A Story About Being Stranded in the Snow

So this guy got stuck in the snow for days and had to eat Taco Bell hot sauce to survive.  On the positive (?) side, he gets free Taco Bell for a year.  But with a bit of preparedness, this situation wouldn't have happened at all...

• Choose your route carefully.  What may be an easily traversed road in the summer, can be nearly impassable in the winter.  And if the route is generally impassable, you can expect that not many people will be driving by to help out someone who is stuck.
• If the weather is getting worse or road conditions are deteriorating quickly, don't be afraid to turn around.
• If you will be driving in snow, always carry chains!
• Leave your itinerary with a responsible person, including your expected driving route, so people will know where to start looking for you if you don't show up in a reasonable amount of time.
• Always carry food and water with you.  A case of water and week's worth of emergency survival food doesn't take up much space and can save your life in an emergency.
• Always carry survival supplies with you.  Your car BOB should cover every personal necessity and you should also have basic emergency gear for your car.
• Have multiple ways to communicate (your cell phone, a burner phone on a different cell network, a HAM radio, etc).
• Unless you know exactly where you are going and it is a short hike, don't try to walk out of such a situation.  You are easier to find if you are in your vehicle than if you are walking and not visible from the air.
• Study up on the topic of surviving when stranded in the snow so you will know what to do if you ever find yourself in such a situation (info here, here, and here).

5 Lessons from This Morning's Rescue

On the news this morning, two hikers were rescued after becoming stranded in our local mountains over night.  Here are the lessons everyone can learn from this:

1. Always check the weather before you head out and check it regularly when you are out in the mountains if possible.  It poured rain here yesterday and that always means problems, usually due to flash floods.  If you are in the desert and it is raining, has recently rained, or it is forecasted to rain in the near future, reconsider your outdoor plans.
2. Always carry the gear you need to see you through an unexpected day or two in the wild even if you are going for a day hike.  These people didn't have much food or water, and no gear which tells me they weren't very well prepared.  Extra food, water, a tarp and some paracord, an emergency blanket, matches, etc.  All of the basics should ALWAYS be with you if you are out in the woods/wilderness for the day.
3. Don't expect a fast rescue.  People think if they call for help, rescue will arrive within an hour or so.  This usually happens but not always, like last night when the weather and terrain precluded rescuers from arriving until this morning.
4. Know the environment you are going into.  In this case, the desert require a lot more water than people usually carry (we get hikers from all over the world, not many of which are very experienced with hiking in the desert).  If they had planned to rock climb (a very popular activity in the Red Rock area) they may not have known the rocks are made of sandstone (great for climbing when it is hot outside, very crumbly when it is wet).
5. Always tell someone where you are going and when you plan to be back.  Phone service is iffy in Red Rock Canyon, sometimes you get a clear signal, other times no signal at all.  At least if you don't return when expected, people will know when and where to start looking for you.

The Survival Mindset

There are so many disasters going on that I could write four or five blog posts a day on different survival topics and never run out of things to warn/prepare you for.  In just the last few days there has been a school shooting, an ambush shooter who is still on the run, a maniac running people off the road and beating them with a hammer, a nurse from the Ebola hot zone who doesn't want to be quarantined, a handful of law enforcement deaths, and people just being crazy for no good reason.

Kind of makes one want to fortify their homes and never leave...

In light of these and many more incidents that have the (albeit very minute) possibility of throwing you into a disaster situation not of your own making, here is an overview of the survival mindset.

The entire purpose of this blog and the CNI website is to help you develop a survival mindset.  Even though thousands of posts can be written on various survival topics and a myriad of posts can be written on survival gear, your survival mindset is of the utmost importance.

The survival mindset kicks in when you are thrust into a disaster situation and need to react quickly.  The survival mindset kicks your 'spidey-sense' up a couple of notches when you enter a situation that could go sideways in a minute.  The survival mindset helps you mitigate disasters before they even happen by being prepared for anything.  The survival mindset means you make a plan that will be useful in a variety of disaster situations.  The survival mindset means you are versatile enough in your thinking that you can use survival lessons from one situation and carry them over to a totally different situation and make them work.

