Last minute tips for parents when the SHTF | |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 41713542 United States 08/21/2013 09:34 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | The next time you use a butane lighter, intentionally do not press the butane gas, but get a bit of dryer lint, a cotton ball, or a q tip. The sparks from the butane lighter will still ignite any whispy bit of material. It will even light a carefully gathered bit of tinder down from nature or a well constructed feather stick (albeit with more patience than most people have). Not only that, but by removing the metal shroud, you can get the last little bit of fluid from some lighters and cause a strong flame. That is entirely useful for a time when you absolutely only have one shot at creating a flame in an emergency. You will end up saving all those used lighters because the flints will hold up for quite a while. If you charred some punk wood as previously detailed on tinder boxes, then you could make a firestarting kit that would fit in an old altoid tin. |
Vic-chick13 User ID: 28818396 Canada 08/21/2013 10:00 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Morning DBA, Thank you for the post on sexual abuse in a collapse. It's a difficult subject that many don't like to consider, I think because it is so horrible. [link to www.targetfocustraining.com] TFT has a lot of great resources. In fact they have material coming soon on this very subject. I normally don't recommend anything that's not free, but these guys have good deals regularly on their DVDs and other training materials. |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 41713542 United States 08/21/2013 12:26 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | You're welcome. Few websites will provide free information about this topic despite it being one of the most concerning issues to prepare for. There are a few discussions of tactics in case of a neighbor being attacked or protecting folks within a home. Often discussions on beefing up security. But seldom is there any realistic discussion of the health issues after such abuse. It's very likely going to be an issue for we have many historical examples of such events. The Patriot Nurse video discusses propranolol. It's arguably the most common beta blocker given and so will be very prevalent if you can find it. Giving it within 24-48 hours can result in less PTSD because it interferes with short term traumatic memories. Of even greater concern is how to manage the very long term mental issues, the shorter term physical healing issues, treatment to prevent pregnancy and STDs and bacterial infection. Quite frankly there is a large percentage of the population on medication to deal with things like depression and anxiety. I complete understand why, however in the event of a collapse, and with them unable to acquire medications, can you imagine all of the issues dealing with hardship, much less physical or mental trauma? There is plenty of herbal lore of dealing with pregnancy but I cannot go there because of the health issues besides the issues of bleeding. A vaginal hemorrhage is very serious besides inducing menses after a rape. Bladder infections are very common and cystitis is often preventable and easy to treat now. However twice I saw bladder infections that were debilitating and progressively got dangerous. Even with mild physical trauma, a victim could die from fever and kidney infection. Sexual abuse is seldom discussed from a survival standpoint because of the complexity of all of the issues of malnutrition plus physical trauma plus helping the victim to cope. Not to mention the justice issues and how to manage those. It gets even more complicated with a situation WROL because a collapse could be milder and the only authorities are the heads of tribes. Two teenagers can fall in love and sexual abuse can be declared by one side and that's how clan wars got started during the pioneer era. The Hatfield and McCoy feuds did have one element of this to occur and contributed to bad blood. This becomes a very complex issue with the lines blurred post-collapse especially a mild collapse with teenagers. |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 41713542 United States 08/22/2013 05:06 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Why many people will die post-collapse Thread: Why should we have to pay for water? When I read a topic like this one, so full of entitlement to something like water, then I shake my head in dismay. The OP thinks that we shouldn't have to pay to have water piped into our homes. That person and likely many have no concept of the marvel it was to have running clean potable water into your home. Prior to 1920, the primary reason public health improved was clean water. Until then, folks had to either gather water from a nearby source and boil it (if they bothered to do so), or have a well. Because many folks raised animals and locally disposed of their human waste, there was agricultural run off from manures into nearby water sources as well as polluting wells. This caused all manner of constant bacterial infections and constantly weakened the immune system of the populace. The ability to have clean water pumped into homes meant a huge amount of drudgery was removed from digging wells, hauling heavy amounts of water each day to the home, watering any crops or animals, as well as routine bathing and septic/sewage systems to carefully draw away those toxic poisons. Those systems require constant maintenance as they are located all over the city and county regions. While I loathe the addition of fluorides and hope that practice is discontinued, the fact remains that city/county water systems are arguably the most import innovation which allowed cities to