PREPARE Magazine - February 2016

Encouraging, Empowering and Enriching Your Journey

Preparing to Barter!

Devotion:

FEBRUARY 2016

NEW Fiction Part 2: PULSE

Dealing with Discouragement

The Zika Virus!

What is it?

NO-Budget & LowBudget Camping

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Table of Contents

06 Have Fun With Silver

05 Letter from the Editor 09 Victory in Personal Protection

19 Tomahawk Introduction

22 Prepping with Bartering in Mind

11 All about the Zika Virus

15 No-Budget & LowBudget Camping

25 PULSE - Part Two: Andrea Continued‌

30 Devotion: Dealing with Discouragement

33 Contributors

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Letter from the Managing Editor Dealing with Discouragement. It is a battle many more may face in the days ahead.

The Feb 2016 Issue marks our 40th Digital Publication of PREPARE Magazine!

We are so thankful for the writers, designers, photographers and of course, you our readers for joining us in this journey. For those who have been with us since the beginning, we hope you are continuing to glean knowledge and be encouraged with what our wonderful team has to share! For those who are new to our PREPARE Magazine Family who want to see what you’ve missed, you can! We have all 40 Digital Issues archived (plus more material) and available for PREPARE Premium Members.

The theme of this current issue is “Preparedness Economy & Personal Protection”. We often split our focus on topics since no one knows any one exact target for being prepared. The broad reach of preparedness is to plan for what life may throw our way from any direction. One area that finances, chaos and the need for protection do affect is our mental and spiritual health. We now see it in preppers and the general population all around us.

That is why in this issue we offer the Devotion:

The tactile struggles of tighter finances, changes in the economy, prepping on a low budget or planning for alternative monetary means are a bit more tangible to address. So in this issue, our authors offer ways to Have Fun with Silver, and No-Budget & Low-Budget Camping ideas to practice your skills. With our monetary system in a precarious place, it also would be prudent to begin Prepping with Bartering in Mind.

Protecting ourselves and our loved ones too requires a varied approach. There is no doubt that there is Victory in Personal Protection. It could be the need to protect ourselves from new illnesses or disease such as learning All about the Zika Virus.

The Tomahawk Introduction can aid by offer protection and skill that go hand in hand with learning to use a new weapon/tool.

We hope you will enjoy the newest installment of PULSE - Part Two: Andrea Continued...

We have been thrilled at the comments shared with us about the new addition to PREPARE of the excerpts of this riveting work of fiction. Read on and let it spark your creative preparedness process!

We desire to improve with each issue, both in Print or Digital, and empower you to continue and not lose heart. We would love to hear from you to know how we have been able to serve and ways we can improve. Feel free to drop us a note at: Support(at)PREPAREMag(dot)com. We would love to hear from you.

Donna L. Miller

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Have Fun with Silver

By James Walton, http://www.IamLibertyShow.com

If you frequent any prepper website it’s likely you are inundated with informa8on about buying gold and silver.

Most ads can be as ostenta8ous as to tell you that “quickly before the dollar is devalued to 0” you must buy gold and silver. Then there is a quiver inside you. Fear begins to chip away at your common sense and you make poor decisions.

If you have a desire to get into buying silver read this ar8cle to find out the benefits that go far beyond an economic collapse.

Early on I bought into this idea. I bought silver at $25 and I have bought silver at $13. There was a 8me when I felt pressured to purchase silver because I thought we wouldn’t be able to afford bread if I didn’t have an alternate means to pay for it. The wheel barrels of money type of thing had a hold of my consciousness.

want to touch, when they are permiLed to. This is a great way to get children excited about coun8ng and math that doesn’t involve flash cards or phone apps.

If you find a quality dealer, they will have the ability to engrave coins as well. This gives you an incredible op8on for crea8ng very important and nostalgic pieces for your collec8on. Just recently Silvertowne, one of my favorite dealers, has created a small case for silver coins that transforms that coin into a Christmas tree ornament.

Awesome.

Of course, beyond all of this warm and fuzzy that goes along with collec8ng, buying, hoarding, storing or stacking silver, there are also the benefits of owning a very real and tangible asset.

PreLy soon, however, something began to happen.

I started to fall in love with these gleaming pieces. These incredible designs and the weight and worth of the metal began to take me over like a spell. Soon it became less about price and more about design. I started seeking out certain pieces with my son and we enjoy going to different loca8ons and buying silver.

Silver pieces that are brought out only on “special occasions” are a great way to inspire your children to begin coun8ng. They are these beau8ful, shiny things that kids 6

We could talk markets, paper silver, and price manipula8on but I am not an expert on any of these so it would be a bumbling conversa8on. I want to talk simple facts because I feel many people are put off by the conspiracy behind the silver price. I am not sure if conspiracy and “in the know” inves8ng has burnt them in the past or if people just hate the idea that people can be so evil.

Below are some facts about silver that I garnered from M i c h a e l S n y d e r ’ s w e b s i t e : www.theeconomiccollapseblog.com. He always does an impeccable job at pu[ng together per8nent informa8on on important subjects. These are simple facts about quan88es, industrial use and supply and demand in the future. From these three short paragraphs you should begin to understand why silver, especially at this price, is a worthwhile investment.

1:65 Ra(o makes silver the only choice. The current gold to silver ra(o is: 1 ounce of gold is worth 65 ounces of silver. These come out of the ground at a 1:9 ra(o! That means just to get back to the natural mining ra(o, silver would have to outperform gold 600%. This is regardless what happens to the dollar value of gold. If gold goes to $13,000 an ounce, silver at a 1:9 ra(o would be $1,444 silver.

Silver is an industrial metal with over 10,000 commercial applica(ons. Because it is one of the best electrical and thermal conductors, that makes it ideal for electrical uses such as switches, mul(-­‐ layer ceramic capacitors, conduc(ve adhesives, and contacts. It is used in some brazing and soldering as well. Silver is also used in solar cells, heated automobile wind shields, DVD’s and some mirrors.

Silver’s industrial demand should increase 60% to 666 million ounces per year by 2016

Silver’s industrial demand should increase 60% to 666 million ounces per year by 2016 from 487 million ounces in 2010. Current annual mine produc(on is only around 700 million ounces per year growing a few percent annually.

So of course there is investment poten8al in silver. If you are thinking about buying, however, I would encourage you to do two very important things. Find a great dealer online and a great dealer locally. Above all, though, have some fun with silver. It’s a beau8ful thing that we shouldn’t stow away in case of emergencies. There was a 8me when we fancied these types of things.

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8

Victory in Personal Protection

By Donald Alley, Martial Tactical Training of Michigan The idea of ‘winning’ is ingrained in us as a culture. We are heavily freedom oriented. We won our freedom from England and maintained it. Immigrants won against oppression or other nega8ve factors to start a beLer life. We are heavily influenced on this controlled rebellion against authority so much that our na8onal documents were wriLen with it in mind. Our capitalis8c economy is built on economic achievement. The terms ‘growth’ and ‘expansion’ are used in our economy regularly. In the absence of na8onal conquest, we watch our na8on’s finest athletes with zeal as they strive for victory. We are a na8on of people that like to win.

What is winning?

