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If you’re like our family, it’s hard to find something that’s engaging to watch, something that doesn’t have antithetical themes to our family’s values. We’re not huge on a lot of the messaging today’s shows have in them, and sometimes the commercials are wildly inappropriate for our family. (We’ve had lingerie ads pop up while our girls were watching cartoons on YouTube on a kids account!) We have some awesome friends and they recommended a show called Alone from History Channel, and we love it so far! We’re only on Season 1, so no spoilers okay! They’re on Season 10 now!
Alone is an all out, off-grid survival show. It documents ten survival experts living off the land on Victoria Island in Canada. They have extremely limited supplies and must survive as long as possible. The prize: $500,000, winner take all. There is a list of items they are allowed to take, and they may choose ten items from several specialized lists.
We find it absolutely fascinating! A lot of the contestants consider things we don’t, and on the flip side, we think of some consequences they may not have thought of in the situation. Distance can provide insight. Not being in miserable conditions or chased by wild animals lends clarity to thought!
So, as we collectively begin to unwrap these puzzles, my girls and I are looking at our upcoming camping trips for this year. We’re shooting for a total of six. We’ve decided to work our way up to Alone levels of camping in the woods.
The puzzles the survivors have to solve are everyday life puzzles. Where do you get water? How do you forage for food? How do I make shelter? What does food look like when it doesn’t come from a store? Can you get full? What do we avoid? All of these questions get answered as we work through them as a family.
We’re going to start with a combination of all the items on the list. Maybe we won’t take the dried goods items, or perhaps it’s something else. Either way we’ll be working our way down to 10+3 and all our basic issue items. We may only get a weekend or better of the Alone experience, but we’ll have a lot more respect for what those contestants go through.
We’ll record our experiences and do an AAR (After Action Review) for y’all here!
We’re going to go make our list and schedule our sites.
In the meantime, what are some items YOU might consider bringing with you into an off-grid survival situation?
(This blog post started as a general post then it worked straight into a lady centric post. I’m a girl Dad so my head constantly goes to protecting my wife and daughters. This is for them, and you. I will do a more dude-centric approach, but ladies, this ones for you.)
My first handgun was a Smith and Wesson 659, just like Resevior Dogs. A friend of mine needed some money so I bought it from him. It was heavy. For a 9mm it weighed a lot! It didn’t carry very well and I didn’t shoot it much. There also wasn’t a lot of aftermarket support for it. Holsters were hard to find, and magazines were expensive. To this day, I’m glad I could help a friend out, and that pistol taught me a lot about selecting a handgun. That wasn’t the only lesson I learned in selecting a handgun.
There are so many people recognizing that self defense is a right that needs some training to exorcise correctly.
I’d like to guide you through the thought process and the plan to buy your first handgun. It takes a little homework, but it’s worth it in the end.
Understanding your situation is key. Like a 72 Hour Bag your plan is the most important thing when it comes to purchasing a handgun, or any other tool. I will guide you to one out come, and I’m going to tell you that now. On body everyday carry is the goal. Perhaps not today, I didn’t start there, but that will be the goal. We’ll get there.
Selection, this is where everyone really struggles. They get “wrapped around the axel” we like to say. The great news is that today, you can barely make a bad choice. They are out there, but they are few and far between. Lets talk about your plan first. When you plan to need this tool is critical to your selection.
Lets talk to single Moms and you ladies who are out on your own adventure, maybe college, because there are a lot of people that overlook you. “My campus is a gun free zone, so I can’t carry.” That is in correct. You choose not to. If your campus is like most campuses they don’t run you through metal detectors before, during or after class, and they don’t search your bags when you to and from campus. The ONLY way they will know is one of two ways:
I care not at all about campus rules or anything remotely close to their preference for firearms. Because so many rapes happen on campus their records are null and void. Yeah, they could kick you out, but you’re a woman who was in fear for her life because the security guards could only shout and call 911, whose response time was 20 minutes. That’s shamefull at the least and neglegent at best. Ladies you have a choice. Your safety is more important than arbitrary rules set in place by people who care nothing about you. Carry on you always.
That said, your plan is likely to “just have it in your purse” or “leave it on the night stand, just in case.” Those are quotes for a reason. I’ve been told both at classes, or for doing this samething in person for friends and family. If you’re 25 miles away from your night stand, how does that tool do you any good in the parking lot, at night, afterwork with your clothes half torn off? How many times have you left your purse somewhere, or had it stollen?
Those solutions won’t work, but they will be baby steps to getting you into full time on the body carry. There are a lot of options for that now, and don’t think this is just for the slim ladies either, my thicc girls get the benefit too. With the holster made by PHLSTR called the Enigma, you’ll have options for days. It’s a super slim, very light weight setup that can do anything. Watch the product videos and reviews on YouTube I think you’ll be sold.
