunami is where prepping would benefit you. From everything we've learned in the aftermath of the boxing day tsunami is that everyone is Ill-prepared to help governments and people react to such an event. Getting food and clean water in this situation is near impossible, as everything has been swept back into the sea. For any prepping to work in this situation though, your place of storage would have to be outside the destruction zone to be of any help to you.

Martial Law In Effect - while no one likes to think of their own government thinking that it's own people are so out of control, that it removes all your rights and turns your once democratic republic into a police state. But it could conceivably happen, especially if any other events on this level were to happen. Once TSHTF and panic fires across the lands, the government may have no other option but to declare martial law. This is definitely a bug in scenario if I've ever seen one, in my humble opinion anyway. Hiding out in your well stocked cellar would we great, you could even go old school, secret compartments, hidden doors, passages in the walls, you know super cool evade big brother stuff. How long martial law is in place is anyone else's guess, I have no idea how to determine how long something like this would last once the need is there. A fairly large stockpile of food and water would enable you to stay indoors longer and lessen your chance of getting caught out when you shouldn't or being somewhere you shouldn't....pissing off the all power encompassing military enforcing the now overly stringent laws of the land. If you must venture out to restock some products, camouflage suited to your environment is key, blending in and staying low will keep you out of the deadly crosshairs of a highly trained US marine.

Pandemic Natural - at any given moment a viral pandemic that could wipe out a large majority of mankind could happen without notice. Yet for some reason we all seem to think that the all powerful CDC and World Health Organization can bring us back from the brink with some eleventh hour cure. But when reality hits us all in the face and, there is no cure because there is too many sick and dying people and not enough resources to create a vaccine, then the sobering truth will slap every single one of us across the face. Even if the powers that be we're able to create a vaccine and distribute it to the people in a reasonable amount of time that it could save a good amount of the population, the social breakdown from the impending doom, would cause complete and utter mayhem across the board. People would more than likely be fighting in the aisles of pharmacies over anything they think may give them a better chances at staving off certain death by boosting their immune systems. Or people killing anyone that comes near them or their family if they even look remotely sick....it was Jim or us honey, him or us. World Wide Pandemic is a scary and sobering reality that we don't take all that seriously. As every outbreak of bird flu or swine flu or SARS or whatever that pass and we over sensationalize just to make people buy a newspaper or tune into the news just to have it become some joke to everyone, we get desensitized to the severity of the problems we could face at any moment. We should be more worried about pandemics, but we're not, and that's why viral pandemic outbreak is not viewed as a more probable threat.

Financial Collapse - financial forecasters say a complete financial collapse is highly improbably and that people shouldn't worry about the stability of the global bank. Sounds like something you would say to calm someone down before you tell them the house is on fire. Now I'm not a paranoid person, and like I've said frequently on this blog, that I don't particularly fear any one of these events actually happening, I can't discount the notion of anything happening if it is actually possible. The last decade since 911 has shown that the world economic structure is very fragile, from Clinton to Obama has seen the entire world economy and outlook change so drastically you would swear if this was a sporting event, that the fix was in. However unlikely a financial collapse is, it wouldn't hurt us to factor it into our planning. Financial collapse would essentially cripple anything and everything that our society runs on, as far as everything goes, third world nations would fair better G8 nations if all the money became worthless, they already live on nothing, what's different today? It's like in our nations the poor are more than likely gonna fair better in a SHTF scenario, because poor people know how to make something out of nothing and live on very little, from experience.

