Monthly Archives: October 2013
American Blackout, a two-hour made-for-TV movie, aired on National Geographic Channel this past Sunday night. It was a dramatization of what could happen in the ten days following a nationwide electrical grid failure caused by a cyber attack. This is a very real threat. Just Google “power grid cyber attack” and look at all the hits you get. Things like this report from Bloomberg.com: Power Grid Cyber Attack Seen Leaving Millions in the Dark for Months
I found the movie to be reasonably realistic. I think it downplayed violence, but it certainly didn’t eliminate it altogether. It followed a number of people through the circumstances the blackout left them in, including a prepper family, some urban apartment dwellers, and a group of college students. Seeing how each of them dealt with the emergency provided a good learning experience. Here are some of my lessons learned from American Blackout:
- Emergencies can happen suddenly. We’ve been seeing an economic catastrophe heading our way for years and have been given lots of time to at least begin to prepare for it. With other disasters, like hurricanes, you only have a couple of days advanced warning. Certainly enough time to bug out if you choose to do so and get to a place of safety. But there are some calamites, such as blackouts and earthquakes or getting laid off from your job, that can hit you with no notice. You can’t always count on having the luxury of forewarning. You can’t start prepping when you’re up to your neck in alligators. Whatever you have prepped when one of these sudden emergencies hits is all that you’re going to have. This movie drove that point home for me. I’m doing OK in some prepping categories, but hugely deficient in other key areas. I need to apply myself to filling in some of those gaps, because something might happen with no warning.
- You don’t want to be in a city when it happens. City dwellers must get very tired of hearing this from their county cousins, but it’s true. It boils down to supply and demand. During a crisis in a city, the scale is going to be tipped way over on the demand side, far beyond the ability to supply. The needs will be overwhelming. Which leads to the next lesson learned…
- Things can get very bad in a very short time. People become desperate quickly. I work as a clerk in a rural hospital. I have to ask people a lot of very personal questions and I have to try to collect any co-payments that are owed at the time of service. I’ve never gotten used to the number of people who are unemployed, or even the number of working people who can’t pay their co-payment tonight because they don’t get paid until Friday. For years I’ve heard that a lot of people are one paycheck away from poverty or homelessness. I see evidence of it all the time at my job. Right now there’s a huge safety net in the form of Medicaid, food stamps, and welfare. All of that comes from our bankrupt government by means of tax paying workers. What happens if it all dries up suddenly? Take a look at these recent news articles:
Food Bank CEO warns of riots over major food stamp cuts
Walmart customers riot when unable to use EBT cards
Like I said, things can get very bad, very quickly. Be prepared.
- The likelihood of collateral accidents rises sharply, with much greater impact. American Blackout showed a lot of traffic accidents due to all the traffic signals being out of service as a result of the power outage. Losing your means of transportation during an emergency takes a lot of options off the table for you and puts you in a position of being more dependent on others at a very bad time. The movie illustrated the heightened danger of house fires because people were lighting their homes with candles. Having your house catch on fire can wipe out all of your preps and make your homeless and penniless in an instant. The movie showed one guy who only had an electric can opener, now completely useless with the power being out. He was trying to puncture the top of a can of food with a butcher knife and (predictably) cut a gash in his hand. It’s bad enough to get in a car wreck or have a house fire when you can count on your insurance company to jump in and make you whole again, but if you take them out of the equation, you’re screwed. Having a significant personal injury can be terrible even when you can get quick medical assistance, but if every hospital is overwhelmed with major trauma cases, you’re on your own. Accidents happen during the best of times. If they happen during the worst of times, even a relatively minor event might have disproportionate consequences. How are you equipped to deal with such things?
- 911 won’t respond to your call for help. In a full-blown emergency, your house fire or medical emergency or home invasion won’t get the kind of attention from the authorities that you normally would. They will already be deluged with addressing public safety issues. It won’t take the bad guys long to figure out that the cops can’t roll for every victim who needs help. You’re going to have to fend for yourself in every way. How well are you prepared to deal with your own medical, fire, and security vulnerabilities?
Did I “enjoy” American Blackout? No. There was nothing enjoyable about it. But I hope I learned something from it.
If you missed it this past Sunday, you still have a couple more opportunities to watch or record it. National Geographic Channel is going to rebroadcast American Blackout this coming Sunday, Nov.3 at 10am, and again on Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 3pm. Take notes. There may be a quiz when you least expect it.
