I'm just greedy

So I'm entering a contest thus:

M.D. Creekmore at The Survivalist Blog – a survival blog dedicated to helping others prepare for and survive disaster – with articles on bug out bag contents, survival knife choices and a wealth of other survival information is giving away a 1,000 round case of 9mm – 124 Grain FMJ (a $200 value – donated by LuckyGunner)! To enter, you just have to post about it on your blog. This is my entry. Visit The Survivalist Blog for the details.


He's trying to glom more readers. Sadly, I have none for him to grab....

Shanks and Mares

I just posted an article on bug-out vehicles over on the Manitoba Preppers site. In it I was rational and explained why I thought relying on a bug-out vehicle was unwise, giving reasons and being polite. Since this is my turf, I can be less than polite.

In a nutshell: If you are relying on a car to get you to your place of safety, you’re an idiot. The chances of making it with the vehicle? Maybe 50-50 at best, unless you’re psychic and leave the week before the end of the world.

So maybe you should think of alternatives. Next week, I’m going to write a nice little article on MPN talking about alternatives. It’s bullshit to an extent. The only real alternatives to consider are horses and feet. The reason for this is simple.

The only true off road vehicle is man. People can go places where no vehicle will ever be seen. We can cross through terrain that vehicles cannot even attempt. Horses are a close second, and can carry a pretty good load to boot. So my ideal bug-out vehicle if I had my druthers?

A riding horse and a pack horse. Or maybe two pack horses. They carry a good load, fuel is easy to find, and they make their own replacements. Let’s see a Land Rover do that.

But if you don’t own horses, you do own feet. I’m betting that most of use will need to get more use to walking and using our feet in the coming years. Prepare for using yours now. Do more walking and hiking, get good shoes and plenty of them. Walk with a pack so you can become used to carrying a load.


It’s not rocket science. It’s just commonsense.

Rule of Threes

One of the things that drives me up the wall is how hard people make the survival thing. The basics are dead simple, and should be taught to every man woman and child, and is called the Rule of Threes:

A bad decision can kill you in three seconds.
No air can kill you in three minutes.
No shelter can kill you in three hours.
No water can kill you in three days.
No food can kill you in three weeks.

Yet surprisingly, most survival pundits will have you prepare in reverse order. I think it should be the other way round.

For starters, don't make dumb decisions like, oh, running a barbeque in an enclosed space. Been done, killed people, end result was a tiny improvement in the average intelligence of the race. That's Darwinism: The dumb ones die off. Thinking about possible scenarios and what YOU would do is the best cure for this.

I'm assuming you get the air thing..in with the good air, out with the bad air...excellent!

Then make sure you've got shelter (and heat): Ever notice how disasters seem to strike on warm summer afternoons? Well, they don't. If you have a blizzard that knocks out your power, how will you heat your home? If you have to abandon your home will you have shelter the first night you stop? These are easy fixes, but do you think many people have a wood stove? Or a decent tent? Think on it.

How about water? Can you find some? Is it safe to drink? Can you make it safe to drink? Do you have the knowledge and equipment to make it safe? Have you any water stored?

NOW we talk food. And believe me, you likely have three weeks or more of food in your home right now, used properly. But you should add to that. Start a food storage program that won't break the bank. It isn’t rocket science.

Then, if you want, get fancy: arm yourself to the teeth and buy a tank, become multi-skilled in blacksmithing, carpentry and basket weaving, buy a fully equipped field hospital, whatever steps you think are necessary and makes your socks roll up and down. It's your nickel.

Just remember: All of the extra stuff is optional add-ons. If all you do is consider the rule of threes, and make preparations for those areas, you'll be ahead of 99% of the population.

It's not hard.

Jumping on

Among the many things that bother me about the survivalist movement, or preparedness to use the politically correct term (they're not hookers, they're sex trade workers....) is the sudden number of people flocking to the banner. Just recently, we're getting shows like Apocalypse Man, After Armageddon, Out of the Wild and so on. Post apocalyptic novels like One Second After are showing up at ever increasing rates. There has been a huge explosion of websites concerning or catering to survivalists, and the proliferation of survivalist ‘gurus’ seems to indicate that like all lower life forms, they reproduce by fission.

So why is this bad? In one sense it is not. If awareness of potential disaster makes more people take steps to be better prepared for potential disasters, great. But if the trends I see continue, there will be a bump in interest, and then survivalism will return to being just another bad Y2K joke. Before that happens, lots of charlatans and con artists will make big money off of people honestly trying to provide some insurance for themselves and their families.

These people will try to convince you that unless you have a wilderness retreat stocked to the rafters with food, water, medicine, and guns you WILL NOT SURVIVE!!! Even if you have that, you will be told that you must also have night vision goggles, and wind generators, and a fully equipped …well, you get the idea. It’s wrong. It’s a swindle.

Yes, if bad things happen, you need some backup. No, you are not likely ever to be one ranch over from some survival ‘expert‘ in Idaho. No, it doesn’t have to be expensive to be prepared. It just takes common sense and a little time.

I’ve been around the survivalism thing for literally decades. I’ve seen the extremes, and I don’t like them. I understand that if you’re reading this, you might be worried about things, and feel a need to prepare. I also know that you want to feel secure without radically altering your lifestyle. I hope during the coming days and weeks, I can help you do this, in a small way.

So maybe I’m one of those survival ‘gurus’ that are trying to get your attention? Nope. I'm just someone that wants to provide a little advice, a little help, and do it without selling you a damn thing. You might notice that this blog is NOT monetized at this point, because it is not about lining my pockets.

I’m not jumping on the bandwagon here; I’m sitting under a tree playing my own quiet tune. And it’s just fine with me if you want to play along. Your choice.

And now to start.

I don't know if this is a good idea or not. I am a poster at the Manitoba Preparedness Network, and I enjoy that very much, although I feel somewhat constrained in my opinions due to the fact that it is not my blog. I occasionally feel I need to go farther, be harsher, be more on the edge of survival debate. I don't feel right being that way on what is essentially someone else's turf. I felt that if I really wanted to let loose, I should do it where I have the whole responsibility.

So here it is, my attempt to be more relevant and more open in the world of survivalism and preparedness, as well as sharing information relevant to Canada rather than Idaho or someplace else that has little in common with most Canadians. Possibly no one but me will ever read this, but what the hell, I'll get it out of my system.

Now I just have to find something to talk about....