Guns — Time For The Truth

Here's the truth.

• A policeman is not your personal body guard. 
• The police department is not your personal security force. 
• Cops are not hired to protect your life and property 24/7 from the bad guys.

Lest you think I'm bad-mouthing the police by writing these things, let me quickly set the matter straight, nothing could be farther from the truth. I used to work for a major city police department, and have nothing but respect and admiration for the men and women who put on the uniform and risk their lives daily in the battle against crime.

But the reality is that, as well-trained and dedicated as they are, they can't be with you every minute of every day to protect you against criminal acts. Your personal protection is your own responsibility.

When it comes to personal protection, there are two things to note about police officers and sheriff deputies:

1. They carry firearms.
2. They know how and when to use them.

There's a reason for that. It's not that they're afraid, and it's not because they hope to shoot some bad guys. The reason they carry firearms is because the bad guys carry guns. The old adage holds true — don't bring a knife to a gun fight.

If you hope to survive against armed criminals, it's necessary to be at least on equal footing. When I say "at least" on equal footing, I allude to the other old adage, "if you find yourself in a fair fight, there's something wrong with your strategy." Always be prepared so you will have the advantage.

In other words, you don't want to find yourself less than totally capable to take care of your own personal protection. Whatever it takes to protect yourself, that should be what you do. That doesn't mean that you have to carry bigger weapons than the bad guys. What you do need is superior training. I believe everyone should participate in a combat shooting course, learning to recognize the difference between the good guys and the bad guys in a heartbeat, and take appropriate action. If you're going to carry a gun, you really ought to become proficient in its use.

You know what they say, "When seconds count, the police are just minutes away." Actually, the average response time for a 911 call is 23 minutes! If you're satisfied to wait for the police to show up and start an investigation after the fact, well, good luck to you.

Note that when they do show up, they'll be packing guns — which should be a clue as to the value of being armed to stop a perpetrator.

"Ah," some might say, "but the police have to carry guns, because it's part of their job. We don't have to carry guns, because the police will protect us."

Really? Do you want to guess about the percentage of retired police officers who carry firearms for personal protection? And just why do you suppose they do that?

Is your life any less valuable than theirs? Is your family any less valuable than theirs? Are your rights to self protection any less valid than theirs?

After reviewing statistics about tragic shootings, it's impossible to come to any other conclusion than the fact that the most dangerous place to be is a "gun free zone." That's where the bad guys can carry out their evil deeds without resistance. For them, it's like shooting fish in a barrel.

How long do you think that would last if the fish could shoot back?

My opinion.

Letter Bomb

We live in a crazy world, where someone with bad intentions toward you might send something in the mail that can do serious damage.

Letter bombs, poison letters, and booby-trapped packages are part of the arsenal of weapons used by terrorists to kill or injure their victims. Sometimes, they are even used by mindless teenagers holding a grudge against someone at school.

To avoid being the victim of such a weapon, there are some things you can do.

Don't accept mail or packages at your residence. That way, if a piece of mail or a package shows up at your door, you know it didn't come through the regular system, and might have been dropped off by someone with ill intent. When you pick up your mail or packages, look for the following telltale suspicious indicators:

1. No return address, or a return address from a location different from the postmark. This indicates a package or letter that was mailed from one person to another before being sent to you (a conspiracy of more than one perpetrator trying to hide the trail of evidence).
2. Incorrect spelling, awkward use of the language or addressing format, or poor typing of the mailing label.
3. Restrictive markings such as "Confidential" or "Personal" on the package. These labels encourage the receiver to open the package immediately.
4. Excessive postage indicates an unusual urgency that the sender wants to make sure the package gets to you.
5. Unusual odor or oily stains on the package.
6. Protruding wires, string, or tin foil might indicate intentionally sloppy workmanship intended to terrorize the receiver, even if the package doesn't contain an actual bomb.
7. Unusual size, shape, or weight balance of the letter or package, or if the envelope is rigid.
8. Excessive tape or twine to bind the package might indicate that the sender wants to ensure that the package doesn't accidentally come open until you receive it.
9. Noise or vibration from inside the package.

Any of these suspicious indicators should prompt you to leave the package or envelope untouched. Call the police and report a suspicious package, then stay away from the package. Let the professionals determine what it is.

Day Hike Danger

It’s surprising how quickly a simple day-hike can turn into a tragedy, so be prepared to stay in the wilderness longer than you planned

You don’t have to go deep into the wilderness or be trekking some exotic land to get into a survival situation. It can happen right in your backyard on a simple day hike.