exist. One need only shut off the water to a city/county for three days to cause complete panic and chaos. The service is absolutely essential and costs an extremely small amount for most folks. In fact, West of the Mississippi River, much of the USA could not exist without piped water systems from far away. I feel completely aghast that someone could be so disconnected to the Earth that they would belly ache over such a small thing. Because many folks haven't a clue about the fragile nature of urban environments, have no idea about how to collect water in an emergency, couldn't build a fire to save their life to purify water, have no common sense to take care of themselves, I cannot imagine what will happen when a collapse comes in their region. The most troubling issue in the recent Hurricane that ravaged the NE of the USA was WATER. When that emergency hit, people assumed that the federal government had clean bottles of water just waiting to be transported to the region. Of course they didn't. It took days and days for that to arrive, and even then, the sanitation issues were nightmarish. Preppers, this is what we up against. How can we better communicate such that these kinds of questions don't get asked? After over a thousand posts, I feel like pulling my hair out. |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 41713542 United States 08/22/2013 05:30 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Are you a Healer or a Harmer? The Earth is a beautiful place of wonder. The world's citizens are largely a complaining bunch as a species. Many do not see their role as caretakers of the Earth but only want to use up the resources of the Earth. This fundamental desire is the basis for greed and selfishness. If you are like those folks, you're a harmer. You extract, subtract, take, seize, steal from the Earth in some manner. You don't care that someone has less as long as you have more. If you decide NOT to be like those folks, you may choose to be a Healer. You add, offer, share, intuit the needs of others instead. You attempt to heal them and the Earth by doing positive things to alter the journey of others and help the Earth to have balance. Subtract humanity, and the Earth and the other species would find a natural rhythm. That sounds harsh, but it would be largely Truth. That rhythm wouldn't be gentle for us, or even for many species, but the majority of the other species would reach an equilibrium. That's not an option, but it is certainly true humanity could do foolish things to bring about its destruction. We often self-sabotage humanity by our individual and corporate actions. Healers are sensitives. We're acutely aware of the disturbance of the environment. We like to grow things and raise animals and find balance and harmony. Some folks intend to be healers but take shortcuts in order to raise more species and usually the focus of that is selfishness and greed. Those two aspects divert would-be-healers from their journey. Don't be distracted by the harmers. Try to stay on the path. Should a great natural disaster come, an economic collapse, some event ultimately caused by the harmers of humanity, then we must save ourselves and our families. Then we must use our skills and compassion to be Healers. Are you up to the task? |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 41713542 United States 08/23/2013 06:46 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Earlier I made a couple of posts on feral dogs and how to capture them. Feral dogs have long been a problem in urban areas as the number of abandoned dogs exceeds the ability of local animal control officers to collect them. As that happens, those who survive the Winter will find mates to reproduce, and then that generation grows up largely without human contact. As such the bred traits that allow the animal to choose docility are replaced with natural instinct. Those animals will largely reply upon human garbage if they can locate it, just as raccoons will. However, should the animals form a pack, which is highly likely, then the animals will then begin to prey upon weaker animals like rodents, squirrels, cats, or smaller canines. In rural regions, feral dogs may mate with coyotes on occasion. If near a forested region with a good water supply, they might choose to remain away save for times when nearby animals are in heat, or to come down in Winter as game animals become scare or their water supply is frozen. ... With the changes in the Detroit region in the last year, we're beginning to see this happen. Since the many municipalities that make up regions within Detroit fail due to a shrinking tax base, and as unemployment continues with no hope of abatement, then urban dwellers flee for other areas. Since that shrinking tax base has dramatically been annihilated, so too will the city services that offer security in all it's forms. Even basic things like electric lighting of the streets are not being maintained. People realize this and move out even with a huge welfare state, without any protection, and seeing issues with city/county pensioners not being paid, then they know it's dangerous to stay. They merely relocate to a similar welfare state in all likelihood and so relocate the same problems to another region that is in an earlier stage of decline. Seldom will such urban folks move to a rural region as it is not within their background. When this happens, pets are abandoned. Note what the tv journalists are saying about lack of services, lack of personnel, the huge region to cover in hundreds of miles, 50K nonferal dogs. I'd guess that this estimate is an exaggeration. Most likely 1/3 are feral dogs but the rest have been newly abandoned within the last year. Many of those will not be able to cope with Winter and will