In essence the survival mindset means:

• That you know most survival situations can be cured or helped along greatly with money so you live frugally and have enough financial sense to have an emergency fund, investments, material goods that can be sold or bartered, and a variety of income sources.
• Your situational awareness is top notch.  Yes you can go to a vacation destination with the family and enjoy the trip but in the back of your mind you have already figured out a half dozen escape routes from your hotel, you know where the nearest US Embassy is, you've made friends with some of the locals, and you have studied the area (and the most recent news of the area) in depth.
• You study survival like most people study NFL brackets.  Everyday you are adding to your survival knowledge by reading articles on current news, perusing survival blogs and websites for useful information, catching a couple of "how to" YouTube videos, and checking out survival forums without getting too deep in the weeds or going off the deep end.
• You buy and use gear that is equally useful for a day hike in the mountains or a TEOTWAWKI situation.  But you don't buy every new, shiny item on the market.  You buy a tool for life--whether it be a firearm or a screwdriver--and take care of it.
• You do a quick in-depth study of pertinent issues so that you have a pretty good idea of what the truth is in the midst of media-induced hysteria.  And you act accordingly.
• You aren't an armchair survivalist.  While you read a lot and make wise decisions on gear, you also exercise daily to keep yourself fit, build stuff in your workshop, backpack in the mountains, experiment when in doubt, participate in activities that increase your skills, and help others when you can.
• You use information effectively.  You can efficiently use all of the information and skills you have amassed to improvise in a variety of situations (ie: the skills you use when backpacking in the wilds for a week are the same skills that come in handy when the power goes out for a few days).
• You don't put yourself in situations that have a higher than likely chance of causing you problems.  The people you hang out with, your judgement, the activities you partake in, your impulse control...all of these have a greater impact on the possibility of finding yourself in a bad situation than the random weather disaster or the chance of being in a mass shooting incident.
• You can do anything.  "I can't" doesn't even reside in your vocabulary.  If there is something that needs to be done, you will, eventually, figure out how to do it.
• You take basic preparation efforts as naturally as breathing.  You home is well enough fortified, you carry concealed, you wear a seat belt without fail, you have a stockpile of food, water, and supplies which is automatically rotated, you know CPR, you can barter with the best of them, locking doors behind you is automatic, etc.
• You are constantly playing the "what if" game in your mind.  What if someone comes in and starts shooting this very minute?  What if the storm that is predicted for this weekend is ten times worse than what the weatherman says?  What if you are laid off from your job next month?  While it may sound like "the sky is falling" thinking, it is actually a bit of exercise for your brain to keep you sharp.

Basically the survival mindset means that no matter what happens, you will be much more prepared than the average person even if all you have are the clothes on your back and the few items in your daily carry pouch.  With the knowledge and skills you have, you will be much more likely than average to survive the disaster at hand and come out well on the other side. 

Today's Survival Lesson

I came across a website today (thanks to the folks at r/survival).  At first I just added it to my favorites list thinking that I would add it to the main CNI page as a Daily Insight link.  But the further I got into the site, the more I thought, this is something that needs it's own blog post.

So go to this website, and read the whole thing.  Every page.  Then go to the workbook and do every page in the workbook.  That's your survival lesson for the day.

10 Lessons from Hurricane Sandy

Here's a quick wrap-up of lessons learned from Hurricane Sandy:

