Prepping

Why North Korea’s Latest Missile Test is its Most Dangerous

by crisanzai · Nov 30, 2017

North Korea just launched it’s most advanced nuclear capable ballistic missile (Hwasong-15) a few days ago and it’s one that’s capable of reaching the mainland United States. This is unprecedented as all of the previous missiles that were launched had a limited range and could at worst hit our allies in Guam and maybe the Hawaiian islands.

The real danger isn’t really the nuclear missile hitting the mainland US, but rather an EMP (Electromagnetic pulse) detonated far above the United States. Why would North Korea openly choose an EMP option rather than a direct nuclear attack? The reasons are simple, but two fold – First an EMP doesn’t need to be as accurate as a direct nuclear strike and it’s effects are more wide spread, Second an EMP blast high in the atmosphere is harder to stop. Most of our conventional missile deterrents are built for lower altitude strikes.

What an EMP could do (and there’s a lot of conflicting information out there) is destroy our communications and our power grid. It could destroy communications satellites in space and destroy low voltage communications on the ground (this includes ethernet and telephone lines). The way an EMP could destroy our power grid is by overloading power lines and transformers or overloading smaller connections to the larger grid that aren’t hardened against an EMP. Many power companies have hardened their primary lines against an EMP (as EMPs can be naturally occurring, albeit rare like the great solar storm of 1859) and even our government has hardened are nuclear facilities in case of such an event.

What can you do against an EMP? Well you really can’t do anything. I’ve read that you can make Faraday cages out of metal trash bins and you can even purchase commercially available ones on Amazon, but other than that you can’t really prepare for one. The best you can do is prepare for its aftermath. Have enough food, water, and tools to survive an extended period of time without power. Don’t panic and ride the storm out until infrastructure can be rebuilt.

Additional Reading:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/28/politics/north-korea-missile-launch/index.html

http://docs.house.gov/meetings/HM/HM09/20171012/106467/HHRG-115-HM09-Wstate-PryP-20171012.pdf

Feature Image Courtesy of Nasa

4 Things I Learned From Raising Ducks

by crisanzai · Nov 27, 2017

My wife and I purchased four ducks earlier this year in the spring at our local Tractor Supply store. We had no experience in raising ducks or farm animals of any kind, but decided to move forward anyways. Luckily we live in an area that is zoned for owning poultry and livestock (for personal use) and we wanted to dip our toes in a longer term goal/dream of having a fully off-grid property. There were several reasons we decided to go with ducks instead of chickens, primarily we went the duck route, because they are not as noisy and not as smelly (chicken feces has a distinct pungent odor). They also lay eggs (although not as many as chickens) and we thought that they were unique. How many people do you know that own ducks? Anyways since we bought 4 ducks, here are 4 things I learned from raising them!

1. Ducks are Messy!

Pictured above are the four adorable ducks we purchased. Don’t let their cute looks fool you! These are the messiest animals we have ever had the pleasure of raising and we’ve raised quite a few animals including rats (fancy and dumbo), rabbits, cockatiels, cats, dogs, and various fish. So what they don’t tell you (whoever “they” are) is that ducks require water to eat their food. Lots of water…

We kept our ducks in a bin and later when they got older a kiddie swimming pool. We filled their enclosure with pine chips and had to constantly give them water and change their pine chips out daily as they would splash water all over the place creating a huge soggy mess. We alleviated some of the mess by using a paint tray and a metal paint liner – and put the water at the end to filter out some of the debris they were tracking in their water.

2. Ducks Eat Plants

After a few months our ducks survived adolescence and reached adulthood. We could no longer keep them in the small makeshift enclosure we made for them, so we made them a larger one outside. As you can see in the photo above, there is not a spot of green inside of their enclosure aside from the bush next to their hutch. Ducks will devour just about any plant you put near them. Believe it or not the entire pen was filled with lush green grass and other plantlife (mostly weeds), now it’s like a barren desert. The ducks literally ate all of the grass. We now use straw and grass clippings to fill their enclosure with.

3. Ducks are Vulnerable

One of our ducks somehow injured their leg and was in quite a bit of pain. She was shivering and we had to quarantine her so she wouldn’t get hurt even more. My wife picked the duck up and wrapped her in a towel to warm our duck up, but noticed something unusual. The duck was crying, not wailing type crying, but tears were streaming down it’s face. It was quite the site. You may get really attached to your ducks, so be mindful of that if you want to raise them for meat.