perish. However in the next generation, if only 1/2 survive and mate with typical litters, then you can expect real issues with contagion from consuming mice and rats as well as an increase in dog attacks, and even rabies. This phenomena will occur in other troubled cities in the same pattern: bankruptcy, inability to pay government pensions, loss of tax revenues, businesses leaving, people fleeing, and pets abandoned. This is one sign of an unfolding collapse. It would be wisdom to understand how to fabricate the animal control devices to loop a cable through some pipe and to chokehold a dog. The security of your children and loved ones may depend upon YOU being able to do this. Look back for those posts on feral dogs and animal control. As dogs begin preying on rodents in your region, expect to see migrations of them fleeing their predators and likely at night. That also means they will attempt to burrow and gain access to your homes in order to find a safe place to nest and overwinter with a food supply. |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 41713542 United States 08/23/2013 07:02 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Common Sense Prepping As the collapse continues, then some folks who are struggling will take shortcuts in order to make up the economic loss they are experiencing. One of the easiest ways to do that is by stealing your garbage in order to ascertain what goes on in your household. What would your garbage tell the folks examining it? It would say show if women are present or alone. It would show if men are present and what numbers. It would show up in their toiletries, magazines, types of food consumed, mail thrown out, and in discarded items. Haven't all of us known someone who has experiencing identity theft? For this reason alone all mail should be shredded. You really do not want strangers to know your personal habits during a collapse. The clumsy ones will be seen lurking around in the early hours before trash pickup. They might do this to case the home to determine if the garbage is placed out and thus if not, the folks within might be on vacation, and so that home could be burglarized. They'll watch for newspapers piling up. They listen for pets and more barking than usual and see if anyone comes by and at what times to feed that animal. Professional burglars will most often enter a home from 10am-2pm while people are out running errands. To establish that, they have carefully cased the home, and make themselves appear as delivery personnel. They can be in and out of your home in ten minutes and taking the most easy to fence items, or the most expensive ones to keep. Don't do anything which will make your home more inviting as a potential target during a collapse. |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 41713542 United States 08/24/2013 11:51 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | The Amish and Mennonites could become your allies While the Amish and the Mennonites have decided to live apart and speak a different language, they do speak English and will make acquaintances (even friendship) with outsiders. Since the Amish are used to early technology as do the Mennonites(but they will use some more modern conveniences), they have a wealth of knowledge plus skills plus supplies and tools that you probably do not. Why then would they consider an alliance when the SHTF? Protection mostly. Because they are pacifists and because of their interpretation of Holy Scripture, they won't generally protect themselves. This means if you're in a position of helping guard their community on the outskirts, that this might be a valuable trade item. Both groups commonly will work in certain craftsman industries as well as in restaurants due to their knowledge. Because of that, it's possible to have some contact with them. Like all cloistered religious groups they are suspicious of others. They are a remarkably moral people and fostering a respectful friendship with them would be beneficial. |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 41713542 United States 08/24/2013 11:57 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | The Mormons could become your allies too While you might have significantly different spiritual beliefs, Mormons consider themselves Christians. They have their own unique ideas about that and while I fundamentally disagree with their beliefs, I have known a lot of Mormons over the years. In every case, it's been a beneficial friendship. Prepping is a core belief among them. That means that not only are their raised to carefully store up supplies, but that many sincerely have learned skills and even participated in teaching others skills. It is one way that some folks find the LDS community and become members. However, their community can be quite small in a region, and so while they do have many abilities, skills, supplies, etc, they might be quite isolated. Again, if you're willing to be sincere and offer them friendship and assistance, then the local Mormons in your region might be great allies. I encourage you to reach out to create a stronger community. If things progressively collapse, we can either isolate ourselves and be all too aware of our differences, or we can overlook them and try to find commonality. |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 41713542 United States 08/26/2013 07:45 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Eating that pesky plant: Palmer Amarath Today's modern farmer loathes palmer amarath. It's a native species that fed countless Native American tribes. It's naturally occurring in meadows, and so it's will also turn up in their soybean fields. Naturally that will also harm their harvest so they curse it. You shouldn't though. There's an abundance of it much of