People become preppers for many different reasons. Phil outlined some of them in this blog. Regardless of your reasons for prepping, “scenario thinking” can open your eyes to new situations you need to address, identify holes in your planning, or just help you re-prioritize where you are in your efforts. Here are just a couple of examples. As you read through each of them, pause to put yourself in the situation and consider what your actions would be.
- Early in the day you learn of a major storm being projected to hit your area within the next four hours. Do you bug out or bug in? What should you have in your car to help make your plan work? Is there anything you’d take time to stop at the store for? What do you wish you had purchased yesterday? If any stores are still open, what is the first thing you will try to buy?
- You are out running errands when you learn that a nationwide trucker strike has just been announced and experts anticipate that it could last for months. Realizing that there will be a run on all the stores immediately, what three things do you stop to pick up before you go home? When the strike begins, what will you wish you had done the day before to prepare for it?
- You are going about your normal day when an earthquake occurs in your area. Your home suffers some damage, but is livable. However, clean water and electrical power will not be available for up to a month. Do you have a plan for gathering your children from their schools and meeting your spouse somewhere? What’s the first thing you’d do when you meet up with your spouse? What are the first actions you will take once everyone is home safely?
- In the space of one week the stock market crashes, the country’s financial rating is degraded significantly, most government workers are furloughed, and a huge number of private sector workers are laid off. The experts are predicting a three to five year economic catastrophe throughout the US. How long do you think you will be able to last in that economy? Will your job be secure? How will you pay your family’s bills over the coming five years? What will you wish you had done before the crisis to prepare for it?
These are just four made-up scenarios. You can do a better job of making up scenarios that are consistent with the vulnerabilities of your locale and what you think is happening in the world. What do you anticipate could happen? What should you be doing now to prepare for it?
Preparing and training are important. Extremely important. But we tend to do them in an isolated environment – separating the two activities from real-life situations. For example, I have purchased and trained in using weapons for self-defense. Most of my training, however, has been at the shooting range shooting from a standing position at an unmoving target. That’s not likely to be how it will happen in real life, should I ever have the need to protect myself. To remedy that, I’ve taken some “action shooting” training. That brings me closer to real life, offering the opportunity to shoot while moving and shoot from behind cover. Still, it doesn’t bring it into my own life.
That’s where “scenario thinking” comes in. Scenario thinking prepares you to defend yourself in situations you are likely to face. In this article, I’m dealing with defending yourself at home.
If you have weapons for the purpose of protecting your life and the lives of those you love, invest in training. Not just once, but regularly. To ignore this important step is foolish. At best, it means you’ve simply wasted your money on your weapons. At worst, it puts you in a position of trusting something that you honestly can’t use effectively. After you’ve gotten some practical training, take the next step and imagine yourself using the weapons. Then run through practice drills.
It all starts by running through scenarios in your mind –
- Where are you most likely to be at various times throughout the day if a home invasion happens?
- What is the first thing you’ll do?
- What is the next thing you’ll do?
- What happens after that?
- Where should your self defense equipment (guns or other items) be located? How should they be prepped?
- What escape routes do you have?
- What safe places do you have?
- Where are your telephones for calling 911?
Here is some of my scenario thinking. If a home invasion happens, I will most likely be in one of three places in my house:
- If I’m in the basement working, I will grab the gun I have secured near my desk and make sure the safety is off and a round is chambered. Then I’ll look for cover. I have several options identified and will choose based on the noises I am hearing upstairs. Then I will call 911. After that, my actions will be determined by what happens next. This whole scenario is relatively easy to practice and is the best option for me.
- If I’m in my TV chair on the first floor, I’m in the most vulnerable place, so that’s where I need to be most carefully prepared. I will probably have my laptop on my lap and the intruder will most likely enter through the front door – which puts him between me and a good escape route. It’s hard to practice throwing your laptop on the floor and grabbing a weapon. I need to break the instincts to freeze and to treat my laptop with care. I’ll grab a weapon, and then depending on where the intruder has entered, attempt to run to safety upstairs or downstairs. If that’s not possible, maybe I can get to the sliding glass door in the kitchen. Otherwise, I’ll be forced to protect myself from the living room. I have a phone next to my chair, but I may not be able to call 911 until the bad guy is down. (Yes, if you have a gun for self defense, you must reconcile yourself to being able to take the bad guy down.)
