(Continued from Part 4.)
Most survivalists tend to concentrate on their area of expertise and interest. The majority of survivalists I know are men and we tend to accumulate guns. It is just part of the nature of man that we like tools and guns are at their most basic level tools. I know of no survivalists or preppers without at least one gun unless they are just starting out. Over time, gun collections have a tendency to grow. Gun control for a survivalist is as the joke says means “buying just one gun instead of five.” One major problem is that often guns are often bought without any real plan. Often, a gun catches your eye at a gun show, at a gun store, or you ordered one at the gun store because you read an article in a magazine about it.
An interesting exchange occurred in the novel “War and Remembrance” where Victor Henry is talking to his future son-in-law about his finances and the young man’s backstory is brought forward to the reader in that “he put more than a thousand dollars into records and a Capehart [a well-known luxury record player of that time], and almost as much into a collection of rifles and shotguns” (Back then, this would be the equivalent of about 20 or so high quality rifles and shotguns as the average price for a Winchester 1894 would have been around 50 dollars in the 1940s).
The value of guns tends to increase over time, so at least you are not usually losing when you purchase a gun unless you truly overpay in a panic period such as people who purchased standard capacity magazines at inflated prices during the 1994-2004 period which today sell for under thirty dollars each, or “pre-ban” rifles at equally inflated prices. A Winchester 1897 shotgun originally was about 25 dollars back in the late 1890s, but those were gold-redeemable dollars in those days, so that is the equivalent today of around $4,000, given the value of that amount of fractional gold. Or in silver dollar terms, that would be about $800, in today’s Federal Reserve Notes.
Obviously, you do not “need” Mel Tappan’s 40-plus gun Battery #1 for a young couple that he listed in his book “Survival Guns”. But you could aspire to even more firearms as a case could be made for just about any gun. If it was invented, there probably is a use case for it. It does not mean that there is a realistic use case for a particular person especially since most people have budgetary and other constraints. One particular fact is often neglected by people with vast collections is that each gun takes practice and building of a muscle memory. Each gun also takes a commitment to building a spare parts inventory, knowledge of how to repair it, and also ammunition if it does not share a common caliber. There is a lot of truth to the old saying of “Beware the man with one gun because he knows how to use it.”
Some survivalists also tend to concentrate extensively on communications. I have no idea as to whom they will talk to so much or why. Most survival scenarios involve a great deal of listening and not much communication with people outside of your farm, homestead, or retreat group. Any communications should be especially brief to avoid radio detection finding equipment. Too many people have been found who became especially sloppy with long transmissions and not moving around enough. There are a few scenarios involving communication for individual or localized disasters, so it is important to have multiple backups because sometimes the necessary help is only a “call” away.
The third point where people tend to concentrate too heavily on is on medical equipment. For people with “licenses,” it is all too easy to assume that you will continue to operate with the same standard of care in a grid-down environment. If a person were to apply that level in a theoretical grid-down environment, they would likely soon run out of supplies. I noticed in the early days of the recent “pandemic” of how much personal protective equipment (PPE) was being discarded even though no replacements were being received. I saw vast collections that could have lasted years that were wasted in weeks. Eventually, people started extraordinary measures and triage what should have been done at the beginning instead of when supplies were severely depleted. Many medical supplies tend to expire or degrade, especially liquids. While it is true that many medications have been tested for well beyond their “expiration” dates that are put into national emergency stockpiles, many people concentrating too heavily in this area will probably be disappointed.
In the event of a long-term grid-down situation, there will be some people who will be able to be saved, but most supplies at best are “legacy” items where you would need to carefully balance and triage because it will be difficult to resupply. It could be a good idea for medical personnel to learn how things were done in the “old days” before easy electronic diagnostic tools such as ultrasounds, MRIs, CT scans were available. Unfortunately, the principles of a detailed physical examination and compiling extensive histories are not taught or learned as medicine has shifted to be more “absolute” evidence-based rather than experiential. For all of the benefits of a quick scan, there is so much that is also learned through an actual detailed physical examination.
Since many medications will not be available in such a grid-down scenario, it is equally important to know how flora and fauna (there is a medical case still for both maggots and leeches in biotherapy) which could provide palliative relief or even cures. There is knowledge that is increasingly lost to even this generation as people do not consult with nature, but the pharmacy aisle. This is not to discount modern medicine, but to realize that people should not automatically throw out ways that work just because something is “easier.” Often, things that are easy have their own hidden costs.
Most of the problems that an individual will encounter in a normal “grid up” environment are solved with money. For instance if your car needed a new transmission or your child needs some orthodontic care, money is usually the solution. For those who understand the fate of all past fiat currencies, money is like ice melting, but it is still a lubricant of modern society. Unfortunately, waxing eloquent on the silver standard will not help in paying most bills. If an individual has developed an emergency fund, then they can often take steps to insulate themselves from further problems.