the year, so you should include it in your diet. The only problem is finding it and getting permission to harvest it. In a post-collapse world, it would be a regular staple in North America. [link to www.eattheweeds.com] "The Cocopa, Mohave, Navajo, Papago, Pima, Pima Gila River and Yuma tribes all used the Palmer Amaranth for food. Their methods varied greatly including: Fresh plants baked and eaten; leaves boiled as a green; leaves cooked, rolled into a ball, baked and stored; leaves dried then stored for winter; leaves boiled and eaten with pinole; seeds ground into a meal; parched seeds ground then chewed for sugar; seeds parched, sun dried, cooked, stored for winter." Here's some identification on it from a college agriculture site: [link to www.ppws.vt.edu] It's more important to be able to identify a few simple plants than to know hundreds in a book but be unable to actually locate one. Any child can be taught to comb a soybean field for amarath, but you can find it in lots of meadows. If you like spinach, you'll love amarath as it tastes even better. I think you'll like the grain, especially if have gluten issues, then you should be eating now. Not all amarath will produce the grain seed heads. Chances are high that humanity will return to eating amarath again. Rather than treat it as a weed to be destroyed we should be eating abundant amarath. |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 41713542 United States 08/26/2013 08:04 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | First the easy ones. Here is is parched and popped: Here it's made like porridge: (the first part is on konbu which is a seaweed so you can fast forward through that. The last one is a special gluten-free flatbread that the Hindus eat when fasting. There's lots of other bread recipes for it, but often added in with regular bread flour. |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 41713542 United States 08/26/2013 08:21 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Amaranth Beer I've never made it, but you could make a beer entirely from toasted amaranth seeds. The plants produce an enormous amount of them, and that's good because it requires far more wheat than you'd ordinarily use in a beer recipe. This would however mean you'd need the typical beer making items. Post-collapse, most people would have no use for them from a wine-making/beer-making store or a good culinary shop. [link to www.instructables.com] [link to www.ehow.com] |
R.P. McMurphy User ID: 45419220 United States 08/26/2013 04:38 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
pray_Italy User ID: 13788426 Italy 08/27/2013 06:28 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 41713542 United States 08/27/2013 08:53 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Eat that pesky plant: Hemp Because there once was a flourishing trade in hemp to make fabric and rope due to it's valuable fibers, you can find it all throughout the South Eastern half of the USA. Making cordage will be important, especially very strong reliable cordage, for in a collapse the only rope might be the one you make yourself. See past posts on basic cordage as well as the old process of making rope (it's not the same). But not only can you use that plant for making rope, but the fibers are pliant and so since flax must be cultivated and hemp does not, there's a very good chance than thread and hence cloth might be woven to repair clothing or even to make it. We might once again have folks deliberately cultivating it post-collapse. Here's some information on eating hemp seed. I haven't included a video. I'll leave that for you to find, as there are some videos on it. A lot of serious botanical types or bushcraft folks steer clear of that in order to be taken seriously. However I'd be remiss in teaching you and not to discuss it. [link to www.thesleuthjournal.com] [link to en.wikipedia.org] Hempseed contains a huge amount of calories and nutrients. You would not want to miss out on it in a SHTF scenario for you're aggressively foraging for foods for now and to preserve. Today as well as in history, these seeds were used to support tribes during long winters. You'd need a lot of hemp seed to produce a useful oil. See previous postings on practical ways to extract oil. Personally there are other items to use for oil lamps like sesame. I'd be more concerned about hemp's nutritional value or useful fibers. |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 41713542 United States 08/27/2013 09:09 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | [link to en.wikipedia.org] While some people have military training or bothered to learn martial arts growing up, a lot of people have let those abilities slide. They do so because they do not routinely get into a hand-to-hand exchange, and so the last time they fought might have been middle school on the playground or after school. Others had lots of those experiences as well as in bars or on the battlefield. Still those experiences were valuable and likely to be rusty now. I urge you to be practicing with a partner in some serious boxing,wrestling, martial arts, etc for it's one of the most important and practical prepper skills. Reading is not doing. What looks great in a book doesn't always work without thousands of hours of practice to refine technique. On top of that you need both a training partner to hone your ability as well as some randori (numerous simultaneous attacks in succession or at once) from several partners to simulate a real attack. Nothing however will prepare you for real combat as it is dirty and vicious and brutal and rapid. One of the most neglected areas to practice on is the solar plexus (truthfully called the celiac plexus). A plexus is a bundle of nerves, much like the junction