A map, A compass and a K-bar

OK....Lets say you've made it this far. You've opened your eyes and become aware of the dire situation that trust in big government and complacency has gotten you into and you've decided to take control of your life again. (or for the first time)

You have gotten yourself out of debt. You have gotten yourself into good shape in every aspect of your life to the best of your ability. You are alert to your immediate surroundings and you have acquired a certain skill level when it comes to reading the terrain you happen to find yourself in. Good job. You and I are now in the same boat.

I used to brag when I was younger that you could parachute me anywhere into the jungle or mountains with an area map, a compass, a K bar fighting knife and I would do just fine. I had been meticulously trained to do so and was confident in my training.

That made survival perhaps not a walk in the park, but doable. Even if caught in thick forest when the lights went out and black was the only color in town you just hunkered down till daylight arrived. Then you quite easily took stock of your situation, reoriented your compass to the map, reoriented your map to the terrain, picked a destination and off you went. The K bar at your side would help you dig up or stab enough food source to keep you alive, (usually grubs, an occasional snake and stuff like that) plus enable you to build a shelter if necessary.

Today there is no preparatory training, it's what's called “on the job” training. The rules and the terrain vary greatly, the tools are different, many times it's a seat-of-your-pants operation being run in a fog. It's more like trying to navigate through three tier jungle in the middle of the night. Yeah, you can do it, but it is dangerous as all hell. Let me tell you, that bright sun alleviates a whole lot of fear and anxiety.

In this environment your map is just the game board you happen to find yourself playing on and it varies with each player. The rivers may all run the same direction, but your mountains and your valleys vary greatly from your fellow gamers.

Personally I wouldn't follow anyone's advice too far unless I was absolutely positive he knew his ass from a hole in the ground and we were both oriented towards going in the same direction anyways. Lots of advice coming down the pike these days. Be careful who you listen too.

Now the compass is a bit fuzzy in this equation because, well, there really isn't one. There is no arrow to point the way save your own intuition broadcasting from the center of your own mind. This can be scary cause it doesn't take long to realize your the captain of this boat and if it ends up on the rocks guess who gets the blame? (remember the fiasco in Valdez) Watch and be careful when you feel like taking a nap! You might just screw up my fishing grounds.

Think, study, read the tea leaves, pray, but learn to trust your mind and your gut above all else. . . and if neither work too good? You're dead meat. (remember the wolves?) They're licking their lips waiting for you.

The K Bar is a marine fighting knife. It's made of the best steel and follows an old tried and true design. It's deadly as all hell and a good tool for cutting, carving, pounding, etc. I would not get rid of mine for anything. Break in my house in the middle of the night and you won't have to worry about a loud muzzle blast or a whole lot of yelling and carrying on, just watch out for that long shadowy figure hurtling himself at you holding something in his hand. You have approximately two seconds to think, focus, raise your weapon and fire . . . or face the inevitable heart burn. :-)

Weapons are only for the extreme situation where you must preserve the lives of you and your children. Other wise they are just eye candy for Ramboized scairdy cats. I get a kick out of these guys who somehow think that having ten various weapons and a thousand rounds of ammo are gonna help them defend themselves. Real world says they will die after shooting quite quickly perhaps three wild rounds into the ceiling.

So let's not waste a lot of time on that stuff and get real about surviving the storm.

Your greatest weapons will be your neighbors and your ability in forming alliances with as many of them as possible. Even the ones you don't particularly like, even the ones you absolutely hate. It's in these people you will find your strength. Together all of you can pull through this thing and come out better than when you started. But you will all need each other. Just think of the time immediately after 911, and the time during Katrina when people helped each so much, even to the tune of risking their own lives. Good people always rise to the occasion, but to make a real difference they need purpose,focus and leadership. Make sure you pick a leader for your group who knows that sacrifice doesn't just mean getting to be the boss.

As the guys on the fringe see what you are doing they will come and ask to join instead of spending their time figuring out how to rob you. That leaves the really bad true blue criminal who may just, once he sees what you are about, decide to find greener pastures to wreak his havoc in. We hope this will be the case, but there are times when, even though you have the best intentions, once the normal order of law enforcement has broken down you will have to defend yourselves and your children from the truly evil crowd.

I personally would not go half way in any endeavor of this sort. I would simply kill the guy. There is absolutely no room to work around these guys. He'll just keep coming back for more. Survival demands you be the first to attack and the last to give in. Hopefully the situation will never arise for you and yours. Now how are we gonna deal with the neighbors?............coming up.