The most basic level of preparedness is often the development of an emergency fund. Often the place where this is held is a bank. Going back historically, more than a generation of people were scared and scarred by the Great Depression. Losing all of one’s life savings is not an easy pill to swallow. I have had family members who were participants in bank runs during the Depression. It is especially valuable if you can find family members to talk with about past historical events and their reaction especially if it was a major event that they successfully navigated.
Even nowadays, it is widely accepted that five hundred or a thousand dollars is a start to an emergency fund. I have known now deceased people talking about how they had a thousand dollar emergency fund back in the 1930s. The term they would have used back then would be “mad money” as this term entered the lexicon in 1922 for money to be used in emergencies. In the 1930s, that amount would be the equivalent to more than 23,000 dollars using consumer price index figures and over 50 double eagles which are usually worth more than 150,000 dollars today. By the end of the 1930s, it was the tenth year of the Great Depression and the sixth year after Franklin Roosevelt nationalized gold, depriving Americans of owning or trading in gold. Many people of that era were very concerned, given the more than 9,000 banks that closed their doors as a result of bank runs. This usually left depositors with nothing when the bank failed.
The purpose of preparedness is insulation. Houses that are properly insulated usually cost less to heat and cool. If it is winter and you are wearing proper insulation and layers, you will be overall more comfortable. If you have sufficient “mad money,” then surviving most minor crises is much easier.
Everything that you need now in order to survive and thrive plus some specialized equipment depending on the scenario could be what you will need. Redundancy is often the key with items stored in quantity. Some items may never be used. If a mushroom clouds are in such a future scenario, a blast shelter with appropriate filtering including spares could be a useful addition to your preparedness portfolio. However, you are not going to achieve or unlock that at lower levels. Everything will be less finished, likely less reliable, and more “crude” than at higher levels. In a way, at these “lower” levels of preparedness you are likely to have more familiarity with the gear. It is not something that you buy or have delivered that you never open until something happens and then discovering that it is broken, incomplete, or you do not have the proper training on how to use it, but likely something that you have spent a great deal of time researching, actively use, and are aware of its limitations.
The following will not be a list where you can “click and order,” but general ideas for you to consider. Your own situation may be vastly different than mine where I am far inland with access to a freshwater lake where you may have access to salt water, so a desalinator could be useful in that situation (either “homemade” or store bought). For ideas on the depth and quantity of equipment necessary, I first look to the ideas in Mr. Rawles’ book “How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It: Tactics, Techniques and Technologies for Uncertain Times.” Although the book is now over 15 years old (first published in 2009), the ideas have withstood the test of time.
The number one survival tool that I encourage people to acquire is to buy knowledge in the form of books and training. Benjamin Franklin said, “If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.” Many survivalists today and future survivalists had their first experience with survival adjacent content through a “gun magazine.” Many survival magazines have historically prominently displayed a gun of the month on the cover with the testing of it. I have heard that magazine covers that did not have a gun on the cover did not sell as well: A gun on a magazine cover is the ultimate attractant for a conservative red-blooded American Christian male.
However, a gun is likely the least useful tool in your survival repertoire. I should note that I am a staunch advocate of the Second Amendment and have extensive experience with firearms. However, a gun is often not the solution in many survival scenarios. Knowledge is the first thing that a person needs to work on acquiring. Consider just the few historical events I mentioned in this article: If you are not familiar with them, then I suggest reading more because a person who has a well-developed historical appreciation has a great likelihood to be able to predict and mitigate rather than just react to events. Being proactive is often the key to surviving and thriving.
Currently, there is a vast archive of information available free of charge available by accessing it with a computer in the SurvivalBlog archives. The five books in the Patriots novel series provide numerous scenarios covering an economic collapse scenario (what is likely to occur given the profligate nonstop spending at the national level) followed by people trying to live when the trucks stop delivering supplies. If you are in the process of building a homestead or already live on a farm, Mr. Rawles’ “Tools for Survival” is a valuable addition along 2020’s well illustrated and comprehensive “The Ultimate Prepper’s Survival Guide.” Even the fictional “Land of Promise” about people developing a homeland for Christians provides information and theory of something many Christian liberty-loving readers would hope could someday come to fruition.
The most solid foundation of all preparedness is not based on tools, but knowledge. With enough knowledge, you can often make tools, but without knowledge tool use is often impractical or even counterproductive. With each level, a prepared individual should be stacking more books and training.
(To be concluded tomorrow, in Part 6.)
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