13 Steps to Prepare for Civil Unrest

Gaye Levy

It has been over two years since I wrote about the “Perfect Storm of Civil Unrest”.  Looking back, it would be easy to think that perhaps the article was a bit reactionary given current events at the time.  On the other hand, not a whole lot has changed since then.

These are still uneasy times. The names and faces of the powers-that-be may be different, but the actions are the same. Normal, ordinary middle class families are still struggling and corporate corruption, hidden agendas, and cover-ups are still commonplace.

The threat of an Ebola or other pandemic, global economic collapse, severe water shortages, and immigration/border woes simply add to our concern about the future.  Fear, sickness, and deprivation evoke chaos; and as we reach that tipping point, it seems only prudent to prepare for civil unrest, riots, looting, crimes against persons, domestic terrorism, and more.

Today I take another look at the potential for a perfect storm.  In doing so, I have updated and expanded upon the steps we can take now to prepare for civil unrest.

Report: It’s YOUR Fault: Fed Says Americans Who “Hoard Money” Are To Blame For Poor Economy

Mac Slavo

Despite arguments to the contrary from the Obama administration, mounting evidence suggests that the U.S. economy is rapidly falling back into negative growth territory. More Americans are out of the workforce than ever before, median household incomes are at levels not seen since 1967, and consumer spending is coming to a veritable standstill. The crisis is apparently so significant that a Federal Reserve governor recently said U.S. policymakers are crafting regulations that will force bank depositors to cover any losses should their financial institutions fail.

The question that many are asking is, how did this happen? How, after six years of recovery efforts and trillions of dollars printed, is it possible that the economy is not booming again?

This week the Federal Reserve published a report that claims to have figured it out and it turns out that the renewed economic downturn has nothing to do with foreign outsourcing, high taxation, increased health care costs for business or rising consumer prices for food and energy.

No, according to the Fed it is your fault.

The Grocery Store Rebellion: Here’s What We Ate During Week 2

Daisy Luther

We had some setbacks this week, but we’re hanging in there with our Grocery Store Rebellion.

At the end of Week 2, we ran out of milk. After choking down coffee without fresh cream, I finally broke down and went to our local co-op and purchased milk. Yuck. I really hope that our dairy farmer gets another cow soon, because this pasteurized stuff is for the birds. According to the sign at the co-op, it’s from a dairy that is not a factory farm type of place, so I went with the best option I could find.

In other news, a sudden heat wave one afternoon may have wiped out my fall garden. My transplanted seedlings were looking awesome, but now they are sad, wilted, and limp. I’m hoping to revive them, but it doesn’t look good. I might be back to square one with my garden, so I’m sprouting new seedlings in my utility room.

Aside from these two episodes, all systems are still “go”.  This is the time of year when fresh produce is at its most abundant. I’m spending a lot of hours each day preserving food so that we can maintain this Rebellion throughout the cold months. So when you see what I’m spending, it’s important to remember that this is not all food to be consumed right now.

Scientist Warns 'Solar Super-Storms' Are Inevitable and a Significant Threat

Activist Post

Solar flare NASA gif

In this month's issue of Physics World, Ashley Dale from the University of Bristol warns of the "catastrophic" and "long-lasting" impacts of "solar super-storms" and the dangers we face if the threat continues to go unnoticed.

Dale, who was a member of an international task force – dubbed SolarMAX – set up to identify the risks of a solar storm and how its impact could be minimized, explains how it is only a matter of time before an exceptionally violent solar storm is propelled towards Earth. Such a storm would wreak havoc with our communication systems and power supplies, crippling vital services such as transport, sanitation and medicine.

"Without power, people would struggle to fuel their cars at petrol stations, get money from cash dispensers or pay online. Water and sewage systems would be affected too, meaning that health epidemics in urbanized areas would quickly take a grip, with diseases we thought we had left behind centuries ago soon returning," Dale writes.

The Big Blackout: Why I’m Going Low-Tech to Prep for an EMP

Daisy Luther

This might be stating the obvious, but in the event of an EMP, things will not be the same, no matter how great your generator is.

Aaron Dykes of Truthstream Media wrote an excellent article about the extreme likelihood of a catastrophic event that could take out our power grid:

Billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Singer is warning investors – and more broadly, lawmakers and leaders – about the potential destructive power of an electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, which could be triggered by solar events or artificially, via blasts in the atmosphere.