EMP Solar Flare - A naturally occurring EMP from a solar flare that's so destructive it shuts down all electronic devices is not a highly feared or even known about phenomenon, but could easily happen. Solar flares happen frequently, but at levels safe for the inhabitants of earth. Solar flares have historically played havoc with earth infrastructure but not to any worthwhile effects. But it's only a matter of time before one comes along and wipes us all out. Imagine waking up one morning and everything electrical had stopped working, as far as apocalyptic events that could happen, this is probably the most in like a sheep out like a lion as they come. Most people wouldn't even clue into what was happening for quite a while, panic probably wouldn't begin for days in most corners of the country, people would just trust that the local or federal authorities would fix it in a couple days at worst. Not knowing that the lights could be off permanently. Having certain important electrical devices in a faraday cage would help you maintain some sort of normalcy and allow a more transitional move into the world we're about to inherit.

Asteroid - a commonly feared but easily dismissed event is the asteroid strike, you know like the one that killed the dinosaurs lol. People believe that an asteroid strike would be detrimental to our planet and more than likely an extinction level event, but don't worry about it...since the Dino's bit it asteroid style, most people believe lightening won't strike twice, even though our planet has been struck many the time by significant space debris. Fear not Americanos, Bruce Willis gonna save the day and then we'll name some high schools after him and his crew....but in reality, we'd just mess it all up...sending the human race into obscurity with the last thing we ever do being a huge fail... I can see an alien race with a poster of an asteroid about to hit earth with the word "owned" under it.

LEVEL 3 EVENTS LIST
Level 3 events are events that everyone fears immensely but believes that they are either so unthinkable or so implausible that we needn't worry about them. While thinking something is unimaginable is not a dependable enough method to ensure these events don't happen, so far it hasn't been disproven lol.

Pandemic Man Made - just like its less diabolical brother the natural pandemic outbreak, the man made viral outbreak, or intentional release of a deadly pathogen while physically destructive like the natural pandemic, also has the crippling psychological aspect of being betrayed by our fellow man. Especially if the releaser had no vaccine or cure for it, just an apocalyptic mindset, and a big fuck you to the rest of world. There's no real way to prevent such an event, and no real plan of action that could protect us from this, as people that would do this would nodoubtedly plan out the dispersion of the pathogen down to the tee, with airports and airplanes delivering delivering the deadly blow to mankind before we even know what's going on.

Dirty Bomb Attack - terrorists have long been portrayed as coveting the use of a dirty bomb or high explosives encased in radioactive materials to make a makeshift poor mans nuclear device. Loading these radioactive materials into a van and loading it with simply obtained high explosives and the prevailing explosion and fallout aftermath could kill hundreds of thousands of people. Having medications and equipment designed to help and aid in radioactive events is a benefit in you kits at this point. Geiger counters, radiation suits and potassium iodine tablets and like medications will help you survive such an event. Not much you can do if you're at ground zero, but chances are you won't care if you are.

Super Volcano - the only natural disaster in the Level 3 Event List, the incredibly overdo super volcano that is the hundred of thousands of years overdo Yellowstone national park volcanic super cell. Apparently this volcano goes off about every quarter million years and is long overdo, and forecasters say when it goes, it's going to go BIG. Ash will blacken out the sun, and every living thing will more than likely die as without sun, plant like will die off and everything that lives on plant life (which is just about every living thing on the planet directly or indirectly) dies due to lack of sustenance. That's not even including the breathing complications and contamination of water sources from all the ash in the air. Underground compounds fully stocked with years worth of food is really the only way any of us are going to survive this major event. And even if it's not THAT big, a moderate eruption at this point would stunt the growth of life on earth and global farmers would not ever be able to meet the demand and people would begin to starve.

EMP Attack - like a natural EMP, the EMP attack would shut down all electrical devices, and cripple our modern society to the point of no return. An intentional nuclear detonation in the atmosphere over the US would send an EMP that would cripple most of north America is very possible and a few nations already have the technologies and know how to do so. Many nations have the reasons to do it, and it's only a matter of time before someone tries it out. Trying to fix the grid and design electronics that can better survive such an event could work to alleviate the damage, but as with anything that involved humans, plans are probably flawed and we tend to drag our feet over on this side of the world anyway.

