Preparing for the Future 04

THE MYTH OF OWNERSHIP.

Has anyone lately questioned the reality of the concept of ownership?
I suppose not..... Funny how humans take such mental constructs for real.....
Do we really own anything? Or does it just pass through our hands?
Is life long enough, to even consider that we own land, or material items, or some mystical sheets of paper that say we are part owners in this or that corporation? I doubt it.....
I think its all a big game to sucker players to the table, who'd be better off not playing...

Does anyone really need a billion dollars? I think not.... But a great many need more than they get now...... Is the playing field level? Does every child at birth have an equal chance to succeed? No......

To last forever, something need only be perfect......

The other side of that one, is anything lacking balance is very very temporary.....

I realized years ago that the best way to bring a political system down, was to go along with it..... Human stupidity and hubris come in due time, And any position or title, brings arrogance and ego..... And so the downfall is an inevitable result of the existence and growth of a culture..... Critics and revolutionaries are the real Patriots, they who are trying to fix the system that doesn't want to be fixed......

So we create cultures, that last for a while, trash the environment with ego, and disappear back into the sands.........

What good is that? Feeds incredible amounts of vanity, until reality comes to visit......

The real revolutionaries are the people who not only can think outside the box, but step out of it, and close the lid behind them..... If you described human civilization to any alien, they would know instantly that it was totally insane...... and they would start fingering the ignition keys of their UFO in their pocket, and edging towards it......

Very soon property ownership will be a lot less important, at least in some places, like in cities, or lowlands, or places that are desertifying..... I realized years ago that ownership was nothing more than a mental construct, or a legal fiction.... In the now arriving reality, ownership will change dynamics, and things like absentee land-lordship will have to be set aside to allow flexibility for people to migrate out of danger or disaster zones, I see signs that the status quo is preparing to institute a “total control reality”.... this is the exact wrong thing to do..... its control, concentration, and manipulation that have caused the fix we are in, and more of the same, in the form of martial law, and work camps isn't going to make anything any better for anyone, except the status quo, and the reason the political and economic leadership is thinking in these manners, is because its all they know....

Actually, what is needed, is to begin allowing more freedom and flexibility, and if the control freeks want to do something, I suggest they start paying attention to basics, like defending the people's rights, and putting the violent and robbery types in the work-camps instead...
The average person would do fine with what is coming if they were informed in a timely manner, With the truth, and given the opportunity to begin to prepare in real terms..... but the problem is that the entire system is “priority reversed” from how it is going to have to be to survive.....

FORESTALLERS
All the middle men sucking fat incomes with speculation games will cause the deaths of great numbers of peoples if allowed to continue............ three hundred years ago speculation in agricultural and other products was illegal, and such people were called “forestallers” because they waited for the farmers en route to market, or the market-stall, and tried to buy their crop, and re-sell it in town and gain a profit.... this artificially raises the food prices, and in the Feudal system, this was frowned upon to the point that those caught doing it were imprisoned, flogged, put into stocks in the public square etc., and now in modern times these types still artificially raise food prices for everyone, and do absolutely no actual good, and are called “Investors”, and basically these types are the status quo..... so I suspect that forestalling's punishment wasn't strong enough, and that in the future reality, it will become a capital offense, after people figure it out for what it is......

The same holds true for real-estate, its speculation that drives up the prices, and surely the speculators will gladly kill millions who cant afford to move out of the danger zones, because the speculators have bought up everything that is in any area deemed safer..... This will continue until the lynchings start......

The same holds true for government.... taxing the shit out of the body politic, and using the incredible levels of wealth to do absurd things in absurd places while ignoring the needs of the common folks, is a recipe for disaster..... and the police forces have been gearing up for years, with SWAT teams, Automatic weapons, central control, and endless police and law shows on the TV, for a total control reality........ look around, true???

And my point is that this is the reverse of what will be needed, that we must begin to soften up certain assumptions, and start building more flexibility into our mindsets, instead of knee-jerk / more-of-the-same reactions to the problems as they come in a linear fashion, to be ready for when the problems are coming so close together in time spacing that they are in effect continuous...... Or worse; simultaneous...

You cant control a planetary level disaster, but you can do things to increase the odds for everyone, things like telling the truth in a timely manner, things like not declaring everything a national security secret, and things like not fighting “greed-wars” over oil we can not burn.......

I dont expect many to read and heed my advice, I expect to be laughed at, but I do expect to be proven correct in due time..... I am hoping that I can get the attention of some, the decent human types, and that maybe my writings will make enough of a difference to allow their survival.....

My advice, is to not wait for the government to do this or that, or for the capitalists to get a new religion, or for people in your family to wake up and smell the death, I suggest that each person that understands my points and sees the value in them, begin doing things to save their own lives, and of those who depend on them.......


Basically it all boils down to the fact that we took a few wrong turns back there in history, and let Money get its insidious tentacles wrapped throughout our civilizations,
and allowed greed to become a socially acceptable thing......
ADMIRING GREED ISN”T A WISE THING TO DO............

LAWS
And now days, the manipulation of humanity is incredible; families being broken up by the legal system and governments, who have decided unilaterally that only they know whats best for everyone.....

Laws used to be based on long term traditions that worked, but now based on whims of egotistical types who think that they can dream up something better than what evolved out of human nature and survival level conditions..... and all law boils down to two issues, not doing things that harm others, and doing what you say you are going to do.... So why do we now need Legislators in year round session making new laws constantly? When we really only need two laws, dont hurt others, and be true in word and deed.....

And these legislators constantly enacting laws every year fill railroad cars full of new law this and new law that, and its all nothing but bullshit to manipulate the people.....


ON LEADERSHIP.

I'd like to discuss leadership a bit..... explain what it is in real terms....

Leadership is the art of knowing when its time to do something or not do something and acting appropriately, diserreguardless of what anyone else thinks.....

Decisions proven correct over time are the sign of true leadership.

Is that what we have? I think not....

In humanity's past, true leadership was when the status quo got oppressive, and some who were intelligent enough, got fed up with it, and realized that changing the local system was unlikely, and packed up their bags, and left.... I suspect that this was the cause of many migrations, and led to a class of human genetics of explorer types....
You cant go against an established system, and you cant de-program the made-stupid by TV types with the truth..... it takes cause and effect for the Herd-head types to admit that their game, isn't working out so good anymore.... This takes a lot of time..... We dont have the time.... And in the past the real leaders were easy to pick out, they were who got tired of the bullshit, and strapped on their packs, and walked out..... sometimes others would wake up, pack up and follow them, and leave the local status quo, and its stupid victims, to play out the problems.....

There is also leadership in a crisis....... In a crisis the most prepared person is leader automatically, no vote, no talk, no bullshit.........
Why are the most prepared types most prepared? Because they were thinking ahead, and because they realized the reality for what it really was, and not sucking up the lies and excuses......
Leadership, real leadership, is the result of foresight, courage, creativity, compassion, honesty, and humility. I suggest you measure up the current political or economic leadership with these standards..... what do you see? Well they are creative liars.......

The reason you dont see these qualities, is because these people aren't really leaders.....
What you are seeing is just some status quo types filling in for the true leadership types, the types that they blackball and trash, and basically run off......

In the very near future more and more people will die unnecessarily due to these false leaders, and anyone who believes that the system is there to take care of them, is a fool, and most likely to be genetically edited.........

Human collective egocentricity has an ebb and flow like the tides, its plays a very large part in the rise and fall of civilizations..... people grouped up originally for mutual assistance, and mutual protection from raiders.... But it wasn't long until the raiders types managed to lie, and slip in the town gates, and begin playing raider's games inside, first with Mofia style organizations, and later with Government, which is the same Mofia style game, with a nice job title for each “intimidation group” member.... also a nice paycheck, and the opportunity to make even more through corruption and soliciting bribes, now called campaign financing gifts etc.

And in any civilization, such games grow and grow, until the civilization collapses from the big lie becoming more and more dysfunctional....
If you analyze, its all based on simple human egocentricism, each blob of protoplasm fighting for what it can get for itself at the expense of all others.......

Nash's Equilibrium has a down side, that each person competing against the others may build civilizations, but it also eventually destroys them.... Its like Economy, it will effectively run backwards if it goes too far over the balance point.... if we allow it all to continue, eventually economy will take us back to a few savages beating each other to death with clubs.....

Humans generally forget about co-operation when bad or dangerous times seem far away, and when interesting times arrive, they generally try to hang out in denial-land as long as possible, and only after things crash, and millions die, do they re-find the value of non egocentric values... And so civilizations die...... and new ones are born......

In whats coming, ownership will be much more fluid, and you will be responsible for transporting and for defending what you own.....
Currently in the US, plenty of new laws being enacted to prepare for whats coming... Homeland Security, read; “Status Quo Security” has had laws passed whereby they can confiscate anything and everything and give it to themselves..... this is nothing but the status quo not bothering to do the right thing, and planning to rely in part on armed robbery of those who did prepare, and those who do manage to grow some food, in spite of climatic problems..... My thoughts are; that if Homeland security arrives with its guns and trucks, that its MY JOB to defend whats mine, that their laws are bullshit, and its my responsibility to do my best to lower these numbers of Gung-ho raider types, so that IF they get to the next house theres a noticeably smaller group of them, for my neighbor to deal with. Dieing is the inevitable final experience of all of us, and if I knuckle under and give them what I have, its likely a death sentence for myself and my family anyway, so the only way to stop that bullshit, is to get more of them than they get of us..... Chances are, after a few times of the REAL MEN types defending their families and food, that the FEMA raider types will just focus on the weaker victims..... I.e. The people who are stupid enough to think that the pack mentality is security......You know, the type who will march into the work camp, thinking its there to save them.....And not realizing those who run the camps, see them as slave labor, body parts, and fertilizer........
Another option, is if one sees the raiders coming, spice some of the food you must leave behind, with Rat poison, and then exit out the back..... 'Spice the most delectable food, and get the most piggish.....

THROUGHOUT HISTORY THE COMMON FOLK HAVE THWARTED OPPRESIVE GOVERNMENTS BY becoming MORE CLEVER..........

Listen, whats coming is ugly, and not everybody is going to make it out the far side, but how you play the game is important, and the more folks who do the right things, the better things will get quicker for everyone.... The bottom line is human decency, If a cop is a good cop, let him be cop..... and I worry about everybody's cousin Clem......
You know Clem, the guy on the tractor with a pony tail and a beard.... he may vote liberal, may have his own opinions, but if some Limbaugh programmed fool thinks thats an excuse to blast his guts out, That fool may learn that a lot of seemingly redneck types held Clem in high esteem for his candor and honesty.... I repeat; the criteria is human decency....
That is how you rate humans from now on........

And how is the best way to shorten the times of crisis? How do we get things back on track? By divorcing ourselves from egocentric thinking and aspiring to human decency, and teaching our children the value of “The other things” besides money, and personal gain....

We dont live long, and we really dont need much...

So this whole problem is really really stupid, and I suggest you first find your own heart, and then look for others with hearts resistant to to call of the Sirens, of power, or wealth, or of ego....

Those who read and heed, may have a chance of getting out with more.... anyone with enough guts to do it before the collapse, maybe gets out with all their goodies, if they choose well on their destination........ my advice on destinations, is go where there are no nuclear power plants......... also out to the edge of the empire, anywhere the people still live on the land and have viable up and running self produced food supplies.....
I'd avoid major population centers etc., and I'd avoid staying in the US due to it being target number one, with its nuke plants all up and down the west coast, which is the up-wind coast. Meaning an attack on them with even small tactical nukes, or a mega-quake would result in the whole country being uninhabitable for the next couple billion years.... I hope some of the patriot types think about that..... if they want to go down with the ship, thats their business, but personally I recommend that they take their copies of the constitution and get out and go where freedom will come back first.... i.e. The edge of the empire... the declaration of independence and constitution are well worth saving.......