In a sport, the terms of victory are fixed, and each side understands them. A golfer wins when she has taken fewer strokes than her opponents. A football team wins when they score more touchdowns and points than the other team. The term ‘goal’ is used in mul8ple sports signifying the objec8ve of the game, and the more goals reached, the beLer. In a conflict, ‘winning’ can be a very different thing. We’ve all been in heated arguments where winning means convincing the other person of your viewpoint, or trying to get one’s way. Whether it’s what color to paint the kitchen, or if the Dog’s Playing Poker oil pain8ng stays or goes, winning can mean the outcome of the argument is the way you want things to be.

But winning isn’t always ‘winning’. Every guy that has ever slept on the couch for winning an argument has come to the realiza8on that maybe he didn’t really ‘win’. With wisdom, winning goes from an immediate achievement such as a game, to a long term strategy for success, heavily dependent on calculated accomplishments, occasional yielding to another’s desires, and placing success above just one person’s winning condi8ons. The phrase “You may have won the baLle but you lost the war!” embodies the failure to grasp this.

For personal protec8on maLers, winning should be considered taking the ac8ons necessary for the long term success of the individual and/or family. This might go beyond physical protec8on, and extend into avoiding the hassle of conflict (escape, avoidance, and verbal de-­‐escala8on).

Asymmetric Terms of Victory This simply means that your terms of victory may not match the person’s terms that you are in conflict with. A humorous example I some8mes use in personal protec8on classes to illustrate this concept is a high school guy and girl da8ng for the first 8me. At some point, they will wrestle around a bit, playfully. They are kids full of youthful energy, afer all. The girl’s terms of victory in this match is to show the boy that she is fierce, independent, and feisty; she can hold her own, and you beLer not mess with her. She is a Valkyrie! They guy’s terms of victory is to have fun squirming with the girl.

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Nothing more, nothing less. Of course, this is all from a playful and flirta8ous paradigm. Both sides can win, and generally do. If the girl pins the boy, she wins. The boy has a girl on top of him. Believe it, he thinks he wins too!

More seriously, when considering an alterca8on with someone over a conflict, it is vitally important to remember one’s terms of victory. Typically this is ge[ng home safe to one’s family, ensuring the safety of one’s children, and avoiding needless involvement in the alterca8on.

As an example, a crowded parking lot ofen sees some fairly aggressive driving trying to get close spots at the store. Two people pulling into that spot can lead to an alterca8on. An aggressive Person 1 feels that the spot is his. His terms of victory are to get that spot, and his ac8ons may be pushing forward with his vehicle, honking, rolling down the window and calling names, or even star8ng some type of physical alterca8on. For Person 1, the terms of victory are to get that spot.

Person 2 has different terms of victory. He wants to get to the store safely, handle his business with no conflict, and return to his home with no afer effects, such as a looming lawsuit or police interac8on. With these terms of victory in mind, he backs away from the spot and the crazed Person 1, goes and finds another spot, and is simply cau8ous while in the store in case Person 1 takes the interac8on inside.

The easiest way to stay mentally balanced is to focus on breathing during a stressful situa8on. Breath in for 4 counts, hold for 4 counts, release for 4 counts. This is some8mes called ‘tac8cal breathing’, and repea8ng it for 2 or 3 cycles upon feeling anxiety can help ensure logic and cogni8ve abili8es are retained.

Mar8al Tac8cal Training of Michigan offers a “Warrior Mind Fitness Training” that allows trainees to explore what happens to themselves when induced with stress. Knowing one’s reac8ons to stress is very important, and training in mental balance is currently an under-­‐prepared skill for most.

Conflict is some8mes chosen and some8mes unavoidable.

Staying mentally balanced allows one to remember what is important to them. These ‘terms of victory’ can then be ra8onally pursued in the conflict rather than succumbing to choosing the other person’s terms of victory. The goal of the personal protector is to keep his circle safe, free from harm, and free from unnecessary liability whenever possible. If a conflict can allow for the protector to extricate his circle from it, the protector takes that op8on. When the conflict does not allow extrica8on, the protector takes the necessary steps to ensure his terms of victory.

Who won? Clearly Person 2 met all his criteria for his terms of victory. He remained safe and balanced and was able to avoid escala8ng a conflict to a level where harm may have been incurred. His ac8ons may have saved a fight and all the legal afermath that goes with it. Likewise, Person 1 met his terms of victory (although most ra8onal people would think they are ridiculous). He ‘won’ the parking spot and backed down Person 2 and made them drive away. He will likely go brag to his friends and generally use the ‘triumph’ to bolster his ego.

Mental balance The key to remaining true to one’s own terms of victory is to be mentally well balanced. It is very easy to become emo8onally hijacked while someone is yelling at you or even shoving you around. Ego can get in the way so as not to look weak. With prac8ce, a personal protec8on prac88oner can inoculate themselves against stress to a high degree, where the s8muli from an alterca8on are processed as informa8on coming in rather than emo8onally reacted to.

10

All About Zika Virus

by Joe Alton, MD of www.doomandbloom.net newborns. Like its predecessors, it’s a mosquito-­‐borne virus.

Ci8zens of the Americas have liLle immunity against it.

Most people experience mild flu-­‐like symptoms, but an infected during a pregnancy can yield a newborn with brain damage. In late 2015, it was mainly a Brazilian problem. A congenital abnormality (once called a “birth defect”) called m i c r o c e p h a l y s t a r t e d a p p e a r i n g a m o n g newborns. Microcephaly presents as an abnormally small head and is associated with mental handicaps; if severe, it may be incompa8ble with life.

One of the scenarios we write about is the “Pandemic”.

Although we have had success curing many illnesses with an8bio8cs, we are s8ll struggling with outbreaks of viral diseases. In 2014, thousands died in West Africa during the Ebola epidemic. In 2015, Chikungunya virus crossed the Atlan8c into the Western Hemisphere and infected a million people. This year, Zika virus is the latest pandemic, and the first to generate travel warnings specifically for women that are pregnant or of childbearing age.

A liLle-­‐known virus of equatorial Africa and Asia, the Zika virus has “jumped the pond” and is wreaking havoc in South America, especially among pregnant women and their

Brazil is a large country with a youthful popula8on; in an average year it sees about 150 cases of microcephaly. Since the arrival of Zika virus in May 2015, there have been 3,500.

Now, cases of the virus are being reported in the United States from New York to Texas to Hawaii (mostly in returning travelers from South America). In total, 25 countries so far are repor8ng evidence of the virus. The World Health Organiza8on suggest that there might be up to 100,000 newborns affected before it's over, a state of affairs that will tax the resources of the poor countries where most cases have occurred.

EPIDEMICS VS. PANDEMICS Infec8ous disease can be endemic, epidemic, or pandemic:

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chikungunya, and West Nile virus. Like the others, Zika virus is carried by Aedes mosquitoes, which are the main agent of transmission (human to human transmission can also occur); unlike the others, the virus affects the unborn.

Symptoms of the virus include headache, rash, fever, joint pains, and conjunc8vi8s (pink eye). The grand majority of infected people, however, have no signs of the infec8on whatsoever. This is ominous for a pregnancy, as the mother doesn’t even know she was at risk.

–An Epidemic infec8ous disease is a community-­‐wide outbreak of an illness that is not always present in an area. Influenza, EnterovirusD68, and Ebola are examples.

–An Endemic infec8ous disease is one that is normally found and expected in a certain area. Malaria is endemic in many tropical countries.

