Thursday, April 23, 2020

How To Store Water For Any Lockdown Scenario

Spending some time gathering and storing water becomes a necessary effort during a lockdown since water is needed both for consumption and food preparation.

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The Lazy Man’s Guide To Treating Your Lower Back Pain

According to the Harvard Special Health Report, 4 in 5 Americans deal with back pain at some point in their lives, with both men and women equally impacted.

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8 Helpful Tips for Introducing the Prepper Lifestyle to Your Family

Written by Guest Contributor on The Prepper Journal.

Editor’s note: This prepping primer was written by guest contributor Mark Hedman.

So, you bought into the idea of hoping for the best but preparing for the worst, which is great! But how do you get your family onboard the prepper lifestyle when they may be less excited about it than you? 

Whether you’re trying to convince your extended or immediate family to adopt the prepper lifestyle, it can be a difficult task. Here’s why some people are leery of prepping for the worst and some simple tips to get your family on board.

Why Some People are Reluctant to Start Prepping

First, having reluctant family members is common. Sometimes it’s as simple as laziness because prepping takes work. Others fear disaster, so, by not prepping, they adopt the “bury-your-head-in-the-sand” attitude. They don’t want to acknowledge the possibility of disaster and possibly death. 

“The Normalcy Bias”

This bias is the state of mind that people often have when they think about the reality of a potential disaster. They tend to underestimate the possibility that a disaster could occur at any time, as well as the effects of a disaster. 

“Death Would Be Better”

Many people say they would rather die than survive a disaster. They often develop the mentality that death would be better. Some of these people may eventually come around to the prepping lifestyle, but if this is their honest belief, respect their opinion. 

“There’s No Money in the Budget to Prepare for a Nuclear Armageddon”

The cost of prepping is a legitimate concern. Many people struggle to make ends meet, and they think there just isn’t enough money to prep the right way. Prepping over time is much less expensive, though, and makes prepping totally doable.

Tips for Introducing Your Family to Prepping for Disasters

Here are some helpful tips to help get your family on board with prepping for the worst.

1. Discuss It in More Immediate Terms

Your family may not understand prepping for something that may never happen like all the people building bunkers during the Cold War. (News flash! Nuclear Armageddon could still occur, and maybe those people were smart.) Talk about disasters we see regularly, such as power outages and hurricanes, instead of nuclear war. You might be able to spark their interest and then bring them around to more hardcore prepping once they warm up to the idea.

Approach slowly because, if you don’t, you risk increasing their resistance to the idea, which defeats the purpose of getting them on board. Most people don’t like making decisions when they feel rushed. 

2. Try Different Family Vacations

If your family goes to the beach every year, try camping in a national park near you. Camping will introduce your family to critical survival skills like building a shelter as well as living and cooking in the wild. 

It will also teach them the vital things to pack, such as essential first aid supplies and shelf-stable food. They’ll learn how important a durable tactical flashlight is when there’s no electricity. Remind them of necessities such as a can opener if you have canned food in your stockpile.

3. Ask Someone to Help Get Your Family Onboard

Perhaps another family member believes in the prepper lifestyle and may be able to help you pitch the idea to your family. Or maybe it’s a friend that they’ll listen to because, let’s face it, sometimes the inspiration needs to come from someone else. 

4. Use the News to Warm Them Up to Prepping

Sometimes a reputable source can help get your point across. Your family may digest this information much easier than you speaking to them directly about it. The TV news is full of terrorist attacks, natural disasters, illnesses, disease scares, and more. If you’re watching the news with your family and one of these stories pops up, it’s the perfect time to mention prepping. 

5. The Indirect Way of Talking About Your Day

An indirect conversation is a perfect way to introduce your family to the prepping lifestyle. You may sit down to dinner with your family, and you’ll ask your kids how their day was. In return, they may ask about your day. You can reply, “I cleaned out the garage to make room for emergency supplies” or something similar. 

Mentioning it indirectly won’t make your family feel like you’re pressuring them. Don’t say you’re stocking up on supplies in case of a nuclear holocaust. Dramatic flair won’t help you in this instance.