- If I’m upstairs, my actions would be similar to the actions I take in the basement. If not in my bedroom, I would run to that room. Then I would grab a gun and make sure it’s ready to fire. Because our bedroom door doesn’t lock, I have several pieces of relatively lightweight furniture that I can quickly knock over in front of the door. No, they’re not going to stop anyone from entering, but they are going to slow them down and give me more time to prepare. I’m going to call 911. I’m going to address the bad guy using my command voice (from way back in my military days), telling him that I have a gun and I will shoot him. I will tell him I’ve called 911 and he should leave immediately. My actions after that are determined by what happens next, but I’m on the phone with 911 (stay on the line with them – they record all of their calls) and in as safe a place as I can be.
Thinking through these situations has helped me define the actions I will take and the order in which I’ll take them. I’ve evaluated and practiced my options before a break-in occurs so that if one does, I’m not in a place where I have to make decisions on the spot under great stress. I’m simply working through the checklist I have in my head.
The process has helped me realize that my first instincts weren’t my best options. It has also helped me realize areas of vulnerability. As a result, I’ve repositioned some furniture in my bedroom. It’s helped me identify my equipment needs and where the equipment should be placed. For example, if a break-in occurs while I’m in my chair in the living room, I have little room for retreat. One option is to purchase a glass breaker and place it near our sliding glass door in the kitchen. I may be able to get there safely but not have time to unlock and open the door. The glass breaker solves that and it makes noise that may alert a neighbor.
As an aside, if you are trained, let me encourage you to carry your weapon on your body all the time in your home. Does that make you paranoid? No, it makes you capable of defending yourself wherever you happen to be should an intruder intrude –which is pretty much what intruders do). This concept took me by surprise when I first read about it on Kathy Jackson’s excellent website, www.CorneredCat.com. Her blog about carrying at home is outstanding. You can read it here. (By the way, this is an excellent site, especially for women. Spend some time there.)
There are other scenarios around your home to consider. What actions should you take when you hear or see a suspicious person outside your home? Most people are tempted to go check it out. Experts caution against this. Prepare to defend yourself should the person become an intruder, call 911 to have the police check it out, but don’t go “hunting” outside. You don’t know what you’re walking into. Call the police.
One last thing – in case you think I’m going overboard on having weapons of self defense near me when I’m in my own home, check out these FBI statistics from Patriot Crime Defense’s website:
- Every 12 seconds a home is invaded
- There are 6,646 break-ins every day
- There are over 3.5 million burglaries per year
- 13% of homes are burglarized per year
- 19.2% of rental properties are burglarized per year
- 85% of all break-ins are through the door
- 67% of all burglaries involved forcible entry
- 38% of all assaults occur during a home invasion
- 60% of all rapes occur during a home invasion
- 70% of burglaries involve residential properties
The statistics in your area may be better or worse than these, but walk around your neighborhood counting houses. When you get to 100, realize that about 15 of them will be burglarized this year. I consider that hitting too close to home to not be prepared.
The bottom line – “scenario thinking” is as important as other training you’ll receive. Spend some time thinking through how you’ll react should someone enter your home uninvited.
The Organized Prepper recently surveyed 45 prepper and survivalist experts asking this question:
“What are the 3 most important items for a new prepper to get started with?”
Here’s a summary of their findings:
| Water Storage / Water Filtration | 32 |
| Food Supply | 25 |
| Knowledge/Training/Reference Books | 14 |
| Knife | 8 |
| Proper & Secure Shelter | 7 |
| Firearm / Protection | 7 |
| 72 Hours Bag or Bug Out Bag | 6 |
| A Plan | 6 |
| Heat Source / Fire Starter | 6 |
| First Aid Kit | 5 |
| Good Mental Attitude | 6 |
| Financial Plan / Budget / Emergency Fund | 4 |
| Light Source | 3 |
| Medicine (OTC & Prescription) | 3 |
Phil is one of the experts they surveyed. You can read his answers and discussion here.
You can read the entire survey results starting here.
What do you think are three most important things for new preppers to get started with?
Photo credit: www.UltimateReloader.com
As I indicated in my last blog, I’ve decided to join the ranks of the reloaders and start making my own ammo. Since I’m starting from scratch, that means shopping for the equipment that I’ll need to get started. I’ve done a lot of research to learn which of the many options will work best for a beginner like me.
