SCP Survival

Best Survival Gear and Supplies

Fitness: Nice to have or a necessity?

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Fitness for Survival

A comment on a prepping forum said: “I’ve always been overweight. … That being said if a project needs doing, it gets done. We may be sore at the end of the day but we can accomplish just short of anything. I don’t consider being physically fit a prepping necessity, more of a nice to have.”

I’m afraid I have to disagree with this writer. If you are overweight by definition you have inflammation or you wouldn’t be overweight. If you are overweight you have a chronic medical condition. This goes for me as much as for anyone else, so I’m not picking on the writer. It’s just a fact. If a person has generalized inflammation leading to fat deposits where its not healthy to have them then they will also have other inflammatory processes going on such as pre-diabetes, inflammation in the heart arteries, auto immune disease and/or pre-cancerous changes to cells.

As a prepper I don’t think it is sufficient to think its OK  just because I can get a project done if it needs doing. If we are not improving our health we are in the process of degeneration. If we cannot get a task done now without being sore we are going to be a problem to those we share our lives with and also to ourselves when things get really difficult.

Imagine that we are in a severe financial crisis and you can’t afford to both run a vehicle and feed yourself so you have to walk – a lot… or… you are stranded somewhere, there is chaos all around and home is at least an eight hour brisk walk away in good walking shoes… or… you are in pain because you have had an accident trying to do something you had to try because there was no-one else to do it.

Now add deteriorating health to this. Your obesity and inflammation has progressed because it was only nice to have, not a prepping necessity. Now you have one of those scenarios alongside the health problems of having bad knees needing a replacement/ gut problems with severe diarrhea which means you need to stay within a few minutes of a toilet at all times/ you have cancer or heart disease which leaves you very fatigued.

Now being physically fit can go hand in hand with any one of those diagnoses, but it is less likely to have gone down that route than if you are obese and unfit. If we are fit and exercise we cut our chances of some cancers (eg breast) by 50% and though I’m not sure what the figures are for heart disease I know that physical fitness will reduce the chances of having a heart attack enormously.

So a nice to have but not essential? Or an essential if we are to be self responsible and a contributor or are we to be a drain on our support network? For me it is essential.

“But… but… I can’t exercise much, because it makes me even sicker than I am at the moment. If I do too much I will get a flare up of my medical condition.” That might be so, but that is a different issue. Just don’t try to pretend that you don’t need to be fit in order to better cope when the SHTF. Fitness, flexibility and mobility, in my book, are primary personal responsibilities for a prepper.

Quitting Smoking is HARD! (but I eventually did it)

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Every single time I have gone to the doctor I have heard the same thing, “When are you going to quit smoking?” Nag, nag, nag, nag, nag…

Now understand that I am not a committed smoker, from my perspective! I didn’t start smoking until I was 21 years old and only because I had listened to my former husband say every single day that we were married that he would never have a wife that smoked! Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face!

Yes, my sister Theresa was patient teaching me how to smoke. I prayed to the one-eyed porcelain god (read toilet) for six weeks turning green and throwing up. But by God I learned to smoke! Just to spite my husband! Oh, stupid woman!

Well, I quit the first time when they went up to 50 cents a pack! That’s back when I was working for $1.75 an hour. Hmmm, if only I would have stayed quit. Eight years, it wasn’t a bad run given that my husband smoked every day in front of me. And then I started again. Quit, again. Started, again. Quit, again. You get the picture :-)

Well, this last stretch was almost 10 years long. Overtime to quit! And I did, almost a year ago now. And I am sure hoping it is my LAST QUIT! Yes, the husband is still smoking (different husband), but out in the garage; where I started my QUIT!

I had just repainted the living room and several other rooms in the house and decided not to stink things up with cigarettes. Hoping to quit, my first step was to smoke in the attached garage; ohhhhhh so cold in Minnesota, but out of the biting wind at least.