1. Disasters can happen anytime, anywhere.  You would have expected a hurricane to demolish part of Florida, not part of New York, but it happened.
2. When told to evacuate, evacuate.  Attempting to "ride out" a disaster because you are prepared and tough enough to do so is dumb when you are given enough notice to evacuate and ensure you and your family's safety.
3. Some people who were killed during Hurricane Sandy died from trees falling on them.  During a disaster, it may not be the actual disaster (hurricane) that can kill you but the side affects of the disaster (falling trees and debris, downed power lines, etc).
4. Some people decided not to evacuate thinking that they could survive a hurricane.  What they didn't count on was the fires and gas leaks that came afterwards.
5. The things that will be missing/hard to find/impossible to get after a disaster: electricity (8 million + people were without electricity after the storm), clean water (wells and municiple water systems were impacted by the flooding), food (most stores are closed or damaged beyond repair in some neighborhoods), gasoline (lines for gas are extensive today), transportation (it will take a while for the subway system to start working again and yesterday the roads were in gridlock).
6. Sometimes your best preparations,  like back-up generators, won't work and then you have a crisis (two hospitals had to be evacuated during and after the storm because their back-up generators failed).
7. Don't underestimate the power of water.  A mother was carrying her two children through a flooded area when they were washed right out of her arms by a wave of water.  Rushing water that is more than ankle deep can carry you away in a heartbeat.
8. Use common sense.  A boat captain decided to head straight into the storm (two people ended up dead, 14 others needed to be rescued), a father and son were killed in their flooding basement (if you are inland during a hurricane the basement may be the safest place to be, if you are in a flood-prone area you should seek shelter in an interior room on your main or second floor).
9. The technology we have come to depend on may be wiped out during a disaster.
10. As in many disasters, people do tend to come together to help each other out afterwards.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

After reviewing all 866 posts on this blog yesterday (!) and updating a bunch of them (actually I was removing any pictures that I didn't specifically own; sorry, don't know what that did to your feed reader...I hope each update didn't show up or you would have been inundated), I came to the conclusion that there are some very basic things, that show up year after year, that everyone can do to be prepared for 99% of what could possibly happen to them on the survival/preparedness front.  Here's the top ten:

1. Get out of debt.  This is by far the best thing you can do to position yourself to survive just about anything.  Not only does this free up your money for better things than paying debt, but it allows you to be vastly more flexible in everything you do from where you live to where you work to how you respond to disaster situations.
2. Gain knowledge.  Most of the disasters that happen to people can be mitigated/prevented just by having simple knowledge.  Got laid off? You should know how to respond to this crisis (everything from when/where/how to apply for unemployment to the location of your nearest food pantry).  Have a medical crisis? You should be able to respond quickly (everything from tossing your BOB in the car before heading to the hospital to having insurance to cover the majority of your medical expenses).  Need a side business? You should be able to cobble together something to earn you a bit of cash based on your hobbies/interests and the vast array of "how to start a small business" knowledge available on the internet.
3. Have gear.  Yes, when an earthquake strikes you are going to be forced to respond.  You may end up camping out in your backyard for days on end or you may be fortunate enough to bunk with friends who were unaffected.  You will, however, survive much more comfortably if you have some basic gear (ie: your Daily Carry Bag, your BOB, your firearms, your tools, etc).
4. Have training.  A big part of preparedness, whether some people like the fact or not, revolves around firearms.  In a true crisis, firearms will play an important part in your survival in many situations--everything from hunting down your own food to protecting your family and property.  As with any dangerous item--from a gun to a motorcycle to a chainsaw to a boat--being properly trained to use the item in question can quite literally save your life.
5. Have skills.  After you have the gear and the training, you will need to practice, and practice some more, in order to develop your skills.  If you have a sewing machine and a couple of sewing classes, with a bunch of practice you will develop some pretty usable skills (everything from sewing your own gear to repairing your clothing so you don't have to buy new stuff to using the skill for a side business).  Ditto for firearms.  Ditto for food processing.  Ditto for reloading ammo.  Ditto for...just about everything else. 
6. Be aware of your environment.  This covers everything from assault prevention (if you're in an environment with a bunch of thugs, or the possibility thereof, you can almost guarantee trouble), to knowing where the fire exits in your hotel are, to knowing what natural disasters are most likely to happen in your current location so you can study how to survive them, etc.
7. Be responsible for your own actions.  Personal responsibility covers a lot of ground and prevents a lot of problems.  If you manage your money well, manage your acquaintances well (ie: don't let them talk you into dangerous or illegal things), manage your attitude well, manage your family well, and manage your impact on your community as well as possible, life will be a lot simpler.
8. Have multiple sources of income.  There is no such thing as a job for life anymore and the ax can fall at any time.  Be ready for this by always having multiple sources of income so if one source dries up, you will still have money coming in from other sources.
9. A good stockpile can be worth it's weight in gold.  Do you have extra food and water stored at your house?  How about ammo, tools, firearms, et al?  The reasons for having a goodly supply of all things that you regularly use--from food to toilet paper to ammo--are many.  You can fall back on your supply during a job layoff or extended illness; during a disaster--everything from a snowstorm to an extended power outage--you won't be among the masses clamoring for needed supplies at the local Walmart; and you can "hedge the market" a bit when the cost of these items skyrocket as they tend ot do on occasion.
10. Cash rules.  If you pay cash for everything, you won't go in debt.  If you always carry cash with you, you can instantly pay for any "good deal" you run across.  If you need money but the ATMs are all down, or worse, there is a run on the banks, you will be sitting pretty with your stash of cash. tl;dr cash rules.