According to Singer, research shows that no other incident, including a nuclear bomb, has the potential for such wide-scale devastation, coupled with the relative likelihood of occurring. While a nuke would primarily impact on the location of a such (such a city), an EMP could occur globally or across large-scale regions, wreaking havoc on the entire electric grid and devices…

Prepping As a Form of Personal Activism

Gaye Levy
Backdoor Survival

There are some days when I feel as though I am out there in the world alone, fighting a battle that can not be seen or heard.  The battle is one of preparedness and is one I endure day in and day out in spite of my best effort to step away and live a normal, middle class, mainstream life.

I have given a lot of thought to this and even though I tell strangers that I am a “crazy old prepper lady”, in my heart of hearts I know that I am doing both myself and every other prepper-type a disservice by minimizing the importance of embracing preparedness and self-reliance.

Strategies for a Neighborhood Prep Cooperative

Jon David Miller

Now that we are in a time of growing awareness of the potential for a societal breakdown disaster, forming a preparedness cooperative among your neighbors and friends is a crucially important idea.

As one of the founders of an urban natural foods cooperative in 1975, that continued to operate for 30 years through many changes, I understand the value and the challenges of such a venture in normal times.

At a time of easily perceived possibilities of chaos arising from either an economic collapse, an earth change, a power outage or some other social disruption event, forming a shared cooperative project with neighbors in a strategic geographic sector is essential.

The primary topics of concern are food, water, shelter, first aid and security. It is important to have thorough plans and adequate supplies of good food, pure water, first aid items, nutritional supplements, herbs, essential medications, clothing, flashlights, batteries, candles, alternative lights, matches and other fire starters, tools and off-grid heating, cooking, air quality and waste disposal equipment.

Survival Basics: How to Build a Fire in a Rocket Stove

Gaye Levy

There comes a time when every prepper will say enough with all of the food and enough with all of the gear. Preparing a survival pantry, first aid kit and bug-out-bag are all important tasks but at some point we need to take a break from gathering stuff and move on to some of the basic skills needed to to insure our comfort in an emergency situation.

One of those skills is the ability to cook food outdoors. Sure, we all know how to fire up the barbie and grill burgers. But what if the backyard barbeque was not available?

If that happens, you are going to want to be ready to act. Like flipping a switch, you will want to immediately call up some basic outdoor skills that will help you get on with the business of cooking (and eating) until things, such as they are, return to normal.

This includes building a fire so that you can cook your food. A simple thing, yes, but important none-the less.''

HOW TO BUILD A SIMPLE FIRE TO COOK OUTDOORS IN A ROCKET STOVE

4 Prepping Lessons Learned Following a Near Disaster

Before the smoke got really bad

Gaye Levy

Living in the Pacific Northwest, you become accustomed to the occasional earthquake. I still remember the earthquake of 1964 as well as the big Nisqually quake of 2001. I especially remember that there was a lot of destruction during the 2001 quake, and that our neighbor’s house slid off its foundation.

There is no way to anticipate these sudden, unexpected events. But we can do our best to prepare for them not only as individuals and as families, but as communities as well.

Here in my own small community, we experienced our own unexpected event on Wednesday morning when an 85’ yacht at our marina burst into flames. For those of you not familiar with boats and marinas, let me explain the danger.

First of all, boats these days are made of fiberglass. When burned, fiberglass produces heavy toxic fumes and smoke – lots of it. Then there is the matter of fuel. Typically, diesel fuel is flammable but not explosive. On the other hand, gasoline is both highly flammable and explosive. In this case, the burning yacht was adjacent to a fuel dock where both diesel and gasoline are pumped to visiting vessels...

5 Uncommon Skills That Will Be Useful After the SHTF

Gaye Levy

I believe that community will be important in a post-SHTF society.

It is also my belief that each member of a community will need to contribute in one way or another to the group as a whole. It is easy to think of those contributions as something physical that you can touch and feel such as food, medical supplies, fuel, firearms, ammunition and cash. The problem, of course, is that depending on economic circumstances and logistics, even experienced preppers may have very little extra in the way of tangible assets to contribute to the community as a whole.

Today I would like to move beyond the need for Prepper’s to have physical and monetary assets. Instead, I would like to suggest five uncommon skills that will be needed by every post-SHTF community. These are skills that do not take a lot of money to learn and yet they will be extremely valuable and in high demand if the SHTF. These are skills you may not have thought about, but important skills none-the less.

