April 13, 2019

  • Calorie density in your food storage program.
  • Home Defense – When dialing 911 is not an option.
  • Perimeter Defense – Time and distance is your friend.

Also discussed:
Sweet Potatoes – Seed potatoes of the Centennial variety were available for those who want to grow them.
Candida auris – Drug resistant fungal infection with 30% – 60% fatality rate.
Ebola – Crisis continues to grow in Africa.


Calorie density comparison demonstration.

Peg gave a presentation on calorie density and the importance of getting the maximum number of calories in your storage food program for the cost and the amount of space it takes up. We did a taste test of two varieties of Vienna Sausage and compared the cost and the caloric content of both.

 

Illustrating concentric rings of defense.

Home Defense / Perimeter Defense and Post Collapse Home Defense

Following is the outline used for this program:

  1. Key Points
    1. This is all about a time without rule of law (WROL), when utility power is either non-existent or intermittent.
    2. There is no one right answer. It depends on:
      1. Location – urban, rural, suburban
      2. People – homogeneous or “multi-cultural”, high trust or low trust
      3. Local conditions
      4. Who is occupying your home with you
      5. Your own strategy (important topic we’ll go into more in a bit)
      6. Physical layout
        1. Size of your yard
        2. Fenced or not
        3. Surrounding area
      7. Your individual personal situation
        1. Age and physical and mental condition
        2. Family and dependents
        3. Young children or elderly
  2. Strategy
    1. Grey Man
    2. Neighborhood asset and leadership
    3. Hunker in the Bunker, Kill ’em All
    4. Lone Wolf
    5. Remote location with no human contact
  3. Mobility – is it really needed?
    1. Can you carry all of your supplies with you?
    2. Moving and abandoning your supplies
      1. Very real risk of escaping one threat, only to end up a refugee
      2. Refugee is a nice word for “dead body found along the road”
    3. Stand and fight is a very real strategy
    4. Never trade a high risk situation now for a slow death later
  4. Circles of security – Perimeters
    1. “Safe room”
      1. Bad idea for WROL – protects bad guys from you as they loot
      2. Useful to protect small children, elderly, etc.
    2. Exterior walls of your house
    3. Property boundary lines
      1. Very little use if not fenced
      2. Excellent if effectively fenced
    4. Vegetative Barriers
      1. Rose bushes
        1. Good under windows
        2. Must be planted close together to be effective
      2. Climbing Rose
        1. New Dawn – LOTS of thorns, white flowers
        2. Old Blush – Fewer thorns, but very prolific, vigorous growth, pink flowers
    5. Surveillance
      1. Lighting
        1. South African light system
        2. LED flood lights
          1. Manual switch or motion activated
          2. Low battery drain with an inverter
      2. FLIR
      3. Drones
      4. Video surveillance system
    6. Fencing
      1. Psychological barrier
      2. Physical barrier unless it is just decorative fence
      3. Padlocks and chains for gates
      4. Fence Enhancements
      5. Barbed wire
        1. Intended for livestock – not very effective against people
        2. Zoning laws prevent using it now in residential areas
      6. Razor wire
        1. Very effective, and potentially deadly
        2. Illegal to use at present time, or at least a major liability
        3. Best deployed in coils (Slinky) just inside the fence
      7. Trip wire alarms
        1. Blank firing
        2. Marbles or ball bearings in a can
    7. Immediate neighborhood
      1. Those you live next to and can routinely interact with
    8. Expanded neighborhood and beyond
      1. Those within an organized area
  5. Time is your friend
    1. Even if bad guys get to your door, delay their entry
      1. The longer they are exposed, the greater the danger to them and the more likely they are to find another target.
    2. Physical barriers from lumber just outside the door or window
    3. Surprise barriers just inside doors and key windows furniture pushed to block entrance
    4. Marbles and ball bearings on a walkway are not just for comedy routines
    5. Wire strung 12″-18″ above ground will cause them to trip. (Tanglefoot)
      1. Use galvanized steel electric fence wire (not aluminum) or razor wire.
      2. Sharp stakes make the fall far worse
    6. Good locks with deadbolts on strong doors
    7. Crimsafe window screen
    8. Hurricane shutters
  6. Distance is your friend – keep the bad guys as far away as possible
    1. Important to organize quickly
      1. How you organize will vary by area
    2. An organized neighborhood protection team allows people to focus on producing food and restoring civilization rather than having everyone focused on defense.
    3. Notification to the outside areas
      1. Signs at key checkpoints
      2. Manned guard posts at key checkpoints
      3. Night patrol (basically, a local police force)
      4. Curfew with “shoot on sight” policy
  7. Civil Responsibilities
    1. Establish a system to ensure that things don’t get out of hand
      1. Vigilante systems are vital, but they must be carefully controlled, or they can be used for personal grudges, revenge, and power.
      2. Careful records need to be kept, with witnesses, etc., when appropriate
  8. Dogs
    1. Big dogs vs. Little dogs
      1. Feed required
      2. Alarm vs Attack
      3. Natural defender vs. Trained defender
      4. For trained attack – big investment in training time
    2. Don’t get a dog if home defense is your only, or even primary motivation
      1. A dog, even a working dog, is not just a tool
      2. Requires a pack relationship. Dog needs to see itself as being a part of the pack, and must see you as the Alpha figure.
  9. Other alarm animals
    1. Geese
    2. Guinea fowl