Some Lite Reading for a Saturday

I came across this post on reddit and thought, you know, someone may read one of these tips and it may save their life someday. Happy reading.

Off on a New Adventure (And Some Survivalist Lessons)

It’s been three days since we sold nearly everything we own, including the house, stored some important stuff, and packed up what was left of our belongings and headed out to see how efficient and effective a mobile lifestyle can be, especially for a pretty die-hard survivalist.
Here’s what I have learned so far:
• The government isn’t a fan of people they can’t easily find. I tried to change the address on my driver’s license, per the law in my state which requires license holders to notify the department of licensing within ten days of their move, of their new address. After trying for an hour to explain to the lady at the counter at the DMV as well as her supervisor, as well as their state supervisor, that the only address I will have is that of my private mail box because I won’t actually be living in any particular place and will be traveling for the next year or two, they finally concluded that they couldn’t help me since there were no rules for them to follow governing such a situation. Which led me to a couple of conclusions…one, customer service and logical thinking is sadly lacking in this government-run organization. And two, if they can’t even figure out an address problem, I would hate to see what the government does if they are running the entire health care system. Scary. This makes me an even bigger fan of the less government/more free enterprise fan club.
• For day to day living (granted this isn’t an after-a-major-disaster survival situation) you actually need very few things to survive. Some cash, some clothes, some toiletries, a cell phone, a netbook…that’s about all I have with me (obviously the free accommodations and lots of free food provided by our hosts while we visit friends and family helps a lot). I simply can’t think of anything else I need to run out to the store and buy.
• Eating on the road can be expensive and less than healthy. Definitely the ability to have a home/your own kitchen and space to stock up on healthier food when it is on sale, or better yet, grow your own food, is a major plus to having an actual home location. I will be looking at ways to work around this situation as we get more into the mobile lifestyle.
• People are generally astounded that we can do such a thing. The bottom line is that more than anything it takes a major attitude shift as well as the ability to “be weird”—as Dave Ramsey says—in order to make such a thing happen. You basically have to go against everything you have ever learned as an American in our American consumerist culture in order to make such a change. This means saving money instead of shopping, saying NO to debt of any kind, living without a home (definitely something quite unusual!), and checking out of the consumer lifestyle of work-buy-work more-buy more. Obviously it is also important to have some source of income but you don’t need nearly as much income for this lifestyle as you do to support a mortgage/car payments/eating out every day/shopping at the mall every other day lifestyle.
• This lifestyle is at once both much simpler and more complicated than our previous “normal” lifestyle. Simpler because there is less to worry about—no roof to fix if it leaks, no bills to pay, no local politics to get into, no work-related hassles…you get the idea. More complicated because everywhere we go we need to settle into a new routine, deal with a lesser support system of people than we had when we were firmly rooted in a community, there are travel logistics that are always a hassle, and things we take for granted with a home (mail delivery, medical appointments, etc) need more attention than usual.
That's the high points so far. I'm sure there will be many more lessons to learn.