Reloading presses come in three basic configurations — single-stage, turret, and progressive. They vary in purpose, complexity, and price. The place to begin with the purchasing decision is to evaluate your needs, budget, and skill level. There’s a press that’s right for everyone, but what’s best for me might not be best for you. Here’s the rundown on each type:
This single-stage press uses one die and works with one cartridge at a time
Single-stage — A single-stage press, like the RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme
Because they only do one function at a time to only one cartridge, single-stage presses are inherently slow, but they give you the highest degree of control over the reloading process. They have traditionally been the recommended entry point for new reloaders because a single-stage press gives a beginner the opportunity to closely observe and understand what is happening with the ammo manufacturing process every step of the way. Besides beginners, single-stage presses are also a good choice for those who mainly reload rifle ammo, especially hunters. They don’t blow through as many rounds as handgunners do, so they don’t require a high output reloading press. For them, it’s more about quality than quantity of ammo. They have the luxury of taking their time to craft a small number of highly accurate rounds. Single-stage presses are also the best option for those on a low budget, with some models starting at around $100.
This Redding turret press allows you to have seven dies installed at once
Turret — The next type of press is a turret press. It also works with only one round of ammo at a time, but it can have multiple dies installed, which eliminates the need to switch and reconfigure dies after each stage of the reloading process. You can do all of the stages of reloading a cartridge without removing the cartridge until it’s finished. Place the cartridge in the press and pull the handle to perform the function of the first die. To do the next step, rotate the turret to move the second die into position, then pull the handle again. Repeat the process with all of the dies until you have a completed round of ammo. You still have to pull the handle four times for every round, but you don’t have to swap out every round of ammo multiple times, and you don’t have to install and configure each die repeatedly when you move from one stage to the next. Set it and forget it.
Some turret presses accommodate as few as three dies, while others, such as the Redding T-7 shown here
There’s a lot going on with this Dillon progressive press
Progressive — Progressive ammo presses are the real production machines of the reloading world. Instead of working with just one round of ammo at a time, progressive presses work with four or five cartridges simultaneously. Set a case on the shell plate in the press and pull the handle for it to work with the first die. The shell plate is then rotated for you to insert the next case onto it. If the press has the capability to automatically rotate the shell plate from one stage to the next (and most progressives do), it’s called “auto-indexing.” Pulling the handle engages the newly placed case with the first die and the first case that you placed with the second die.
As you continue to pull the handle and add cases, you soon have a cartridge in every position on the shell plate and every pull of the handle performs engages all of the cases with the dies above them, so you’re working with four of five rounds of ammo simultaneously. When a cartridge has made it through all the stages and is complete, it gets dumped out into a storage bin to make room for a new case to be inserted. After the first four or five pulls of the handle to get the shell plate fully loaded, you’re spitting out a completed round with each subsequent pull of the handle.
Completing a round of ammo with each pull of the handle makes a progressive reloading press a real speed demon. Optional attachments are available for most progressive presses that will automate the process of placing a case on the shell plate and placing a bullet on the mouth of the case just before seating it in the brass. Many reloaders say that they can turn out 500 rounds per hour with one of these tricked-out machines. That makes them ideal for high-volume handgun shooters or for anyone who has more money than time. But because they perform every stage of the reloading process to a different cartridge at the same time, they generally aren’t recommended for first-time reloading users. Obviously, a progress press is much more complex mechanically and can require some troubleshooting and tinkering to keep it running properly. If you are “mechanically challenged” a progressive might not be your best option.
So as with most things in life, there’s different strokes for different folks. You may want to jump right to a progressive, but it will cost a lot more than a single-stage or a turret, especially if you get add an automatic case feeder and bullet feeder. Changing calibers on some progressives can be expensive and complicated, too. But if you’ve got the money, need a high-volume manufacturing capacity, have a decent amount of mechanical aptitude, and are a skilled multi-tasker, why not go for it? If that doesn’t describe you, a single-stage or turret press is a better entry point.
In my next blog I’ll reveal which press I’ve decided to start with and why.
The wife and I have been shooting for over a year now and we’ve gone through a lot of rounds of ammunition. While we were first getting the hang of it, we were going to the range at least once a week to practice. It gets expensive, especially if you’re shooting anything other than a .22.
