Took my emergency binder to the next level

First, let me explain.  There is a lot of information that I rely on as part of my emergency preparedness.  I have a lot of gear and equipment. And all of it has service manuals and require maintenance, and have specifications that they should be maintained within.   Also there is a lot of research information that I have gathered over the years as part of my prepping on how to perform certain tasks, recipes and ingredients for meals, strategies and information, things I won't discus.    This is all for me, but it can be a reference for my family, or others in my group should they need the information.  A wise man once said, "the longest memory is shorter then the shortest pencil".    So while I do know most of it, I don't have to memorize it because I keep copies of all these documents in a binder in one of my totes, so i will have access to the information.

Well, I was going through some stuff in my office the other day, and came across my old Gen 1 IPad. I haven't even seen this thing in at least a year, and even then the software had done its final update, and it was slow and most of the newer apps wouldn't run on it.  But here it was in perfect, day one condition.  It was perfectly protected by an Otter box since the day I bought it.  Then it struck me.  Just like i have a folder of PDFs on my PC,  and my binder, I could have PDFs and critical documents on this iPad.

Yeah sure, if we get hit by an EMP it's useless.  But for any other situation its perfect.  Its light and portable, backlit for night reading.  Even though its too slow for the new app, I got the biggest drive available at the time when i bought it, so it will hold a truckload of books.

Well, I wiped its storage clean and restored it to the base software without Apps, and went to work.  I searched the web for copies of every doc, manual, and book. I pulled together all the info I already have in my files.   I went to the FEMA web site and downloaded the CERT class syllabus.  I was able to find a copy of  the military's SERE training manual. I located several other preparedness, survival, and crisis management manuals in PDF form.  By the way, the US government spends a LOT of money on FEMA and similar agencies.  Did you know the CIA has a lock picking manual? and its on the web to download for FREE!   Its amazing all of the reports and manuals are available for free if you just dig through their websites.

I downloaded the service manuals on all my Coleman and Goal Zero gear.  Schematic and exploded views of how things like my Dual Fuel lanterns and stove can be invaluable when field servicing them.   I revisited the sites for all my guns and installed their complete service manuals.  Information on my solar panels, and my crossbow.  I have complete schematics for all my electronics and  communications gear. I have high resolution road and waterway maps of my state and all the surrounding states, courtesy of the US Department of Interiors.

I was even able to find the manufacturers service manual for my Ford F150. Keeping it running could be critical during a crisis, since its my primary means of escape.  I have the manuals for generators and schematics of how businesses work like gas stations, that could be key salvage points in an extended survival situation.  There are even plans to make a alcohol still and how to make a biodiesel system.   And, the option in the apple print driver to make PDFs means i can make my own from any information source I choose.  If i can print it, I can PDF it and drop it on the iPad.

There is a complete medical and first aid library on the iPad.  There are reference books for hunting, fishing, gardening, dehydration smoking and food preservation methods that require little or no electricity.   There are books on edible plants and how to identify poison ones.

Its basically my own private internet with all the specific reference information I would need in an extended crisis.  Sites like the following give links to PDF versions of a wide variety of files on topics   http://www.themodernsurvivalist.com/archives/2471
Additionally, editions of  my favorite magazines like OffGrid, American Survival Guide, Recoil, Backpacker, and Survivors Edge are available in PDF format.  I put every Offgrid on there, 10 or so Recoils, the last 2 years on American Survival Guide, and a mixture of the others including Outdoor life and Camper just to round out my reading options.

Now whats it all worth of not a little fun too, so I put Max Brook's World War Z, and his Zombie Survival Guide on there.  I also added Bushcraft 101, a couple of camping and Dutch Oven cook books, and some other fun stuff.

Operationally, I can charge the IPad from my solar power system and the otter box has proven to be tough as nails and protected it through years of abuse on construction sites, where its been dropped countless times.  And all of the data is on a hard drive, accessed locally, with no need for the internet.  I could have given it to my son to play Angry birds on,  or sold it on Ebay and got next to nothing, but this was a great way to re-purpose an older tool that was basically discarded, to task thats right in the sweet spot of its design.