On another note, ducks are easy prey. Once they are captured they do not struggle or make much noise, and unfortunately this vulnerability became the reason for two of our ducks demises. Unfortunately what we thought was a secure enclosure was not and a raccoon managed to sneak in and kill a few of our birds (on different nights). Raccoons are the duck’s nemesis and they will kill a duck by tearing it’s head off and eating it’s innards. It’s quite a gruesome site. We now have proper defenses against raccoons and other bandits, with a double enclosure system and we will be putting up an electric fence in the near future. Lesson learned, albeit at the cost of two our favored fowls lives.

4. Ducks take Time

If you think ducks are a set it and forget it poultry, you are sorely mistaken. Ducks require a lot of upkeep, especially if you don’t have a pond or small lake. Ducks require a lot of water, as mentioned earlier that’s how they digest and eat their food. You have to constantly change their water – at least once or twice daily as their water gets really disgusting. They defecate in their water as well as track dirt and do their general cleaning in it. Unlike chickens, you can’t just leave them for weeks at a time, you more than likely will have to have someone check in on them if you are on vacation or on an extended trip away.

Raising ducks has been a great learning experience and our little experiment of raising our four ducks will lead to our next adventure. Raising an additional 4 ducks next Spring. 3 duck egg producers and one for show (a crested duck) as well a goose to for additional poultry protection. Below is a photo of a crested duck!

Thanks for reading!

One Major Flaw In Prepping

by crisanzai · Oct 28, 2017

The recent wildfires in California has really got me thinking about one of the major flaws in prepping. I’m by no means an expert at prepping, but I am a student and lifelong learner of preparedness. One of the major flaws in prepping is not having a bug out plan and hoarding all of your preps in one location. I’ve seen enough on the show Doomsday Preppers to see how the major flaws of “bugging in”. If you don’t know, bugging in is the notion that you would stay put or “ride out the storm” of any major disaster or incident. A lot of preppers use this mentality of bugging inand store years and years of preps at their home. There’s a HUGE flaw with this kind of thinking. The problem is (unless you have some sort of awesome bunker akin to an abandoned minute man missile silo) a natural disaster will complete void out your bugging in plans.

(Image shows fires and smoke in the Pacific Northwest, Idaho, and Montana, courtesy of NASA, taken Sept 5th)

How do you prepare for a fire? If you’ve looked at the news recently at the fires in California and the Pacific Northwest, there are neighborhoods literally wiped off the map – just ashes and husks of immolated cars. If you’d like a more intimate view, see the video below:

In truth, there’s not defense for this kind of raw destruction from nature. Your only option is to flee, that’s it, if you stay you die. It’s a cold hard truth that I don’t know if many preppers really think about. What’s the point of hoarding 5 – 10 years worth of food, if it can just be destroyed in a matter of seconds? The disaster doesn’t have to be a fire, it could be a flood, tornado, hurricane, earthquake, or even a major thunderstorm. In any of those instances the best thing to do is “bug out” and escape the situation.

I think instead of focusing on just preps at home and investing in long term food storage (which i don’t have a problem with if it’s within reason – maybe 2 – 5 years worth of food and supply preps), but also investing in an alternate bugout location. Having a plan and discussing with your family where to meet up if something unexpected happens and discussing where to bugout with your family should be one of your most essential preps. Also having a place to access hard assets such as cash, gold, and barter items may be helpful while bugging out. You never know when ATMs will stop working or all of a sudden places stop taking credit cards. Case in point the War in Donbass that happened in recent history, where Russia invaded the Donbass region of Ukraine. During that time, citizens could not access ATMs, Banks, and cash ran everything. See this article for more information. This is the kind of thing that they don’t really cover on the news.

Anyways hopefully this is food for thought! Bugging In isn’t always the best option.

Thank you for reading,

Three Lessons from Puerto Rico – Maria Aftermath

by crisanzai · Oct 14, 2017

(Photo cover courtesy of NASA – Maria over Puerto Rico)

Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico and left a wake of destruction on September 20th. We are now over 3 weeks since the storm hit and the island is still 85% without power and upwards of 40% without clean water, according to the LA Times. There are even reports of Puerto Ricans consuming water from a hazardous-waste site. Needless to say Puerto Ricans are in a desperate situation. There are even some reports now saying that some areas of Puerto Rico will be out of power and water for months. So what can we learn from this situation?

1. Always Prepare for the Worst

Both FEMA and the CDC recommend at least a 72 hour kit. There are a number of reasons that a 72 hour kit is recommended including statistical data that if you survive the first 72 hours of a disaster, your likelyhood of surviving the disaster exponentially increases. Also within 72 hours typically some sense of normalcy returns to damaged infrastructure (water, power, roads, etc…). In the case of Puerto Rico however, normalcy won’t return for months. This is one of the reasons why you should prepare for the worst. Instead of only having 72 hours of preps I recommend at least 2 weeks or more.