That still doesn’t address the huge problem: What gun do I choose?
Simply put, the right one. The unfortunate thing about firearms pruchases is: You can’t usually try it before you buy it. Some shops have an in door range and are great at having a wide selection of handguns for you to try. Anything and everything is there, you just have to ask. Just in case you don’t know anyone with these and your local shop doesn’t have them on the wall, I’m going to make some broad sweeping generalities here.
Those are our focuses. All of the weapons below will have a variation of these. They are listed in order of highest rated to lowest in ONLY these 4 categories. Reliability is baked into the cake. It has to go bang every time or it is worthless. For a lot of reasons we are not looking at revolvers, capacity and modularity being two of them.
It is rapidly getting to the point that you need to carry everywhere all the time. I you live near people, or interact with people on a regular basis, you need to carry a handgun. Scroll through Instagram, TikTok any given number of places have hours of footage of people who could be alive if they were strong enough to to take their own security into their hands. You’re that kind of person, or you wouldn’t still be reading.
What this looks like for you is something that you can handle comfortably in all the functions needed. This means you can pull the slide back, load a magazine, drop the slide, use the reddot effectively, and clear a malfunction. Those are the basics of control prior to firing. Fire control means you can keep the gun in your hand for single hand use, and control follow up shots.
This is a video from a young lady who shoots for a living, even though she’s not legally old enough to work yet. I’ve been keeping track of Autumn’s Armory since the start of her channel when they were living in the trailer. Her parents have done an immense job with her. So, for confirmation that you, a grown woman, can do these things. I refer you to 10 year old Autumn.
Control is within your reach and it is built into many of the weapons you have to choose from. My first pick for the “all arounder” catergory is:
The P365 from Sig Sauer is the first pick because of a primary factor: Modularity. This gun is the most modular handgun I have ever seen. It will grow with you and change with you. Nearly every piece can be replaced with a Sig Factory part, or a custom aftermarket part. This includes the grip frame.
The reddot simplifys aiming. It condenses it down to as simple as: Put the dot on the target, and squeeze the trigger. You don’t have to align sights, dot goes on the target, you squeeze the trigger. It’s slightly more complicated than that, but not by much. A few reps with it and you’ll be set.
The ports reduce felt recoil and muzzle flip, this allows you to stay on target and stop the threat even more effectively than you would other wise be able to.
There is a reason I chose the Rose. The Rose is a project that was dual developed by Lena Miculek and Sig Sauer. This is the person you can rely on for all of your training and go to advice for shooting and safety. Her father is a legend, and Lena learned well from her Dad and her Mom.
But, we live in 2024, and there is nearly a tax or a bill for brushing your teeth! I can’t shell out that much for a handgun! I hear you! Here are your alternatives that I recommend.
This is the “budget” option that is built to do all the things. Lets clarify this right out of the gate. The reason this pistol is so inexpensive is because Palmetto State Armory (PSA) is now HUGE, they are immense, and they’re entire driving mission is to arm every American with their products.
They have EXCEPTIONAL quality control. I have manufactured for them, and we have very stringent quality standards. Even some of our stuff comes back! They have outstanding QC! Rest easy when you buy one from them. And look for package deals! You can get a smoking hot deal on pistol, optic, and light for the same as a pistol costs normally. Make no mistake these handguns are essentially Glocks. They have all the same internals, and all the same safety features as generation 1-3 Glocks do. They just look and feel better.
Those are my two starter recommendations for your first handgun. We have one high end, and one mid-tier.
Before we go any further, if you think it looks ugly that’s very fixable. Literally every single piece of any of these guns can be changed. So ladies, if you always wanted to have the Barbie Malibu dream house, you can do that with guns! Deck it out, top to bottom, all the colors!
Something that I’ve noticed that gets over looked is safe storage. One of the largest keys to safe storage is education. Specifically for kids in your home. Everyone does it differently. We all have our own style. My kids learned and understood very easily because they had been shooting with me before. They’re also older.
As shaming as it is, I’m going to put it in here anyway. I almost didn’t. When I first started carrying daily, after work, I would leave my Glock 19 on the night stand with out one in the chamber. I’d get ready and come to dinner. One night my youngest daughter, she was maybe 2, was late to the table, just as I was getting up to go get her, she came down the hall with it in her hand. She knew it was important to Daddy, so she wanted to make sure I had it. I never did that again. So you don’t make that same mistake. Have a secure place to put it.
Ms. Lena’s got ya’ll ladies covered. Comes with a safe night stand storage container.
With a quick search PSA has a smiliar bedside safe. Which ever option you choose invest in something to store it in.
Choosing what ammo to use can be daunting. There’s only about a million different kinds out there. I’ll break right through that malaise and show you exactly what to use in which circumstance.