FIVE USEFUL SKILLS YOU MAY NOT HAVE THOUGHT OF

FEMA Pushes Prepping for Pets and Disabled

Message from FEMA: "Prepare as if nobody is coming to rescue you" and "microchip your pets".

Activist Post

FEMA just released two new videos encouraging pet owners and the disabled to prepare for disasters. FEMA refers to them as "Preparing Makes Sense" instructional videos.

The YouTube description for the Preparing Makes Sense for Pet Owners video reads, "A unique instructional video containing information for pet owners and suggestions for proactive pet emergency preparedness."

One of FEMA's strong recommendations for prepping with pets is to microchip them.

"Microchipping is a particularly effective way to identify pets separated from their owners in an emergency," Jordan Crump of the Humane Society claims in the video.

They Will Seize Your Food and Resources: “Hoarding of Just About Anything Can Be Banned”

Mac Slavo

In March of 2012 President Obama signed an executive order which, among other things, gives the federal government authority over every resource and infrastructure element in the United States.

The new order provides specific definitions for each of these essential infrastructure elements, indicating that all resources, not just those owned by large farms and businesses, are to be directly controlled by the government.… 

The signing of the National Defense Resources Preparedness executive order grants the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Labor, the Department of Defense and other agencies complete control of all US resources, including the ability to seize, confiscate or re-delegate resources, materials, services, and facilities as deemed necessary or appropriate to promote the national defense as delegated by the following agencies:

That the government would seize energy depots, large farms, water reservoirs, and infrastructure-critical factories in the midst of a widespread disaster is a given, but how far can they really go?

Roadtripping, Prepper Style

Daisy Luther

We’ve embarked on a road trip that will be over 2500 miles. I’m driving with a kid, a dog, and 2 incredibly unhappy cats, and pulling behind us a trailer full of all our stuff. We have a cooler full of snacks, good tunes, books on CD, and a camera and journal at the ready to help us to enjoy the trip.

However, if you happen to be a prepper, I’m sure you can completely sympathize with the uncomfortable feeling of “What if something happens while we are between homes?” Think of your prepper version of a worst case scenario and then think of it happening while you’re in a vehicle in the middle of a cornfield, the mountains, or a desert. Not only would we be dealing with an event like a natural disaster, an EMP, or some other catastrophe, we’d be doing it in unfamiliar territory.

Since this isn’t just an optional vacation, but a necessary journey to reach our new home, it’s a measured risk that we are willing to take. Unlike traveling for a vacation, we will have the unique benefit of having a rolling bug-out bag behind us with tools and supplies. I took some additional preparedness measures to create the safest journey possible.

Not Prepared: 17 Signs That Most Americans Will Be Wiped Out By The Coming Economic Collapse

Dees Illustration

Michael Snyder

The vast majority of Americans are going to be absolutely blindsided by what is coming. They don't understand how our financial system works, they don't understand how vulnerable it is, and most of them blindly trust that our leaders know exactly what they are doing and that they will be able to fix our problems. As a result, most Americans are simply not prepared for the massive storm that is heading our way.

Most American families are living paycheck to paycheck, most of them are not storing up emergency food and supplies, and only a very small percentage of them are buying gold and silver for investment purposes. They seem to have forgotten what happened back in 2008. When the financial markets crashed, millions of Americans lost their jobs. Because most of them were living on the financial edge, millions of them also lost their homes.

Unfortunately, most Americans seem convinced that it will not happen again.  Right now we seem to be living in a "hope bubble" and people have become very complacent.  For a while there, being a "prepper" was very trendy, but now concern about a coming economic crisis seems to have subsided.  What a tragic mistake.

20 Items to Kick Start Your Food Storage Plan

Gaye Levy

No matter how many times I write about food, there is always something new to consider or a new and different way to present the same old information in a more useful manner. With that in mind, today I would like to share a method for getting started with your food storage program in an easy, step by step, and cost effective manner.

To be truthful, my initial goal with this article was to respond to readers who were just getting started and wanted a shopping list of things to buy for their food storage pantry. I also wanted to compile a checklist that more experienced preppers could use to compare what they had to what they needed. My goal can pretty much be summed up by saying that I wanted to write about getting started with food storage the easy way. No frills, no fluff – just a common sense list of food items to get you started.

With that goal in mind, let me say this: this is not a list of items intended for deep storage. Nor is it a list of items packaged so that they have a 25 year shelf life. (And in reality, do you really need your stored food to last that long?) I am also not going to list items that might be foreign to your palate, difficult to find, or too costly to absorb into your weekly shopping budget.