Then I started doing the math. $7.00 a pack, even $5.00 a pack generic, times 2, sometimes more on a stressful day, and that works up to a MINIMUM of $3,650 A YEAR!!! What could I do with $3,650 a year, and not make myself sicker (or lead to almost certain respiratory issues down the road)?

Worse yet, I would wake myself up, yes snoring :-), but more importantly wheezing. When you can hear yourself breathing and your lungs are audibly squeaking, etc. It is past time to quit!

“Cold Turkey” NOT! I patched, I bought the little fake cigarette, I have tried those portable vaporizers too which I find really good on taking baby steps on quitting smoking. I bought those generic equate Nicotine Lozenges from Walmart, had lists of things to do when the craving hit, walked on my treadmill and tried to stay away from the hubby when he was smoking; no place to go in the car.

Two months of the patch and I ran out. About the same for the steam cigarette which was oh so frustrating as it didn’t draw half the time! Dr. Oz’s Sharecare gives me a quit tip everyday, even now. And at the beginning I bought myself some “I quit smoking” gifts with the money I had saved. But I have stayed on the lozenges. Now, mind you, I bite them into 4ths and 8ths, but it has now been what, 11 months and I am still biting lozenges into pieces. Very, very handy when I am with smokers—my husband, my mother, my sisters. $30 a month compared to $400, I can live with it! AND I am NOT smoking!

So WHATEVER WORKS!

The bottom line is that I am saving a minimum of $3,650, probably over $4,000 realistically (How could I afford that!) A YEAR by NOT SMOKING!

Wow! Imagine how much more I can spend on prepping and whatever! Think about this. Almost $4,000 a year! Car payment? Mortgage payment? FUN! All for quitting SMOKING!

I can live with this. $30 a month for lozenges; compared to $400 a month for smoking! And no more nagging from the Doctor!

And no, I have not become a crusader for quitting smoking in my family. I mention it occasionally to my husband. My Mom and sisters, I don’t even mention it. When and if they are ready, they too will make the decision and just do it. No amount of nagging affected me until I DECIDED to QUIT!

What To Do If Your Wife or Girlfriend Says “No Guns”

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For the past twelve years, I have been living and providing firearms training to civilians in the Las Vegas, NV area.

Las Vegas is unique in so many ways. One of those areas is the abundance of jobs for women. The only “war on women” in Las Vegas is from the criminal element! Unfortunately, some jobs that are offered to women in LV many times leave them exposed to unwelcome behavior. And because sex sells in Las Vegas, working, striving women are unduly targeted by creeps intent on aggressive advances.

So, Las Vegas is a leader in sexual assaults, stalking, Temporary Protective Order (TPO), divorce, child stealing, and vice related (drugs, prostitution) crimes. And because all of Nevada took an exceptional hit from the housing collapse, the building trades and associated businesses have been decimated. That meant more unemployment and more property crimes.

Because of this city’s vast female entertainment job core, many of my clients are single women or women singled out.

Now ladies, here are some of my personal observations. In almost every concealed weapons class I’ve conducted in the past 25 years, women have been the better shooters! I have coined a prophecy for men. “Men, you can’t successfully teach your girlfriend, fiancée or spouse to shoot, drive or play golf!” You know it’s true. They feel that they must be given direction by an instructor who is recognized as someone who has knowledge beyond yours.

I find these results to be grounded in a true interest to learn to protect themselves and their children. Some of these female clients have gone on to become serious shooting competitors, police officers, armed guards, executive protection agents (body guards) and badass Moms!  I’m so proud of my female clients. They are truly motivated and serious when it comes to firearms.

Some female spouses, however, are hard over about NO guns in the house. This reaction often seems to come from having young children present. Other ladies just don’t like guns. No explanation. They just don’t like guns.

So, one of my techniques that I have developed over the years is to give a homework assignment to the husband that consists of making a survival plan for the home in case of home invasion, burglary (while someone is in the home), or come home to open doors. The key to the assignment is to have all members of the family, sans small children, involved in creating the survival plan.

This task enlists the input of the wife or girlfriend, who first acknowledges a potential threat, then helps to come up with a good viable safety plan. This method of “buy in” is effective and again lends itself to my favorite subject of all times, FIREARMS TRAINING!