Over the course of that year, not only have we gone through a lot of ammo, we’ve also gone through an ammo shortage. I know that there have been ammo shortages in the past, but this was our first one and it has been a doozy. We’re just starting to see some relief from it in our area. Ammo is starting to line the shelves again, but the price is typically about 25% higher than it was this time last year. What was expensive before is even more expensive now.
The bottom line is that we haven’t been able to afford to shoot as often as we’d like. We almost stopped shooting altogether during the worst time of the ammo shortage because we didn’t know when, or even if, we would be able to replace the rounds that we were using. Now we’re shooting just enough to maintain our skills, but not enough to improve them.
And like I said earlier, this isn’t the first ammo shortage ever. It’s just OUR first ammo shortage. It has happened before and I can guarantee you that it will happen again. The run on guns and ammo over the past couple of years has swept a massive number of new gun owners into the market. That means increased demand for ammo in the future. One more incident like the Connecticut school shooting that triggered this most recent shortage could put us out of commission for a long time. I don’t like that. I don’t like being at the mercy of market forces. I like being the captain of my own ship. I’ve given the problem a lot of thought and it seems to me that the best way around this situation is reloading your own ammo.
Yeah, I know. It wasn’t appealing to me at first either, but the idea is growing on me. I’ve wrestled with my objections to reloading and thought you might benefit from the results of that wrestling.
- It’s dangerous. Gun owners hear a lot of bogus, uninformed safety concerns from non-gun owners. We know that guns are inherently dangerous, but there is a correct and safe way to handle, use, and store them. Surprisingly, there is a large number of gun owners who have the same kinds of uninformed concerns about reloading. “You’ll blow up your house!” As it turns out, that’s not the case. The smokeless gunpowder that is used in handgun and rifle ammunition is flammable, but not explosive. I’ve got a lot of other flammable things in my house right now and I’ve managed to not destroy anything so far. Be diligent and careful with the storage and usage of reloading components and you’ll be OK. “Your gun will explode in your hand!” Not if you following the instructions in your reloading manual and exercise proper quality control during the manufacturing process. Gun owners place blind faith and confidence in the factory ammo they buy off the shelf. Why not have the same (or greater) degree of confidence in ammo that you have made yourself and have carefully inspected through every stage of the manufacturing process? Learn about it before you do it, of course, and then do it with care.
- My insurance company will freak. This was Sandy’s major concern. Is this OK with our homeowner’s insurance or would they deny a claim because of it? (Because yes, she hasn’t completely gotten over the “We’ll blow up the house” concern, although she admits she has no rational reason to feel that way.) We’re with USAA. They’re a company that only insures military, ex-military, and their dependents. USAA is fine with it, up to me having as much as 20 pounds of gunpowder in the house. That’s enough to load 20,000 rounds of 9mm. I’m good with that. But check with your insurer to see what they say. Your mileage may vary.
- It’s expensive to get started. Maybe. You can go high-end, low-end, or something in between. I recommend the middle path for most beginners. But even with that, there’s still a considerable cash outlay to get equipped properly.
- You’ll need a reloading press of some sort and a set of dies for each caliber that you want to reload.
- You’ll also need a scale for weighing powder — one that is accurate to about one-tenth of a grain. (There are 7,000 grains to a pound, so one-tenth of a grain is 0.00001428571 pounds. Needless to say, a postage scale won’t do.)
- You’ll have to have a powder measure that reliably dispenses gunpowder in the desired quantity.
- And calipers (preferably digital) for measuring case lengths and overall cartridge lengths.
- Don’t forget a sturdy workbench to do your reloading on. And storage units that lock to keep your supplies away from children.
All of this before we get to the actual reloading components of brass, primers, powder, and bullets. Some reloading manufacturers offer beginner’s kits that have a press and most of the tools that you’ll need to get started. The kits are attractively priced and they offer one-stop shopping, but most buyers have complained that some of the items bundled in these kits aren’t adequate for their purposes, so they had to buy replacements for them, negating the “good deal” they got on the kit purchase. I haven’t bought my reloading rig yet, but I’ve got all of my desired bits and pieces wish-listed on Amazon, ready to go when I get the cash together. I may go through my list in a subsequent blog, but for now all you need to know is that I’m looking at a bottom line of about $600 to buy all the equipment that I’ll want to get started with reloading. About the same amount of money as a moderately-priced handgun or rifle. You can go considerably cheaper and get in for about $200 or considerably higher and be looking at a couple of thousand dollars.