box of wires being routed in a conduit. Or thing of it as several streams of water being diverted in separate channels around a nexus. Regardless this nerve bundle when struck causes the diaphragm (that flap of sinuous flesh that inflates your lungs by pulling down) to spasm. The response is immediate and involuntary, much like "frogging" someone's leg on the sides of the thigh. As such, unless the person has significant muscle mass about the abdomen and/or tensed up to receive the blow, then they will double over. At that point you have to be prepared to deliver a second blow, likely a powerful backfist or a cross to the chin, in order to finish them. The celiac plexus is located beneath the xiphoid process at the lower part of the sternum. The best way to penetrate past the plexus is to strike with a raised middle knuckle in a side punch. The slightly raised index finger is more natural but not as effective for targeting it. Law enforcement are specifically taught to use a tonfa (baton) to strike this area as it is very rapid and the suspect immediately goes down when that technique is applied. |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 41713542 United States 08/27/2013 09:24 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Making cordage from Hemp For thread making, you'd want a very fine amount of cordage with very tight twists and likely done while wet so it shrinks minutely when sun drying it. You will end up with something too thick unless you take care. It's not too difficult to make a heavy thread that might be used to attach buttons. You likely could have young children make very fine thread by sitting quietly as an activity before nap time. That kind of thread is more useful for making repairs to clothing, but you'd need to dye the brown colored fibers either by bleaching it and lots of rinsing, then following it up by whatever color you need from flowers or onion skin or black walnut, etc to dye it to the proper color. Now that was a run-on sentence for sure! A heavier bit of cordage might make a decent bowdrill string. Note: instead of hemp as a bowstring, look back for a previous post on using rawhide as a bowstring as it is much superior. |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 41713542 United States 08/27/2013 09:10 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | The average person doesn't know squat about bushcraft... Siberia is a tv series that's run the first eight episodes thus far. It's a mockumentary about a reality show in the Tungeska region of Siberia. The "contestants" are playing to see who will be the last survivor. There are no rules. At odd times animal sounds are emitted from a metal box, which then opens with clues and items inside which may or may not be helpful. The show is strictly average, but what is hysterical is the complete lack of bushcraft skills that all of the actors have. As a good old boy, I'm besides myself thinking: 1. Wait, you leave by yourself to explore? 2. Nobody knows how to make fire? 3. No one bothers to literally agree there are no rules and so open something which appears early on that might have needed items inside? 4. No one bothers to demonstrate any early leadership so that the very basic chores can get done and have some sense of community? 5. No one does anything useful for the first 24 hours? 6. No one bothers to map the area systematically. 7. and on and on and on and on.... The average person is so cowed by modern conveniences that they literally do not know the very simplest things like using a proper forked stick to pin a snake, something I did intuitively as a small child. Watch it, because as a prepper, I think you'll realize what you would do if in their shoes. You likely will be in their shoes in your lifetime, even if only for a short term disaster. The first eight episodes that have aired thus far can be seen here: [link to www.nbc.com] Try not to cringe if you do have bushcraft skills. If you don't, then maybe this would be a good activity to do with your spouse to discuss prepping in light of the show. |
Vic-chick13 User ID: 28544129 Canada 08/27/2013 10:42 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
Don'tBeAfraid User ID: 41713542 United States 08/27/2013 10:56 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | I've been watching this show. I've been quite enjoying it, they're doing almost everything wrong. I really think if the acting was better, it could have been quite the gem, in an X-Files meets Survivor sort of way. Quoting: Vic-chick13 Agreed my friend. But can't you just see the 95% of humanity doing similar silly things in a disaster or collapse? It's one face palm moment after another. I know people like all of the ones on the show. They needed at least one country person on there to add in some common sense. Most people don't bother to go camping anymore, and it really shows how much young people are unaware of ways to take care of themselves in general. I know lots of rural kids would be fine, but I'd expect a lot of helpless urban kids to die in the first two weeks in a serious economic collapse especially if there was no running water. |