Because I am an old firearms trainer, a student of police involved shootings, an expert witness in the use of firearms and the father of three wonderful women, I believe that training with whatever tool you decide to use to protect yourself and those around you will have a direct correlation with your ultimate survival.

Just a few pointers for your consideration:

  • Never carry a weapon (gun) that you have not personally shot and checked out.
  • Never carry a new magazine w/o shooting through your gun first. This goes for all lifesaving equipment.
  • Don’t search your own house during an invasion. If you can see to get around, the bad guy can also see you. Set an ambush and stay put!
  • Give more attention to training with the gear you now have. Find its attributes.
  • Develop your “warrior spirit”.
  • Clean weapons for two distinct reasons; clean it- so no misfires due to residue. Inspect it- it may have broken w/o failing while you were shooting.

I sincerely hope this information adds to your endeavor to keep you and yours safer.

11 Tactical Home Defense Questions for Preppers

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With the present economy, metropolitan areas are seeing an increase in crime and longer response times from law enforcement. More and more U.S. families are choosing to purchase firearms for protection.

But the basic training of a concealed weapons class and regular range practice do not prepare you for thoughtfully dealing with scenarios that would seem ripe for engaging a firearm. Below are 11 questions to discuss with your spouse and age-appropriate family members.

Consider it scenario-based training. It’s a way to help you establish home tactical standard operating procedures.  Discussions such as this may reveal better ways to handle the situation, without engaging the firearm.  It may also prevent an accidental firearm injury to a family member unexpectedly returning home late at night.

  1. You arrive home after dark.  You are in the car.  The electric garage door is in the process of opening when you notice shadowy movement from a dark area of the exterior of the house, near the garage door opening.  What will you do?  (If you don’t have an electric garage door, substitute details for your normal arrival home.)
  2. At the end of the day, your spouse normally returns home at a later time than you.  When you arrive you find the door to your house is ajar.  This is unexpected and unusual.  What will you do?
  3. When returning home at the end of the day you sense something is not right.  The flatscreen TV is missing, with wires hanging from the wall.  The lamp on the table is laying on the floor.  What do you do?
  4. Your spouse fell asleep on the couch while watching TV. You are in bed. It’s now 3AM, when you hear the sound of breaking glass in another part of the house. What do you do? What does spouse do?
  5. Your spouse, having been traveling, is expected home tomorrow.  It’s 3AM and you hear a key and jiggling of the door knob.  What do you do?
  6. It’s 3AM, your spouse hollers from the other room, “Are you awake? Did you hear that?”  What do you do?  And spouse?
  7. It’s 3AM. Someone is at your front door, banging aggressively. What do you do? And Spouse?
  8. It’s 3AM. You hear people arguing loudly, immediately outside your bedroom window, what will you do?  And spouse?
  9. Two neighbors have had their houses broken into.  One such occurrence happened while family members were at home.
    • How might this affect your routine of leaving home at the beginning of each day?
    • How might this affect your routine of coming home at the end of the day?
    • How might this affect your routine before retiring to bed each night?
    • How will this affect where you store personal protection equipment?
  10. From each room in the house, do you have
    • an alternative way out
    • an escape
    • a hiding area that provides concealment?
    • An area that provides safe cover?
  11. Where will you and other family members meet up after evacuation?

Paleo and Primal Diets for Reducing Chronic Illness

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One of the most important preps I believe we can make is to stay healthy, or for those of us suffering the myriad of conditions that occur as we age, to improve our health.

I am one of those unfortunate people who have had poor health all my life. As a child I suffered a lot of pain that was variously diagnosed. Mobility became lessened and physiotherapy twice a week was instituted. Later I suffered extreme fatigue, occasions of massive inflammation, much pain and disability.

The labels don’t really matter as they changed from decade to decade. Sometimes I got a “respectable” auto-immune diagnosis. Other times they wanted to characterize it as a neurosis or psychiatric problem. But all that time I staggered through life, suffering and getting no help from the medical profession beyond occasional two week placebo effect from some of the pills.

