Snowmageddon 2016- lessons learned.

http://fox59.com/2016/01/21/canceled-flights-empty-store-shelves-as-powerful-snowstorm-approaches-east-coast/

The threat is that people might be snowed in for up to 3 days. Power Might go out for a night. No Armageddon, no threat of widespread panic, no DHS threat upgrade, yet the store shelves are empty!

Had this been a true emergency, imagine how the general public would have responded. Instead of just bare shelves, you would have bare shelves, murder, rape and pillaging. People aren't reasonable, they have zero survival skills past the next 24 hours. Just peruse facebook for a few hours. I see people I know that work menial jobs wearing 600 dollar outfits and driving a new jalopy every few months from the buy here, pay here lot. No thought of the future, no idea that the money faucet would ever end up dry. They always have the new Ick phone 47 and the latest fashion and never consider the idea of going without should there be an event to disrupt society. Uncle Sugar will always be there to make it right is they get too stoned to get up and go to work, thus losing their job.

These are the Zombies. The dangerous, nothing left to lose, hungry, insolent masses that will be out to get you when the chips are down and survival comes down to the prepared and the Zombies. Things are good right now, Keynesian economics has fooled everyone into a false belief that the US is doing great and money is flowing into the middle class. We still have people fighting to the death over sale items on Black Friday. Urban youths continue to strike innocent subjects for fun. The Knockout game is now the Cut your face game and not a soul is worried about it. Remember Ferguson when the police pulled back? I had friends on the ground protecting some infrastructure and stores when the police went away. They won't be there when things fall apart and it's wide spread.  It's all a foreign problem to suburbanites. Imagine the depravity that would ensue in the aftermath of a coordinated electrical infrastructure attack. Think of an attack like the one on Silicone Valley in larger scale. http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/07/us/california-sniper-attack-power-substation/index.html

I recently read a book that explained the effectiveness of a coordinated mortar attack on several refineries using time delayed mortars from 2 angles. Genius to say the least, but catastrophic to the economy if it happens. Think about 10 dollar a gallon gas and it's impact on the economy. The 2007-2008 financial meltdown was triggered by fuel prices. Our current economy is on the razors edge, now would be the perfect time for an attack to have the greatest impact.

How would you survive? Would that $3k 1911 keep your family fed? Do you have enough fuel to put in a garden in the spring? If today was the last day you could make it to the grocery, would you make it til spring? Can you even heat your house without the utilities you rely on?

A snow storm is a non event. It's a hiccup and not a heart attack, yet the shelves are bare and people are acting like idiots. When it really happens, people are going to come unhinged in the first 24 hours when they can't nuke their corn dogs and the VP runs out of their brand of cigarettes. Prepare accordingly.

Minuteman Cache Example, Cache #2

We've talked a bit about Cache locations Here and Here on the Total Survivalist Blog, as well as at the Tblog Here. Now let's talk about a minimum baseline of equipment. One should have a minimum of each necessary item to successfully survive in a hostile location. Think of what would want in a certain situation and backtrack from there. I've built a cache for several of the most dire situations. Let's look at the choices I've made and use those situations to backtrack to the kit I would need.

Natural disaster:
Basic needs like clothing, important documents, shelter, money, some food, minimum weaponry, comfort items for sensitive persons, camera, limited comms, anything you might need to sort out the situation. In my area, there are 3 major issues I might have to contend with. Tornadoes, earthquakes and flooding. Flooding is the least of these worries for me. Every house I've ever purchased has been in the highest area of the surrounding few miles. At my current location, the water would have to be 60 feet over flood stage to bother my crawl space. That would be a biblical flood. Even the 100 year flood we had in my area didn't flood anything but the entrance to my neighborhood with a foot of water. Earthquakes happen in my area, but they are generally mild and without serious damage. I keep my stores in the corner of my home away from the second story as a precaution. Tornadoes are an entirely different animal. I live at the end of Tornado alley in the central midwest. The area around me has been peppered with F1-F3 twisters for years. Being that my home is elevated, it's a prime candidate for serious damage. The tornado threat generally moves southwest to northeast and rarely deviates from that pattern. This rule makes it best for my Cache to be within hiking distance to my northwest or southeast. My current disaster kit is 4.3 miles away, due north. That area isn't known to be hit with tornadoes due to it's lower level and protection to it's due west with hills and valleys. Picture below was taken near my place of business after an F3 hit, it took me 3 hours to get home.