Vic-chick13 User ID: 28753746 Canada 08/28/2013 07:55 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | I've been watching this show. I've been quite enjoying it, they're doing almost everything wrong. I really think if the acting was better, it could have been quite the gem, in an X-Files meets Survivor sort of way. Quoting: Vic-chick13 Agreed my friend. But can't you just see the 95% of humanity doing similar silly things in a disaster or collapse? It's one face palm moment after another. I know people like all of the ones on the show. They needed at least one country person on there to add in some common sense. Most people don't bother to go camping anymore, and it really shows how much young people are unaware of ways to take care of themselves in general. I know lots of rural kids would be fine, but I'd expect a lot of helpless urban kids to die in the first two weeks in a serious economic collapse especially if there was no running water. I can indeed see most people failing to recognize the seriousness of a collapse. We've been watching Under The Dome as well. I've been using both in conversation with my daughter. I'm very glad for the opportunity. Her father has a strong normalcy bias, so this has been a great way for me to introduce survival concepts to her, beyond things like storm prep. |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 41713542 United States 08/28/2013 08:47 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | The biggest change that's occurred post-1997 or so is Just In Time manufacturing and inventory processes. I wrote about it extensively, and folks who have not read all of those post should go back and read them. In a nutshell, a man from America called Deming went to help the Japanese post-WW2 to alter their own manufacturing processes. Manufacturing too many items results in having to warehouse those items. It meant warehousing raw materials as well. All of that cost the Japanese too much money when they could ill afford it. It worked successfully there and that JIT idea spread to America in the late 90's. As such, both government agencies as well as corporations and now small businesses rely upon calling up suppliers as things get low. This saves everyone money but makes things extremely fragile to supply shortages. How does this pertain to prepping? Well we store up supplies as inventory in the manner of our ancestors. As a result we're literally the only ones doing that. As such, stores do not have tons of supplies but rely upon restocking on 3rd shift and from trucking, barges, air freight, rail, etc. All of that would likely stop with a severe collapse, from a natural disaster, peak oil, EMP, contagion, economic collapse, war, etc. As such, priority would be given to security and health services in general, and also to utilities until that breaks down. You can't have security unless you can feed and supply them. So, you'd expect to have cascading supply emergencies in a collapse. That's one thing that a prepper watches for, as it's indicative of some warehousing of critical supplies right when the SHTF. That's why tv shows are so unrealistic. Often in two days after a declared disaster, all of the supplies are used up for the most common items like food, water, batteries, and camping supplies. Folks cannot go days and days, much less weeks and weeks without supplies. As soon as people realize that there aren't those supplies then they riot. I urge you to watch this story about a broken water main to see what even a small disaster would cause to local stores. Panic buying at groceries post-Hurricane Sandy As soon as those supplies run out, likely in hours, then people freak out. Unbelievably in urban areas who lived in high rises had no sewers and began putting their human waste in hallways because they couldn't flush and couldn't be bothered to carry their waste out and properly dispose of it. As you can imagine, urban areas would be crazy. Panic gas buying pre-storm |
SickDaveMondo User ID: 38162806 Canada 08/28/2013 08:56 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 41713542 United States 08/28/2013 09:19 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Thanks for the bump. Making malt from germinated barley. Here are several links which detail how to make malt. It's the essential ingredient in beer, but it means sourcing barley to germinate into malt. Beer is not just a pleasurable adult beverage, but adds significant calories as well as offering a light treat for work crews. A lot of guys will work very hard all day harvesting, digging a well, hauling a ton of water, as long as some mild reward is offered. In a post-SHTF scenario, believe me, a little beer that's been placed in an immersed container and slightly chilled by running water...well that will seem like an impossible luxury. [link to byo.com] [link to beersmith.com] |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 41713542 United States 08/28/2013 09:29 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Note: DO NOT USE FLUORIDATED CHLORINATED CITY WATER. It will ruin your beer. Post-collapse, I have discussed well water which often is remarkably sweet by comparison. It's impossible to describe how excellent lemonade is when made with well water. Likewise, you need to test your filtered rain water, because the pH might be acidic and will need to be adjusted to improve taste. [link to beersmith.com] [link to beersmith.com] Certain beers require salt (ions really as the salt ion may be a carbonate). See: [link to www.howtobrew.com] This is arguably the most important aspect to making good beer flavor. The best beer won't taste right with bad water. See previous posts on making a biosand filter which will most likely be the community way of purifying well water. That's right, because of sanitation issues, you will be filtering your well water. |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 41713542 United States 08/29/2013 06:44 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | When fighting the enemy, soldiers routinely are knocked to the ground from an attack, whether from a blast or from a blow. As a result, the sharp sudden deceleration of their head striking the ground or a solid fixed object causes their brain to slosh around within the sea of cerebrospinal fluid and to impact the skull. Here's an animation showing what happens within the skull: Of course, not only do soldiers get