WWIII - an inevitable outcome to the previous event. Any major attack on America or other like g8 nation would probably lead to what humans do best, take sides. Allies and enemies pairing off and strategically placing assets all over the world...chest thumping that eventually leads to full out war. A world war happening around us as, if like the previous event we were crippled by an EMP would be beyond terrifying. Imagine hearing a war going on all around you, but your in a dark house with no way of finding out what's going on outside or being even to see what's going on inside the house. WWIII would eventually lead into what could easily be TEOTWAWKI....because widespread war in this day and age is only going to lead to one place....

NUCLEAR WAR... The granddaddy of them all, the end all be all to the end of the world as we know it. You know, that button we dare not push...it's just been pushed. Once pushed there's no coming back, and we all know it, hence why we've not pushed that button since we all found out what happens when Japan got blowed up. But widespread war with certain super powers losing faith that they will come out of the winning end could lead to a hail Mary type logic, and the first tactical nuke goes up and then, if we're fucked at least I can die knowing they're fucked too mentality spreads like a wave across the worlds. Little hope in surviving a full out Armageddon nuclear apocalypse, but if you escape the actual detonations, you still have a massive dose of radiation to deal with, for like, forever. The medications and materials mentioned in the dirty bomb description will help you here, but staying away from hot zones is going to be important, but why would you want to go there anyway.

LEVEL 4 EVENTS LIST
The completely improbable and completely insane list hereafter, is a list of events that most everyday rational people believe impossible to happen. About as likely as unicorns or the return of the dinosaurs, people dongs like to think of such far fetched ideas occurring in reality, better leave these events to hollywood to perpetuate.

Biblical Armageddon - while anyone that is religious would get upset at me for putting this in a level that I describe as like unicorns, biblical armageddon is not something that anyone wants to contemplate ever happening. The idea that god has said, this is the end, now let's have a huge battle royale before we all get together in heaven and kumbayah ourselves off until whenever. However, if it does go down like that and your one of the many "left behind" you better have a game plan for the final battle between good and evil, cause that stuffs getting messed up...guaranteed. Don't know if we're getting food provided for the thousand year war, but you better stock up on weapons for that long a war...

Alien Reveal Reaction Collapse - many people believe in aliens, and many people can acknowledge the potential for life on other planets, but some just won't accept the notion. Which ever belief set is yours it matters not, if aliens made themselves know to us in some grand gesture that couldn't be argued against the proverbial shit would definitely hit the fan. From religious beliefs coming into question, to political pressures, to basic societal fears, aliens revealing themselves to us would shake t he very foundation of humankind. Old grudges could possibly be buried or made worse, new grievances could be born over who gets the rights to alien companionship or even who gets access to alien technology, the world as it sits right now is NOT ready for aliens. Complete social anarchy could ensue from alien revelation and self defense and a good secluded bug out location will suit you well in this situation. Waiting out the panic storm is about all you can do, and when that all dies down, and all that is left are people that are either cool with them being here or against them being here you still have to worry about....

Alien Invasion - whether after revealing themselves to us and determining from our reaction that maybe the universe would be better off without us, or just a plain old first contact attack, alien invasion would be a pretty bad day in human history. There's no Will Smith type soldier that can wipe out an entire advanced alien race, no mystery illness or allergic reaction to water saving us here, we're doomed. A race of aliens that has the technology to travel thousands of light years is not going to have much trouble destroying our meager troops (no offense troops of the world). And unlike every alien sci-fi invasion film or book ever written, humankinds heart or tenacity never say day mentality is not going to save us...this is reality people. Complete and utter decimation awaits us, and if any of us survive, preps are going to repopulate the earth.