A perfect example of this can be seen in what happened to 19-year-old Nicolas Cendoya and 18-year-old Kyndall Jack when they went for a quick and easy day hike on a pleasant Southern California day.

It was Sunday when these two set out along the popular and well-marked Holy Jim Trail in Cleveland National Forest. But it wasn’t until 4 days later on the following Thursday that Kyndall Jack was finally found. When she was discovered, she was near death from dehydration and exhaustion. Her hiking companion, Cendoya, had been located the day before, also in serious risk due to dehydration.

As news of this incident is still so fresh, there is no clear indication about how these two teenagers got into trouble. When they were discovered by rescuers, they were both without shoes, they had become separated from each other, they were out of water, and they were totally lost and disoriented.

Cendoya was actually found severely dehydrated on Wednesday by another hiker, who then reported the incident to authorities. Orange County Sheriff’s Lt. Jason Park reported that Cendoya was “extremely confused and disoriented.” He was surrounded by so much vegetation that the rescue helicopter crew had trouble keeping track of him, even after they initially spotted him. In fact, during the search two volunteers got lost themselves and had to be airlifted out. ”That’s how thick the brush was,” said Division Chief Kris Concepcion of the Orange County Fire Authority.

The search continued for Kyndall Jack, and on Thursday searchers heard a faint female voice calling for help. They followed the sound of her voice across a canyon and up a near-vertical slope past a series of waterfalls to a small rock outcrop described as no bigger than a yoga mat. That’s where they found Kyndall Jack clinging to life in a severely dehydrated condition, disoriented and having difficulty breathing.

“She was filthy from head to toe,” reported sheriff’s deputy Jim Moss, a paramedic who was lowered to her from a helicopter. “Her lips were black with dirt, her eyes were barely open, and she had on no shoes. She was just kind of clinging to the ledge on the cliff side, going in and out of consciousness.” Despite her extreme dehydration, the rescuers were afraid to give her water because her mouth was so full of dirt she could choke. “She was limp and lifeless,” Moss said. “She wouldn’t have made it much longer. She’s really lucky.”

Her rescue brought to a close the search that had Southern Californians holding their breath for most of a week. How it all began, and some of the details of the incident are still a mystery. What is known is that, at some point in their hike, Cendoya called 911 to report that they were lost and out of water. During the call, Cendoya said he thought they were about a mile or two from the car. It turns out they were less than a mile from the car, but the information he gave was in totally the wrong direction. Not long after that, the cell phone battery died. Sometime that first night, the pair became separated. Somehow, they both managed to lose their shoes.

Cendoya was found just 500 feet from a heavily-traveled dirt road. According to Lt. Jason Park, an Orange County sheriff’s spokesman, Kyndall Jack was found “very, very close” to where Cendoya had been found. “I have no doubt that they came out here with the best of intentions, but this is a complicated environment and, before you know it, you’re lost.” He continued that having civilization so close at hand, it can lull hikers into a false sense of security.

Amen brother! Four days is too long for a day hike, but this kind of thing happens all the time. It’s what I call Day Hike Syndrome. It starts with the mistaken belief that since you’re going on just a short hike, and perhaps on a trail you’ve hiked before, no special preparation is needed because nothing can go wrong.

Wrong…as this incident proves.

In a heartbeat, a simple day hike can turn into a struggle for life in the wilderness. All it takes is an accident that results in an injury, a sudden illness, a mistake that takes you down the wrong trail, or an unexpected change in the weather.

It can happen to anyone, but there are lessons we can learn from every incident like this one.

• Be prepared to survive longer in the wilderness than you originally planned. That means carrying some shelter such as a lightweight emergency blanket or bivvy, extra water and food. Have multiple methods of starting a fire, and the means to filter or otherwise purify additional water when your original supply runs out. 
• Stay together and work on the survival challenges as a team. There are very few justifications for becoming separated.
• Keep your clothes on. I have no idea why these two removed their shoes, but that was a critical error. Clothing is your first line of defense as a shelter and protection from injury. Your feet are your only means of transportation, so take care of them.
• Carry methods of signaling such as a whistle and mirror, or a SPOT Satellite Messenger, or a PLB (personal locator beacon). If these two hikers had any of those items, rescuers would have located them sooner.
• If you get lost, stop wandering around wasting energy and further dehydrating yourself. Make camp, stick together, and use signaling devices to call for help.

Avoid Survival Situations

Prevention is always better than cure. That is especially true when it comes to preventing or avoiding survival situations.

I have a list of Top Ten things to do while wandering through the wilderness, and if I adhere to these rules, I stand a much better chance of avoiding falling into a survival situation. They are all equally important, and should be done all the time.