Another thing I wish to stress, is that you aren't preparing for just a camping trip, you are preparing to go live the rest of your life with what you could get out in time....
so think beyond a backpackers list, and think about daily use items..... the refugee kit is for if you dont get out soon enough, and are unlucky enough to be on the road when things go off...... if you are forced to do this, I suggest you carry as much as you can, things and food, and still make time getting away from the danger.... one concept, is if you have time, do it like a canoe portage, and move things in stages..... rent a corner of a barn some where out and beyond, and use your vacations or what ever to portage loads to that spot..... I did this with about 2 tons of personal possessions, from the coast, then up a hill, catch a bus, go 15 kilometers, and then hike up a mountain for 2 km. To get it to the farm.....took me 6 months, one trip every Saturday..... For this kind of work you need a good cargo style packboard, but there is a lot of positives in the technique, if it gets
out of the empire and into the brush......
I have since rebuilt my Korean war era packboard, and replaced all the cotton straps and back cloth with nylon, sewn by hand w/ nylon thread etc., one thing I learned, is that these wood laminate packboards limit out at around 100 lb loads, and at anything over about 75 lbs, you can break the board easily in a fall, or dropping it loaded.....

I am now building a more substantial packboard. Out of solid hardwood, laced together, so I can repair it with nothing more than a knife, and haul loads of maybe 125 lbs....
I also have a horse and built a similar packsaddle, also laced together and for the same reasons...........

Personally if I were in the empire now, and getting wise to the problem, I'd get rid of 95% of what I owned, and try to get it down to a couple 50 lb airline trips per person........
I lost a lot of stuff in my process, mostly to thieves, and I had also already gotten rid of about 90% by mass of what I had owned......... by the time I got up to the farm, I was at the couple of tons, and realized that I still had ten times more than I really needed to live.....
in other words, I should have just eliminated more baggage, and so eliminated more of the problems... which is when I really began working on the 24 items list.

I am also constantly thinking of a 48 items list.... which I suspect would be about the same amount of baggage as the average tourist used to do, before the limit imposed of late....
I think 200 pounds is enough to give a person all they really need, with the critical part being wise choices, and not like Mom packing for a cubscout weekend.....

A major consideration is tools.......... to live and thrive one needs tools, basic ones, but they do weigh up...... as long as the system is up and running, you can sell there and buy elsewhere, and eliminate the transport, but six seconds after too late, and you'd better be double timing with a well planned load..........

NEO-INDIGENOUS MINDSET

The last few years, my life has improved remarkably, I had been living in a house left by the past owners of my farm, which was a really ugly shack up on stilts, with corrugated tin roofing...... it was in bad shape day one on the farm, and went down hill from there as I struggled with culture shock, language shock, an economic fall into an abyss, and years of recovering mentally from post divorce stress......... eventually the shack got to the point that it was degrading weekly, leaks in the roof, holes in the floor, and the support posts were rotting off, so every earthquake was a questioned event, “will it fall over this time?”

And as the economics only improved slightly, I couldn't but dream of a better house....
Meanwhile, I'd picked out another site on the farm that I wanted to build on that had a view, and didn't have plastic garbage surfacing with every rain.... A new site uncontaminated, no herbicide residues, and had 3 natural springs within a 100 meter area, all fairly close to the level of the building site......... I had learned observing the Quaymi Indians, that in such a wet climate (tropical rain forest) that one was wise to build on some hump, hill, or raised area, and I liked how they found little rounded hills on the faces of mountainsides with springs above them and built their thatched roofed homes there, with good drainage all directions, nice winds to dry the soils, and nice views, due to being up....
And my site was like this too........ so I began by exploring the area, which was all buried in brush, which had been brushy cow pasture when I bought the farm.... I and my Tico worker went into the area, and started cleaning it up, chopping brush, carving trails, and planting food trees and plants........ eventually when I couldn't stand the old shack anymore,
we built a simple roof up at the house site, of a truck tarp over bamboo frame, like something out of Gilligan's Island..... this lasted about 6 months until the termites turned the bamboo into sawdust, and we tried a tarp tipi out of the truck tarp and new hardwood poles.......... well the hardwood was still soft enough for the termites, and it was the same story, sawdust raining down on everything..........

So then I decided to use some of the used lumber from the old shack, a wood called Manu, and make a frame for the tarp, like a military wall tent. The Manu was termite resistant, and fairly nice other than a lot of nail holes filled with rust, from where the nails had rusted out for 25 years in the tropical dampness........

But we tried to do a nice job, and I spent a couple weeks working out the numbers for the various notches and cuts, and with only hand tools and sweat equity we built the open cabin
with the frame all notched together, i.e. No nails or other fasteners, other than rope....

What I learned, is one can use sawn lumber and make things that are more of a style of construction from the 15th century, before nails were so cheap and available, and with it being in the tropics, it needed no walls, and so I came up with a really nice little building that I can disassemble and reassemble in a single day..........

We put it where I want to build the kitchen eventually, and I moved in....
and with that done I began to work on other projects, and learned more about my new concept of using sawn lumber and coming up with designs that were indigenous styled.....

I did a 10 inch tortilla press, as the local tortillas are about 6 inches, a little small for a decent North American sized burrito.....

I used the same “taper the lumber, drill holes, and lash it together with nylon cord” style as the cabin..... after that I built a nice packsaddle using the same techniques.... both turned out very nice, due to that same neo-indigenous styling, and so I've started a new packboard using the same methods......What I am seeing is that if nothing else I am inventing a new style of furniture......... that melds with the new style of Architecture........

I've built with poles before, nice yurts, nice tipis, pole barns, and had also been a professional carpenter working building houses, decks, garages, etc. using some post and beam style designs.... and I had never thought to combine the two worlds........ sawn lumber has its fine points, and poles are natural and expedient, but when you combine the two styles, you get the best of both worlds.... nomadic structures, indigenous items, all very aesthetic, and practical, that you can repair with nothing but a knife and some rope....... It was “beyond boyscouts” and now I am planning more projects using the style, and planning my eventual house to be a comfortably large and well thought-out neo-indigenous structure, with the ability to be disassemble and moved easily.... So, I need not ever make payments again, and come what may, I have a shelter that can be packed anywhere..... that is real security, in comparison to the folks making payments, and looking at their jobs go to China......... I sleep good, I live good, and I feel good.... Simplicity is so very liberating..... I am sure there are those who would denigrate me, but I doubt they feel as good or sleep as good as I do.....
Being a payment making member to the system isn't any fun, and really you just get old.........

But being original, and thinking out my own needs from a very basic perspective has been very satisfying...... I hope that others see the style, and try coming up with their own items using the techniques, as it really works nice, and allows someone living in town to build whatever in their garage, and step out of the payments and step out of the rat-race life style at will........ Sawn lumber is readily available, and with simple carpenters tools you can make everything you will need for the future, when the technocult is taking the hits that lead to its collapse.... If I had to live in town, due to say already being there, I'd be filling the garage with everything imaginable for my freedom, and long before the collapse, I'd pull the plug, and walk into a new sunrise toward freedom....

The thing to remember, is in the neo-indigenous mindset, you dont need most of what you thought you needed..... it was all programming............. I now realize that I knew everything I really needed to know at age 14, I just didn't know that I should have taken up full time camping instead of doing it occasionally......

And one thing I know for sure is that given the real choice, 90% of humans would catapult themselves into a “Dances with wolves” lifestyle in a heartbeat.... (thank you Kevin Costner!”)

My point is; that now is the time to begin, and you dont need an excuse, because you have a real reason, with whats coming over the horizon..... It's like this: if you dont, you will suffer.........”

The Truth of our times is; that we either abandon the wasteful technocult, or we die in it....
So wouldn't it be better to adopt a neo-indigenous philosophy, and begin letting go of the excessiveness now? Maybe leave that house payment for some slob that isn't intelligent enough to get out, or let it go back to the speculators who have been milking you for about 3x the cost to build, in interest and principal payments, over the life of the contract?

I have overwintered in nomadic structures, and they tend to be ok if you have a wood stove, their small size makes up for the lack of insulation, but if I were to live in a cold climate again, I'd still be looking for inexpensive blankets to use as insulation..... making a yurt a nice snug dwelling.... and funny enough, one can buy saddle blankets fairly cheaply of felt made from recycled fibre from used clothing..... felt is what yurts were originally made of.....

So...... it is possible to do..... I'd do it by going more simple on my diet, and taking the liberated personal economy, and buying the small amounts of lumber and other materials to make up my own gear.... “Just camping gear honey..”

And by going more simple on the diet, one becomes healthier, and is pre-adapting to the new coming reality, and longevity is directly connected to eating less, so you could live longer and be free of the system at the same time..... I've had the good luck of misfortune to help me achieve these goals, and its been 1000 times better, than my life with that good job everyone said I was a fool to leave a decade plus back.... These days I just work for exercise, not because I owe anyone...........

Life has become a fun hobby, instead of a not-fun semi-existance in the rat race, and to me the most astounding realization was that the struggle isn't for more, its for less...... and its so much easier to struggle to have less.... 'doesn't seem to require a credit card.......

The secret of course, is in having the right stuff...... not the things you see on the TV,
not the stuff down at the mall, but nice things you can make yourself now, and with it be able to leave in a year or two at most......

The key to success is the neo-nomadic/ neo-indigenous philosophy, which you can help create now by being one of the first to do it........ Kind of a Pink Panther exit stage left maneuver...... Be the first kid on your block, to pack up, and leave “Payment World” behind...

CAMPING ON PUBLIC LAND
In the US one can camp on public land legally for two or three weeks in the same location, and if the ranger shows up, move a half a mile, and go back to fishing.... How do I know this? I was the Ranger...... I used to tell people all the time: “homeless? Well, If you set up out of sight, and back a little farther in the brush, the chances are that my boss wont see your camp, and send me out to run you off, and by the way, if he does, you have three weeks, and can move a few hundred yards, and the clock starts anew.....”

Take a look folks, its still a big planet if you get off the freeway....... It would still take months to cross the US on horseback.... Theres room for everybody, you just have to quit bunching up..........

The road to freedom begins at your doorstep, and the hardest part is having the guts to break programming, and it ain't like de-poddy-training yourself, its easy, its fun, its liberating, its healthy, and its possible and do-able...... And if a Neanderthal could do it, you can't?

And should one worry about it? Not having the comforts we are used to in the technocult? No not really, and after years of analyzing I've realized most of those comforts to be props for holding up the techno-slave reality.... its all stuff to allow you more time, and the time gets sucked up by the job paying for it....... Basically its a culture of materialism thats all engineered to allow your slavery to be traded on a market, and you still think you have your freedom, and so dont try to escape........

No? well think about how the current problem with sub-prime house loans affecting banks on the other side of the planet..... why? Because your “slave futures” are a commodity being traded by those wealthy enough to ante up into the game....

You take out a house loan, and the loan gets sold and bought many times, passes through many hands, and ends up, somebody that you have never heard of owns you through your Indenture, the same game as 500 years ago, just has a more politically correct description to fool the morons at the bottom.... and so instead of indentured servant, your able to call yourself a “home owner.....”

Do you own your house? Most likely not, and even if it was paid off, you'd still have to pay taxes, and if you fall arrears, you will be ceremoniously evicted by men with guns and badges.......

In other words, its all an illusion, with you led to think that you are somebody special, and keeping up with the Joneses, and that you OWN it......