As with most of my gear, it doesn't have to just sit on the shelf waiting.  I plan to toss it in my gear for my BSA campouts to give me both reference material, and a boat load of entertainment reading options.

My house is crap...

Thats not to say I don't like my nice, "open floor plan" suburban house.  And I love my woods and all the suburban amenities, but its the standard run of the mill Pulte type wood, drywall, partial brick, home you see all across America.   And its crap as far as crisis protection.

After 30 years in construction i see the exposure everywhere. You can almost kick your way through the siding to get in, and thats IF you didn't want to break one of the 15 windows that you could almost open with a butter knife. Its what i call security for honest people.   Honestly, when the face brick stops at your hip, an exterior wall is not much harder to break through then an interior wall.

With the protection afforded the Sheriff's office, the local police and all the other LEO agencies you become less focused on physical security.  If there is a need, police arrive almost instantly because everyone has an alarm thats monitored. Everyone knows police will show up and they depend on it.  You are safe, but only because of the blanket provided by "the system".

My previous house,  in the inner city, was built in the 50s.  It had a brick skin to the roof line, steel casement windows. It even had a completely brick skinned 2.5 car garage that i had converted to a workshop.  I had a generator inside the garage that only powered the basement and kitchen so we could keep a low profile in a blackout and the only light would be basement. It had steel pins drilled in the windows that basically made them iron bars when engaged and i made wood fill panels that would block the few windows that were of concern.  It was a  literally a fortress.

Since before Y2K i had been adapting that house for a sustained siege. Partly because the higher crime rate in the inner city, and partially because of my pepper nature, I had improved the security on the doors and windows.  But there were other things, like It had a huge 8 x 15 walk in pantry, that was on and outside basement wall, without a heat vent.  It stayed about 60 degrees year round and was lined with wood shelves that was amazing for food storage.  The house was built with the idea of pantries and home food storage were common, because we were in the baby boom and remembered WWII.   I knew "in the city" the police were somewhat less responsive, and i had "hardened" my residence and focused on being self reliant.

I contrast the two homes because, what happens when the police can't come?  I talk a lot about bugging out, but thats actually the last resort.  Shelter in place is a much more likely response to an event.  And as much as i enjoy the suburban life, this suburban home actually makes me less secure and more vulnerable in a prolonged shelter in place.  There is little difference in the population per square mile in the inner city and the suburbs when you think of crisis response.  Neither has the physical space to ensure security. And the timing may be slightly delayed, but an overwhelmed law enforcement system would eventually be the case in both locations.  The difference is, my previous residence gave me significant advantage in securing myself and family.

So anyway, as a self proclaimed prepper, I do the best I can to be ready.  I have enough plywood against the wall of my garage to secure the two sliding door walls, and the front glass door.  I have a quantity of 10 foot 2x4s bundled and standing in the awkward space beside the garage door. I keep enough carpenters nails and deck screws to put it all up.  I have a number of staged items to allow me to create a perimeter around us, but its a trade off I made with my eyes open.

Guns, Guns, Gun.... and more guns

Watching the news you would think the world was on fire, and the only answer was a large pile of semi automatic weapons.  When I look around at what takes center stage when you talk about prepping, its guns. Or at least thats is how it is in the U.S.  The media, seems to ignore most of the other stuff, because it isn't sexy.  Well, I kind of purposefully avoid the subject for that very reason.  I don't want people to think I'm the lonely nut with an basement full of guns and MREs.  But I did want to share my strategy and philosophy on guns for what its worth.

First, I approach my guns with the same view I do all my other prepper topics, thats practicality and efficient implementation.  I believe in practice, practice, practice and practice some more, and I believe in training.  And not just for me, thats me and my daughter at the gun range, and I regularly drag her and her 13 year old brother to both the archery and gun range with me.  I make them shoot, and as much as they hate it, I also make them come home and perform their own gun cleaning and maintenance. Lets be honest, NOBODY likes gun cleaning, but they do it and they know fully how the guns function.   People "learn by doing", and they learn better by doing repetitively.