–A Pandemic occurs when an infec8ous disease crosses various borders and runs rampant throughout a large region, or even the whole world. The Spanish Flu of 1918 is the classic example. Zika has had outbreaks in Africa, Asia, and now, South America. Cases have been reported in Denmark and Sweden as well.

TREATMENT AND PREVENTION OF ZIKA VIRUS

WHAT IS ZIKA VIRUS?

There is no vaccine or treatment available that is effec8ve against Zika virus. Preven8on, however, is simple: Don’t travel to the countries where widespread outbreaks are occurring. If you have to go, use sunscreen, long pants and sleeves, plus mosquito repellant or ne[ng. Standing water near your loca8on in affected areas should be drained. If you catch the virus, it’s unlikely you’ll affect others “human-­‐to-­‐ human”. If biLen at home by another Aedes mosquito (common in the South), however, that mosquito can carry the virus to infect other humans.

Zika virus is a member of the Flavivirus family, which contains a number of well-­‐known diseases such as yellow fever,

Mosquito control efforts are underway in Brazil and other countries at risk. Besides the usual sprays with pes8cides, you might be surprised to know that GMOs (gene8cally modified organisms) are playing a part. A male “Franken-­‐

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mosquito” calledOX513A has a gene that kills his offspring.

Female mosquitoes only mate once during their lives, so this might have a significant effect. Brazil claims more than a 90% decrease in the popula8on afer release. OX513A was also used in the Florida Keys in 2012 (over protests) to combat an outbreak of another Flavivirus, Dengue Fever. It remains to be seen what impact the GMO will have on local ecology.

Could Zika Virus be a MutaKon? Why is a virus that isn’t a serious problem in its original territory suddenly causing these heartbreaking deformi8es?

Zika is a tropical disease spread by mosquitoes; these are condi8ons present in Brazil, Africa, and Asia. Why should it have such a different presenta8on in one part of the world than others? I believe that Zika in the Western Hemisphere is a muta8on of the original virus. Viruses are well-­‐known for their ability to change gene8cally. These changes, or muta8ons, may either be insignificant or have major consequences. Luckily, most viruses don’t change much from

year to year, and this is the reason why influenza vaccines are usually effec8ve preventa8ves. This year’s flu is ofen similar to last year’s, and flu vaccines are made from components of last year’s virus.

If an influenza virus mutates significantly, as is suspected with the Spanish Flu epidemic that killed 50 million people in 1918-­‐9, a much higher number of cases and deaths would occur. This is simply because popula8ons have not been exposed to it before and have, therefore, less immunity.

Imagine if Ebola, which caused a regional epidemic in West Africa in 2014, had mutated to become easily transmissible through the air? It would have been more challenging to control and could have reached pandemic status.

Despite the possible dire results of a muta8on, there’s nothing in the news that men8ons the possibility that the Zika virus has mutated. If we are to have success in developing treatment or preven8on of this viral illness (none exists at present), we will have to take into account the chance that this Zika virus is not the same as the original.

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14

By Christopher Nyerges, www.SchoolofSelf-Reliance.com

LOW-BUDGET & NO-BUDGET CAMPING Some 8me ago, an editor of a magazine called and asked me to write an ar8cle for his readers about “low budget camping.” My first ques8on was, “What do you mean by low-­‐budget?”

He thought about it for a while, and then told me to keep the total shopping list under $2,000. Wow! That’s low-­‐budget? He then explained that he was assuming that the reader had absolutely no equipment at all, and he or she would have to go out and purchase everything from scratch. I eventually w r o t e t h e a r 8 c l e , e n 8 t l e d “Backpacking on a Shoestring,” and everything I suggested could be purchased for under $300 or so, if you followed my instruc8ons.

However, I had to think back to when I was 10 or so, and how my brothers and I got interested in hiking and backpacking in the Angeles Na8onal

Forest. Even if we couldn’t get a parent to drive us, we could just walk outside our door and in a short while we were in the mountains. We certainly enjoyed exploring the hilltops and valleys and hidden canyons. That appeals to everyone.

But unlike so many of the urban aLrac8ons, we knew that we could do our mountain exploring without ever having to pass through a 8cket booth where someone collects an admission fee. For all prac8cal purposes, the mountains belonged to the people and they were free for anyone to enter and explore. And for us at that age, that was cri8cally important. We didn’t go hiking on a “low-­‐budget.” We didn’t even know what the word “budget” meant. We went hiking and backpacking on NO budget. We had no money and none was needed to head to the hills.

Over the years, of course, I have gradually acquired camping gear that

works for me, and that I feel is worth having. I don’t mind spending extra money on an item if I know it’s the best and if my life can depend on it.

On the other hand, to this day I don’t care much for useless gadgets that just take up space and add weight to the pack. I like to go as light as I possibly can.

So, I thought that readers would enjoy hearing how we went hiking on no budget. Some of you will chuckle at our youthful enthusiasm and silliness. A few of you might even think we had a few good ideas.

CLOTHING W e N E V E R purchased special c l o t h e s designed for h i k i n g o r

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backpacking. We just wore what we called our “play clothes” -­‐-­‐ clothes that we didn’t worry about ge[ng dirty or torn, but durable enough for a weekend or a week in the hills. We simply dressed for the season, and took an extra sweatshirt along if it was cold.

The one area that could have used improving was footwear. I usually had poor footwear on the trails, but I never let it bother me. The worst 8me was when I had some old suede shoes while hiking in the snow. My feet were wet and cold the whole 8me, so I was either constantly moving or si[ng by the fire all the 8me. Eventually, I learned that you could put a plas8c bag over your socks and keep your feet sort-­‐of dry in the winter.

But since most of our hiking was in fair weather, wearing our “city shoes” into the hills was usually not a problem.

KNIFE Heck, every kitchen has a knife, doesn’t it? We just wrapped a small kitchen knife in a piece of cardboard for safety and put it in with our gear. Eventually, we received Boy Scout knives as gifs one Christmas, and we carried them all the 8me.

Now, I wouldn’t leave home without a Swiss Amy knife.

MESS KIT Why would we need to go out and buy something special just for hiking and backpacking when every kitchen in the world -­‐-­‐ well, at least OUR kitchen -­‐-­‐ had dishes and silverware and pots? We’d pack an o l d p a n a n d p o t , a n d w o u l d

some8mes just carry an old pie pan and an empty can. We reasoned that with the pie pan and can, we could crush them and bury them before returning home and wouldn’t need to carry them back. We’d also grab a few plas8c forks and spoons, and maybe an old metal one. Nothing more was needed.

CANTEEN B a c k i n t h e m i d -­‐ 1 9 6 0 s , plas8c wasn’t as ubiquitous as it is today, and the plas8c that was around back then was low quality. So we didn’t have plas8c containers to use for water. On occasions, I actually carried a glass mayonnaise jar as my canteen, and I wrapped it with cardboard so it would be protected. Eventually, I spent about $1 and purchased a metal WWII canteen. It was a very good investment.

However, we tried to plan so many of our hikes around the known water sources that I never bothered to carry a canteen half the 8me. Today, inexpensive water containers can be obtained just about anywhere, so humanity seems to have solved this problem.

STOVE

FLASHLIGHT Some8mes we’d find a flashlight in a drawer at home but more ofen than not it simply didn’t work. Perhaps the baLeries were no good. So I never got addicted to needing a flashlight at night. Did you know that the average adult has the ability to see in the darkness almost as good as an owl afer 30 minutes in the dark?