YOU DONT OWN IT, THEY OWN YOU WITH IT......

Was this how the Founding fathers laid it out in the plan called the Constitution?
Not hardly, not even close, not even recognizable............... You have been enslaved through your vanity of wanting something for yourself, only because others have the same item.

Fairly base motives, vanity, envy, insecurity, herd instincts, etc., that keep you chained to the wheel, from cradle to grave, and now as we enter the endgame, it will likely cost you your life, if you are working in some massive structure when its your area's turn for a high number on the Richter scale..... A few days ago there was a quake in Ica Peru, I've been to Ica, its the town closest to the plains of Nasca, where the Inca drawings in the sands are..... I was in Ica for about 2 months, and got a good look at the construction there..... this was ten years ago, and I thought about the coming quakes, and often commented to locals, that everything would be rubbled if they got even a mediocre quake........... I also went to Pisco, on the coast, it and Ica were mostly Adobe cities, made from more mud than concrete, and massive construction styles....... most of it was fairly ugly, boxy and squat, but there were some historic quality buildings.... I hear now that it all looks like a B-52 bombing run.......... last count 450 dead, and number expected to rise..... with people putting their dead out on the street.......... Not a doubt in my mind that people I warned died or lost loved ones......... Why? Because it was the thing they had going, and why change? Well my response is because if you dont change, you will die...
And if it isn't by a quake, it will be by one of the other effects, as such, will keep increasing until you do change, and still keep increasing for generations there after if we dont work very hard at reversing the damage..... so now you read my words and I am warning you personally........... look around you, at all the infrastructure, how much of it will take stronger and stronger quakes, desertification, 80 meters of sea level rise, hurricanes, tornadoes, bla, bla, bla.......... Its only beginning folks, and the numbers look ugly to me, And I am glad as hell I got out away from the Giant, because when He falls, its going to squash a lot of tourists.......

I think I'd rather be free under the sky, with no more between me and the ambient natural world than a tarp to turn the rain..... If my shelter falls, and my soup goes into the fire, I can recover in hours, and not be crushed under my own vanity and stupidity....

Think about it, do you really need a house that weighs twenty tons to shelter you and keep you warm and dry? The same job can be done with less than 500 pounds, and no monthly payments.......

The big problem is that we have been programmed by a culture with motives that aren't altruistic.... Its a culture that feeds on the lives of its people......

PERSONAL MIGRATION
I realized years ago, That one's actual needs were very simple, and that I could re-locate myself to somewhere I needed even less..... I looked around, saw ever increasing numbers of homeless people, and a very small percentage of humanity getting wealthier by the second, off of the suffering of the masses....... And I realized that in some ways, the homeless were luckier than any one else, and that to be an outcast, was to be potentially free of the system....

I also realized that the suffering of the homeless was a result of still believing in the culture, and being dumped out the bottom into the refuse pile, as a reward for not being a successful player in the money game... And that if the people who were forced out had realized what was coming, they could have easily prepared, and would have more than a shopping cart to live out of, and would have gone somewhere with a milder climate, and a few pretty bayous to fish, and so eliminated their need for the system that used them up and shit them out , thank you.........

So what do you think will happen with the pension funds? Well I projected the current problems 15 years ago, to friends, who thought I was crazy...... and I jerked out what I had, and used it and some other really minor assets to effect a move into a better reality...

I realized that having a place to grow food, and having spring water to drink will always be worth more than any paper promises from liars who think they are superior to me because daddy sent them to a preppy school, or because they got a higher job position through sucking up, backstabbing, or being good slaves.........

Its all sick is what it is, and its been sick a long time and getting much much sicker...
No? consider the TAOIST saying now at least 2600 years old:

“When one is sick of the sickness, one is not sick.....”

In other words the culture of your time and place has no patent on being a sick dog of a reality, its most likely “the human condition”........

But it doesn't have to be that way for you, and you can free yourselves very very simply.... and theres a style of personal liberation for everyone....

And the big secret is in knowing when enough is enough..... When you've put up with enough, when you have enough, and when you get far enough away from it...........



A YEAR'S FOOD (Above foto is home-grown rice, this is about 200 lbs.)

You worry about food? Have you ever considered food enough, to realize how little you actually need? I've learned through experience that a pound of dry food, such as wheat, corn, beans, etc. cooked up into maybe twice that by weight, is enough to live a day and also not be overly hungry..... and I've survived long term on less........ I once lived about 3 months on boiled green bananas, and also lived for at least a year on a diet of white rice, a quart cooked up..... per day..... it wasn't any fun, but its what I could do to survive and make it to a better day.... now think about this, these foods in their simple forms, i.e. Dry, and not canned beans etc. are very cheap, especially in bulk....
Corn? 50 pounds for 10 to 20 dollars at most....... and corn can be 50% of one's survival diet.... beans? 60 cents or so per pound..... now think about that pound of dry food per day reality.... you are looking at less than a dollar a day to live, buying your food.....
In fact, I have lived long term before on less than 25 cents per day, and so think about this, that for $500 you can get a years food, that weighs 500 pounds........ you could haul that in a Mexican burro cart..... or a small boat, or anything else.....

So how much do you really need? And as long as the money keeps working you can buy that food anywhere on the planet.......

So take a look at your resources, in light of what I am saying.... what most people have in their retirement account would allow them to live several hundred years......

And if you dont do something now, that ability goes away when the thieves screw you on your retirement...... much better to pull it now while you can.....

And personally after living years in another country and culture, I think mobility is a good Idea.... one tires of people's shit, especially pocket empires like these banana republics, who spend all their time trying to figure out how to milk you to death...... 'just like the big governments......
An example is Costa Rica, recently eliminated it's retirement residency.... why? Because they decided they wanted to milk the retirees for a $200,000 minimum investment, to get residency..... follow the money.... see all the problems? And with the level of catastrophes now happening I dont think I want a permanent anchorage anywhere...........

Much wiser to turn that $200 grand into a means of transport not requiring fossil fuels, and becoming really free.... FREEDOM IS BASED ON MOBILITY, AND NOT ON A DOCUMENT.

Some folks might question my logic, in light of health insurance etc., what I decided, was that the best health insurance is to have a healthy life style...... that health insurance you can buy on paper, only guarantees that a doctor will make a lot of money in a failed attempt at keeping you alive, after you've trashed your health paying for the insurance...

You've been conned into thinking its a necessity....... nor did they happen to mention that doctor's errors are the number one cause of death in the US, and exceed all other causes put together.... Its likely safer to walk across an L.A. Freeway at rush hour blindfolded, than it is to check into a hospital..........

The way I see it: we all die, and its how you live thats important, and how you die is affected most by how you lived.........

The truth is; that some homeless bum living on the beach somewhere has a better life in real terms than you do..... your success is all in your head..... so is your failure....
and my message is that you dont have to fear having less, it is the best route to a long and low stress life......

In this universe, its balance that counts most..... where is your balance point?

Another factor I have observed that prevents people from freeing themselves, is “What will people think?!?!” especially your family etc., well after observing how people in some families actually treat each other over time, I can state most of us would be better off alone.... If you have a good family, appreciate them....
And its not hard to come up with some excuse for your decisions, why not decide out of the rat race and make other people envious? Its worked for me, and caused some of my friends to really start thinking and changing their lives too..... And the reason I am writing these news letters, is in hope of maybe saving a few decent humans, ones awake enough to at least want out, because the worst, the greedy types will go down with the ship....

What I have, is the key to the chains of the rowers on the benches..... unlock yourself, pass it on, slip over the side after dark......swim to the tropical island shimmering on blue seas........

ON MAKING THINGS
In more primitive cultures people generally had a lot more spare time than today's humans.... Agriculture, hunting, fishing, etc., are all seasonal in nature, and they filled in the spaces making things......... Arts and crafts produced everything imaginable, and nobody worried about their job going south.... there was a lot of generalization, and I imagine that everybody made something, and most made many things.........
In todays world, few make anything, and many produce absolutely nothing... and art has become a specialization..... all of these are risky trends.....

In survival and subsistence situations, you have to be able to make and repair things....
its often the only way to better your self, or your life.....

The best way to learn, is by doing it, and if you are not a person with a hobby of making something, anything, I suggest you begin somewhere, take up a hobby that uses your hands and eyes and creativity.............

I started into making things young, toys for me and my little friends, out of scraps of wood or what ever was available, and so I developed my imagination and creativity early...
I look at most modern plastic toys in almost horror, as they require no imagination, teach almost nothing, and dont last long, until in the city land fill they go....
As an adolescent I was distracted by television, but luckily had parents with an attitude, the prevalent one of the day, that kids had no rights, and if they had any desires conflicting with their parents whims, too bad....
And it was in the era that most homes only had one TV, so you can guess what happened when it came to choosing programs to watch.... I got fed up with this and just began not sitting there watching what they wanted to watch every night..... This led to me doing many things, and the first real hobby I took up was fly-tying, as I loved to fish... I still have my first fly, a rather crude thing, but after I made it, I went out and caught a small trout in the little river alongside our farm... I was electrified, and soon bought a fly-tying vise, hackle pliers, etc, and began turning out some nice flys.....
From there in my life I branched out, took up leather fabrication, welding and blacksmithing, woodworking, carpentry, mechanics, sewing, working with electric, etc. and my point is, that if you unplug your TV, you may just find yourself wanting to try actually doing something.....

And it doesn't matter what you want to try, as curiosity and desire only need a starting point, and one learns, and soon comes to enjoy their hobbies, and in due time you find yourself disliking televisions, and the obnoxious noises they make....... You also discover that making things and repairing things leads to having a lot of really nice stuff, often original and arty items that other people admire..... and that you can't buy anywhere at any price.....

Plus the skills often have “survival value” like my fly tying and fishing, I know I can go anywhere on the planet that has lakes, ponds, rivers, or creeks, and I can catch fish with little things I make.... And all my life I've seen other fishermen buying expensive flys and lures, and whipping the water with first one and then another, trying to catch fish with plastic pieces of shit they pay good money for.... I know I can take a small fish hook, and a hunk of line, and a piece of thread, and come up with something that will work better than any boughten lure.....

So my point is that if you want to survive, it entails more than buying a few camping items, and thinking the United Nations will show up to save you.........
Take a look at those refugees on the tube, thats going to be you eventually, if you dont get a better trip going..... When money becomes meaningless, its what you know how to do, that will save your bacon..... There will be no shortage of data entry types, with lean looking hungry faces, having withdrawal symptoms from being unable to watch sitcoms 24/7...

If I ever found myself accidentally in a refugee camp, or a city for that matter, I'd start walking immediately...... 'get away from the disease potential, and the being ripped off potential, and go where I thought there might be some nature to nurture me.........

And even if I had to start with a rock, I'd soon be making things.... No? Flint knapping is one of my hobbies, I can literally take stones and turn them into tools, weapons, ornaments, and even broken glass works just fine, its like obsidian, which is natural glass...
And the best glass I've found for knapping is from the Cathode ray tube out of TV's and computer monitors.....

After the crash, its one's skills that set your value in any group.... and unfortunately all that you learned in the university, and on the job, will be effectively worthless........

Like the story of the Jews living in holes in the forests, they had one man who had been a farmer, and what he knew saved thousand of people who had been merchant types...... will you be as lucky? Will your knowledge and skill-sets gain you entry to a decent group of refugees, and if so, will you be more than a laborer in the group's eyes? Bullshit ain't going to fly, few will get to be leaders, no one will be given data entry jobs, no lawyers will be needed, no English teachers, no gas station attendants, no waitresses..... no taxi drivers, just humans looking for food and water, or growing food, and carrying water to the plants with buckets, everyday all day long, when it isn't their turn to be guarding against the raiders........