Learning to Render Fat

Gaye Levy

Old habits die slowly. For years we have been told that animal fat is bad and to be honest, I personally subscribe to a diet plan that is primarily plant based. That said, there is a place in my diet and my kitchen for organic meat and meat products, including the fat that is typically discarded after the fact.

For the longest time, something I absolutely tossed out was cooking grease. Healthcare experts, government and public health agencies and even the editors of popular cooking magazines all jumped on the fat is bad bandwagon. Low fat was good, no fat was better and animal fat? Forget it.

The result of all this blather was an epidemic of obesity and heart disease as well as a bunch of inexplicable diseases. Now understand this: I am not a medical professional and by no means am I suggesting a diet heavy on animal fat. But, as with everything else in life, a bit of fat used in moderation may not be so bad and most certainly can add a dimension of flavor and satiety to your food.

Water – The Survival Basic

Gaye Levy

A frequent theme in the preparedness community is the importance of water. Where to find it, how to store it, how to purify it and how to filter it. Whether you are a prepping newbie or an experienced survivalist, water should be high on your list of prepping priorities.

Every year or so, I like to share an article on water, not only for the benefit of the many prepping newbies that visit Backdoor Survival, but also as a refresher course for those of us that are more experienced. Today’s article is an update to information that I have previously shared but that does not make it any less important.

In addition, see below for information on how you can win one of three free LifeStraw personal portable water filters.

BACK TO THE BASICS: WATER FOR SURVIVAL

When Prepping Just Isn't Enough

Daisy Luther

There’s a sense of urgency in the prepping community lately that is at an all-time high. Between the global elite warmongers, the impending financial collapse as the government makes plans to attach pension funds, the new viruses, Monsanto’s GMO seeds running amok and threatening the world’s food supply, and Big Food’s toxic food-like substances in the grocery stores with no regard for actual nutrition, it is clear that we are going downhill fast. The soothing ”everything-is-just-fine” propaganda is so blatant that even the most die-hard zombie is beginning to see that something is amiss and that a massive change is soon to take place.

Many of us have stocked our homes to the rafters with beans, rice, bullets, and band-aids. Each trip to the store adds more to our stockpiles as we try to get what we need before time runs out. Newbie preppers are feeling even more frantic, wondering how to prepare when each week it takes more money to put less in the grocery cart. (If you’re new to preparedness, here’s a little primer with some great links.)

With the situation looking more grim by the day, it is very clear that stockpiling is not enough. No matter how many cans of green beans you have stored away, one day they will run out. We have become so dependent on the “buy it as you need it” lifestyle that despite our food storage, there are still gaps that must be filled.

And the only way to fill these gaps is through that which is a step beyond prepping...self sufficiency.

An Open Letter to the Reluctant Prepper

Gaye Levy

Becoming prepared can be a lonely journey. Family members scoff and friends roll their eyes and shy away, thinking you have joined the tin foil hat society. You want to share and you want to talk, but say too much to the wrong people and you may be setting yourself up for future free-loading, looting, or worse.

This is a dilemma faced by almost every prepper I know. Most want to join up with other like-minded people but who do they trust? The issue of trust is one reason why most of us want family members and close friends to come on board the prepping wagon; but, alas, few do so willingly and even then, only give lip service to the effort. I know. Other than my husband, Shelly (also known as the Survival Husband) none of my family preps, and very few of my friends do so either.

Top Survival Items At The Supermarket Besides Food

Activist Post

Previously we have written about the best survival foods found at your local grocery store. But food is not the only thing in supermarkets that can be useful for surviving potential crises. In fact, since large supermarkets have a huge selection besides food, they can provide most survival essentials outside of tools and weapons.

Here are just some of the important survival items to buy in bulk while grocery shopping.  Please add any items we missed into the comment section below.

First Aid Kit: Most grocery stores these days will have pre-made first aid kits which are usually worth buying because they're easy to store and have diverse items.  However, picking up extra bandages, antibiotic creams, band aids, bug spray, aloe, and other items will be helpful.

Medicine: If you have prescriptions, it's best to have at least one month's worth on hand. Over-the-counter items like Ibuprofen or Tylenol, Benadryl and others are also wise to stock up on.

Vitamins: If you're in a deep survival situation, the selection of food will likely be less nutritious than you require. Therefore, to stave off illnesses and infections, having a good supply of multivitamins will come in real handy.