LANTERN Lantern? We had NO budget. If we had a lantern, we’d have to buy fuel and wicks and stuff called “misc.”

However, on some occasions, we actually carried an old soup can. We cut out both ends of the can, and put an old clothes hanger through the can for a handle. Then we cut a hole in the side of the can, and inserted a candle. That was our “lantern.”

Another varia8on of the can-­‐lantern is to cut open an aluminum can so that, when standing upright, it appears to have two “doors.” You then hang the can by the pop-­‐top, put a candle inside, and you have a lantern. If made properly, the wind will catch the doors and turn the candle away from the wind. I learned about this from fellow survival instructor Ron Hood.

WALKING STICK Stove? We simply cooked right on the flames of our small camp fire.

I’ve never carried a stove -­‐-­‐ to this day!

Though we have marveled at the beau8fully-­‐carved walking s8cks at backpacking stores, we never even came close to buying one. For one thing, afer you spend $40 for a beau8ful s8ck, who wants to mess it 16

up on the trail. Addi8onally, we discovered that there was never a shortage of s8cks in the woods which could serve as a walking s8ck.

TENT Tent? Those are heavy and expensive. I have never carried one.

The closest I have ever come to packing a tent was when I used tube tents a few 8mes in the early to mid-­‐1970s. But otherwise, you can usually avoid the need for a tent if you simply p i c k y o u r campsite well.

SLEEPING BAG On many of my first backpacking trips, I never carried a sleeping bag. I slept in a hammock with a tarp. I was cold.

My first sleeping bag was loaned to me from my older brother, and it was a layered paper sleeping roll designed for just a few uses. I was cold.

I have carried just a blanket or two with me, and I have gone backpacking with just an emergency space blanket. I was cold.

I have learned to sleep in holes, in lean-­‐tos, and in various natural shelters with no sleeping bag and stay warm.

A sleeping bag is one item where it pays to get the best you can afford.

Buy down, and buy one that can be compressed into a small bag. Even s8ll, I have purchased good quality sleeping bags for as liLle as $5 (and never more than $20) by watching the ads in the newspapers.

TOILET PAPER

PACK

S o me8 mes we wen t i n to th e bathroom before our camping trip, grabbed a roll of toilet paper and tossed it into our pack. But ofen we forgot to do this and discovered that the woods are full of “toilet paper.”

Again, remember we had no budget.

We have actually carried bags of stuff into the mountains, which made us look more like we were running away f r o m h o m e t h a n c a m p e r s .

Eventually, we purchased canvas packs at the Army surplus shop that used to be in downtown Pasadena.

We spent a few dollars on what was an excellent investment. S8ll, those heavy old packs are dinosaurs compared to the packs of today.

M A P A N D COMPASS Get real! We simply went up to the mountains and followed the trails, and ofen had no idea where we were going, other than some obscure rumor from someone that a friend of a friend talked to and suggested that maybe this par8cular trail actually led to some really good place. It all sounds very silly and imprecise as I think back on it, but that’s how we did things.

Afer a while, we got to know more and more of our local trails and we would go back to our favorite spots again and again, day or night, summer or winter. No map or compass was ever needed, and we never got lost.

FIRE STARTER We would take book matches that we got for free at the local supermarket, and s8ck matches from our parent’s kitchen, and wrap them up in several wrappings of plas8c. Back then, there were no Bics, no magnesium fire starters, and none of the high-­‐tech devices that today assure fire for even the village idiot.

On occasion, I have used potato sacks to carry things, but that is uncomfortable and doesn’t leave your hands free.

My best “for free” pack was made by conver8ng an old pair of pants into a pack. You simply stuff all your things into the pants.

The legs will be the carrying straps.

You then 8e off the waist and cuffs, and 8e the cuffs up to the waist.

Presto, a pack. If done right, you get a very comfortable pack that everyone laughs at. I have even made an emergency “pack” from a long sleeve shirt, but I had to do a bit more tying to create the pack.

FOOD Food in the backpacking shops always seems to cost too much. Freeze-­‐ d r i e d , s p e c i a l l y p o r 8 o n e d

17

exo8c meals, MREs, special candy bars, juices, etc. etc. Why? We would just go to the supermarket and purchase dry things like rice and buckwheat groats and spaghe[. Then we purchased dry soup mixes and instant potatoes. Then we’d get a boLle of dried spices, and then some nuts and seeds, and some fresh fruit like apples and avocadoes and perhaps some cheese. Afer a while, you have good food at a reasonable cost.

But in the very beginning -­‐-­‐ as I said, we had NO budget -­‐-­‐ we just looked through our parent’s cupboards and picked out anything that was dry and light and that we thought we might like. Doesn’t every kitchen cupboard

in the world have at least enough odds and ends to make a few decent trail meals for a week or so? Ours always did. And though some of our meals were very slim, it was partly because we didn’t want to carry any more weight than was absolutely necessary.

Which is why I have pursued the study of wild edible plants for most of my life -­‐-­‐ but that’s another story.

think and be with yourself and your friends. Why cluLer it up with all the overpriced gimmicks and gadgets that take up weight and occupy too much of your 8me?

Some of the ways that we did things might help some of you to keep the weight in your pack as low as possible, and to retain as much money as possible. I have always believed that simple enjoyment of the outdoors should be as unadorned as possible.

Part of the aLrac8on -­‐-­‐ to me -­‐-­‐ is to be in the outdoors where you can

18

TOMAHAWK INTRODUCTION

By Snake Blocker, Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas

Any serious mar8al ar8st, survivalist, fighter, law enforcer, security officer, or self-­‐defense prac88oner must add a l e v e l o f k n o w l e d g e o f t h e tomahawk along their journey in life.

Many versions of the tomahawk have been around since the first people in ‘8me-­‐in-­‐memorial.’ The tomahawk (hawk) is merely a tool. Its use is determined by the hand, or hands that wield it. For a survivalist, it can cut 8mber to feed a fire. It can chop a tree to build shelter. It can cut the limbs of a trophy Elk to transport sec8on by sec8on back to base camp.

For a mar8al ar8st, it can defeat a larger opponent, or several larger opponents. The tomahawk is neither savvy, nor cunning. It is neither righteous, nor wrong. Its fate is in the use, or misuse of its holder. Its fear-­‐ factor is in the eye of its beholder or receiver. I can write a volume of books on the many uses of the mighty tomahawk, but no need to state the

obvious applica8ons. If you aim to learn self-­‐defense, you must learn the tomahawk, because violence has been around since Cain killed Abel.

You can learn the way of the tomahawk from thousands of teachers (some self-­‐proclaimed) around the world… but why travel, when you can flip the pages of a tomahawk book (or watch a video), and get an idea of the varia8ons that surround this tool. No one teacher has all the answers, nor all the drills, exercises, forms, or tac8cs that encapsulate the hawk; therefore, learn from the respected instructors, then baLle-­‐test what works for you.

W h a t w o r k e d f o r G o y a t h l a y (Geronimo) may not work for you, my warrior friend. What works for you, may not work for Jus8n Beaver.

Everyone must take a drill and make adapta8ons to meet their own

individual skill set and limita8ons.

Everyone has a different range of mo8on, a different arm length, different wrist strength, a different walking/running gait, different mobility, and a different speed. Add a variety of tomahawk books and videos to your library of weapons and you will be leaps ahead of the average Joe. The hawk, like the knife, has always been around, and it is not going away. Most assaults around the world are not the result of firearms, but rather a result of hand held weapons, which include: knives, s8cks, clubs, bats, and tomahawks.