THE MASS DELUSION.......

I hear that the future and its negative sounding probabilities is a very unpopular topic socially these days..... a few hundred million Ostriches with their heads firmly embedded in the sand, and their ass-ends getting a nice sunburn, soon to de-cork their heads when the power goes off, and the food quits arriving in plastic bags......

If you are awake, and are with people who frown when the topic of survivalism comes up, do you think its wise to wait for them to wake up, before you can take action?

A wife, or a husband, or business partners, all in denial? Family? There is only one real way to analyze and cure this...... is it worth your life to stay and play with such morons?

Even the Governments are warning people to prepare.... and if your peer group types are ignoring the warnings, they are very likely to be genetically edited soon.... and you along with them if you dont get out in time....

You had better come up with a viable plan, and boot it hard........ The Nay-sayers will be those you see along the road sides, with vacant looks in their eyes, lost, trying to figure out how it all really happened so suddenly, and how they could have lost everything between one second and the next..... People with out a clue as to how to adapt or even to survive, or even where to get safe water..... Millions will not know how to live without toilet paper, or flush toilets.... Which will lead to disease killing them, first the children and the older people, and the rest one by one..... In every war or disaster, more people die from microbes than from bullets, or starvation, or wounds, or thirst..... Many die from mental shock because they cant mentally re-adapt to the new reality, and no one has time to help them.....

Most die of disease while waiting for someone else to make things better for them.....



ON SURVIVAL WALKING.......

Few stand up, assess the reality with sharp eves, and begin to act and move out of the area... Walking, simple walking, is one of the most important survival skills.....
and example is; the atomic bombings in Japan, after the blast some people started walking away to get out of the area, they survived, others walked into the cities to see what had happened.... they died of radiation poisoning....

When I read about this, I took up long distance walking as a survival hobby...
I can now walk 15 or 20 kilometers in a half a day, no problem..... After this, I bought a farm up on a mountain side, to keep myself in shape through my daily movements around the farm, and now I can hike 2 kilometers and climb of 200 meters in altitude gain, in the same amount of time as doing the distance in the flats, about 15 minutes... I do break a sweat, this is the tropics, but I dont huff or puff or have to stop and rest...........Climbing 200 meters is like doing 500 steps of stairs in a city building, or about 50 floors..... in 15 minutes.... and I am over 50 years old...... I suspect I would rate fairly healthy compared to most city people.... Few do 50 floors several times a week.... and I can easily do a lot more than that, I've often done 1000 meters from my farm, up to the high ridges of the Costena, about 5km distant, hiked around some in the jungle, and come back the same day...... barefooted........
thats like doing 250 floors........... And I consider that fairly normal... What can you do in the way of survival walking? The average city person would have a hard time doing ten blocks in the flats...... thats about a kilometer...... thats when they would start to hurt.....
Any slope at all, and they would sweat profusely, and be panting for breath..... So what will they be able to do when carrying the refugee's load? 75 pounds? uh..... they aren't going to get too far the first day, and the second day they will be too sore to move.......
And 75 lbs is probably what their TV weighs........... I dont think they are going to get away with much of their excess materialism.......


ON HUNGER.

Most folks in the first world know hunger as something that happens as lunchtime approaches.... along about 11:00 a.m., they start feeling hungry, and start munching early if possible.... few know hunger as a friend, and few know hunger as a normal day to day condition... it has become so far removed that its used in movies etc., as high drama...
The hungry survivor who finally gets some food, and tears things apart trying to eat faster etc., Hunger really isn't like this.... Some who know better are those who fast for whatever reason, be it for health, religious reasons, or anorexia......

Millions of people are obese, even in third world countries.... children are becoming diabetics..... over eating directly affects longevity.... over eating affects one's economics just as alcohol or tobacco.... food costs money for those who dont grow their own...

Hunger can be used as a tool..... if you explore hunger a bit deeper than the 11:00 a.m. Version, you will discover that in some ways it can actually feel good to hunger....
This is part of the trap anorexics fall into, hunger's more alluring positive sides.... when one stuffs their face, they feel stuffed..... feeling stuffed occasionally isn't a bad thing, nor is it bad to sometimes feel hungry.... personally, I like the light and empty feeling better than the bloated feeling. I also like to eat regularly, but dont want to be fat.....

What we are searching for is balance, and what we get, is addicted to overeating by our cultural roots that come from when this was much less possible......
Unfortunately, the obesity fad wont last long.... not long enough for the food supply to be balanced through social justice....

In the future, the chances of food supplies not being massively disrupted, are zero.
And so one will learn about hunger..... I would like to allay fear of hunger for those who have never experienced it..... when one has to live hungry for an extended time, one learns that its just another normal condition, and that one can set the fear aside, and go with it, accept it, and survive just fine at a new lower level of functioning....

The average over fed human can likely go perhaps a month with out eating, and likely have it do them some good..... thats extreme, but so are the health problems associated with over eating....

My point is that its highly unlikely for you to die if you go hungry for a day, a week, or even a month..... so dont panic.... The only places I know of, that I cant find something to eat if I have no money, is in cities......

One could perhaps starve to death in cities..... in the countryside, one can always find something edible to eat, even if it isn't very much, or very appetizing....

And a month is a long time to be able to wander around looking for something edible...

In a survival or even a subsistence situation, hunger would be normal if one was new in the situation, and get less as one discovered more and more things worth eating, or worked to multiply what was available, or exited the area......

Human history on this planet may go back a million years..... the vast majority of this time we spent wandering around stuffing what ever we could find to eat into our mouths, and trying to kill our fellow animals in hopes of eating them.... only within the last few thousand years have we begun to get really good at food production in quantity, mostly by sacrificing quality....... and by trashing the environment.....

before even the domestication of animals and plants and humans, we lived mostly on a diet of grass seeds, much as we do today.... the difference was we harvested seeds from the wild grasses, dried, stored, ground, and cooked them.... Humans often used stone knives for cutting the seed heads, and the silicates in the stems polished the stone knives.... Archaeologists use this polishing to guage the amount of time a blade was used.....

In todays world, not one person in a thousand realizes that they can survive by harvesting the grass seed along the way side.... I suspect in the cities humans will revert to cannibalism while thinking they have no other option, when a day's walk would take them to somewhere food was available on a regular basis..............

Most of the stone knives used for grass seed harvesting were no longer nor sharper than a common paring knife...... here in Central America, people still harvest rice with a common kitchen knife..... I have my worker doing that, even as I write these words..........

So my point is that with just one tool and almost any open area on the planet, you can now survive, if you can make it to the local grass seed harvesting time, generally late summer, and in some regions grass grows and seeds all year long.......


There are plenty of other such easy food sources...... insects, earthworms, barnacles, crabs, clams etc. at the sea shore, and crayfish in rivers and streams, not to mention fish......

Personally I prefer not to eat some of these unless I have to.... I'll try some for bait, to trade up the food chain a ways...........

ON FISHING

Fishing is likely man's first really profitable endevour, and until we totally trash the ecosystem, as we are doing now, it remains the easiest way to get the highest quality food into our mouths..... in a survival situation, if I had to move locations, it would be towards some where I could fish better........

Fishing requires some items generally, from fish traps woven out of willow branches etc., to hook and line, gig or spear, spear gun, fishing arrow and bow, nets, etc........

All work, nets catch the most, hook and line is fairly sure, and a fishing arrow is very effective............

I fly fish, I also have deep sea rigs etc., but for survival purposes a simple hand reel is my favorite tool. I buy them, I make them, even a plastic bottle will work, and locally people carve them out of Balsa wood......

Once, in Indonesia I watched a family arrive on a bayou, and bring out a small seine net, and catch what I saw as minnows, with the whole family excited and happy about it....
I realized that to them, this was a good food hit.......... I like sardines and kippers, so it wasn't hard to relate........ After this I began to really appreciate the value of a net, even though I had been tying up nets for years....... it was obvious to me that with a net I could eat anywhere there were fish..... no matter how small.......

In my survival equipment stash, I have a very nice Polynesian style casting net........ With this I can eat in 30 minutes from when I arrive at the water........ Its a very nice net, of nylon twine and not of mono filament, and so will last several lifetimes with proper care......

Fishing equipment in modern times falls into two categories, that designed to catch fish, and that meant to catch fishermen..... Really all you need is fish hooks, mono filament line, and something for bait....... the rest is vanity or convenience................

Another couple items in the fishing kit, like a knife, and a pair of pliers, and perhaps a stringer, and a sharpening stone for the knife, and one is free to walk a million miles of coastlines, river banks, lake shores etc., happily putting food into the cookware..........

One of the most sure foods on the planet are the common barnacles and clams that grow on rocks, and everything else, between the tide lines.......... like Clam chowder?

My point is there is plenty of food out there, the problem is that the humans have programmed themselves to think it has to come from a supermarket..... and have bunched themselves up into herds in all three dimensions.... I.e. The cities.... three dimensional humanity.... and not a bite to eat that doesn't come from somewhere else............Cities are well evolved concentration camps.........

NOMADIC ITEMS.....

I think it would be very wise considering the times, for the average person to start filtering their thoughts, and focusing on preparing to become mobile..... I have a farm in paradise, I came to this location on the planet because it was one of the safer ones, but I still work towards more mobility.... I have learned that one can constantly improve one's kit, and still keep the mobility option.... theses days if I decide that I need or want something, I start “thinking it down to minimum” and using the SMUDO words to guide me.....

I also think about repair-ability in the field, durability factor, etc., and sometimes I will gnaw on an idea for months or even years until I reach absolute minimum on the design, and have it be as simple as I can get it............ Less mass, less bulk, less complication, less cost, less problems....

Things on my kits lists become a priority over other stuff...... and I go for quality if I can get it.... I'm not some brands/ trade mark conscious yuppie, I study items for their actual qualities, and will do without for a long time to get what I know is high quality....

One criteria I often use is: STARGATE ITEM....... these are my code words to describe the criteria I am looking for, as if I were to be planning to exit this funky reality through a star gate, and not come back, nor have any re-supply......

STARGATE thinking is a great mental tool, and one can compare things mentally, and think how much can I really pack without fossil fuels, what will I really need, what can I afford, and what can I make myself......... One thinks on the other side of the gate, no civilization, no law, open space to travel around in, maybe some interesting critters who'd try to taste-test me..... Hmmmm? Best be prepared to stick up for myself, eh?

The most minimal survival list I know of thats been publicized in popular literature was in Burrough's TARZAN.......... Tarzan went everywhere, did every thing, ate his meat raw, and then kissed beautiful women, without brushing his teeth first.... Why? Well, because the only items that he carried, were as follows: a long hunting knife, a bow and arrows, a spear, and a rope......

I, unlike Burroughs, really live in the jungle, and so I know the list is missing a couple items....
like say a blanket, a stone to sharpen the knife on, a tarp for the rains that allow the jungle's existence, a lens to start fires with, and my toothbrush, so my teeth dont rot out.....