2. Learn How to Distill Water

As mentioned earlier, people are actually getting water from a hazardous-waste site for drinking and bathing. I can’t tell you how bad that is… this water is contaminated with heavy metals along with other nasties. If you absolutely have to get water from a contaminated water source like this, I recommend learning how to distill water – it’s a pretty simple process. One of my favorite outdoorsman/bushcrafters – Kenneth Kramm, has a video guide on making one.

Caveat here – check your local laws to make sure making a still is legal and any restrictions you may need to take (after all, these things are used to make moonshine). Anyways if you’re thinking about a “survival straw” or “water filter” – those are great for biological contaminates like giardia and cryptosporidium – commonly found in freshwater streams and lakes, they will NOT work on heavy metals or chemical agents. Water purification tablets in the same vein will also NOT work. Boiling water will help remove some of the contaminates, however distilling water is the safest option. Of course this is only if you are in such a desperate situation to begin with – storing water and devising a rain water collection system would be highly recommended, before actively using hazardous-waste water.

3. Don’t Rely on Help From Others

What I mean by this is, do readily accept and receive help from others, but don’t rely on them to fully support you and wait around for help. A prime example is heavily relying on the government to jump in and solve all of your problems. You’ll need to be resourceful in times of disasters and be prepared to jump in to help others, but waiting around for help is not an option. Start devising a plan well in advance of an impending natural disaster. Have a plan and think about – what will happen if the disaster lasts – 3 days, or 1 week, or 2 weeks, or even a couple of months. What are your contingency plans. I wrote about the two is one and one is none rule – and this concepts applies exceptionally well to natural disaster planning.

Remember these rules and they may come in handy one day. You never know… with all these natural disasters occurring – from earthquakes, hurricanes, wildfires, and floods, we are in an unprecedented era of natural disasters. Remember the boy scout motto – “Be Prepared”

Thanks to you,

Two is One and One is None

by crisanzai · Oct 12, 2017

As a hobby I enjoy learning about the bushcraft community as well as overall preparedness. One of the sayings in these communities, that I’ve come across that really resonated with me is “Two is one and one is none. In bushcraft this refers to the kit that you carry, but this concept can apply to many aspects of life in general.

The general meaning of this saying boils down to having redundancies, “back up plans”, if you will, even a plan C or plan D when plan A and plan B fail. One example that I personally promote is having an emergency fund. You should have at least a $1000.00 emergency fund for when life happens to hit you hard. I would even say you should have an emergency fund that amounts to at least 3 to 6 months of expensive in case anything catastrophic happens. And typically with life, stuff happens.

Another simple, yet practical example, is to have more than one route to your job. Let’s say an accident happened on your normal route to work. Are you trapped in traffic until the wreck is cleared? Or have you planned out multiple contingency routes in case something like that happens so you aren’t late for work. So in this case, having one route to work is a kin to having all your eggs in one basket. Having multiple routes gives you options.

In business having a “two is one and one is none” mentality is paramount to survival. Let’s say you sell a certain type of widget and the widget is sourced from a single manufacturer. This is your most popular widget. Well if that manufacturer suddenly closes down (for any number of reasons – natural disaster, government overthrow, bankruptcy), what are you going to do? What if you had 3 or 4 different manufactures that you could source this widget from. Would that not make you sleep better as a business owner? Let me give you a prime example where a company only had “one”, which essentially meant they had nothing… which eventually happened. The Kodak company hedged it’s bet on film. They freaking invented the digital camera in 1975… and basically said to the inventor, cool story bro, but we’re going to stick with film. Had Kodak capitalized and seen the potential of the digital disruptive invention it had built, and had it diversified a little, it would not have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2012.

I hope these examples helped to unpack the saying, two is one and one is none. In the woods you should always carry two knives, one as your primary and one as a backup. In life you should always have income set aside for emergency while living off your primary income. In business you should always have a back up strategy, in case your main strategy fails.

Thanks for tagging along,

Fire Lighting Tips

by crisanzai · Oct 9, 2017

Warning – the views expressed in this blog post are for illustrative purposes only. Use these techniques at your own risk and always consult an expert and head local laws before starting a fire. Now that we have the disclaimer out of the way on to the content! You don’t need to be an expert survivalist to start a fire in a survival situation. Many household items and simple techniques can be used to create a fire. Here are some surefire ways to lighting a fire with everyday household objects.

Recommended Tinder

One of quickest and simplest ways to start a fire is found in your laundry room. Surprisingly, dryer lint is a great form of tinder to light a fire. What I do is take spent toliet paper rolls – you know the cardboard tube that’s left – and stuff that with dryer lint. You have a grade a fire starter – just light with a match, lighter, or even a ferro rod. This is so cheap to do it’s almost free.

