The Survival Weekly Dispatch - Volume 11, Issue 27
Hey everyone, thanks for checking out the newsletter this week. Regular readers may remember a while back when I mentioned I was going to be taking a little more time off on a regular basis. While it was my wife’s idea and not mine, we took a small road trip to our favorite beach over the weekend. For those curious, that would be South Beach in Port Washington, Wisconsin, on the shore of Lake Michigan.
We spent a few hours walking up and down the sand, looking for sea glass (none on this trip) and cool rocks (found a couple of handfuls). I ended up with a gnarly bruise on the bottom of my left foot after walking on rocks in bare feet all afternoon. It was worth it, though. On our way home, we found the neatest little 1950s-esque diner and had an early dinner.
I tell you all of that to tell you this – you gotta take time to live your life. I feel like some of us in the preppersphere can get so caught up in the doom and gloom that we forget to enjoy the good stuff around us.
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Prepper Tip – I’m a big fan of SnapLights from Cyalume. There are several reasons why you might want to have a few of these on hand as well as in your survival kits.
They’re perfectly safe for children to use. They don’t heat up and they don’t require batteries. They’re also pretty darn tough to break. In a power outage, hand one to a child and they’ll be able to find their way through the house with ease. It might also help calm an anxious boy or girl. If the power is likely to be out for a while, hang one in the bathroom to make life easier for everyone.
Because they don’t generate heat and they don’t use electricity, they’re safe to use if there’s a chance of a gas leak.
Out in the field, if you get lost and need to signal for help at night, you can tie one to the end of a short length of cordage and spin it in front of you. This creates a nifty glowing circle that’s visible for quite a way.
While they have a number of different colors available, the traditional green serves my purposes well.
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A dam broke in central Wisconsin last week, flooding at least one small town. Disasters come in a variety of forms and this one led to immediate evacuation orders from officials. Remember, it isn’t always an “end of the world” event that could cause all sorts of issues for you and yours.
This photo was posted uncredited on my local “scanner page” on Facebook, so I’m unable to credit the photographer properly.
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My copy of Traditional Bushcraft arrived a few days ago. To say that I’m impressed would be an understatement.
The full-color photos throughout are incredibly detailed and look great. This is very much a how-to manual and here are just a few of the projects:
Tree vise
Ax handle
Camp bench
Cattail cover and pad
Adjustable fire tepee stand
Camp cup
Modified Split-Stick Figure 4 Trap
Track Trap Pit Attractant
Nothing is left to guesswork, as each step in each project is detailed in easy-to-follow text as well as photos. This is truly a valuable addition to any self-reliance library. You can find this book at Nature Reliance right now, or pick it up from Amazon later this month.
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I was reminded of this saying or proverb earlier today. “A stitch in time saves nine.” What it means is that if you take care of little problems as they crop up, they won’t have a chance to turn into big problems later. Ignore warning signs at your peril.
If a Check Engine shows up on your dash, putting tape over it so you don’t see it anymore isn’t a great plan. Take it to a shop and have them run the code to see what’s going on. Don’t put things off, lest you regret it later. Sure, finances can certainly be an issue, but do what you can with the resources available to you.
This proverb also touches on the concept of regular maintenance. Keeping with our vehicle theme for a moment, change the oil regularly, and check for potential issues when you do so.
This goes well beyond cars and trucks, of course. Those are just convenient examples. It comes into play in most areas of our lives.
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Our hike this week was the trip we took to the beach. I’d estimate we did about three miles all told going back and forth. It rained twice not long after we got there, but then the weather cleared and it was sunshine and blue skies.
Survival Tip – Disguises
One problem I’ve found with survival-related social media is that there are too many keyboard warriors who are apparently still living in Mommy’s basement and not nearly enough functional adults who live out here in Big People Land.
Today’s topic is one that I’ve seen posted about ad nauseum on many forums. The general idea is that some folks have purchased or cobbled together costumes that they plan to use as a way to get around roadblocks and other obstacles should a widespread disaster hit. The most common costumes or disguises are of law enforcement officers, FEMA workers, or even National Guard soldiers. These people figure that if they’re dressed in such a way, a little bluffing will get them through a checkpoint or whatever and they can continue on their way with little delay.
Um, yeah. Folks, this is a REALLY bad idea.
I know a lot of law enforcement types. Many of my closest friends wear badges or they did until they retired. They are pretty good at spotting fake cops. Further, they don’t tend to look favorably on those who take this route to fame and fortune. While minor misdemeanor offenses like littering or jaywalking are probably going to be ignored in the wake of the crisis, someone showing up wearing a tin badge and pretending to be a cop from a neighboring area is likely going to see some rather intense scrutiny.
Hell, it could even go the other way. Let’s say you pull off an Oscar-quality performance and they buy it. You just might find yourself being asked to pitch in with the relief efforts. Declining that request could subject you to closer examination, bringing you back around to square one.
Many of my readers are military veterans. Show of hands – how many of you don’t mind in the least when you learn of someone lying about a service record? I know one guy who tried doing that online, telling folks he had been a member of some Secret Squirrel outfit that was an offshoot of the Army Rangers. Perhaps not surprisingly, when a few real Rangers found out about this, they checked him out and found out he was a fraud. Squirrel dude has been pretty quiet ever since. I’m guessing he’s still learning how to type with his toes.
On top of the risk of being found out by the people wearing the real uniforms, you know, the ones they actually earned the right to wear, this course of action flies in the face of the Grey Man concept we try to stress. Rather than blending in, all you’re doing is calling attention to yourself. Think about this for a second — in the event of a major crisis, do you really want to have anyone think you are even remotely “in charge” of the emergency response? To many laypersons, anyone in a uniform is going to be seen as someone with information about the situation, someone with answers, and they’ll want to talk to them.
A far better plan is to do everything you can to avoid potential roadblocks and such. Donning a Halloween costume in hopes of pulling the wool over the eyes of those manning those obstacles is just inviting more trouble.
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