But lets discuss Tarzan's list, as it isn't a bad one.....
long hunting knife? Definitely... every house has one, generally in the kitchen drawer, disguised as a butcher knife, French knife, bread knife, what-ever..... it gets used every day for cooking.... it will also work building fires, barking poles, gutting fish, harvesting food, and defending you from people who think doing entertaining things to you would be fun...... most knives in modern times lack one thing, and thats an owner who knows how to sharpen them..... I go to people's houses, watch them struggle with the simplest knife tasks, risk their fingers, swear, make a botch job of the Thanksgiving roast, worry the Turkey into pieces, and plop the knife when cleaned back into the side of the silverware drawer, where the other metal items insure that the knifes edge gets dulled, even if they did have some way to sharpen it..... I see some people buying gadgets to sharpen knives, stuff off of TV sales offers, and I shake my head and wonder how the culture managed to forget skill number one....... forget the TV offers, check out the Boyscout Field book, or any other competent sharpening instructions, and get a good sharpening stone, learn how to use it, and keep your knives protected from other junk trashing their edge, so you dont look like such a moron to anyone with the least rudiments of common sense..............

In the field, food doesn't show up in plastic bags all processed, cleaned, and wrapped.... and some food items do arrive in bulk, with peels or husks to remove, tops or roots to cut off, big hunks to cut up, and in quantities that require storage long term..... this is why the bigger knife, a lot of these tasks take some doing, and your Swiss Army knife will be found lacking............. In a refugee situation, you are more likely to find or be given food that requires some work to get it into the pot........... Don't scrimp on your most valuable possession....... and if things get nasty, keep it tied to your person with a lanyard rather than loose it, and if possible have a back up or two..... blades occasionally break, knives get used up over time, or you may drop it while running for your life...........

Bow and Arrows: Tarzan used these potent weapons to hunt Cave Bears, Take out Cannibals, kill Lions about to devour his mate, etc., and never had to apply for a gun permit, buy ammo, or clean the bore with solvent..... they also weighed less than most sporting rifles, and if need be, he could make them from scratch.....

The Hardest thing to make in the wild for archery, is the bow string...... natural fibers tend to be somewhat weak..... my best guess on natural fibers is perhaps using gut.....
I much prefer to buy the Dacron, or Spectra, and have a small stash of such............
I've also made bows from scratch, but a boughten one is generally such a good deal, and are so nice, that thats what I use......... Avoid compound bows, they are too complicated, and you need a box of junk to keep them operational.... they are also heavy, and the compound pulleys and cables do nothing but lighten the holding pull for those who have no time to build up their own strength to a minor level, i.e. They are mostly used by weekend escaped slaves, to pretend they are free................ any one really living in the brush would shake their head at the complicated pieces of shit.......

With practice, which happens to be fun, one can hit very consistently at twenty yards, and with more practice out to 40 yards or so..... but if you have nothing else to do, practice out farther, as arrows kill just fine out to 300 yards..... and hitting at long distances depends on skill.....

THE SPEAR.....
Hmmmm? Sounds “ a little out there”.... but lets think about whats coming.... the demise of the technocult civilization..... or as Einstein predicted, “fought with sticks and rocks”......
I think I'd like to fight with something a bit more effective than a rock if possible....
And as combat veterans will tell you, running out of ammo is about the second or third thing that happens in a fire fight.... The Army ignors this reality, and so the warriors of the computer and nuclear age, end up fighting hand to hand with bayonets and entrenching tools......

I think I'd rather have a spear...... maybe the guys with rocks wont figure out I've got reach on them, until its too late...... spears worked for thousands of years, and they, swords, and axes were the weapons of choice in any battle.....

So just go down to your sporting goods store and pick out a nice one off the rack....
hmmmm? There are aluminum javelins..... but they aren't for close fighting, nor any good to finish off a wild cow with....


I once went to a Renaissance Fair, and watched the Anacra-nerds throwing spears at hay bales..... they all took turns throwing these spears made out of garden rake handles....

I thought about the nice Oregon red cedar javelin with aerodynamic shaft and spring steel tip, leaning in the corner at home..... They were having a time, and when one of them would get their rake handle spear to even stick, a cheer went up.... I could have stuck mine every time easily...... and it flew at twice the speed of theirs..... I have made spears my whole life... Indigenous and primitive culture items, and weapons have been a hobby for most of my life.....Once speared my Dad's car by accident..... “'spose he was pissed?” well he didn't manage to stop me from continuing the hobby.... I actually carried the pieces for my latest spear project down the mountain today to weld up the head.... all stainless steel, made from a stainless bolt, and a hunk of 440c stainless knife steel, from a cleaver... i.e. The best steel I could get, and the shaft waits at home, a nice double tapered shaft of six and a half feet, of Cortesa Amarillo, the local niche filler for Lignum Vitae, different jungle, similar wood...
Cortesa is heavier than water, and very strong, you can make bowstaves out of it.... classy spear in progress........ also Cortesa is rot proof, its used as fence posts here..... you probably wont find it in your local lumber yard..... but other types of wood will work, Hickory, Oak, Ash, Fir, and even Cedar for Javelins.......
For the spear tip, the prime consideration is the quality of steel..... regular carbon steel like truck spring will work fine, I like the motor-mount arms off of VW beetles......its spring steel, but flat, no curve to forge out..... I just draw my blade shape out with a scribe, and torch it out, make a socket of ½ or ¾ inch steel pipe tapered with a drift punch while red hot, and weld blade onto socket with an arc welder, and I have also brazed them on with a torch..... after that, some grinding and sharpening and some epoxy glue and a rivet.....

A fairly serious weapon, never runs out of bullets, and our ancestors killed Woolly Mammoths with them, even just before lunch.....


Spears need to be sized to their owner, just as bows and arrows do..... big guy, big spear, little woman, little spear..... but still capable of killing the big guy with, if he is rude.....
So by now you've decided I'm some crazy with a spear, eh? Well to tell the truth, the latest one has been waiting a couple three years for some welding that I didn't want anyone else to do, and We just got a welder, so it came down the hill.... but the point I hope you can take away from this, is I've been gnawing on that one for several years, and about to have a class A spear..... why? Its not to play in the hay with, I expect to maybe have to use it some later in life, unless I am very lucky....and I would rather have one and not need it, than need it etc., and If Tarzan had one, I as a semi-nutcase future warrior type male crazy, just have to have one too.... they make nice gifts, 'made one once, it was size large, and I gave it to a 300 lb biker friend from work..... he kept it in his living room, and if anyone who was visiting got-in too good of a joke on him, he would grab his spear, and do some pretty-good theater with it..... 'looked real convincing with the long hair and beard.... not to mention the semi-Goliath sized body.....





The ROPE......
Tarzan's last item was his rope.... of grass fiber in the books.... I know better, I an old enough to remember when natural fiber rope was more common than Nylon..... I learned my first knots out of the boyscout field book on Manila rope...... One of my ancestors invented the rope making machine, But I just like to go down to the hardware store and buy as much nylon rope as I can.... I also own a couple of top quality climbing ropes, That took me years to finally get up the money for, after a Divorce..... But now I and all the ropes are in Panarica, And she is coming down this year to meet our daughter-in-law”s family.....

The Best book on ropes and knots, is the Clifford Ashley knot book, it has about 4,000 knots...... I use maybe a dozen knots.... and I prefer Nylon rope over all others, but If I could, I would like some Kevlar or Spectra.......

For practical use, rope and cord comes in several sizes..... one needs about ½ inch or more diameter to be able to climb it bare handed, or 3/8's doubled. Climbing rope comes in metric sizing, 3/8ths inch is 9mm, and half is about 10-11plus mm.........

Rope also comes either twisted or braided...... I like both but for different reasons..... I can splice twisted, and braided rope handles better....

With rope, I can pitch my tarp, tie my horse, climb a tree easier, tie up my boat, lash things to my packsaddle, dry my laundry, or rig a hand line for river crossing..... I can use finer sized line to lace packages up, lace up leather projects, tie a deer or pig to a pole for transporting with a friend's help, and even my current kitchen table is laced together... so I can take it apart if I need to move.......

I also taught myself to net-knot as a teen ager, and have since made even my own hammocks, and taught a half a dozen friends how.........

Netting is a simple skill, one needs only the skill, some line, and a net needle and gauge made from wood or plastic, my daughter-in-law's brother made his own net needle out of plastic from a five gallon bucket..........







A word or two about PASSOVER.....

Passover comes from the old testament in the bible, the story about Moses getting the Jews out of Egypt, with a little help from God...... (it wasn't an easy job, and they complained a lot...) Since then the Jewish people have celebrated the occasion with a holiday..... Where they dress up and get ready to become refugees......... most have probably decided it to be a foolish custom, but I think when you are in the business of lending money to both sides in wars, being ready to run is likely a good idea..... I dont have money to lend, and I am not fond of war as a national pass-time, ( George should have stuck with baseball, its easier on the players when he orders them to do something stupid......)

Pass-over is probably a good idea, to every once in a while, get out the heavy clothes boots and pack, and be ready to exit Egypt, Babylon, or Wedded bliss.........

SLED DOGS, and CAMELS.......

I know a little about sled dogs, and almost nothing about Camels..... but what I do know is their owners have something in common, an attitude.... both the Inuit Indians and the Muslims who still own Camels, will both tell you their snowmobile and Mercedes are a better ride, but its a good feeling to know that if the technocult goes down, that they still have the animal transport system to fall back on..... I feel the same about horses, and tend to keep and use one on a regular basis..... And at this point in my life I dont own a motor vehicle...... I use mass transit to go to town, and the horse gets used around the farm, and we consider him a valued friend, just as his father was.....

With buying horses, beware of your own ego.... for the majority of human history, smaller horses and ponies have out numbered bigger horses..... Why? They are more efficient, and better survivors..... and unless you are taking up wearing steel armor, or plowing fields, a smaller horse is easier than a big one.... All I can say about ponies is avoid Shetlands, they have a bad attitude generally..... I have scars..........

My Favorite horses were bred by my ancestors on the German side....... they are easy to recognize, because they have a stripe down their backs, and tend to be Bays, (yellow) or Duns (more grayish)...... I also like the Brindle legged Duns that come down to us from the Tartars..... I once saw a pony, in a National Geographic Magazine in Tibet that looked just like what I had in my pasture..... Small horses do better in harsh conditions.....

Genetics is the most valuable thing in the universe behind inhabitable planets.... genetics can be manipulated, but it takes a test of time to really prove it out..... there are likely plenty of dogs types that wouldn't last a week in a survival situation, and I'm sure there are thoroughbred horses that wouldn't survive the things I've seen my ponies do, and live...

Grade horses tend to be fairly cheap especially at Auctions, if you can get there before the butchers send them to France... I've eaten horse meat, I like it, but I dont buy it, nor kill horses to eat.... 'Building good horse Karma, in case I need it....... To me it would be Like eating Dolphins, or a beer drinking buddy........ I'm fine with peanuts for protein, thank you..

Horse tack in modern times tends to come in two styles, Western, and English...... Western saddles are designed for roping cattle, and are too big and heavy..... English saddles are designed to jump gates and hedges with, and have no place to tie anything.... They also look like the designer came from the Victoria Secrets leather department....

I like a McClellan saddle, as was US Calvary issue... they have no stupid saddle horn to break your ribs or sternum on, they are light and strong, and have places to tie things.....
They are also popular and available in Central America where I live..........

PACKSADDLES............

Packsaddles can be bought from outdoor suppliers, even some very nice packsaddles....
but they are also fairly simple and easy to make for the crafts person.... I suspect that when the crash hits, there will be more horses than saddles, and more western and english saddles than packsaddles available.... and the people will need the packsaddles most......

One personal rule I began years ago, was to try to buy things in pairs..... this habit began after I started using pack horses on a weekly basis......... the biggest problem with packing via the horse, is that unbalanced loads dont go far between problems... so if you buy rafting bags, or build boxes or panniers, or even backpacks, think in pairs, as then its easy to pack up in a balanced fashion.....

Some will surely laugh at this document, But I write because I know time will prove me correct for the most part.... and I know this information is potentially of use to people who will need it, and are aware enough not to be in denial about what is coming....