Zombie apocalypse - lately there has been a lot of chatter on the interest of events all around the world that make the true believers giddy like a school girl at the notion of mother of all apocalypses the zombie apocalypse. While any rational person will say a zombie apocalypse could and will never happen, there are many the blogger or websites that devote a lot of time and effort to proving that one is possible if not slightly askew from the traditional zombie. From viral outbreak, to human intervention gone way wrong, to extreme mad cow disease, people are continually theorizing about the potential for a real world zombie apocalypse. From collecting zombie killing tools and advanced weaponry, to zombie proof architecture, zombie warriors are serious about the impending apocalypse. And the holy grail of zombie believers is huge I TOLD YOU SO once it has all began. To survive this apocalypse you'll need weapons...lots and lots of weapons, everyone knows that.

Post Matrix Apocalypse - the most improbable of apocalypses on this list but since I somewhat mockingly wrote about the notion of one HERE, I figured I should at least add it to the list of things to prep for. The low down on the matrix if you don't know is this, we are all living in a virtual world (the matrix) to keep our living bodies complacent whilst machines use us as a power source only to have us become "awakened" and because we are human, fight back against our oppressors (the machines) causing a post matrix apocalypse. Like in the original post about this event, knowledge is king, as everything we thought we had prepped in the matrix isn't actually real and not in the real world, however everything we learn mentally would still be in our minds as you can't learn something pretendly lol. I would imagine if you have prepped for every event leading up to this, you've probably already learned everything that could help you in a post matrix apocalyptic world, aside from maybe how to hack the matrix mainframe with your mind, but hey, that's a little too factionalized for this post lol.

So there it is, my attempt at prioritizing every event I could think of right now that you could prep for. It took a lot more writing than I thought when I started writing it, but who really knows what's going to hit the page once you start. If I forgot anything let me know in the comment section below, and maybe I'll put up a revised issue at a later date, also, let me know what your prioritized list would be. I'm always interested in how other people view what I view. So until the next exercise let's hope we get prepared for all these events before the shit hits.

Prepping for a Post Matrix Apocalyptic Event

2012-07-03T17:25:00.001-07:00

If you don't know what the matrix is, firstly what the hell, secondly the premise of the (movie) matrix is that the hero of the film discovers that we are not living our lives but living in a digital construct of what our world could be to keep our minds complacent as machines use us as power generators. So once this realization occurs crazy kung fu hacktastic sci-fi CGI ensues and everyone is happy. But as far as this weird post, that's all you need to know about it.

So I was thinking, and the thought occurred to me that what if we are in a matrix type situation and eventually have a matrix apocalypse where we all become aware and break free of our cybernetic overlords and try to declare our freedom. Then the thought occurred to me that if indeed we are in the matrix right now, preparing for TEOTWAWKI, we would have to do things a little differently to prepare for the matrix EOTWAWKI scenario. Food preps and weapons caching is fine and dandy for any other apocalyptic event, but not the matrix. If indeed the matrix construct were a real thing and it was being used to keep our minds complacent while our bodies were being used to generate power, knowledge would be the prep of most importance. Regardless of acquiring skill-sets and knowledge bases in the real world or in the matrix, it's still information that your brain has acquired. This would be especially important once, if like in the matrix films, you realize that generations of people have been born and died hooked into the matrix and never lived and actually day in their physical body. So learning as much as you can about anything and everything would be of the utmost importance to your future survival once you or someone else set you free from you physical connection to the matrix and reinserting you into the real world. The knowledge you acquired in the matrix would help you survive a post machine take over apocalyptic world where people have been near exterminated bug the machines. Having the knowledge to survive and thrive without any means other than you wits, will mean the difference between mere survival and the redemption of potentially the entire human race through a hopefully successful human revolution.

Even though the notion of a matrix type situation is pretty far fetched and highly improbable it would still be prudent to prepare for any situation that could happen right? Especially once you take into account that it couldn't hurt as many of you already are acquiring as much information as you can anyway. So every time you learn something new to fend for yourself and thrive in a world where you're on your own, tell yourself you're a little closer to being prepared for a Post Matrix Apocalyptic world...and a little closer to being the saving grace of the entire human race lol...hey we can dream big cant we.