Governmental Oppression/Revolution- Grey man kit- To be posted this week.

Total Bugout- My first tier equipment, bugout trailer and everyone's gear. Post Next week

Hide out-Civilian camping setup- Post next week

Hide out- Bubba gear! Post in the spring.

Insurrection/Riots/Social Upheaval: Cache #2 of this type.
This kit is going to be weapons and comms heavy. You will want to either fit in with the rioters, or be able to put them down if threatened. Luckily, one of my insurrection Caches happens to be home for an update and to keep it at home until the construction is done at it's usual resting place. I keep 2 cases (A/B Menu) of MRE's there as well, but I'm not worried about those getting pinched. I also have a set of camos hanging in his closet to go with this kit. The homeowner is a sportsman, but has no decent kit as a fighting loadout. This kit is set up for many uses as well. It has the basic requirements to go fight at a moments notice. All you would have to do is load some mags and get busy. I built this kit from the equipment I started with when I first got into the survivalist lifesytle.

Overview:
The container is a super heavy duty tote you can get at Lowes for 11-15 bucks. I have several and they are awesome. It's secured by wrapping a 6' cable lock through the holes in the lid and bin. These are pretty bomb proof and will take a decent hit even in cold weather without breaking. I tested them the best way possible. I bought one and donated it to the scouts I work with. They didn't break it on a -10 degree camping trip, so it's pretty darn solid.

 

 Everything out of the box:AR15 by bushmaster with a lightweight DPMS upper and a full mag of TAP ammo, vortex RDS, Cheapo BUIS with Trijicon front sight insert, Hogue grip with insert that has extra batteries for the RDS, Midway Sling, Quickie MH food, chest rig by condor, Beofeng radio-programmed for local tower and Em. services, Ammo boxes-federal and ZQI, Hornady critical duty 40 SW ammo.

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Chest rig partially unloaded- Glock 22 with TLR-1 with condor holster, 15rnd mag(loaded), 4- 17 round mags and 2-22 rnd mags(unloaded), 7 USGI ar mags(unloaded), Micro tool and mini flashlight, The mesh pocket in back has a topo map of my AO and the AO the kit is in. I purchased this chest rig just for this kit. It's not something I would want to use for more than a limited time.

The backpack: LA police gear 3 day pack, (In depth review Here) by compartment. Top is a TAG 6 mag carrier full of empty GI mags. Lower front compartment is a food prep compartment, fuel tabs, lightweight stove, cliff bars, more mountain house and backpackers pantry meals, salt and pepper, tobasco, TP that's been vacuum sealed flat, salt and pepper, water tabs and a couple lighters. Caffiene pills and coffee and tea are in there somewhere, never leave home without it. Will be adding some chocolate and sugar to it while it's here.

 

Upper compartment: Snivel kit, Deodorant, soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, light stick, headlamp, fishing line for perimeter traps, head net for bugs, matches, large multitool, 100% DEET spray, Frog Lube, toothpicks, Adding a cover (hat) and some trash bags and gorilla tape to it while it's here.

 

Lower add on butt pack: Tarp, Tactical bandana in OD, Poncho, gloves, GI belt. This has extra room for stripped MREs.

Main Compartment:Light sticks, Paper and pencils, cash, cordage, Otis cleaning kit, Camo Backpacking tent, Jungle bag and liner, Stainless container, aluminum cup, socks, washcloth, solar charger for AA, AAA and CR123 batteries, Spare Batteries. Adding more batteries, ESS eye pro, ear pro and a cash bought disposable phone.

Side pouch 1: Ammo on stripper clips. Once loaded, this pouch will be for stripped MRE's

Side Pouch 2: EDC belt and IWB holster for the Glock in case I need to fit in for a bit. Pouch doubles as MRE holder as well.

What it's missing- A good first aid kit with trauma gear. My EDC bag has that and I should have it with me. Clothes aren't included. I should have some in the kit but it's not meant for me as a primary so I didn't include any.A water bladder needs to be installed in this system. It's the only unit I have without one.

Estimated worth of this kit is right at 3000 bucks, about 1k less than what the rifle in my first line kit costs. It's a (relatively) inexpensive option to kit out a friendly or as a last ditch kit up location in case of a serious breach in your preparedness design. It's NOT enough by itself to get me to my alternate location.

More to follow soon!