I really think that the smart money is in getting one's nomadic trip together, and getting the hell out of the empire before the totally insane greed heads commit mass suicide.........
If possible take up camping and horses first, and do it to learn, and adapt your thinking to it.............. if you're a trapped rat, best get un-trapped, and work your way towards the edge of the empire..... Some people still haven't figured out that both conquest and crooked business practices are extremely rude, and that sooner or later, the offended figure it all out, and fix the problem.......... War and Business are the exact same thing.... Two ways to get what ever you want by screwing someone else out of it........... business is a form of stealth warfare......... money is a very potent weapon, but it only works as long as your victims are kept stupid about whats being done to them.....

“HELL IS THE TRUTH REALIZED TOO LATE”

Preparing for the Future 03

ON FOOD STORAGE..

Food storage when living subsistence can be problematic.... There is a natural law, that if there is a supply of food, very soon, something will arrive to eat it......

What this means, is that the plastic bags, and paper cartons food comes in when you buy it, may not protect it from whatever comes to eat it.... home grown food hasn't the absurd packaging, but still has the eaters showing up....

Food storage is a critical issue, and if you are lax, you will suffer disappointment, and maybe have to go hungry some. People who are born and raised into the technocult, have acquired food storage habits, and give little thought to the issue, other than opening cans and jars and cartons, and putting unused portions back in the cupboard or fridge.....

In a subsistence situation, or a nomadic one, there may not be cupboards or refrigerators...
So now what do you do?? also there is a worse chance of problems with moisture, insects, rodents, etc., that people without experience will have a hard time believing until it happens to them..... One realization I made years ago, was that culture is more than we tend to think it is, and that its culture that allows humans to live in harsh environments.
Most people in modern times think culture is the language one speaks, the education one receives, the Architecture thats in style, and how much snobbery and ego one can acquire via economic means......

Culture originally had little to do with anything similar to what we have going now...
Yes there was language, but it was for communicating while co-operating, be it hunting, fishing, or gathering in the harvest.....
The Education one got came from one's parents, grandparents, and friends and neighbors...
and this culture was the school of how to survive in the local ambient.
Architecture was whatever it took to do the job in the local climate, and if the group was nomadic, so was the house....
Social status was dependent on one's value to the group.... grandparents were generally esteemed.... they'd seen a lot, learned much, and been who had nursed the newer generations through good times and bad......

People had value...... and their connections socially were very important..... survival and comfort depended on these social networks and systems.....

Modern life is a false parody of these customs..... similar, except money has allowed much ego to creep into the mix..... And people who rate value by money will soon learn different.

Food storage used to be something that was done well, and each generation passed the whatever really works systems on to the next. But now we have a generation of humans with little experience at anything practical, and who haven't a clue about the difficulties storing food when the refrigerator no longer functions, or when they cant go to the store for more of whatever it is they want at the moment....

One sees food storage systems in the countryside that have been traditional for generations, Silos for corn, drying towers for hops, barns full of hay, barrels and bins for grain on small farms, and grain elevators for the co-ops.....

Its an inter-networking food storage culture.....

And if the fossil fuel supply goes down for any reason, much of it will become instantly useless, other than to attract raiders...... No one will be able to fill a silo with corn by using muscle power, unless there are a crowd of workers ready to co-operate and bust butt to make it happen......

And I dont think people who have never co-operated in anything more serious than a meeting at the office, will get much corn in the silo.....

I also dont think people will co-operate naturally, until a while after the crash, humans will need time to realize that work is “the” survival skill, and that group co-operation gets the most results.... at first it will be a continuation of the billions of separate ego trips, i.e. The effect causing the collapse, and then after much suffering, people will slowly begin to realize the value of each other..... basically everyone is acting like an infinite number of two year old kids, add some technology, and economy to the mix, and its a fair description of what passes for reality....

So its probably a good idea to be prepared for the time when few are helping each other, and the real piggy types are helping themselves to what wasn't theirs......

Food storage for one person, or a small family is easier than building a silo or a cellar,
but it still requires “things”, mostly containers, but also sacks, and bags....
the old Boyscout field book calls a backpack a “bag of bags”, because one tends to bag food, clothing, etc., in small bags, and carry them in the big bag.....

Bags are great for carrying things, but bugs and rodents have no problem chewing holes in them to get at the food.... also some bags don't protect against moisture, and some bags dont last very long under the conditions back in the weeds......

The best universal container for survival use made to date, is the U.S. Military ammo-can,
especially the larger sizes.... rats and bugs? Sorry guys, no free lunch today....
moisture? Not if you take care to keep the moisture outside of the gasketed lid...
for salt water marine climate use they dont last long, and in the tropics, their life is limited by rust making holes in them, usually on the bottom where the paint gets worn off... they need undercoated, or some way to protect the bottoms....

At sea and in the tropics, one tends to use plastic for storage containers, the keep bugs, rodents and moisture out, and are cheap, readily available, etc., I dislike plastic as food containers, but its what I can get for now.... On land, one can use stainless, without the pitting common at sea.... Few realize that during extended times at sea, you must use sea water for cleaning, and it will eat holes in the best stainless, unless you at least rinse with fresh water... Better to go with cheap porcelain coated steel cookware for the boat on crossings, and use the stainless in port, or when you have plenty of fresh water.....

Lately I've been coming across some nice stainless round cans, at kitchen stores, like canisters for wheat flour, sugar, etc. these are my number one choice for food storage containers, but are still fairly spendy for me on my third world budget.... they can generally be taped or gasketed, and the lids should go down over the sides a ways, for rain etc.
They stop roaches, rats, and moisture.... I even use them for matches, which are problematic in the tropics due to the high humidity.......

I'm in process on building some simple wooden boxes for storage also... this was the traditional woodsman's answer to rats a century ago..... and also traditional for sailors.....
In the western states, its still fairly common for habitual campers to have a “kitchen box” stored up in the attic with the tent.... I've made many boxes, and moved many times, and the biggest problem is that one tends to make the boxes too big to move comfortably......
so my latest box project is for several smaller boxes....

Another Nomadic realization I've had is concerning food drying, Here in Panarica, done on a tarp in the yard.... corn, beans, cacao, all seen in people's front yards, drying in the sun like the California raisins in mobile home parks.... I use the tarps too, but also am buying some fairly cheap Chinese and Indian stainless trays, as I've discovered that a big pizza pan holds a lot of corn etc., and they can be moved in out of the afternoon rains easier than stuff on a tarp..... and they are fairly nomadic, and stack nice for storage, but always seem to be all in use doing something......

For the lone backpack refugee, storage is a problem, and if you make it out in time, and begin growing food, my best advice is take the storage problem very very seriously, or you may have to look under rocks for food until you can harvest again.... Rodents, Insects etc., will arrive, and what food you have, they will soon ruin.... its a personal survival issue, and a constant war for thousands of years..... And I have learned this all the hard way.....

Drying seems to be the best way to store food for a nomadic situation, grocery store cans and jars are too heavy, and you dont want to carry all that water around, nicer to get it on site, and add it later..... food drying is a fun hobby, from Jerky, to dried fruit, its all good, and all worth doing. There are many food drying systems on the market..... most seem to require a power outlet..... I decided it was wiser to relocate a few thousand miles farther south to where the sun comes out...... 'best place to dry anything is on the roof if you have one....
I've built drying racks, solar dryers, you name it, but a good roof still works best....

For our noble refugee type, he can use his truck tarp to dry foods...... and if he or she was wise enough to evolve an Organic/Nomadic lifestyle ahead of time, they may have things a bit better.... Perhaps a Gypsy trailer with a roof and a wood stove......


GYPSYS.......

And by Gypsy trailer, I dont mean a Camper.... Campers fall apart very fast, the roofs leak, the frame rots out, and the mice and rats come to live in the walls....
Much better to build something smaller, simpler, and better built. And if possible pulled by horses.... When I was a kid I lived in Europe, and saw the Roma People in various countries, and was always enchanted by the idea of a mobile life... at the time they had already mostly switched to pulling their wagons with Pick-up trucks, and the wagons had evolved into something on a trailer axle instead of wagon wheels, but they still were built with the rounded roofs, door in the back with steps, and windows on the sides etc., And I saw them as something that added to the ambient.... For someone wishing a re-birth of this type of life, I advise getting away from the motor vehicle first, unless you wish to end up living next to a closed gas station after the collapse.... And horses have their limits, and what the Gypsys in Europe had for wagons would have taken a minimum of two horses to pull on the flats, and at least four in any hills, and thats a lot of horses to have to feed. I've thought for years on it, and often think of designs for a micro-wagon, built more as a cart for a single horse, and still have a bed, a stove, countertop, windows, doors, and a driving seat under the roof.

I noticed in the seventies, observing the Hippy movement, that house trucks were very popular, also buses, converted into living devices, These had problems, foremost being requiring licenses, insurance, fuel, and a job to pay for all that. The inability of the counter culture to let go of motors is part of what led to its demise.... If they had gone to horse power, or camel power like Mad Max, they may have been able to permanently separate themselves from the system...... The other problem is the Women had kids, and then women insisted that little Johny go in for proper Mental Programming in town at the public brainwash station for kids, i.e. School... They might have as well fed their kids into a sausage machine.....

Now little Johny has kids, wouldn't know an organic turnip from a chemical beet, and thinks the 60's and 70's was about tie-dyed t-shirts.....

If you like to read fiction, and the horse cart/ wagon idea strikes you, Read Andre Norton's “Moon of three rings”, an enchanting account of a nomadic culture.....Another is her “Starman's son” Probably “the” future survival classic.............

The difference between now and the 70's, is that its too late baby..... too late for Bio-diesel, or Alcohol fuels, or Fuel cell cars etc., and we are getting hit with proof on the nightly news..... One who is the least bit intelligent is starting to look for the exit sign, and sniffing smoke in The Great Theater Of the Mind, that we consider reality.... Do you really believe it will take 50 years for things to get really bad??? I think 5 years will see a doubling of the problems, and the serious stuff 10 to 15 years out at most.... Its 'gonna get YOU!

Most have the Hippy-head problem; 'cant let go of their motor............. No doubt plenty of survivalist types planning to haul the camper out of town, and homestead some turn-out on a back road..... That should really please the people already living near there, eh? Especially when millions of them do it.... not to mention the even less prepared showing up, and filling in where-ever possible.... Post collapse should see the highway system become a virtual strip city.....Or a strip war zone.....

I think I'd rather be able to pull out my pliers, cut the fence, fill the ditch, and pull my horse cart out into the open space, where one can take off in most any direction at any time and so get away from the insanity along the roads..... Roads are funny things, your friends can come to visit on them... so can other people..... say the type who dont bother to prepare because they are used to getting what ever they want with a gun.......... Campers, trucks, cars, dont make it far off the improved roads, even four wheel drives.... But a small horse cart could...... And hopefully the raider types will run out of fuel for their quads, or else they have plenty of fat victims along the roads systems..... And Just never go off in search of the few that made it across the ditch and through the wire to freedom, the ones who prepared, evolved a new culture, and became free.......




If we make it past the next few years, and We get enough stuff up in space, perhaps the collapse can be turned into a recession, kind of like the government talking heads do with economic depressions that don't affect the people making over six digits on their pay checks....

GOVERNMENTS are OBSOLETE....
I think that Government itself is obsolete now due to Internet, If you think about the American form of government, it was designed for the reality in horse powered transport days, and pre-telephone era....