1. Stay dry — Even in a tropical environment where the day is warm and pleasant, as soon as the sun goes down or a storm blows in, you will be cold if you are wet. If you need to use water to cool yourself down during the heat of the day, make sure you have dry clothes to sleep in at night. Otherwise, you risk hypothermia.

2. Wear appropriate clothing — This is your primary shelter, so don't go skipping through the wilderness dressed like they do on the TV show Survivor. That is entertainment, not good survival doctrine. Cover your body, to protect against bug bites, scratches, sunburn, etc. Wear gloves as you work through the forest or jungle, because an injury to your hands can render you unable to perform necessary tasks for survival. Wear a hat with a wide brim, to protect against rain and heat loss through the scalp, or heat gain during a sunny day. Wear the best footwear you can buy. Your feet are your transportation to safety — take care of them. Don't pretend you're a native, going without shoes because you think it's cool or somehow heroic and puts you in closer touch with the land. What it will put you in closer touch with is an injury, infection, and possibly a serious survival situation.

3. Maintain situational awareness — This includes knowing where you are and what's going on around you at all times. Be aware of the possibilities — the slope that might slip into a landslide, the snow field that might avalanche, the gorge that might suddenly fill with raging water during a flash flood, the shadow that might hide a rattlesnake, etc. Constantly be aware of your best escape routes.

4. Avoid unnecessary (unacceptable) risks in route planning — As you move across the land, there are always alternate routes. Don't fall into the trap of thinking there is only one way to go. Even if the safer route will take longer to reach your destination, swallow your ego, realize that you're not Tarzan and can't safely swing from vines as you rappel down a waterfall. Choose the safer route. Forget what you see TV performers do on so-called survival shows. Again, that's entertainment, not good survival doctrine. Remember, you don't have a back-up crew with helicopters and a medical team to save you if you get in trouble. And you are not a former British Special Forces soldier, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Get over it.

5. Move deliberately — This means you move slowly and cautiously, picking the place where your every step lands. If you want a TV guru to follow, watch Les Stroud (Survivorman). He's the real deal, and you'll notice that he doesn't take chances that can get him injured. He moves at a pace that uses his energy efficiently. If you move too fast, you not only risk injury but you also expend your internal resources too fast. And that costs you food and water.

6. Stop and make camp 3 hours before dusk — The temptation is to press on while there's still light, but the smart money is on the person who stops early, makes camp, gathers firewood and water, and settles in to rest for the night. Dry out your clothes, if they've become sweaty. Massage your feet and dry your socks and air out the boots. Morning will come soon enough, and then you can hit the trail again with a full day ahead of you. Don't travel at night, because the risk of getting lost or injured is extremely high.

7. Never put anything in your mouth that you can't positively identify as edible — The world is full of plants that can be used for food and medicine, but it is even more full of plants that can do you harm. With some, a bit the size of a pencil eraser can kill you. Of the more than 300,000 plant species, less than one-third of them can be used for food. That sounds like a lot, but unless you know which ones are edible, chances are you're going to do yourself some damage by indiscriminate grazing. My advice is to start studying about wild edible plants, and then enjoy the ones you know. Don't be afraid to admit that you don't know a plant — I've been doing this for decades, and am still unfamiliar with lots of plants I come across.

8. Treat all water as if it is contaminated — There is no such thing as a reliably pure source of water in the wilderness anymore. What looks like a pristine brook tumbling over rocks, coming from an untouched mountain may still carry biological contaminants that can do you harm. Waterborne diseases can take you down in a hurry, leaving you puking beside the trail or laid up for days with diarrhea. You end up dehydrated, weak, unable to continue. Carry a water filter, or take steps to chemically or thermally purify the water you drink and use for cooking.

9. Never step on anything you can step over, and never step over anything you can step around — This rule of land navigation on foot has been passed down forever by knowledgable outdoorsmen. Stepping on a trail obstacle (log, rock, etc.) can send you tumbling when the bark lets loose or the rock rolls underfoot. If you can step over it, don't step on it. Now, the other half of this rule is to avoid stepping over anything you can step around. When you stretch to step over an obstacle, you might end up losing your balance and taking a fall. Another reason not to step across something like a log is because of what might be hiding on the far side — perhaps a snake, ready to land fangs in your tender calf. If you can step around trail obstacles, that is the best strategy.

10. Surrender your elevation grudgingly — In mountainous terrain, you work hard to gain whatever elevation you're standing at. If you descend, you might have to work hard again to regain the elevation lost. Look for ways to follow the contour of the terrain. Even if it means you hike a greater distance, you might expend less energy by maintaining your elevation instead of descending and then climbing back up again.