6. Books About Prepping

Books are an excellent way to explain the importance of prepping for the unexpected. They can be non-fiction, but even fiction books work well if they’re about learning to survive in the wilderness or after an apocalypse. They’re good conversation starters, especially those that illustrate what happens if you don’t prepare for the worst.  These books make good gifts. 

7. Prepper Games

There are some prepper games out there that you can play with the family. Buy a survival-related set of playing cards for family game night. There are also card games and board games about surviving an apocalypse. A game is a fun way to shine light on a serious topic. 

8. Movies, Documentaries, and TV Shows

There are plenty of movies and shows related to the prepper lifestyle. Some of these include:

  • The Purge
  • Contagion
  • The Impossible
  • Apocalypse 101 by National Geographic
  • Apocalypse Now by the Discovery Channel
  • American Blackout by National Geographic
  • Blindness
  • Babylon AD
  • Catching Fire
  • City of Ember
  • Dante’s Peak
  • Deep Impact
  • The Walking Dead
  • Electronic Armageddon National Geographic
  • I am Legend
  • Life After People by the History Channel
  • Live Free or Die Hard
  • And many more

It may take some convincing to get your family on board with the prepping lifestyle, but avoid direct confrontation or you may sabotage your efforts to make sure that your family can survive after a major disaster. Whether you choose a movie for the family to watch or give your wife a prepping book for Christmas, use these tips to educate your family on preparing for the worst. 


Mark Hedman is the CEO of LA Police Gear, located in Valencia, CA.

The post 8 Helpful Tips for Introducing the Prepper Lifestyle to Your Family appeared first on The Prepper Journal.



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Tuesday, April 21, 2020

TRACKING THE POACHERS

Written by Guest Contributor on The Prepper Journal.

Ancient art comes into use in African Bush and Jungle

Editor’s Note: Another in a series of articles on man-tracking and its utility in prepping as well as conservation, by guest author Kyt Walken

In previous articles we looked at the fundamentals of the ancient Art of identifying the tracks and following them, and we have discovered several fields in which this skill is still well alive and considered a remarkable tool to come in handy when it comes to understand, for example, the dynamic of any illegal infiltration.

Crime scene investigations, for example, have a lot to do with Tracking, from the initial collection of data until the answer “What really happeedn?” Paired with standard procedures, Tracking revealed itself to be extremely useful if employed in the very first phases of any investigation. For example: OJ Simpson’s case, back in 1995.

Rangers investigating tracks in soil

Neverthless, the skepticism about the employment of Tracking is still strong. Many people believe reading and following tracks can’t be helpful nowdays due to the consistent progresses achieved by technology. Yet there is a specific dimension in which this Art still has a constant application on field: Antipoaching Operations.

Tracking as a part of conservation

Back in 2018, when I made the decision to attend the Conservation Ranger Course held by Conservation Rangers Operations Worldwide (www.crowngo.org), I was amazed by the importance given to this Art: Tracking, infact, appears to be a solid cornerstone of any Conservation Ranger’s skill set. But in addition to detecting poaching activity, tracking also serves a second purpose: to monitor the wildlife population in terms of growth and biodiversity. 

The high demand of wildlife parts from Asia is the primary cause of the current slaughter and many Rangers risk their life everyday to fight criminal syndicates ruled by merciless businessmen. In developing Countries (where most of the biodiversity of our planet still exists) corruption is so widespread that poaching syndicates get stronger every day, making our battle even more inequal.” –Andy Martin, Conservation Rangers Operations Worldwide CEO and Chief Instructor

In my mind, the Tracking experience that I have gained these past years could be useful within this specific context (and maybe make a difference too!). In fact, the Tactical Acuity class I attended to in Virginia back in 2017, gave me a more tactical perspective, enhancing the capability of detecting whether something is “out of order”, which is basically the foundation on any anti-poaching operation.  