Everybody didn't have time to go legislate, so they elected representatives, who rode to the capital, and did what farmers do there.... Nobody seems to have noticed, that we have instant communications now, and that more people believe what NGO's say, than that believe what say the talking heads on boob-tube that have the government jobs.... I'd much rather Amnesty International was working for my release, than the local embassy.....

My point is, we dont need government anymore, the public is watch-dogging the corporations via the web, and we vote with our purchases...... we could also have better luck with our democracy, if voting was not with the black boxes, but with websites open to all...... When there was fraud, the people would be able to find it......... the Era of the Internet Referendum is already here, why should we all pay half of our earnings, for some sick liars, with jowls that would grace blue ribbon swine, to go represent us? (read; stab us in the back and take the money and run.)

The corporations also cant like paying the government for controlling them, as taxes, and also be expected to shell out millions for re-election campaigns, to keep the drones off their backs.... So I envision Public/Private partnerships that exclude the existence of government, i.e. The public part be really public, and not filtered though the hog trough of politics.....”Liberation Fascism?” The people and the companies? Instead of the government and the companies? Think about it, the companies need consumers, the companies need workers, the consumers need food and other goods, and they need jobs to pay for it..... its all the same people..... Where does either side really need government? A lot more paycheck, a lot more profit...... and with modern trends of worker buy-in's into companies, its already starting, and if it lasts long enough, will naturally evolve into people who make up different areas of production, doing real free trade..... I hear a lot on radio about free trade this and free trade that.... Bullshit! I'll believe in free trade's existence when I can grow a load of spuds, put them in my boat, and sail them to the next country and sell them without having any one so much as notice me.... do you 'spose free trade means no bureaucracy? Or no patrol boats, or no fees, or no import or export licenses? No! what Free trade really means is; “we'll let you take our worthless fiat currency for your dwindling resources, and convince you were doing you a favor.”


These days the average worker is being forced to pay taxes that make the Romans look very kind......
So I see the potential for a deal, whereby group B, and group C, eliminate group A, and split the proceeds......
Besides, world government isn't going to save us, its just the same thieves united.... the solution is not more concentration of power, its to decentralize everyone and everything, so that use of fosil fuels aren't required to convert resources into dinners.... And also so any disaster doesn't have a concentration of victims... The only reason anyone lives in the city is the money game....

Neither group has much use for group A................Government is the original protection racket, as stated by Bucky Fuller, and other than sticking guns in peoples faces and extorting money, What real good do they do? They Obviously aren't helping the people in this country, nor controlling the borders, Instead they have our collective nose in the mid-east, where its getting burnt off..... I suggest that we respectfully let the Muslims fix their own problems, and that we adopt a trade policy that mirrors responsibility, I.E. Countries with human rights, workers rights, and pollution issues dont get to import, no matter what they have, or who they know.... Ditto for corporations.......

How to make it happen? Vote with you wallet, the companies will do anything for money, even build Gypsy carts, if they are hot sellers, its government that is the problem, its only product is waste...... Why do 60% of all American workers spend their days in cubicals in front of computers doing forms? It ain't because thats necessary for production of anything... The way to eliminate government, is to quit feeding it, you know; dont feed the bears, and they have to work too..... And I'm not saying become a tax resistor, which is mostly a ticket to the federal prison system, I'm saying work your way clear, to a life that doesn't require money... Jesus said it in the parable of Caesar's coin, his concept had two sides just like the coin, that if you use Caesar's coin you will end up paying taxes, but the other side of the balance was that if you dont use the system, you dont pay taxes either...
And he went on with the parable of the birds and animals not holding down jobs..... amazing that he suggested the same things I'm suggesting, and even after 2000 years, everyone is still supporting the Roman army thats brutalizing and enslaving them..... Money is such addictive stuff..... and most people are so lazy, that few slaves of any color ever try to escape into self-sufficiency............

Like King Solomon stated, “The lazy will surely pay tribute” Tribute is a pre-politically correct word for taxes, the conquered pay tribute, whether conquered by an army, or conquered by a TV they themselves bought on credit...... Well, soon the lazy wont eat, and a little while after that, they wont have houses, or water to drink, Nor fuel for their campers, Nor jobs to hate for 40 hours a week.... its just a matter of time now, and the only question, is how many will survive, and who will survive?

Increase your odds, now................. by working towards a more natural life, and by putting your investment money into opening the door to the universe.... the Space Elevators......
i.e. Use your income to change things on both ends..... in your own life, and for your children's children....... Humanity, is going to seed into space, or maybe go extinct, and its the mobile self-sufficient type who will go...... people who know how to grow food, how to fix and make things, and how to live in balance with an environment.....

THE ONLY THING WORTH BUYING, IS YOUR FREEDOM.

Preparing for the future, part 02

WATER IN THE WILD.


Out side of the cities and towns, few people pay for water. With out clean water you will die.... the most used source of water in the countryside in developed countries comes from drilled wells........ And governments in their quest for the absolute limits of human ability, to take their shit and pay for it, are now beginning to put meters on privately drilled and owned wells in the united states...

If you were to have to become a refugee and walk out of the city, where would you get water? For dogs, any mud puddle will do, but for humans, its a bit wiser to search out a cleaner supply......

Most lakes are cleaner than a mud puddle, but I avoid drinking from them, lakes can have human and animal sewage running in to them....

Rivers? Better than lakes, but I'd walk a little farther......
Streams? Yea! But keep looking, keep walking up-stream......

OK! here we are, where the stream begins, below the hills, or back in them.....
Hmmmm....... its not in a pasture full of mad cow shit..... Not the drainage of a swamp, its in the woods, and the water seems to be coming out of the ground, meaning that its been filtered through the soil.... The earth is the original water filter, its not too portable, but most places with rain water, have springs, and you can generally drink safely from them, safer than most city water supplies.... no chlorine, no fluoride, no human sewage from leaking pipe systems laid in the same ditches, just pure drinking water... (be careful of springs in deserts, they can have toxic levels of minerals, arsenic, selenium, etc.) Also its a good idea to realize that you can not make pure water cleaner by adding something to it, like chlorine for instance... If you are in doubt, its a good idea to boil the water, (when the U.S. Dug the panama canal it was noticed that Chinese workers got sick less..... they were drinking tea....... and so boiling the water.....)

Usually natural springs are filled with leaves, mud, sticks, etc., and one likes to clean them out with a small shovel, and maybe wall them a bit with rocks, and dig out the hole deep enough to dip out of and not get minerals in the macaroni.....

If I were going to go live back in the hills, I'd want a few feet of plastic hose......
so that I could divert my little spring, and slightly down hill, have a place to fill my bucket without the mud problem.....

The average person needs a minimum of one gallon of water per day..... this will be only for drinking and cooking, no washing, And in a survival situation you can get by on 3 quarts, even in the tropics, and I'm talking from personal experience. I and my dog once lived a week on 5 gallons of water, and it was all we had, unless you count the 200 miles of sea water between us and the nearest fresh water....

The military used to publish the idea that you could get by on a quart per day.... Bullshit!, not long term, not anyplace hot, and not if you have to work or walk.......I suspect that was what the officers figured the enlisted deserved, so that they could have more for themselves....
Water is becoming a stylish topic, but the real problem is that everyone is bunched up in cities.... plenty of water out in the mountains, just takes the courage to hoof it out there.... Which few are willing to do, because they are sitting on their pile of excess materialism, and enjoying comforts they dont really need.... And eating amounts of food that are killing them.... And working hours as long as any slave, to pay for it all....

For water containers, I like stainless steel, plastics have chemicals in them that are similar to some human hormones, and that cause cancer, especially in women.

I have a one quart stainless G.I. Issue canteen, I consider it a nice water bottle, i.e. Good for a two hour hike..... I also have some nice water cans from India, stainless, gallon sized, that I got in a kitchen supply store.... they have wide 4 and ½ inch mouths, and so I can clean them, inside, unlike plastic water jugs..... I've lived long term using one can per day for drinking and cooking..... and that is a fairly valuable thing to know....

Happiness is a creek to camp by, because if we can, we use a lot of water..... running water is the prerequisite to sanitation and cleanliness...... and bad sanitation of any kind is a health risk. Whether its living in filthy cities, or wearing for too long, those dirty socks, the end result of bad hygiene is some kind of microbe eating on you....

In the camping reality, pots and pans tend to get very blackened, on the outside.... this can be cleaned off by covering them with a paste of ashes and water, and then scrubbing them in an hour or so........... I've found that its best to just let the outside stay black, no food touches the tars etc., and I concentrate on making sure the inside is cleaned well....
I also made up a black canvas bag for one camp cook kit, as black doesn't show the tars that rub off the pots........

And if you think you'll have access to more detergent in the brush, or after a disaster, you will be disappointed....
On bathing, soap is really great stuff, and shampoo is even better, but both are just wetting agents, and de-greasers. Survival bathing, i.e. When soap etc., is gone, is a real problem, especially washing your hair, and the only way to really get clean without soap, is to spend a lot of time in the water.... in the tropics, lemon juice makes a decent soap.
And yes I know soap can be made, but it takes oil or grease of some sort, both of which require some serious work to come by in a survival or subsistence life style..... And I wonder if in the future what there will be for enough stability anywhere? To do the homesteader/back to the lander routine, as in the FOXFIRE books, would require some serious amount of preparation and work, not to mention the stability issue...

I also wonder about the potential of excess food as a form of mobility limiter, nobody is going to get off of a fat stash of food unless they are forced to...........which might cause your demise for other reasons....

But there are a lot of things you can stockpile, or that have been traditionally kept by,
From candles, to condiments.... The usual stuff in the kitchen drawers that I grew up around were candles and flashlight batteries.... These were country people, and knew that the electricity goes out sometimes....
I like to stock fishing gear, and some basic sewing stuff.... few people have thought on the difficulties trying to cobble up a replacement for the common sewing needle..... Few think about matches either... or fish hooks, or mono filament line...... None of which weigh much or take up much space.....or cost much now.....

MORE ON FOOD
The thing you use the most of, is food.... If you analyze your total expenditures, food is often on the list fairly high cost wise... In situations where you can grow food, one should do so....

But it takes a very large garden to produce enough food for a family, and even one person
needs a lot of space.

I did discover years ago that growing bulk foods, like wheat, corn etc. was very efficient time wise.. Wheat can make up as much as 80% of a persons diet, and a man can grow a year's supply by hand with a month of physical labor... Which caused me to wonder why so many people worked 12 months a year..... in a subsistence lifestyle a person tends to work at food growing almost all the time, but few 40 hour weeks....

Here in the tropics, food is almost a joke, I have stuff planted that takes the place of trips to the store, or even to a refrigerator... Here you just go harvest whatever is available, and bulk stuff that you have in the ground all the time... many crops produce all year, and others have a long season, and some things, two crops per year.... its hard to get worried unless I think about being forced out.... Which is why I moved here, the ability for food security.... I feel thankful I've had 10 years to plant food trees, as its trees that produce the most food for the least work or worry........

I've long thought about future humans after the collapse, and I think the survivors will have to re-plant everything, using surviving genetics, Like some kind of Johny Appleseed tribes....

Too bad we didn't head that direction to begin with..... Personally I dont think much of the technocult as a life...... Perhaps its OK for people who aren't attracted to something more natural......... I find camping full time to be more pleasant than cleaning the bathroom, kitchen etc., on my days off from working paying for them.... Money is great bait, but one gets tired of chasing for it.... There is another way to be successful you know, its by learning how not to need very much of the stuff.... Needs are accessible from both ends of the pipe..... you can buy them, and pay taxes on them and a profit for producers, transporters, middlemen, etc., And also lose to inflation, which is in effect a stupidity tax, because every one thinks inflation just happens, and that the money evaporates or something....
In truth it a secret tax, and transfers wealth the usual direction, but at a faster clip....