These rules for dealing with outdoor adventure will stand you in good stead, if you put them into practice. They might help you prevent a survival situation.

Survive The Drought

Did you know that Nebraska is suffering a Severe Drought? Not only some parts of Nebraska — the entire state! According to data supplied by the U.S. Drought Monitor, the percentage of the state of Nebraska in a condition of Severe Drought is 100%.

Well, who needs Nebraska anyway, right?

Not so fast; Kansas stands at 96.4% of the state in a condition of Severe Drought. New Mexico comes in third at 89.9%. Colorado is not far behind with 89.0%. South Dakota has 86.3% of the state suffering Severe Drought. Wyoming ranks next with 83.7% and Oklahoma comes in at 83.2% of the state under Severe Drought.

Those are the top 7 states when it comes to current drought conditions in the U.S. Unfortunately, those states are also some of the most productive agriculture regions of the U.S. But this year, the outlook for ag output is grim.

The USDA already declared a large portion of the nation’s winter wheat belt, from Texas to North Dakota, as a disaster area due to the drought. In Wyoming, ranchers have lost about half their pasture grass and hay production, causing feed shortages and driving up the price of livestock.

But if you’re not a farmer or rancher, why should you care? It’s not your problem, right?

In the states with Severe Drought conditions, the USDA has identified large areas of the worst-off states as suffering Exceptional Drought (which is even worse than Severe Drought). More than 70% of the state of Nebraska is now classified as being under a condition of Exceptional Drought.

The prospect this year is for widespread crop and pasture losses, water shortages in reservoirs, failure of streams and wells, all of which will create water emergencies across a large portion of the country.

But the local water emergencies are only the beginning. With massive crop and livestock losses, the price of food will escalate. If it gets bad enough, it won’t be just the price we’re worried about but the availability of food as well.

According to USDA meteorologist and Drought Monitor team member, Brad Rippey, “You really need to go back to the 1950s to find a drought that lasted and occupied at least as much territory.”

In the 1950s, the population of the United States was much lower than it is today. Now there are many more mouths to feed. Worse yet, much of today’s farmland has been unwisely dedicated to the growing of corn for ethanol production. So there could be serious food shortages as a result of the drought. And with the failure of the ethanol corn crop, what do you think will happen to the price of gasoline?

So, what can you do about it? How do you go about surviving a severe drought? Here are the some points:

• You can’t eat money, so start trading in some of your money for something you can eat. 
• Start stocking up now – don’t wait, because the prices are only going to rise, or the food will become unavailable at any price.
• Organize your food storage by type and by date. That way you can see at a glance what you have and when to cycle it into your daily food routine.
• Use your stored food on a daily basis, then replace what you have consumed. Rotate the supply, eating the older stuff first.
• Don’t go nuts in a panic. Shop with a plan — buy a few extras of everything and stash the spares in your food storage area.
• Figure out what you normally eat, and how much it takes to feed your family. That will guide you as to how much and what to buy.
• Don’t buy junk — focus on food that provides real nutrition and energy.
• Don’t stock up on foods you don’t know how to prepare, or don’t like, or have never eaten before. Stock up on foods you normally eat.
• It’s best to store food in a cool, dark place (a closet, under the bed, on a shelf in the basement, etc.)

I recommend that you become as self-sufficient as possible, because if you’re expecting FEMA or some other agency to save you, you abdicate not only your liberty but your personal responsibility.

Contrary to what the government would have you believe, it’s not their job to save you. Do yourself and everyone around you a favor, and be prepared to take care of yourself.

Wilderness Survival — Our Story

Our cave, during the warm season. 

It was February. Our breath hung in the air, a lifeless cloud of moisture that only moments before was inside the warmth of our lungs. All the trees looked dead, their gray decaying leaves frozen to the ground. The stream was solid enough to walk on and the stone walls of the cave we moved into were bitter as the inside of a freezer.

We came to live for a year in the wilds of southern Utah’s slickrock country, where the ancient Anasazi once dwelt among these same canyons. Our daughter Sharlene was three years old and our son Eric was just a year. Later in life, when Eric explained to his friends how he learned to walk while living in a cave, he took some flak for making up such a story. But it was all true.

The kids were too young to understand what was happening, or to protest if they didn’t like the idea. But my wife Becky was the real hero in our true-life adventure, supporting my desire to spend a year living in the wilderness in preparation for a career of writing about, and teaching, primitive living and outdoor survival skills. It was my job to keep us all alive and well during that year of isolated research.

This was no camping trip — it was a time to experience a more primitive lifestyle. We took no sleeping bags, no tent, no camp stove, no lantern, no axe, no saw, no expedition gear. All we had were the clothes on our backs, and none of that was anything special.