We’re going to classify things in two ways:
Range Ammo fits the need of keeping your skills sharp at the lowest price point. For this I highly recommend CCI Blazer Aluminum Case Ammo in 147gr. FMJ.
Here’s why:
CCI Aluminum case ammo is amazingly consistnat. To manufacture it with aluminum cases it hase to be struck twice. That means it goes through a sort of full body alignment, twice. These are excellent range ammo for an even better reason. They kick less. The heavier the bullet, the lower the felt recoil. So, keep with the 147 grain bullets and you’ll have a great time at the range!
Self Defense Ammunition is what we carry everyday. It’s specifically designed to inflict maximum damage and stop the threat immediately. No one does that better than G9 Defense. These bullets are designed for exactly that, and have been tested to do their job consistantly. We don’t mix ammunition types, especially not in the same magazine. Different types, different jobs.
These drill looking bullets are exactly what you’re going to need to ensure the threat stops immediately. You’ll notice it says 80gr, and not 147. For these it doesn’t matter. They’re in the classifacation of specialized rounds. In the circumstance that you’d use these it’s unlikely you’ll notice the recoil at all. I highly recommend shooting an entire box, just to get an understanding of what they do feel like. Or as a friend of mine does, at the end of the year, shoot all your self defense ammo and buy new. I think this is the best method, even if I don’t follow it.
Thank you for reading, I know it’s kind of a lot, so we’re going to break it into parts. It took me more than my standard time to get this to you. I shifted gears mid-post because my Girl Dad part of my brain took over.
Part 2 coming very soon! Thank you!
There are so many variables. As prepared citizens, Preppers, or just rational human beings. We have so much information coming at us constantly. What on earth are we going to actually do? How do we filter this information into digestible and actionable content? Information we can do something about?
In the US, the economy teeters on the brink. The political scene is religious for some people. And we can’t figure out which bathroom to use — I would vote for unisex bathrooms everywhere just out of convenience. With this static what’s going on near you?
Mike Shelby at Forward Observer does an amazing job at breaking it all down. I’ve taken his course and still go back to freshen up my knowledge. The book he wrote on the subject is really sharp too, it highlights most of what I’ll recommend here. Just know, he is the source for a lot of this, and he was also the first person I came across in this space.
Another excellent source that I think is amazing is S2 Underground. Having been a part of this community for only a few years now, there is a lively international team that gathers first hand information and posts it in the Telegram group. Some really great people there and I enjoy our conversations.
Here’s one of the biggest revelations for me when it came to gathering my own Intel: Area Studies, and Local.
Area Studies are essential to capturing all your hard work and laying it out in some kind of coherent fashion. It’s just too much information. Which is cool, because we have access to it all and we can collate it too! Even for my ADHD brain it gets overwhelming.
So we need to narrow the scope of what we’re collecting. The funnel we use is 10/30/60. This is blocked out at percentages of your attention.
10% Should be on National and International.
30% On Regional.
60% On Local.
How regional is regional, and how local is local? That was my question too. Regional is all the States touching yours, and local is everywhere you can drive on a tank of gas. That’s how I broke it down for myself.
Here’s something to watch out for: National and International information likely outweighs your Regional and Local information. Don’t get bogged down!
One of my goals is to automate the Intelligence cycle to support my on going efforts at establishing a group of well prepared people. That way the information is brought to me by a legion of cat girl bots.
It’s cool to collect all this information and gather Intelligence. But, what do you do with it? I’m still trying to figure that out. Part of it makes me feel fancy. Like I’m a secret agent and all my Telegram channels are personal security briefings.
Part of it is getting information, often boots on the ground, and checking it against other information brokers or propagandists. At this point, if you’re watching any network news I am really not sure why you’re doing it? Loony Tunes has more fact based reporting.
But why I really do this is to make decisions. Granted, the time it takes to compile this information into usable decision making is… Immense, and I’m not positive, it’s worked just yet. But I think it has potential to.
Once I have this thing in a cohesive package. I’ll lay it all out for you, infographics and PDF’s oh my!
Today I presented a 72 Hour Bag class to a group at a Church Men’s breakfast. We had an excellent time! I know I enjoyed myself! I’m just getting back into presenting to large crowds and I’m working out a formula for doing so. I had some concepts for what I was going to teach and… Well, it kinda fell a part. I had a hard time staying to my notes, and having a cohesive presentation.
I rallied and got it done, but it wasn’t by any means my best presentation. The message did get sent and received though, and that’s a win! I’ll share that message with you!
There is an idea that you need a 100 liter ruck, a plate carrier, and a battle rifle to survive a bug out scenario. None of that is true at the present moment. What you need more than anything is a plan.
Knowing what you’re going to do in an emergency is the most critical part. It can be as simple as some bullet points in a Zip-lock bag, with a map home. Mine is.