I take my wife on "shooting dates" where we go to the range, and then out to dinner.  I often wonder what the people at the next table in the little bistro would think if they knew were were running jam weapon clearing and administrative reload drills an hour before and we just blew through a couple hundred rounds of ammo. The key is guns and training integrates into our lives.  They aren't in a dusty box on the top shelf of the closet.

The second point is as far as prepping is concerned,  I look at the gun as a tool.  And just as with any other tool I considered maintenance and training in my selection.  I have friends who have a wide variety of sizes and calibers, and yes I have a few "fun guns", but these "Prepping guns" are simply for business.  I want reliability, I want familiarity, and I want to be able to maintain them deep into a crisis situation.

With that in mind, my tool of choice is the Glock 17.  But not just one, I have several identical guns.  They are not sexy, or exotic.  They are just a bunch of plain old Glocks.  Yes my buddies give me "the look" at the range, but it limits my spare parts inventory, all my holsters and mags are interchangeable, and we all can operate any one of the weapons we pick up.  There is no learning curve for anyone in the family, Its just automatic.  They know these just like they know their sleeping bags, or any of the other gear.

Having a bunch of the same gun simplifies a lot of things.  Its that same philosophy I use with cooking kits, or flash lights, walkie talkies, lanterns, and any number of items I have.  Find one that works well, train to get the absolute maximum out of it, and them stick with it.  Its boring, but efficient.

Now, i'm sure a few of you are thinking "seriously Ray, a 9mm?"...   Well, everybody can handle it effectively, and its light weight enough to carry a lot of rounds, its cheap enough to train with a lot.  And its common enough round, that there will be quantities even during a crisis.  Of course, I have an AR, and we all train with it too, but when you compare all the aspects the 9mm is the best bang for the buck IMHO.  In a crisis, there will be more then enough to worry about without thinking about what round you need, how many mags, did we get the right box of ammo for that.    Just like other prepping items, i'm planning now, so I don't get caught up in the confusion of the moment.

Sharpening my ax...

Metaphorically that is.

Honestly I have been putting a lot of time in, piece by piece, using and refining my bugout load.   From the day I dug my trailer out of the weeds.  I have used it or its components on various campouts weeding out what didn't perform, and hunting down sales to improve my gear.

Not only have I camped monthly with my Boy Scout Troop using this gear,  I have done several weekends on my own, and whenever I feel like camping, but time responsibilities and schedules won't allow the hours of driving, or life is just "in the way",  I will camp in the woods in my back yard.

Well just before the leaves got to falling, I got one good weekend where I did just that.  Its a penalty free zone for my son to practice setting up our gear,  he would argue that he does more then enough with the scouts already but you can never practice too much.  Its also a way to ease my wife into the great out doors.  I have found she is much more receptive when there is a real bath room a short walk away.  She also gets use to it, and builds up her confidence in her own skills.

Since I made a full weekend of it, I got to pull out all my gear. The only thing I missed was a campfire.  Sadly, my neighbors kind of frown on me burning things so...  I got my Screen house out and put together the full camp kitchen and did manage to do most of the meals on the camp stove.   But i will admit, i went to my gas grill on my deck for my steak diner.  I got to pull out all the sleep systems, and chairs, support and first aid gear, and clean prep and inventory everything while I enjoy the last warm weekend Michigan will see for a while.

I also get to shake down how all my gear works together.  Since when I do this on of these "at home camping" exercises, i use all the gear in my bug out trailer.  I pull out all the components, from the Camp Kitchen Mark II, to my First aid/MASH station, I even set up my motion activated perimeter alarm system along the tree line

One of the best tests I ran was a full deployment of power generation and distribution system.  From the Deep cycle Battery mounted in the trailer, I can power each tent and run Goal Zero Light a life lights from a 12 volt outlet that will also charge phones or other USB gear.  Between my Mars100 Solar panel and two Goal Zero brief case panels, i can produce enough wattage to fully recharge the system during the day.

To me it just fun, but its always an opportunity to learn and test and better my skills to test and get familiar with my gear.  I always have interruptions, be it a work site to stop by, or dropping off or picking up children, or just run of the mill life type stuff, but the key is I can go do it and come right back to camping.  It turns an ordinary boring weekend into something a little special.  My thought is to get out there, even if its only into the back yard.