We each had a wool blanket and Becky and I each took a knife. The rest we made from what we found in nature — handmade traps, stone and bone tools, and such. Much of the time, we lived in an abandoned mine shack, but we also built a wikiup and spent some time testing caves both large and small, a mine shaft and other expedient shelters.

We brought some food — wheat to be ground between stones in ancient style, rice and a few other staples. Local ranchers and their wives who didn’t quite understand what we were up to took pity on us and provided other foods as the year progressed. We were fine with that and gladly accepted their generosity — we weren’t there, after all, to see IF we could find enough food to survive, nor to prove our primitive prowess. We were there to have isolated time to research all that the region offered, and we didn’t intend to starve ourselves or our children in the process. We were four consumers and one provider, starting with nearly nothing in a desolate spot. It was challenging enough, even with the contributed provisions. It was a year of learning not only about outdoor survival, but also about what’s important and what isn’t. It changed our lives forever.

In my book (Rich Johnson's Guide to Wilderness Survival), I tell some stories from our adventure in the wilderness, and from other interesting and/or tragic experiences — ours and others. But mostly, I tell how to survive in the wilds when everything runs amok. Because, if you spend enough time outdoors, the day will come when things will run amok. Guaranteed.

Maybe it’ll happen when you turn around and nothing looks familiar. At first, you chuckle at the situation and feel pretty dumb. But as the minutes pass and the realization sinks in that you really are lost, it is likely that you will succumb to a certain level of fear. Of course, once you’re happily back in camp with your buddies, you’ll never admit to being scared. But right at the moment, your gut turns over in a curious way and your mind races. If you looked at yourself in a mirror, you would see the face of fear, maybe even panic. And this is when things go to pot in a hurry.

Read the book, then get yourself prepared for whatever may come. ‘Cause sure as the sun rises in the east, something is coming, and you might as well know how to handle it when it does.

Collapse of Food, Water & Energy Systems

Here's some disturbing news — there is evidence that the world's food, water and energy systems are under threat of collapse.

Richard Duncan, formerly of the World Bank, and a chief economist at Blackhorse Asset Management told a CNBC reporter that America's $16 trillion federal debt has escalated into a "death spiral" that could plunge the U.S. economy into a depression so severe that he doesn't "think our civilization could survive it."

Duncan isn't the only one who thinks this way. Laurence Kotikoff was a member of President Reagan's Council of Economic Advisers, and he agrees with Duncan.

But, that's just money, right?

Not necessarily.

Chris Martenson, a pathologist and former VP of a Fortune 300 company, is a member on a team of scientists, economists and geopolitical analysts. He says that the team has identified a pattern in the debt, total credit market, and money supply that "guarantees" they're going to fail. "The pattern is nearly the same as in any pyramid scheme, one that escalates exponentially fast before it collapses," according to Martenson.

Then he spells out the real nature of the looming disaster. "…what's really disturbing about these findings is that the pattern isn't limited to our economy. We found the same catastrophic pattern in our energy, food, and water systems as well."

Keith Fitz-Gerald, president of the Fitz-Gerald Group, is another member of the team. According to him, "What this pattern represents is a dangerous countdown clock that's quickly approaching zero. And when it does, the resulting chaos is going to crush Americans. If our research is right, Americans will have to make some tough choices on how they'll go about surviving when basic necessities become nearly unaffordable…. "

So what does this mean to you? Maybe the real question is: are you ready to survive if the food, water, and energy systems in America collapse? What would you do?

There is a wise saying: When the crisis strikes, the time for preparation is over. Take stock of what you have on hand to take care of your daily needs over a long term — months, maybe even years. Could you permanently shift into a self-sufficiency lifestyle that would allow you to provide yourself with enough food, water and energy to keep yourself and your loved-ones alive and thriving?

If there's any hesitation in your response to that question, now's the time to start moving in a more positive direction. Start learning what you need to know to survive. The more you know, the less you need. Stock up on necessities. Learn to use them on a daily basis. Make meals out of your long-term storage food supply, so you learn how to use those items most efficiently and get used to eating that way. Set up a long-term water collection and purification system. Practice economizing when it comes to water usage — you can't let the water run while washing hands and brushing teeth. Make arrangements for a waste disposal (toilet) system that's not a water hog. Figure out how to use whatever resources would be available if civilization collapsed to keep your house warm enough in winter. Think about alternative transportation modes if there were no traditional energy sources like gas or diesel available. Consider communication systems that don't depend on the grid.

I know it's a lot to think about. Keep coming back here. We'll be talking about all this stuff.