Or you can produce for your own needs, and avoid taxes, and others siphoning you....
But gee, nobody ever seems to think that being a generalist pays as well as a specialist,
but it does.......'Pays better....in real terms...

Also in nature specialization invariably leads to extinction.... I think its the same for cultures, and I know man got where he has, by being a very good generalist.....
What that means, is a survivor type is a generalist by nature......

The main thing to realize, is that you need very little to be comfortable..... and what you are used to, is obscene levels of materialism, and you have been programmed to think you need it all... Capitalism is the art of creating a need and then filling it....
I advocate getting low, and reaping the dividends in free time, better health, more actual security, no stress etc., I think many people will discover themselves happier camping than living in an apartment.... Makes one wonder what people did before cities?

I used to worry about food in my survival/subsistence reality, and I had good reasons to do so, but the worrying didn't do any actual good, and eventually I learned that I always
seemed to get some food and survive..... and I let go of the worrying, and just kept working towards having more and more planted.... Now food is hardly an issue.....

Entertainment gets to be a problem, as you have a lot of free time.... I'm working on learning musical instrument number three, and I make things like pack saddles, food processing tools from wood, and soon to start working in metal again.... I also listen to short wave radio a lot.... for the survival kit I think a musical instrument is important, Something small and portable if possible, like a flute, harmonica or tambor or small drum...
Most people, when they get away from their sound system go into culture shock from lack of enough head beating rhythm.... When the collapse comes this will affect many.....

THE BEST TIME TO LEAVE.
Is as soon as possible..... waiting until the catastrophe runs over you, isn't a good idea....
Undoubtedly during the New Orleans disaster, there were many people living out in the brush who didn't have any problems.... A cabin up on posts back in the swamp, a garden on a high spot, and a lot of history fishing etc., And enough sense to tie the boat up good for the storm... 'Candles and batteries in the kitchen drawer?
My point is that disaster affects most, people who are least connected to a more natural life..... Thousands died, of the results of just rain.... and perhaps within the same parish some hardly changed their normal routines, and had boats, to go take turkeys off of roof tops....
Our choices affect our future... And if you chase money long enough, it will kill you.....
People used to joke; “get a job.” Now they joke; “get a life.” In the future they will joke; “ Get a REAL life.”
I have learned that my direction towards preparing for the future has resulted in some really nice changes in my life, and the projects I do and the things I buy all go together better, as minimalism becomes a filter for not buying or doing some things, and so I get sidetracked less by things I dont need... my materialism is starting to actually make some sense, instead of just being random purchases from whatever I encounter... its brought order to the chaos...... and the nomadic/mobility culture that is growing in my life is resulting in a style, or a motif' that is harmonious and beautiful...And I use the nomadic/retro progression thing to filter all my decisions..... It often surprises me.... things begin to work well together and match each other, and I am designing items and getting a definite unique style, neo-nomadic, neo-indigenous, whatever it is, its nice, and very original for something that is made from all the materials and techniques that I have learned over the years, focused by the criteria.... its “arty”......


I suggest you get a real life before the rush of the herd..... people are problems, more people are more problems, and less people are less problems....and when the rush is on, things will become very difficult in comparison to in the now....

And starting now, even if its just buying a vacation cabin, or just going camping and exploring areas as potential survival camps, is doing something.... another issue is post collapse transportation.... that car isn't likely to get you far, unless you leave early....

ON Boats....
After long thought, my transportation of choice is a boat..... and if I lived inland, I'd take up sea-kayaking.... as a sea kayak is the only means of transport that is going to function well if the bridges are collapsed, or the highways plugged with dead cars.... A short portage into the nearest drainage, and then up or down the river or up or down the coast, etc......
And a sea kayak can carry a fair amount of survival gear... definitely enough....
The main thing to keep in mind with sea-kayaks, is that few are strong enough, salesmen push light-weight onto mindless yuppies..... Boats dont need to be that light, and rough water in a crisis is no place to learn the limits of some super piece of shit plastic boat... As always think durability factor, and get the heavier stronger boat... One realization I've had, is that a sea kayak, some fishing gear, and a reverse osmosis filter for desalinizing sea water, and a person is free and likely to survive , and be mobile, almost anywhere..... Minimalism is so incredibly powerful......

Another boat option is the sailing yacht..... but whats generally on the market are very problematic... fiber-glass boats have about a 30 year life until the resin plasticizer starts to degrade and the hull needs to nestle into a land fill.... yacht styles also tend to be very impractical, The best hull is aluminum, or steel that has been well maintained, the plastic ones are trash, and most often have spade keels, which is so you have to rent moorage or a slip... If you try beaching one, tide goes out, it flops over, and when tide comes in, it floods the boat, and sinks it in place.
If you want to escape the technocult onto a boat, get some kind of workboat hull with a full length keel, so you can beach it for what ever reason..... Build living space below, but avoid all the junk put into yachts, sinks, toilets, too many berths, showers, etc., they all cause problems, and its nicer just to do the dishes in a bucket out in the cockpit, and its nicer to not have a smelly toilet down inside a tiny living space that has poor ventilation generally.... And toilets, sinks, are what statistically sink most yachts.... Yacht interiors are designed to please women's tastes, for the 15 minutes preceding the sale... And after the sale, the wife may go out a time or two, but soon the boat evolves into the guy's dog house, where he can go to get away from her.... So if you're male and in the market for a boat, forget the love-nest interior, better to think boy things, like fishing, workshop, cargo, etc., which all just happen to be what you'll really need in a survival situation.....

On sails, its strength that counts, If you buy used sails, have them restitched.....Or you will be sorry.... Personally I'd just buy storm sails off of a bigger boat... lightweight racing sails dont last long in blue water cruising conditions...
Boats would be my choice if I didn't already own a farm in paradise....And I have over a thousand hours as a blue water solo sailor....and I am in process on designing and building another boat......
A lot of people live on their boats, and hold down jobs, or do crafts etc., and get by, they also haul small cargoes.... It keeps a roof over your head, and the ability to leave any time you choose, and by a route not likely to be plugged.... And they are cheaper to maintain yourself, than a house, and dont pay the taxes that a house has to.... I highly recommend them for divorced males..... Absolutely nothing makes a guy feel better, than seeing his ex-wife's entire culture disappear over the horizon astern ......


MORE On HORSES......
Horses are man's second best friend..... and its a good idea to remember to treat them well, especially considering they are incredibly strong and powerful, and not all that smart when it comes to figuring out why you seem to be so upset sometimes.... its like being buddies with Mohamed Ali, if there is a problem, 'gotta stay calm......... 'doesn't matter who's fault it is.......

Horses come in various sizes, from Ponies to Clydesdale's.... they eat in proportion to their size.... and a smaller one needs about 40 pounds of “salad bar” per day to stay healthy....
Larger horses are generally used in flat lands, and smaller ones in the hills and mountains.
Two smaller horses can usually haul more than one bigger one.... But it would take a string of 50 pack horses to haul what most people think is necessary to live comfortably in the outback... So if you are thinking to use horses to provide a life style in the sticks, I suggest you alter your expectations about what you need to survive, until you can get it on one or maybe two horses....otherwise you will spend the rest of your life like ghost riders in the sky, except you'll be looking endlessly for more pasture...... Horses evidently come originally from fairly dry climates, they can go several days between watering if necessary and still survive. And they also seem to require a diet high in minerals, as one would expect in areas not rain leached.... if you plan on having horses in a wetter climate, best keep a mineral block available, or your horse will get sick and be effectively starving, on what looks to be plenty of food.... But wetter climates along coastlines allow you the option of letting the horses occasionally drink sea water, which they will gladly do.... I think it wise to have fresh water readily available afterwards, but horses love sea water on an occasional basis...
One problem with owning a horse, is then you think you have to ride it.... which eliminates
its ability to haul much besides your fat arse.... so if you wish to ride, and have a bunch of survival or subsistence stuff, you'll need a second horse for packing...
Or you can just walk, like the proverbial miner and his burro, and get there without the haughty noble attitude, and only have to deal with one horse.....
Survival ism is learning to live without things you really dont need.... And the only way to learn what you do and dont need, is to practice it.....
On horses, pay careful attention to caring for their feet, clean hooves that are trimmed regularly, are happy hooves, and a lame horse isn't going to carry anything very far.....
I dont recommend shoeing horses, unless they are to be used continually on rock or pavement... most horse owners pay for shoeing, and leave the horse in the pasture.... its like this expensive bad habit they never analyze...... trim often, go with the plastic boots on hard terrains........
Another potential with horses, is to have a cart..... good idea, and in the flats, its easier on the horse than carrying everything on his back..... but in the mountains, carts are marginal, and wagons are worse. But a travois or packsaddle still functions OK...... as long as theres a trail.... Here in Central America we use the mountain ponies even up in the jungle and rugged mountains.... its called: “Trepando en las raises” (“climbing in the roots” ) due to the large buttress roots in the tropical forests... A good horse, can pack gear through areas you cant get a wheelbarrow through.... by being able to step over the roots....

Personally I feel that the Technocult is totally bankrupt, both morally, and actually.... A man works and works, and most of the money goes into what it takes to show up at work.... This isn't a life, its a slave's existence sugar coated by having the gate in the barbed wire left open, for any one with the guts to walk out it.... and so few have the guts.....

It is still possible to leave.... and a couple of horses and all the gear, would cost less than 90 days rent.... a lot of gear you can make yourself, even packsaddles..... One would still need a food supply, and I think a few goats would be my choice..... goats eat and thrive on brush, and it can be desert or tropics, as long as there is green to chew.... Goat milk is horrid stuff, but goat cheese is really good..... Milk goats will also feed your dog, and Angoras will give you something to make blankets out of..... As far as I know goats are the animal of choice for survival purposes.... They can even be used for pack animals.....
For meat, the males need to be banded when young, or you can eat excess nannies too...
goat skin is much like deer hide, and will make nice buckskins..... and with the hair left on create clothing thats warm and colorful.... Many survivalist wannabees think they can survive by hunting deer..... but there are more people living in Portland Oregon than there are deer in the entire state.... i.e. They wont last long if the cities go down.... I think I'd rather have a couple ponies for packing, and wander around B.L.M. Land with a couple dozen goats, than try to depend on hunting..... (Or trying to hold down a town job..... ) I'd have a few sheep too maybe, I'm partial to sheepskin coats in cold climates..... another possibility is Dexter cattle... a downsized unit now available in the U.S........... efficiency generally comes in smaller packages.... What amazes me is how many cowboy types there are, and how few men take up herding as a way to subsist.... Its like after the invention of pick-up trucks and canned beer, subsistence herding somehow became impossible..... My advice is to sell the 4x4, roll the money over into horses and livestock, bid on BLM pasture, get a good wall tent, and spend your time doing something men actually like to do, and if some woman wants to come along, she's likely a keeper, and if not, consider yourself lucky to have a life out where there aren't any women to side track a guy, into slavery.... Besides, living outdoors will soon get rid of the beer belly, and you wont need the big belt buckle for a retaining wall....... you can use it to fry flap-jacks on instead....

My point is that there are still plenty of options open, if one begins to think subsistence, instead of paycheck...... A horse or a bow and arrows still work as good as they ever did..... but we are so programmed to think our options are only what passes as normalcy.... Better to break moulds, climb out of ruts, and impress your friends with how creative you are, and as the system crashes, they'll figure out that you're not so wild and crazy, just ahead of the curve, and when theres no food in the supermarket, a hunk of mutton or beef over the coals will seem a feast worth having........