concussion. A driver in a vehicle who is suddenly forced to stop can end up slamming their head against a window or a dashboard. An elderly person in an unfamiliar place without the safety equipment in their bathing area can slip and fall. A child walking up a hill and unused to hiking and tumble. Now how could that manifest as the person gets up from the accident? Here's a link from a physician who discusses the signs and symptoms of concussion. It is a fairly common circumstance, but in a collapse you're not going to have any medical treatment. [link to www.thesurvivaldoctor.com] The main seen symptoms are confusion, blurred vision, slurred speech, headache, etc. The patient needs to be evaluated from head to toe to see if their injuries were more severe. Because they can't communicate well, they could easily be stunned or unconscious, and very serious life threatening issues could be occurring. Under ordinary circumstances we whisk away people to the emergency room for Xrays and CAT scans and medical personnel. That won't be happening. If it doesn't appear to be serious, you need to have them rest, no reading no watching TV, but to rest in a reclined position and WATCHED. Why? Because of the severe blow, reading or watching TV will result in taking more time for the brain to shake off the bruising and for their behavior to return to normal. You're also watching for signs of a hematoma which is a tearing of the blood vessels internally to the skull which will then result in worse symptoms. |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 41713542 United States 08/29/2013 06:57 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Types of Hematomas after a Concussion The most minor of bleeding is caused by the bridging veins in the skull that attack to the brain. The sudden jarring results in elongation and tearing of them. That low pressure drip that is returning blood to the body from the brain results in a pocket of blood that pools on the sides of the brain. That displaced the brain matter from it's normal resting place and can cause continued symptoms after the concussion. This is why you need the patient to rest, for while they may seem fine, they may suddenly keel over by the pooling blood. Commonly this is seen in elderly folks after a slip in the bathtub. They will be embarrassed and tell you that a week or so before they fell but didn't want anyone to worry. Likewise in a younger person, the may fail to tell you of an injury as they join your tribe, or they may have gotten in a fistfight earlier which resulted in them falling to the ground. Again, the normal things to do for a headache is to give aspirin. Since aspirin interferes with clotting, then you could actually make the head injury worse in the initial stages. Most of the time, only upon continued odd symptoms and a head CT does the medical personnel determine a subdural hematoma. A far more serious issue is an epidural hematoma. In that case, Here a hemorrhage is occurring which likely resulted in a young child due to skull fracture since their skulls have not ossified yet, or from a severe concussion that resulted in skull trauma. One of the arteries of the brain is under far more pressure and that fills up a large amount of blood that causes major displacement of the brain tissue. An even more severe skull fracture can result in an intercranial bleed. Under that circumstance, high pressure blood can tear the fragile brain matter and cause immediate death. All of these hematomas (in order of severity) require complex medical attention that you will not have post-collapse. |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 41713542 United States 08/29/2013 02:17 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Outgoing DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano Warns of ‘Serious’ Cyber Attack, Unprecedented Natural Disaster [link to abcnews.go.com] The outgoing Homeland Security Secretary has a warning for her successor: A massive and “serious” cyber attack on the U.S. homeland is coming, and a natural disaster — the likes of which the nation has never seen — is also likely on its way. So prepare, and bring “a large bottle of Advil,” Janet Napolitano told her yet-to-be-named replacement in a farewell address Tuesday morning. “Many things still need tending, and my successor will most certainly have a full plate on his or her hands,” said Napolitano, who leaves her post next week after more than four years at the helm of the Department of Homeland Security. ....... What does she and the other federal government officials know? Please prepare. Don't let this merely be an intellectual exercise to entertain you, but practical advice to get you ready for a disaster. The SHTF all the time, but in ordinary disasters, not the end of civilization. You might think, a major cyber attack, so what? Well, a major cyber attack could funnel money out of the major banks, play havoc with the many stock markets, could interfere with electronic communication networks, disrupt utilities, etc. I'm more concerned about a major natural disaster coming. How do you predict those? Could this be why all of the activity is planned for FEMA region 3? |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 41713542 United States 08/29/2013 02:22 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | What To Expect During The Next Stage Of Collapse [link to www.shtfplan.com] " Here is a rundown… 1) Many U.S. allies will refrain from immediate participation in an attack on Syria. Obama will continue unilaterally (or with the continued support of Israel and Saudi Arabia), placing even more focus on the U.S. as the primary cause of the crisis. 2) Obama will attempt to mitigate public outcry by limiting attacks to missile strikes, but these strikes will be highly ineffective compared to previous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. 