There were also occasions when the doctors insisted the drugs they gave me worked when they actually made me feel worse. For decades suicide seemed a good choice as I was given no way out of the pain and suffering.

As a result of this I became very interested in healing and unexpected recoveries from severe illness. I knew there were always some people who had recovered when they weren’t expected to from stories in the Bible, to the miracles at Lourdes, to miracles claimed by the modern evangelical churches.

So I set out how to find out how to make a miracle healing more likely and along the way have learned how to be healthier than I have ever been in my life.

I became a researcher in a university department of primary care and later, I got a PhD in medicine studying people who should have died but didn’t. It was difficult to get patients for my study as the doctors did not accept that miracles occurred. However when I suggested I was interested in people who had less than a 10% chance of surviving they came up with people for me to talk to.

As a result of that quite major study I discovered the psycho-social-spiritual components of health that all the survivors had.

However, when I was publishing the paper a decade later (it took me a long time to be able to write it up in a way that my medical colleagues would accept) I went back to my survivors to see how they were doing. Many of them had died in that time and I had to accept that there was something in the physical arena that I had missed. The psychological, the social and the spiritual components were not enough.

I realized that all of the people in the study had eaten a basic vegetable and grass fed meat diet with little in common with the Standard American diet (SAD) pushed by the current dietary advisors. Because that was the way we all ate it didn’t seem remarkable to me at that time. However more and more industrialized food was being sold and eaten. Was that the reason they died? I had no idea, but from the perspective of my own health it was a good place to start.

After much thinking and researching, and trialling of foods I came to realize that there were some ways of eating in which I developed good health and some which triggered my autoimmune diseases. I became vegetarian for a year which was good for my food budget but not good for my health. I ate a lot of legumes which left me very, very ill.

Eventually it came to me that the only time I have been healthy was when I had eaten meat and vegetables without any grains or legumes and with severely restricted sugars, including fruits. This is the paleo or primal way of eating. I now endeavor to eat only free range grass fed animals and wild caught fish – though I think I’m only about 50% successful, largely on the grounds of cost.

I used to be fat, unwell, with increasing numbers of signs and symptoms. Now my latest autoimmune diagnosis has been retracted on the grounds that if I’m now better I couldn’t ever have had it (despite the diagnosis originally being made on the grounds of “objective” tests).

I have read reports of people with conditions as various as stage IV prostate cancer, ankylosing spondylitis, rheumatoid arthritis, thyroiditis, manic depression (bipolar) disorder, depression, heart failure, and type 2 diabetes improving dramatically on the paleo diet to the point of seeming to be healed, not to mention obesity and the general blahs disappearing.

Now many of the people added or subtracted various supplements as well and undertook many mind-body components along with the change in eating so I don’t think of the diet as a single magic bullet and there may also be other things that need to be done in addition to changing one’s diet as is suggested by Dr Jack Kruse, a neurosurgeon who treats some of the sickest sick. However the paleo/primal diet is a great place to start.

The paleo diet is often characterized as a fad diet, but it must be remembered that it is a diet that was eaten for probably hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, of years before people started eating grains in quantity. Some dietitians and nutritionists get their knickers in a twist about leaving out whole food groups they have been indoctrinated into believing are necessary but my personal concern is what works for me.

Wheat flour, can set off my autoimmune eye disease just by eating two large slices of birthday cake leaving me in acute pain and unable to see if I don’t take the hint and stop eating things made with flour. Other grains give me other problems. It’s just not worth it, so I try to cut them out.

“Yes, it might work for you, but everyone is different.” Apart from the fact that some people have to be stricter or add additional restrictions, or do some additional things first and some can be more lax, I beg to differ. I didn’t find that the psycho-social-spiritual components differed from person to person and it does seem that aiming for food that is as close to the natural state as possible and as close to what our forbears ate before farming is likely to work well too.