Complex things fall apart when things get weird. The more intricate your plan the more problems get built into it. So keep it very simple, and easy to understand. A crude example that my Machinist mentor taught me:
“Set up the machine so that if you came into work hungover, high, and with two broken thumbs you’d still be able to run it.”
George G.
So keep your plan so simple that no matter what you’ll be able to execute it. I talked them through some scenarios. A few of the guys work 40+ miles from home, so their trek would be daunting if they had to make it on foot. Their plan is different than mine living only a short drive from work. Roughly 10 miles. I can make that in a couple hours with the roads closed if I have to.
They have to plan strategically, they have to look for ways around terrain features and obstacles. While still packing for several eventualities.
People are the highest level threat. We are the apex predator on this planet. We have subdued it, it is ours. Having in mind that this is your potential adversary is key. The veil of society is very thin and it can be torn away very quickly. We’ve seen it in the recent past when things went sideways very quickly.
We discussed a few things that came up in that conversation. I could tell this was not what they were expecting. I had brought in a CFP90 complete with assault pack attached. The CFP 90 was one of the premier rucks in the US Army in 1990. It’s one of the first packs with PALS loops on the exterior. It’s also 90 liters of woodland camo glory! It’s a monster. You can easily over load this into the 120 pound (55 kilo) range.
They were expecting a class on how to pack a ruck, or the “Top 10 things to have in an emergency!” or “You’re going to die cold and alone in the woods if you don’t have whats in this pack!” What they got was completely different.
I’ve done extensive research and gone on many ruck marches and hikes. I was deployed in war zones for a grand total of 36 months. I’ve had a ruck that weighed in at 110.5 pounds and I’ve marched it 12 miles. And yeah, that .5 pounds matters. It’s like when you’re 9 and you add that half to it. Makes it just a little bit more real. It’s a nightmare, but it can be done. Or could by younger me. I didn’t want them to go through the same pain I did by not packing the right stuff or taking the wrong size pack.
Everyone’s problem with this subject is: Knowing exactly what to do. What do I take for sure? How do I know for certain what I need to take? Maybe that’s your struggle too. Maybe you’re a stay at home Mom, or you were never military. What you need more than anything is a plan.
Back to the Men’s Breakfast…
I had packed my EDC (Every Day Carry) bag inside the huge ruck and proceeded to pull it out. Inside that bag is a quart zip-lock freezer bag full of what I perceive I would need in an emergency situation, and for everyday problems I have to solve. Remember, my plan is to get straight home. I only live a few miles away. So my plan is simple, jump in the car and drive home!
Can’t be easier than that right? Jump in the car, fire it up and go home like any other day. Okay, we’ll throw a no car scenario in there.
For this scenario, lets say there’s an EMP. I love this one because it’s an ominous event that no one’s really sure how it will occur, and it doesn’t bring a ton of politics into the arena — Red Dawn is not a politically neutral event.
I want the people listening to have something other than a knee jerk reaction to Russians invading the US. I want them to think through the problem of getting home to their families from where ever they’re working. The hours of walking, or days, it may take them to see their wife and kids again.
There has been a coronal mass ejection from the sun. It’s zapped all our electro-gizmos and now we’re going to spend the next 10 years rebuilding the greatest country on Earth. But first I need to get home. Here’s how it looks:
From your location, what does your plan look like? What special tools do you perceive you’ll need. I take lock picks in my bag because they’re so useful. People get locked out of their houses, and can’t get into their sheds. Or I forgot the key to a friends pasture gate and can’t hop the fence. Very useful tools.
In conclusion: These guys brought up a lot of good questions and I did my best to answer them and gave them my contact info afterward. The guys were very gracious in inviting me and I hope to present again soon. The biscuits and gravy were amazing too!
For you dear reader I’d like to give you two info graphics that sum up the presentation, as well as a copy of the slides.
Your plan does not have to be complex or expensive to prepare for. I can almost guarantee you have what you need already. If you’d like a list of some things that I recommend, please subscribe and receive updates on new posts. We’ll be going into the details of what and when things need to be packed in your Get Home Bag.
One step ahead, preparedness help for the beginner and the advanced.
Nous Defions!
EVERY DAY THAT WE'RE NOT AT WAR IS ANOTHER DAY WE GET TO SHARPEN OUR HATCHETS
Defense and Wilderness Survival Training, Equipment, and Consultation
One step ahead, preparedness help for the beginner and the advanced.
One step ahead, preparedness help for the beginner and the advanced.
One step ahead, preparedness help for the beginner and the advanced.
One step ahead, preparedness help for the beginner and the advanced.
One step ahead, preparedness help for the beginner and the advanced.
One step ahead, preparedness help for the beginner and the advanced.
One step ahead, preparedness help for the beginner and the advanced.
"You can't starve us out and you can't make us run 'cause we're them old boys raised on shotguns" -Bocephus
GraveMrWhite 