Tracking the ultimate animal: Man

Saying that, let me honestly stress that during the Conservation Ranger Course, I had to face with a slightly different approach to read and follow tracks. Basically, the so called “African Method” combines Tactical Tracking with the demands required by several factors:

  • the environment
  • climate conditions
  • background and also ethnicity of the poachers
  • type of prey, dimensions and habits

But above all the above, there is another element of importance: speed.

Rangers investigating tracks in soil

Moving faster than the poachers is absolutely mandatory in any APU (Antipoaching Unit). You can easily understand how it was essential for me to “attune” my Tracking for this new dimension.

Any operation which requires time and a massive exposure (like, for example, taking the standard measurements of a single track, of the stride and the straddle) is to be avoided. The type of terrain (mostly soft sand in the bush, swampy for areas like Congo DRC) literally leads you along the way.

Track Traps are fundamentally what you have to look for.

Moving in small teams with no more than four elements is intimately related to the Tactical aspect. The standard formation consists of two flankers, one Tracker, and one Team Leader. Their positions rotate according to the scenario: a single file for narrowed spaces, an extended line for wide open terrains.

Tracking poachers to gather intelligence

As poachers mostly operate at night, day and night APUs commit themselves to accurate patrolling inside the borders of the Natural Parks and Reserves in order to identify any passage or any breach within the perimeter. Rangers check for any intelligence, from ground spoors and aerial spoors, which lead them to figure out how many poachers have infiltrated, and if they moved lightweight or if they were actually carrying loads – not to mention weapons.

That is due to what the soil gives back in terms of depressions connected to the heels can tell if they were carrying heavy items or traveling light. An extinguished campfire can ‘tell’ the Rangers the type of fire made, as the ways of staring of fire can vary from tribe to tribe, revealing a lot of crucial details to determine the poachers’ identify and origin.

Rangers investigating tracks in soil

Other things can also be useful intelligence sources:

  • Trash can be an excellent source of data: some cultures do not burn garbage in the fires.
  • The temperature of the remaining coals can tell the passage of time.
  • Leftover food, such as the type of flour of rice are characteristic of different tribes or locations. 
  • No leftovers of any kind may be an indicator of a high tactical training, like the absence of any trash, feces or urine.

Skilled poachers know exactly how to move minimizing their tracks, like stepping on small rocks, brushing out their footprints, bending vegetation without damaging it: Conservation Rangers have to maintain a high level of alertness in order not only to be misleaded, but also to be prepared for any possibile fire fight.

Tracking saves wildlife

Can the use of Tracking really make the difference to fight the plague of poaching? I believe so.

Let me pass along this valuable quote, and recommend you this book (available for free from:https://mantracking.files.wordpress.com/2017/07/trackingmanual_2013.pdf)

“[…] Tracking is not the solution to all problems in law enforcement, investigation, search and rescue or patrolling, but it is an additional and extremely valuable tool in your tool box that in many instances provides by far the best and most accurate option, enabling you to allocate and optimize use of other resources available. Tracking can multiply the efficiency of staff by tenfold, or even a hundredfold in search by identifying a sector to search in. It is also cheap and strengthens your most valuable resource – namely the staff. It is also an ancient skill updated with modern tactical methods and crime scene investigation methods. […]” — Christian Nellmann, Jack Kearney and Stig NĂ¥rstad, “Sign and the Art of Tracking”

Images courtesy of Conservation Rangers Operations Worldwide via Kyt Walken


Kyt Lyn Walken is the official European representative and instructor for Hull’s Tracking School (Virginia, USA), and is a certified Conservation Ranger for C.R.O.W. (Conservation Rangers Operations Worldwide). She has been an outdoors and tracking enthisast since childhood. Kyt lives and works in Europe, and can be contacted at www.man-tracking.com


The post TRACKING THE POACHERS appeared first on The Prepper Journal.



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Are We Done With The Lockdown?

People are tired of being shut-in. Protesters in some states are making that message clear, telling their governors that it’s time to open the doors of their businesses.

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Monday, April 20, 2020

How To Make Your Own Penicillin From Oranges

Do you know what Mickey Mantle and World War II soldiers had in common? Limbs… many of their limbs (and soldiers’ lives) were saved with penicillin.

from Survivopedia
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