The Survival Weekly Dispatch - Volume 10, Issue 49

Merry Christmas!

Dec 20, 2023

Hey everyone, thanks for checking out the newsletter this week. Merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate it. I’m looking forward to seeing what Santa might leave under our tree this year. I don’t know about where you are, but we’re definitely not looking at a white Christmas here. It’ll be nearly 50°F Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Oh well, at least I won’t have to worry about driving through ice and snow as we head to visit my wife’s parents.

On the work front, I just wrapped up the last of the layouts for our special Natural Disasters issue of Prepper Survival Guide, so I’m essentially on my own until about the first week of January. I have to admit, it feels a little weird not to have a deadline looming in front of me. Fingers crossed I can make good use of the time.

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Prepper Tip -- Arrogance can get you killed. Don’t overestimate your skills and knowledge and for damn sure don’t underestimate risks and threats, from Mother Nature to the guy giving you a hard time at the bar. Be confident when appropriate, but being cocky might get you hurt or worse.

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Here is a very important blog post from my good friend Dr. Joe Alton regarding the lack of availability of veterinary grade antibiotics. If buying fish mox and the like has been one of your strategies, you’ll want to pay close attention to what Joe has to say.

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A colleague of mine is the Emergency Manager for Portage County, Wisconsin. He’s arranged for a FREE two-day (12 hour) class called When Disaster Strikes: Prepare, Act, Survive. It be held March 23-24, 2024. Here’s the description:

This course is designed to prepare individuals who may be directly affected by a disaster help themselves, their family and other community members. Participants will learn how to develop a family preparedness plan, practice self-rescue, perform search and light rescue techniques, and understand the recovery process. Upon successful completion, you will be able to:

Prepare

Survivor vs victim
Community threats
Community response capability
Family preparedness plan

Persevere

Disaster survival
Individual assessment (SALT)
Self-rescue
Search and light rescue techniques

Protect

Scene safety and damage assessment
Neighborhood accountability
Interacting with responders
Recovery and resiliency

I plan to attend this class myself. The location will be at the Portage County Annex Building, at 1462 Strongs Avenue, Stevens Point, WI 54481. This is an in-person event.

Registration is required. Here’s the link.

You will also need to sign up for a FEMA SID (Student ID). You’ll be prompted to do so during the registration process.

This is all of the information I have at this time. If you have any specific questions, I’ll gladly connect you to the host for this class, just drop me an email.

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Longtime readers know that I talk a fair bit about the importance of interpersonal communication skills. Here’s something to consider in that regard.

Words are tools and should be treated as such. If your only tool is a hammer, you’ll be able to get some work done, sure, but after a while you’ll find yourself struggling an awful lot. Take some time to expand the toolbox and learn how to use precision equipment. You’ll get more work done in the long run and with less effort.

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Apropos of nothing, here’s a cute photo of one of our dogs my wife took the other night.

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Our hike this week was a bit short, but it was still a nice walk. We ended up doing two different trails at this park. There’s just a bit of ice forming on the lake.

Survival Tip – Cooper Color Code

Colonel Jeff Cooper was one of the most well-respected firearms instructors our country has ever seen. Among other things, he developed what came to be called the Cooper Color Code. It’s a way to refer to the level of awareness you have at a given point in your life.

Condition White – you’re paying very little attention to what’s going on around you. You’re relaxed and calm. Example: it’s late at night and you’re on the couch with your spouse, engrossed in the latest thriller to hit Netflix.

Condition Yellow – you’re aware of your surroundings, but there’s nothing in particular that has your attention. You’re alert, but nothing is really on your radar. Example: there’s a knock on the door, interrupting your late-night movie. You weren’t expecting visitors.

Condition Orange – something has gotten your attention, but you’re not seeing any specific threat as of yet. Example: you look out the window and see an adult male standing on the porch. He looks nervous and kind of amped up. You’ve never seen him before and it is way too late at night for Jehovah’s Witnesses to be stopping by.

Condition Red – there’s an immediate threat to you or your family and you’re ready to act against it. You might not have physically reacted yet, but you’re primed to do so. Example: you call through the door to see what he wants and he says he’s there to deliver a package. He’s obviously lying and you are confident he’s up to no good.

As a thought exercise, make a mental note of when you move from one color condition to another as you go through your day. Does it change? If so, when?

The whole point is to encourage you to be more aware of your surroundings, of what’s going on around you throughout the day. The more in tune you are with your environment, the more likely you are to see threats coming before they arrive.

Prepper Survival Guide and Backwoods Survival Guide

For those new to my little corner of the Internet, I am the Editor in Chief for both Prepper Survival Guide and Backwoods Survival Guide magazines. Here are the covers for the current issues that are available in stores right now.