If you want a tinder that will burn a little longer to get your fire started in wet conditions, I recommend a staple from your medicine cabinet or bathroom. Cotton smothered in Vaseline is another great way to start a fire. The Vaseline sort of acts like a fuel for the fire and will allow the cotton ball to stay lit for a few minutes. This works similarly to a candle – and by the way a candle is another great fire starter. The flame from a candle will burn long enough for you to light up small pieces of kindling to get your fire started. Everyone should have some candles hanging around their home – birthday candles work great too!

Another flammable everyday item that many people overlook, but use on a daily basis, is hand sanitizer. Alcohol based hand sanitizers will burn quite well when paired with some dry leaves or even dry newspaper. the alcohol in the hand sanitizer will act as another great fuel for your fire. Again, just light the hand sanitizer with a match and typically light blue flames will appear. Try not to burn your hands in the process by leaving hand sanitizer on them. In the same vein you can actually use rubbing alcohol the same way. It will burn a bit quicker, but if you put it in a vessel like a aluminum can cut in half – you’ll have quite a fire starter.

Surprisingly Heet (Antifreeze) also works well. Many of bushcrafters, hikers, and survivalists use Heet to fire up their alcohol stoves. Heet burns pretty cleanly and efficiently. So if you’re in a bind, antifreeze may help you not freeze (get it… I know it’s pretty lame haha).

Things to Avoid

When I was younger and dumber I made what I call a critical error when trying to start a fire. I was frustrated that my normal methods of starting a fire – which included igniting paper with a lighter – were not working. So I decided to go out to the garage and grab the 5 gallon jug of gasoline, normally used for the lawn mower. Well I doused my fire pit with the gasoline out anger and stupidity and well, the next thing I knew I had completed removed all of the hairs from my arms. Gasoline will light so fast and hard, I’ve heard stories of people loosing their eyebrows and worse! Don’t light a fire with gasoline if it’s avoidable.

Anything that has questionable chemicals that will release harmful toxins is not recommended. Such as certain bug spray, painted or treated lumber, Styrofoam, and cardboard. These things release nasties when you burn them. Also please DON’T use any of the above examples to start fires in an indoor fireplace.

Remember use common sense and precaution when lighting fires. It can and is dangerous so treat fire lighting with respect!

Thanks for reading,

What I Learned From Three Days Without Power

by crisanzai · Oct 8, 2017

When hurricane Irma hit, she hit north Georgia with a vengeance. In my particular situation she decided to drop some trees near my home which caused a major power outage for my neighbors and myself. We were left without power for three days, and though my family was prepared in our household, we weren’t prepared enough. Here are some things I learned that I think could help you too in an event of a long term power outage.

Water Water Water

Besides being one of the most essential elements of survival, you can never have enough of fresh clean water. We knew the storm was headed toward us so we decided to fill our tubs with water. And that water came in handy when it came to flushing toilets. What we didn’t anticipate were our neighbors not having enough water to flush their own toilets. So we ended up a little short on water through our power hiatus since we decided to do the right thing and share our stored up water. Luckily we had enough drinking water – in the form of cases of bottled water – to last us. So the lesson learned here, store at least enough water for your family AND your neighbor.

Wet Wipes!

There are so many uses for wet wipes, from using them to clean up spills to cleaning yourself. In our case we used them not only for changing our daughter’s diapers, but also cleaning our hands, washing our face, etc… Wet wipes have so many uses I think everyone, whether they have a child or not, should have them on hand. Having enough wet wipes to last a few days is essential for any emergency kit.

Solar

Having back solar lanterns was quite the luxury. Not only do they output more light than a candle, they’re less dangerous. I highly recommend the Luci light. We found the frosted version to be the best version of this light. It lasts up to 24 hours on a single charge and is powered through solar – so no need to worry about having batteries. Having battery banks to charge up your devices was quite useful as well. We still had access to the internet with our cell phones and we were able to check the weather, and keep abreast of news related to our power outage. We also had a handcrank/solar radio that allowed us to listen to the latest news via radio.

Propane

Having a propane stove was not only a great luxury item, it helped us prepare hot meals during the outage. Propane stores for quite a long time and one canister can last several meal preps. You can also purchase Propane heaters in the event your power goes out during the colder seasons. I recently found out from my boss that you can purchase a propane generator as a back up generator. We are looking into that option for the future.

Well there are my short tips on how to prepare for a storm. I hope you found them helpful. I’ll probably have another post about a 72 hour emergency kit and what I recommend that you put in it in case of a disaster – both man made and natural.

Thanks,