So what does this mean from a prepping perspective? It means I have an extra freezer as I need to purchase the meat when it is cheap. It means I need a generator in case the power goes off. I have had people tell me they couldn’t possibly afford a freezer and generator and I’m sure that is the case for some. However being ill is horrendously expensive, eating up huge chunks of money in cash and insurance. If TSHTF and doctors are unaffordable or unavailable many people will be in a very bad way if they are totally dependent on them during a deep financial depression.

Many people believe what their doctors say, “there is no cure, we will just have to manage as best we can,” or even worse, “cut out all fat and lose some weight and you’ll feel better.” Well I cut out fat and kept putting weight on. It wasn’t till I increased my fat intake to 1970 levels and cut out grains and sugars and most overly sweet fruit that I managed to turn the tables on my weight and start to reduce instead of increase.

Am I completely well? No. Earlier this week I was irritated that I couldn’t do as much physically as I wanted to. I went to a colleagues site where he has a huge list of symptoms and discovered that I’ve recovered somewhere between 80 & 90% of the range of problems I used to have. I felt much better after that. My health is improving and I have nowhere near the signs and symptoms of ill health that was my previous experience.

Remember that it only takes one person to get better to disprove a doctor’s claim that something is incurable as if it is possible for one person to recover or go into remission there is a physiological pathway which means it is possible for another can recover as well. The primal, paleo and epipaleo diets are worthy of exploration.

So if you have health problems might I suggest you trial a paleo or primal diet. To keep it really simple just get one book and follow it.

Health, Healing and Prepping As We Age

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“I’m sorry, there isn’t much that can be done for you. Medicine can’t really offer you any hope of recovery although we can help you manage your symptoms.”

A statement like that from your trusted doctor is enough to make one’s heart sink. It doesn’t really matter what the diagnosis is, all a patient wants is to make the pain and disability go away and to get physically better. “Please, there must be something. Some pill, something I can do…” “I’m sorry. I’ll try to make you as comfortable as I can.”

But does the doctor have to be right in my case? Even if medicine can’t help, what about those cases that do heal without medical help? What about miracles?

And what if TSHTF in a big way and medical care isn’t available at all or if we can’t afford it? Given, the ACA, health coverage, and Obamacare tax legislature is making coverage possible for a lot of those who couldn’t afford it before.

As we get older many of us know we can’t do as much. We get tired more easily and go down with infections more easily, taking longer to recover than we used to. Many of us have chronic conditions and are on multiple medications. What if we have no access to, or cannot afford medicines, particularly prescription medications?

In some cases, we may be able to turn to alternatives (such as fish antibiotics that don’t require a prescription). But in others, we will be out of luck.

Also is it true that we can’t have our arthritis, gut problems, sleep problems improve? Does the heart disease or cancer have to be terminal or even chronic? Medicine will usually suggest that conditions like these tend to be ongoing and talk about those few cases where recovery occurs as placebo effects and spontaneous remission as if these words actually explain something. I suggest they are just words to cover up ignorance of the process of healing.

It is my suggestion that if it is possible for one person to go into remission or recover then there is a physiological pathway for that to occur. It isn’t a miracle in the sense of God changing the rules of nature. It is a miracle that says there is a natural healing pathway that it may be possible to find.

However, as we all know, miracles are few and far between and I would like to make a distinction between what is probable and what is possible. It may be possible for recovery to occur but it may not be probable given the current circumstances. Who we are, the environment we are in and our behaviors have lead to us getting the health problem in the first place and so to get a different result we are going to have to do something different.

Please don’t get me wrong. I’m not into blaming people for being ill. Personally I hate what I call the “fault, guilt, blame, shame game.” It is bad enough being ill or suffering without people wanting to make you feel bad about it or feeling bad about it yourself. But… if we make the decision to take charge of our lives as much as we are able given our condition and resources then there just might be something we can do which makes a difference.

As preppers we are big on self responsibility. We want to continue to be productive members of our family and community, not a drain on resources that has to be supported continuously during terrible times. Our task is to explore what we can do which will make a difference to our overall health.