No great library is complete without including some material to cover this topic.

I lived in the Middle East for over 3 years and I saw tomahawks in Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan. I lived in Los Angeles for over 30 years and the 19

tomahawk was among the street gangs as well. My friend Shark was with a group of new friends that invited him to a restaurant club on the weekend. This group was what many would consider the ‘nerdy’ group. Shortly afer they arrived, there was a confronta8on with these ‘nerds’ and some slightly intoxicated ‘ c o o l ’ g u y s o v e r s o m e t h i n g meaningless, so one of the ‘nerds’ pulled out two compact tomahawks from behind his back (under his jacket) and he was ‘ready to rumble.’

The ‘cool’ guys didn’t feel so ‘cool’ anymore and ran outside to ‘cool off.’

At the Apache reserva8ons I visited, most households had tomahawks in their living space. I spent a couple weeks at Firebase Chamkani when I lived in Afghanistan. A few weeks afer I lef this base, the local village across the street from the base brought in two family members that had just been aLacked by the Taliban.

The Taliban had taken a tomahawk and chopped the two men up and

down, then lef for dead because they had good rela8ons with the US Army base. One man s8ll had the tomahawk lodged into his spine. He was pronounced dead on arrival (DOA). The second man was s8ll breathing. My buddy was there at the 8me. While the US Army medics were trying to save the 2nd guy, the DOA guy with the tomahawk in his back came back to life. They tried to keep him alive but he had lost too much blood and died a second 8me afer a few minutes. I have heard many more tomahawk stories over the years and it does not surprise me to hear about them. Military troops in almost every country around the world s8ll carry tomahawks or other wielding weapons in similar size.

Learn what you can of the hawk.

Learn its ways-­‐-­‐for its ways are many.

The tomahawk can be made from stone, metal, plas8c, wood, or composite. Regardless of the

material it is forged from or assembled from, you must always respect the hawk! I carry one in my car, in my house, and in my studio.

The hooking power and blunt force produced from a hawk can be fatal.

Use only the force necessary in any situa8on. Avoid conflict as much as humanly possible but when no other op8ons are available, you must use the hawk, my friend—to serve and protect. I started researching Apache Knife Figh8ng & BaLle Tac8cs from various Apache tribal members around 1993. I taught my first of many seminars on the topic in 1995 and I've been teaching since then. A few years afer I began teaching, there have been many others that came around and began to teach.

They teach what they know (or think they know) on such topics. I learn more every year and con8nue to add to the Apache History books. Like the cunning Apache Raven, con8nue to learn from both the past and the present. Enjoy your journey!

20

Advertisement It is that time of year again when summer makes way for fall and people fall in line for a flu shot. If you are like me and try to find natural alternatives to modern medicine that have little to any side effects you may like to try some of the following herbal remedies. It is a good idea to have them on hand when you need them, rather than wait until an emergency to purchase them.

Did you know that some herbs grow just at the time you need them, and as winter is approaching we have a special need to take those herbs that can provide the best immunity to our bodies to enable it to resist germs and arm us with more resistance as we enter those cold months that can make it difficult to prop up our immune system.

The most important herbs that I can recommend to help with the immune system are as follows.

1. Echinacea - Echinacea is a popular herb that has been identified to boost immunity.

Combined with goldenseal, another herb, or enjoyed alone as tea, this member of the daisy family has been found to prevent and treat upper respiratory tract infections as well as the common cold. I recommend Echinacea Purpurea as my favorite for medicinal qualities.

2. Elderberry - Elderberry (Sambucus Nigra) is a shrub whose blue-black berries have traditionally been used to help fight colds and flu viruses. Sambucus is high in a type of antioxidant called anthocyanins, which can help alleviate bothersome symptoms. It also contains a property that stimulates the body's own defenses by producing anti-inflammatory molecules called cytokines. We have used this herb dozens of times and it has worked wonders.

3. Garlic - This spice has had a long history of medicinal value. In a recent study conducted by Dr. Ellen Tattelman, an assistant professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, New York, it was reconfirmed that garlic indeed has cardiovascular, anti-microbial and antineoplastic properties. It's also a perfect spice to use when doing sauteed dishes.

4. Ginger - This herb has been shown to reduce inflammation, cardiovascular conditions, blood clots and cholesterol. In a study, researchers found that animal subjects given ginger extracts had a significant reduction in cholesterol and blood clotting qualities. Moreover, it has been observed to inhibit the behavior of genes connected with inflammation.

5. Olive Leaf - Olive leaf extract has received a lot of attention from alternative health care advocates in recent decades; however, this immune system booster has been used medicinally for centuries in the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern regions, where olive trees grow in abundance. Aside from fighting the common cold and flu, this powerful little leaf can also help increase energy levels, lower blood pressure, stabilize blood sugar levels, and aid in fighting autoimmune disorders. Rich in disease-fighting phytochemicals, olive leaf is especially potent when used in combination with other antioxidant.

SPECIAL OFFER!!!: WINTER IMMUNE BOOSTER 16 Oz Elderberry Extract with Echinacea Purpurea, Ginger, thyme, lemon and orange essential oils in a 100% Non GMO vegetable glycerin base. Normally $89.95 for 16 oz, NOW ONLY $69.95. Limited stock available. Order at www.herballiving.org or call us at 828 545 6049.

Email: lee.hhp@gmail.com

Prepping with Bartering in Mind

By LeAnn Edmondson, Homestead Dreamer

Every prepper knows the importance of stocking up food, water, medicine, ammo, and hygiene items to help make ge[ng through a disaster easier. There is no denying that the list above contains the most important things to human survival but what about when those things run out? If the disaster goes for a long 8me, have you thought about different ways you can get more of what you really need? Will you be forced to hoc the jewelry for beans?

This is one area many preppers fail to even consider, let alone actually plan for. The need to barter will begin when paper money is no longer being accepted by the general populace in exchange for goods. It will con8nue to grow un8l some other currency replaces it, much like the modern defini8on of money replaced the common use of bartering.

Here’s the challenge: What items are valuable enough to get food and other things that everyone needs without taking from your family or making things harder on yourself?

Trading your future for your present rarely ends well.

Sure, you may really need some food to eat now but would you trade your seeds for it? Perhaps if you have children who are starving (because who wouldn’t go to crazy lengths to feed their kids?) but generally speaking, most people would agree that isn’t the wisest trade. So, what do you do?

Though it may seem unlikely now, boredom will be a huge problem in the afermath of a large disaster. With your rou8ne completely skewed, there will be large stretches of 8me where all you have to do is sit. No television or internet. No telephones. Maybe you have a nice hand crank radio so you can at least get some kind of informa8on. Generally speaking though, when you aren’t scavenging for supplies or huddled down defending your home, there are going to be many hours of nothing to do. Entertainment will be a big deal and people will trade crazy stuff to be entertained!

When deciding what items you may get to barter with, keep in mind that having a stock of liquor to be traded with can make you a big target. Drawing a lot of aLen8on to yourself is not exactly the best plan of ac8on and having high value items Consider sets of dice, playing cards, and card games in general (Uno, Go Fish, etc). All are very inexpensive, small and easy to store and yet, they can all provide literal hours of entertainment. Now add in travel sized board games, paperback books, and magazines. That stack of Na8onal Geographic magazines from the 1960’s your Dad has been saving will suddenly be a gold mine 22 26

of informa8on and entertainment that you can use to your advantage.

Ask any soldier who has been deployed overseas about the entertainment issue and they will confirm that boredom is one of the worst things to deal with. They trade books like a whirlwind scaLering papers around.

My brother was sta8oned in Afghanistan for 16 months and he learned early on how important it was to keep a set of dice on him or in his pack at all 8mes. You just never knew when you needed to kill 8me.

There are other op8ons besides entertainment that are again low cost and easy to store. In some situa8ons, they may also have a higher perceived value depending on where and who you are bartering with. Dental floss, toothpaste, and toothbrushes are small and fairly inexpensive. Especially if you can get a good deal at the dollar stores. Spices such as pepper and salt will be a big deal, too. Especially salt! It flavors and preserves food.

For those with liLle to no disposable income, you can s8ll prepare and have bartering in mind. It just takes some imagina8on and maybe a liLle extra work. Using the spices as an example, instead of spending money on the containers of spices, buy seeds to grow your own!

Even if you don’t have a dehydrator, you can s8ll dry and preserve the herbs and spices to be used, given away, or bartered with!

Though playing cards and dice may not be in high demand at first, if the disaster drags out, they will increase in value exponen8ally! Once you have the most important supplies stocked up, take a look at the things you can barter with and consider adding items now that can be used as currency later.

27 23

Editor's Note: This is the first excerpt from L.R.Burkard's YA/Suspense PULSE, in which three teens and their families must survive a`er a catastrophic EMP takes down the electric grid.

With the author’s expressed consent, we will be con(nuing the story in each issue of PREPARE. Enjoy!

PULSE Part Two: Andrea (Cont'd.)

By L.R. Burkard a power outage before, Dad just took us to a hotel. Now we're stuck here. We have this gigan8c fireplace—at least, I've always thought it's gigan8c, but now that we need it for heat it seems hardly big enough. It's r e a l l y t h e s t o n e -­‐ fl a g g e d mantle and dark mahogany bookcases flanking it that make it seem huge. Anyway, Dad spent a long 8me ge[ng a fire going, even with a fire-­‐starter, but we s8ll have to stay close to feel its warmth. We moved all the furniture into a small circle around it.

Day One-­‐-­‐EVENING I never knew a house could get so cold this quickly. We really felt it when the sun went down. Whenever we've had

Mom got a camp stove from the garage (which I forgot we had. We haven't gone camping s i n c e b e f o r e t h e twins were born) and by pu[ng it over the logs, we could actually heat the tea keLle. Now we can warm the baby's boLles and I finally got to drink that hot chocolate I've been wan8ng all day!

So we sat around the room together, which is hugely odd. My family never sits and hangs together. Well, not with

my dad, anyway. The boys had dragged in their bucket of building blocks and the baby was asleep in a portable crib near the fireplace.

I looked at my father. "When do you think power will be back?" When he didn't answer right away—he seemed to be thinking about it—my mom said, "I hope it's soon. But I don't get it— how come everything is out, even our cell phones and cars?" She was looking at my dad as though she expected him to explain it all. He shook his head.

"I don't know. Those cars should start if it's zero degrees and it only got down to twelve today.” He stared into the fireplace. “If it was only one of the cars, I could understand that. A fluke.

But none of them work. I don't have an answer to that.”

With nothing else to do, I tried reading with a flashlight but I guess the baLeries are dying because it’s too dim. We have a few candles on the dining room table but it's preLy dark in here, even with the fireplace. My liLle brothers are giggling and being silly like it's a family camp-­‐out, but my mom and dad aren't even playing along. The baby is blissfully unaware that anything's changed; I envy her.

Dad is worried because all we have are a few logs lef from the holidays to burn besides some fire starters and

25

cardboard boxes in the basement-­‐-­‐but that's it. And the temperature is now below zero outside.

I'm not too worried—we've never had a long outage before, so why would we, now?

I tried to sleep in my room but woke in the middle of the night freezing.

Carrying blankets and my pillow, I groped my way in the dark and went downstairs. Everyone else was in the family room. Mom was asleep on a sofa that had been moved in front of the big stone fireplace, and the boys were on the floor in front of that. Dad was asleep on another couch, moved so that it was adjacent to the one with Mom. I put down a few blankets and my pillow and slept on the rug like the boys. I'm only warm on the side facing the fireplace, though. Mom has baby Lily and so they have the best spot, followed by the boys.

I managed to fall asleep earlier without my music, but right now I'm wishing I had it. I'd give anything for one working MP3 player! If I at least had that I might be able to forget about everything else.

I hope the power is back by tomorrow.

This house is lonely and quiet and boring without electricity.

JANUARY 12 DAY TWO Wretched morning. I had to get ready for school with no hot water or shower or anything—and then Dad walked out with me when I went for the bus. He wanted to talk to the driver and see what he could find out about the outage. The bus never came. I was so disappointed. I'd prefer a normal day at school (even without a shower) to this grind. Home with nothing working. The whole 8me we stood out there wai8ng, he said, like, two words to me.

Some8mes he creeps me out.

So the living room looks like a campsite with our extra blankets and pillows around, and we have to dress in layers to keep anywhere near warm. If I need to use the restroom, I wear my coat!

Speaking of which, the toilets stopped working last night. My father wasn't too concerned because he figured we can keep it flushing by bringing in water from the well. Even though it's powered by electricity, we have a manual hand pump. But afer he went out to bring in the first bucket of water, he returned shortly, cursing up a storm.

The pump handle was frozen, and when he tried to force it to operate, it came apart right in front of his eyes.

Seems he should have slowly defrosted it with a heat source instead of trying to force it to work. Now it's useless!

So I was given the lovely task of hauling in snow—bucket afer bucket of it. I am SICK of snow. We have four bathrooms in this ridiculous house, and I was supposed to fill all the tubs. Afer filling just one, my arms and legs were aching and my hands were star8ng to freeze. I begged Mom to let me rest. The layer of ice on everything makes it real work to get that stuff in a bucket and then into the house and then into the bathroom.

Mom said I could do more tomorrow. I thought, Perfect! We'll probably have power by then! I got warmed up by the fireplace and then went up to my room to hide. I didn't want Dad to see me and make me do more hauling. While I was out there he did help a liLle because he was making a depression in a wall of snow to put a cooler with the rest of the food that was in our freezer.

(Even though the house feels so cold, it's s8ll colder outside and he thinks it will keep beLer out there.) But his mood was s8ll foul because of the broken pump and I had to ignore a good deal of "colorful" language while he dug.

I asked my mother why he's so angry.

She says it's because he can't get to work or even call in and it makes him feel crazy. He's a workaholic, so this is sort of killing him. He's also worried he'll get fired for not going in. And she thinks he's worried that other people are s8ll going in and ge[ng their jobs done while he's helpless out here in the plat, which is kind of isolated by surrounding farmland.

"Why would they fire him?" I asked.

"He can't be expected to get to work when there's no power and no vehicles."

"They won't fire him," she answered, taking the single big black pot we've been using for hea8ng food. She opened a few cans of stew, emptying them into the pot and I followed her as she brought it to the fireplace and posi8oned it on the camp stove. "He's just worried because he's like that."

Anyway, it figures that my father is more upset about work going on without him than he is about what's happening here. This is the gist of what's really ge[ng to Dad. HE CAN'T DISAPPEAR TO WORK AND BURY HIMSELF IN HIS JOB. What if his co-­‐ workers have power? What if things are going on without him as usual? He can't handle the thought. He's worse than I am about having to live without my stuff working.

A strange thought hit me, though: Maybe he's just afraid. He's used to being in control of things and feeling like he's good at what he does, like in his office. Here, I don’t think he knows how to take care of us with this outage.

He's in upper management and calls the shots at work. Now, he's only got us to boss around. Otherwise, he's as powerless as our gadgets.

When I returned to the living room, the boys were doing a puzzle on the floor and mom was si[ng with the baby, just staring ahead. It was like she was

26

watching TV, only of course it wasn't working. Our useless big-­‐screen sits in the corner like an altar, and at first it looked like mom was staring at it. But she wasn't. She's just staring at nothing, lost in thought. I want to throw a sheet over that huge, wretched TV. It's just a reminder of what we can't do.

JANUARY 13 DAY THREE I woke up to find Dad's been burning my books for heat! I can't believe it. Of all the stuff he could have picked, of course it had to be books that were mine. And he had the nerve to complain they weren't burning well! He says today we all have to scour the property for branches and anything that will burn, or else he'll start using furniture!

"Can't we wait and see if the power comes back?" I asked.

"It's ten degrees out there, Andrea," he said. "We can't wait."

It's not like we have a forest out there, either. Our property is one acre, most of which is carefully landscaped lawn and flowers when it's not covered in snow. So we have a small stand of trees and bushes before you reach someone else's property. Mom calls it a natural privacy fence. Dad said it's the best place we've got for finding anything to feed the fire.

We've never had long outages before.

We were always lucky, even afer a bad storm that took out electric for thousands of people, 'cos we live near a substa8on. Since they always get that up and running quickly and we're nearby, we've always had power restored quickly. Afer last year's hurricane we only lost our electric for a day and a half. And my cell phone s8ll

worked. And our cars started. What is going on?

wasn't a single sound except my own feet crunching in the snow.

So Dad walked all the way to that power sta8on today. Normally you can't walk on our main road, at least not safely. If you leave the plat you take your life in your hands because everybody speeds on the main road.

But today it was eerie quiet, Dad said, and he passed four cars that were dead and abandoned in the middle of the road. He wanted to ask ques8ons but the substa8on was empty. Dad's not sure if it was empty because there's nothing they can do, or if it's because no one could get to it. Another thing— usually if you get close to the sta8on, you can hear wires crackling. Today Dad said he heard only one thing: a whole loLa nothing.

I didn't find much to burn. Sure, there were bushes, but I had nothing to cut them with. I gathered the few s8cks and branches that were s8cking up out of the snow, but everything else is covered, and it didn't amount to a lot.

When I went in complaining my feet felt like ice, Dad said, "Just be glad we have a fireplace." I wanted to give him a sarcas8c answer cos' he's said about a hundred 8mes, 'It's a good thing we have a fireplace.' A hundred 8mes. And if you ask me, a fireplace is not good enough, because unless I'm right up next to it, I'm s8ll cold.

I so want to wash my hair. And I really want to talk to Lexie. I wish I was at school! Just so I could do something normal instead of having to haul in snow and now look for wood! And with all that snow and ice? How will it even burn if it's frozen?

I trudged out to the stand of bushes and trees, hoping someone was going to lose their job over this. Somebody must have done something wrong, somewhere, to cause this power failure. Heads should roll!

When I got there I was glad to be alone for a change. Even the silence didn't bother me. Snow cover always brings a muffled quality with it, but today it felt different. It took awhile for me to realize it was because there wasn't a single sound of civiliza8on; no one warming a car engine before leaving for work or to go shopping; no one using a power blower to clear their sidewalk or drive of snow; no one's radio or television turned up too loud and wafing out from their house. There

EVENING Jim is back! Jim is our neighbor on the right. Dad stepped outside and saw a faint flickering light coming from his house, so he went to speak to him right away. Turns out, Jim was at Wal-­‐Mart when the power went out. Wal-­‐Mart is about thirteen miles from here. Jim spent the first night at the store with other people who were stranded, but he's been walking home ever since.

Jim's not a young man, or he might have made it sooner. He managed to bring one bag of stuff from the store.

He said he bought a lot more but had to leave it in his car.

"So there's no power there, either," my mom said, flatly.

Dad shook his head. "Nope. Same as here. You should have seen Jim. He looked awful, like he barely made it home. He stopped by a few roadside fires people had going, but he thinks he may have frostbite on both his feet."

"My goodness," said Mom. "Poor man."

Then, "Does anyone know why?"

"Why what?"

27

"Why this happened to the electric?

Was it the snow? And what about cars and cell phones?"

doesn't come. If the power doesn't return. He reminded me of what happened afer Katrina."

"No one knows for sure. It's anyone's guess."

"But we're out here in the country.

Who's going to loot us?" Mom asked.

My mother sighed. "Did you ask him about water?"

Dad shrugged. "I think Jim's a liLle paranoid."

Jim's well has a manual pump like ours, which hopefully isn't broken. We've been going through the boLled water my mom buys to mix up baby formula for Lily, but we're almost out of it.

Hauling in snow and having to boil it is like sheer misery. I hope his pump works.

"Did he see any loo8ng going on?"

Mom persisted.

"I'll ask him tomorrow. He didn't want to talk right now." He paused. "He also said that if I had a gun, I should make sure it's ready to use." You could hear surprise in my father's voice.

"What does that mean?" I asked. I thought I must have heard him wrong.

My dad looked at me. My mother was wai8ng to hear his answer, too.

"He said we might need to protect our homes. Loo8ng could start soon if help

Dad nodded. "Yup. He said people were star8ng to panic at Wal-­‐Mart because they wouldn't accept anything but cash. And some people actually started walking out with their arms full of stuff they hadn't paid for." He shrugged. "I mean, who carries cash today?

Nobody."

"But if you did have cash," I said, "you could buy food and water. At least people in ci8es can buy that stuff.

Unlike us, out here in the middle of nowhere."

Dad gave me a dark look. "Yeah. For a few days. And then it all runs out. And then they come looking for more."

"Well, they won't find it here," I quipped. I'd been no8cing our pantry wasn't all too stocked. I didn't usually pay much aLen8on to that stuff, since it was mom's job to shop and cook. But already we were ea8ng the less desirable items from the pantry like peanut buLer and jelly. The boys actually like this, so for them, that's just dandy. I would be fine if I never ate peanut buLer again in my life.

Anyway, we're going to run out of food, and then what? Nobody knows how long this is going to last. And no one knows why it's happening. I wish I could get on Facebook and ask my friends. I wish we could watch the News and find out. I feel so alone.

Another thing; the quiet inside the house is driving me crazy. Outside it seemed okay, even res~ul. But in here?

I never realized how appliances make noise, but with nothing working in the house there's a strange silence that is gra8ng on me. It's like a lull before the storm. It's quiet but not peaceful.

And I think the storm has already hit.

28

Devotion: Dealing with Discouragement

By Donna Miller, Hostess of Your Preparation Discouragement, by design, is the an8thesis of encouragement. It is a lack of courage or a debilita8on that keeps one from posi8ve forward mo8on in tasks, decisions and in life. It also warps one’s sound judgement. Studies show that there are more people, across the globe suffering from discouragement now than any other 8me in history.

Most people tend to avoid others who are struggling with discouragement. Some8mes the aLempts of others range from “Just get over it” to well-­‐meaning yet misplaced “good advice”. Perhaps they don’t know how to help the discouraged person and simply leave them to their discouragement. Or perhaps they feel they should avoid him/ her so that they too aren’t dragged down. Maybe they are so self-­‐ focused that they wallow along with the one who is struggling in order to prove how they are in worse shape than the one originally struggling; thus invoking a sort of reverse ‘one-­‐upmanship’. Most heinous of all, are those who pretend to be a safe shoulder while having their own hidden agenda. Then, suddenly and without their consent or awareness, the discouraged individual becomes vic8m to something that only worsens the hold of discouragement: manipula8on.

Do you see the vicious cycle that this can cause? We run the risk of being a very isolated society as discouragement creeps into the crevasses of daily life. Isola8on even deepens the discouragement. It is the design of the enemy of all man-­‐kind to steal, kill and destroy.

Discouragement is an easy weapon to be wielded to work the plan of destruc8on.

Discouragement and fear tend to be birds of a feather and ofen flock together. It is no wonder that we so ofen read in Scriptures the phrases similar to “Do not be afraid” or “Fear Not” or “Be of great courage”. However, I do not think of these scriptures as commands NOT TO BE discouraged or afraid, but rather as acknowledgements by our Loving Creator and Savior that He knows our human tendencies and weakness, yet He bids us to resist fear and discouragement in Faith.

He has broken my teeth with gravel and pressed me down into ashes.

I have been so deprived of peace, I have so forgo;en what happiness is, that I think, “My strength is gone, and so is my hope in Adonai.”

Remember my u;er misery, the wormwood and the gall.

They are always on my mind; this is why I am so depressed.

But in my mind, I keep returning to something, something that gives me hope — that the grace of Adonai is not exhausted, that His compassion has not ended.

[On the contrary,] they are new every morning! How great is Your faithfulness!

“Adonai is all I have,” I say; “therefore I will put my hope in Him. Adonai is good to those waiFng for Him, to those who are seeking Him out. It is good to wait paFently for the saving help of Adonai.

LamentaDons 3:16-­‐25

In Lamenta8ons 3:16-­‐25 (the name of the book alone should tell you how discouraging it may be) the author allows himself to feel the 26 30

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take capDve every thought to make it obedient to Messiah.

1 Corinthians 10:3-­‐5

depths of discouragement. However, he does not lean to other means to distract or sa8ate that discouragement.

Rather than trying to ‘self-­‐sooth’ or turn to fantasy, chemicals or self-­‐debasement, even though the discouragement appears to repeat, the author fixes his hope repeatedly, on the Lord. This is an excellent example of “taking every thought cap8ve”.

Discouragement can become a habitual state of being dependent upon where we focus. It can be either remedied or worsened by how we use our own self-­‐speech and where we tend to allow our thoughts or others opinions to take us. No one really likes to be discouraged.

But when it happens, we can use it as a tool for needed change if we know how to recognize it and then loose the grip of its chains on us. Feeling discouraged as the world around us becomes more chao8c, and as we deal with injus8ces (past, present or future) is a natural feeling.

What we do with it, and to where we let it point us is a maLer of our spiritual, mental and emo8onal willingness to focus the baLle. When we find ourselves struggling with discouragement, let us realize that it is not a place we are designed to remain; it is not an earthly baLle which substances or fantasy can remedy, but rather each discouragement can be used like a compass to keep returning to His Word, His Peace and His Wisdom. When we find ourselves among others who are discouraged, let us not turn away but rather let His Light shine to lif up their heads to find the agenda-­‐free, Uncondi8onal Love of the Father.

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Our Contributors...

Christopher Nyerges

Donald Alley

Donna Miller

Christopher Nyerges is the author of 14 books, including “Extreme Simplicity” (Dover books), “How to Survive Anywhere” (Stackpole books), “Guide to Wild Foods” (Chicago Review Press). He has been teaching wild food and self-reliance classes since 1974 via School of Self-Reliance and other organizations. He conducts a weekly self-reliance podcast, weekly field trips, and has appeared on Fox TV as “Natureman,” on National Geographics “Doomsday Preppers,” and other TV shows.

Contact him at: http://www.schoolofself-reliance.com Box 41834, Eagle Rock, CA 90041.

Donald Alley is a martial practitioner with 15 years of experience. He has practiced personal protection training methodologies with full use-offorce spectrum consideration. He is a black belt in classical Ju Jutsu, Assistant Instructor at the Martial Science Center, and an Emergency Preparedness Instructor and Program Coordinator at Martial Tactical Training of Michigan.

Furthermore, he is an NRA Instructor for Basic Pistol and Personal Protection firearm training. His product line, Bu Tactical, includes items for protection, preparedness, and survival applications.

Donna Miller is a teacher, author, sought-after speaker and trainer. She has been both a guest and host on internet and broadcast radio talk-shows and in television interviews. She enjoys teaching online and local classes & ladies retreats. Donna is happily married and has three adult children, and a daughter in-law. She and her husband (Joseph) are the founders Millers Grain House and YourPreparation Station.

James Walton

Joe Alton

LeAnn Edmondson

James Walton is a young father and husband living in Virginia. He hosts "I AM Liberty, the podcast that is Rerooting America”. James brings a great sense of humor and a curious mind to the airwaves with great guests and topics. You can find his show at www.iamlibertyshow.com along with a weekly short story called Tom Locke: Surviving Today, poetry, and books. There is also a live broadcast with chat and call in every Friday at 9est on www.prepperbroadcasting.com

Joe Alton, M.D. (aka: Dr. Bones) is a member of Mensa, collects 19th century medical books to gain insight on off-grid medical strategies. He is the co-author, along with Amy Alton, A.R.N.P. (aka Nurse Amy), of the #1 Amazon Bestseller in Survival Skills “the Survival Medicine Handbook".

The opinions voiced by Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy are for post-apocalyptic settings only; in normal times, seek modern and standard medical care from qualified professionals.

lives in beautiful Southeast Alaska with her husband, dogs and cats. The ‘dream’ is to own land and live as self-sustainably as possible. You can follow her on Facebook & Pinterest, as well as on the main site, Homestead Dreamer. Help support her efforts and give her a like on Facebook!

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CLASSIFIED ADS 76 ACRE PREPPERFARM MISSOURI

Linore Rose Burkard

Snake Blocker

Linore Rose Burkard's first published books were historical romance with Harvest House Publishers.

She now writes YA/Suspense as L.R.Burkard.

PULSE is the first in a three book series. A homeschooling mom of five, Linore grew up in NYC. She now lives with her family in Ohio, which, she notes, is a much better place to be in case of a PULSE really happening! To see L.R. Burkard's romance novels, visit her "alter-ego" website at: http://www.LinoreBurkard.com

Snake Blocker is a member of the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas, is an accomplished martial artists and Apache Historian. He has served in the U.S. Navy since June 2001 and did tours in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan. He is the featured instructor in several videos and promotes his signature line of survival products and knives. Snake has been featured on Deadliest Warrior “Apaches versus Gladiators” and Doomsday Preppers “In the Hurt Locker”.

He hosts “Snake Blocker Survival” on Preparedness Radio Network.

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