I agree, it is a bit expensive to get started, but people do it because it’s cheaper than buying new ammo all the time. I primarily shoot 9mm handguns. My standard factory ammo is CCI Blazer Brass. To buy 1,000 rounds of this stuff (if you can find and buy that much right now) is in the neighborhood of $300 – $380. I just priced the components needed to reload 1,000 rounds of 9mm using my own once-fired brass that I’ve collected after my practice sessions. Buying primers, powder, and bullets to reload 1,000 rounds of 9mm would cost me $143. I would save about $200 over buying new factory ammo. All it would take to make up my initial equipment investment is 3,000 rounds of 9mm. It’s even better with some other calibers. I don’t have an AR-15 that shoots .223 or .308, so I’ve never bothered to price the savings from reloading those rifle calibers, but I’ve seen many postings on blogs and forums that say the savings on those are much deeper than for 9mm handgun rounds. So yes, it can be a bit spendy to get started, but if you want to have a stash that will get you through another ammo shortage, this is the cheap way to do it.
- It’s complicated. It can be, but doesn’t have to be. Consider this — a lot of people who aren’t as smart as you have been reloading their own ammo safely and successfully for a very long time. Start with a simple press and work your way up to more sophisticated equipment over time. Your investment in basic equipment won’t be wasted. You’ll either want to hang onto it for any of a multitude of good reasons, or you can sell it for almost what you bought it for. Resale values on reloading equipment are high.
I’ve overcome all of my original objections to reloading and am ready to take the plunge. As with all significant new endeavors, I’ve studied the topic a lot and have formulated some opinions about how to begin, which I’ll share with you in later postings. In the meantime, we’d love to hear from any of you who are currently reloading, considering reloading, or still have objections to reloading. Leave a comment below this blog or on our facebook page.
In Phil’s previous blog, he focused on building a community. We followed our own advice and paid a visit to a local prepper group, one that we found through one of the web links in Phil’s blog. We’ve been trying to make it to one their meetings for about nine months, but something always conflicted. The group isn’t very near our location, so in a disaster they’re not going to be the people in our community. Still, gathering with like-minded folks proved helpful and encouraging in several ways.
It reinforced our own prepping condition (or lack thereof). Among the folks that we hang with, we are the most prepared people we know. Yes, we know that our preps are inadequate and we have a wish-list of items and skills that is longer than your arm. Still, we’re ahead of just about everyone we come in contact with. Not so in this group. We were probably the least prepped people in the room. Being with these people gave us an in-person reminder that we have more to do.
It reinforced the reason we prep. We’re guessing you’re like us in that most of your friends don’t see a need to be prepping. When no one around you sees danger, it’s easy to begin to convince yourself that danger isn’t really present. Being with the people in this group reinforced that the danger is real and that there is value in prepping. We knew that before we went, but we left with a renewed sense of it.
It broadened our thinking. We do a lot of reading about prepping. Phil, especially, spends hours reading, learning, planning, and writing. Still, there’s nothing better than face-to-face conversations with other preppers. What have you done about…? How do you…? What do you think about…? What would you do if…? Wow! We never thought of it like that before. It was an eye-opening experience being with these folks.
It reinforced what we already knew. Especially about the need for community. One of the biggest reasons for community is that you can’t do it all yourself. You can’t even know it all yourself. There’s just too much. You need help. You need someone who is more advanced in some areas than you are to help you along. We met people at this group who were communications experts, security experts, gardening experts, and more. Hopefully we have something that we can contribute to the group, too, because there are things about prepping that we’ve learned along the way. But the bottom line is that we all need each other.
We met people whom we hope will become friends. Yes, they live a bit too far to become close friends, but they’re friendly (albeit cautious) people that we already have much in common with.
Even if you have a few friends that you’re prepping with, there is value in visiting a prepper group in your area (even if that’s outside your comfort zone). The new ideas you come away with are worth it. They won’t make fun of you for being a newbie – they’ll be glad someone else has started down the prepping road. If you’re not a newbie, they’ll be glad to have you share your knowledge. And if you’re somewhere in between, you have the best of both worlds – sharing a little bit of knowledge, but still being considered a newbie that they appreciate. Phil listed a few Web sources for locating prepper groups in his blog, 1 + 1 = Survival. Check it out and try to get to the next meeting! You’ll be glad you did.