3) A no fly zone will be established, but the U.S. navy will seek to stay out of range of high grade Russian missile technology in the hands of Syria, and this will make response time to the Syrian Air Force more difficult. Expect much higher American naval and air force casualties compared to Iraq and Afghanistan. 4) Iran will immediately launch troops and arms in support of Syria. Syria will become a bewildering combat soup of various fighting forces battling on ideological terms, rather than over pure politics and borders. Battles will spread into other countries, covertly and overtly, much like during Vietnam. 5) Israel will probably be the first nation to send official ground troops into Syria (and likely Iran), citing a lack of effectiveness of U.S. airstrikes. American troops will follow soon after. 6) Iran will shut down the Straight of Hormuz sinking multiple freighters in the narrow shipping lane and aiming ocean skimming missiles at any boats trying to clear the wreckage. Oil exports through the straight of Hormuz will stop for months, cutting 20% of the world’s oil supply overnight. 7) The Egyptian civil war, now underway but ignored by the mainstream, will explode due to increased anger over U.S. presence in Syria. The Suez Canal will become a dangerous shipping option for oil exporters. Many will opt to travel around the Horn of Africa, adding two weeks to shipping time and increasing the cost of the oil carried. 8) Saudi Arabia will see an uprising of insurgency that has been brewing under the surface for years. 9) Gasoline prices will skyrocket. I am predicting a 75%-100% increase in prices within two-three months of any strike on Syria. 10) Travel will become difficult if not impossible with high gasoline costs. What little of our economy was still thriving on vacation dollars will end. Home purchases will fall even further than before because of the extreme hike in travel expenses required for families to move. 11) Russia will threaten to limit or cut off all natural gas exports to the EU if they attempt to join with the U.S. in aggression against Syria. The EU will comply due to their dependency on Russian energy. 12) Russia will position naval forces in the Mediterranean to place pressure on the U.S. I feel the possibility of Russia initiating direct confrontation with the U.S. is limited, mainly because countries like Russia and China do not need to engage the U.S. through force of arms in order to strike a painful blow. 13) China and Russia will finally announce their decision to drop the dollar completely as the world reserve currency. A process which already began back in 2005, and which global banks have been fully aware of for years. 14) Because of China’s position as the number one exporter and importer in the world, many nations will follow suit in dumping the dollar in bilateral trade. The dollar’s value will implode. China, Russia, and the war in Syria will be blamed, and global banks including the Federal Reserve will be ignored as the true culprits. 15) The combination of high energy prices and a devaluing dollar will strike retail prices hard. Expect a doubling of prices on all goods. Look for many imported goods to begin disappearing from shelves. 16) Homelessness will expand exponentially as cuts to welfare programs, including food stamps, are made inevitable. However, welfare will not disappear, it will merely be “adjusted” to fit different goals. The homeless themselves will be treated like criminals. The roaming bands of jobless drifters common during the Great Depression will not exist during a modern crisis. State and Federal agencies will pursue an “out of sight, out of mind” policy towards the indigent, forcing them into “aid shelters” or other bureaucratic contraptions designed to conditioning the homeless to accept refugee status, making them totally dependent on federal scraps, but also prisoners on federally designated camps. 17) Terrorist attacks (false flag or otherwise) will spread like wildfire. Israel is highly susceptible. The U.S. may see a string of attacks, including cyber attacks on infrastructure. Syria and it’s supporters will be blamed regardless of evidence. The White House will begin broad institution of authoritarian powers, including continuity of government executive orders, the Patriot Act, the NDAA, etc. 18) Martial Law may not even be officially declared, but the streets of America will feel like martial law none the less. 19) False paradigms will flood the mainstream as the establishment seeks to divide American citizens. The conflict will be painted as Muslim against Christian, black against white, poor against rich (but not the super rich elites, of course). Liberty Movement activists will be labeled “traitors” for “undermining government credibility” during a time of crisis. The Neo-Conservatives will place all blame on Barack Obama. Neo-Liberals will blame conservatives as “divisive”. Liberty Movement activists will point out that both sides are puppets of the same international cabal, and be labeled “traitors” again. The establishment will try to coax Americans into turning their rage on each other. 20) The Homeland Security apparatus will be turned completely inward, focusing entirely on “domestic enemies”. The domain of the TSA will be expanded onto highways and city streets. Local police will be fully federalized. Northcom will field soldiers within U.S. border to deal with more resistant quarters of the country. Totalitarianism will become the norm." More at the link, especially an action plan. |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 41713542 United States 08/29/2013 02:33 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |