Top 5 Survival Skills Review

     First I appreciate those who commented on the previous article on what Your Top 5 Survival Skills would be when the SHTF. Please keep in mind that there is no one perfect list that will fit everyone or every situation.

     Many people like to depend gadgets and gear and while they are very helpful and make many things easier I believe that we are now far too dependent on them. Gadgets and gear are really great for the short term and the novice but for longer natural and man-made disasters you will need skills that you just can't buy off the shelf. The following list are what some of the readers of this blog have contributed.

• Water purification methods
• Fire making 
• Shelter
• Food preservation
• Emotional skills, ways to stay calm and rational ( If you can't think then how can you function? )
• Building or repairing without power 
• Hunting skills 
• Marksmanship/ Security and being able to defend yourself and your family
• Medical training 
• Navigation

     The above list while very basic can be expanded upon to fit ones needs or situation. I would again like to thank those who contributed to the list, each contributor is a blog writer in their own right that you may or may not know and not all are in the survival field so if you have a chance please give them a visit.

• Sweepyjean and her site  http://sweepyjean.wordpress.com/
• BadVooDooDaddy and his site The Retreat
• Chinasyandrome and his sites  

THE AMERICAN MINUTEMAN
American Apocalypse
Enemy of the state

• Mr.B and his sites

In the MIDDLE of the RIGHT


Made in America

Prepology


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Survival Quiz site

Found a site that I haven't found before it is a survival site that has quiz's on many subjects from Terrorism to Volcano's and it also has quite a bit of other information, Check them out your guaranteed to learn something.

http://www.survival-quiz.com/

Prepology

This just forwarded to me in an e-mail

Clint Smith, Director of Thunder Ranch, is a drill instructor (Thunder Ranch is a firearms training facility in   Arizona ). Here are a few of his observation on tactics, firearms, self defense and  life as we know it in the civilized world. 
  "The most important rule in a gunfight is: Always win and cheat if  necessary." 
  "Don't forget, incoming fire has the right of way.." 
  "Make your attacker advance through a wall of bullets. You may get killed with your own gun, but he'll have to beat you to death with it, cause it's going to be empty." 
  "If you're not shootin', you should be loadin'. If you're not loadin',  you should be movin', if you're not movin', someone's gonna cut your head off and put it on a stick." 
  "When you reload in low light encounters, don't put your flashlight in  your back pocket.. If you light yourself up, you'll look like an angel or  the tooth fairy... and you're gonna be one of 'em pretty soon." 
  "Do something It may be wrong, but do something." 
  "Shoot what's available, as long as it's available, until something else  becomes available." 
  "If you carry a gun, people will call you paranoid. That's ridiculous.  If you have a gun, what in the hell do you have to be paranoid for." 
  "Don't shoot fast, unless you also shoot good.." 
  "You can say 'stop' or 'alto' or use any other word you think will work,  but I've found that a large bore muzzle pointed at someone's head is  pretty much the universal language." 
  "You have the rest of your life to solve your problems.. How long you live depends on how well you do it." 
  "You cannot save the planet but you may be able to save yourself and your family." 
  "Thunder Ranch will be here as long as you'll have us or until someone  makes us go away, and either way, it will be exciting." 
  More Excellent Gun Wisdom....... 
  The purpose of fighting is to win. There is no possible victory in  defense..  The sword is more important than the shield, and skill is more  important than either. The final weapon is the brain. All else is  supplemental. 
  1. Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll  just kill you. 
  2. If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck. 
  3. I carry a gun cause a cop is too heavy. 
  4. When seconds count, the cops are just minutes away. 
  5. A reporter did a human-interest piece on the Texas Rangers. The  reporter recognized the Colt Model 1911 the Ranger was carrying and asked him 'Why do you carry a 45?' The Ranger responded, 'Because they don't make a 46.' 
  6. An armed man will kill an unarmed man with monotonous regularity. 
  7. The old sheriff was attending an awards dinner when a lady commented on his wearing his sidearm. 'Sheriff, I see you have your pistol. Are you expecting trouble?' 'No ma'am. If I were expecting trouble, I would have brought my rifle.' 
  8. Beware of the man who only has one gun, because he probably knows how to use it very well. 
  'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him,  but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton 
  A people that values its privileges above its principles will soon lose  both. 
  "Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not..."  - Thomas Jefferson 
  If you believe in the 2nd Amendment, please forward..

Observations on the day

     Had a road trip today of about 500 miles going from one corner of Arizona to the opposite corner of Arizona. Now if the economy is picking up I will be a horses A&*, I drove through very small towns and even the city of Phoenix and came and came to a conclusion. My conclusion was that there are a lot of empty spaces to rent, and on top of that I did see the occasional mega warehouse for sale or lease. I have been in and out of AZ for the better part of 23 years and I have seen the sprawl of people over take the desert But I am wondering if the bad times have caught up, It sure looked like it from my view.

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   Training and information

Fema

     Now before I hear it I know it's FEMA but even they do something half A%$ right every now and then, plus your paying for it anyway. They do have some online training in several areas and cover a range of disasters, most of the online courses last between 30 minutes to an hour and a half and you get a certificate in the end, now you can use this information in several ways:

• Have the information to better yourself.
• Use the information for work, Add to your H.R. file at work, more qualifications.
• Or know how Government and state workers will respond to things. 

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      Oh man stick a fork in me I am done, time to sleep. Enjoy all.

Free or paid training opportunity

     I would like to pass on a training opportunity to those of you that are out in the rural communities. I was how shall we say "nudged" to join the local VFD (Volunteer fire department) My age had something to do with it as I was considered "young" by the other members, their idea of young was anyone who is under 50. Well needless to say I took to it like a duck to water and then I found out about the training that was available and the best part was that they paid me ( some commitment to the dept was required but well worth it ).

     I took this opportunity to learn fire science, wildland firefighting and best of all medical training. This type of training would cost you big money if you had to pay for it but I traded my time for the training. These are all valuable skills and it is skills that will help most not gear. Another fringe benefit of being a member is that you are privy to some information that the general public is not, VFD's are now technically part of DHS. While on this department I was issued a radio with all county frequencies, this included state and local police. Our department also puts you in contact with your local emergency management director and in some cases you can be part of the training and planning for your local area, this gives you a good insight on how your local community will deal with an incident, the flip side also is you can see how unprepared your community is also.

     One other thing to mention as a benefit are the people that you will meet, they have been some of the best I have ever come to know, some would give you the shirt off their back. Working on a department can and will allow you to make valuable contacts in the community and the friendships will last a lifetime.