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I am currently making a batch of Field Expedient Meals (FEM).  These are often called DIY MREs (Meals Ready to Eat).  Because these meals are not strictly ready to eat, I am calling them FEMs or Field Expedient Meals.

I think it important that we be on the same page with what I am talking about.   A MRE is a military term for a “Meal, Ready to Eat”.  These started in 1981 and since have become popular even in civilian circles.  They require little preparation, at most heating, and are water-proof and bug-proof sealed food rations that usually have a 3-5 year shelf life.  These are battlefield rations, but also work well for camping and for bug out bags or in emergencies. (continue reading…)

I want to try my hand at a short story.  This story could be the type that would be made into a movie of the week.  This story, much like many movies of the week, has not been fact checked for plausibility.  It has not been vetted by any scientific minds.  The point of this story is to entertain and to cause people to think about the reactions they may be forced to take if similar events occurred.   Do not focus on whether this is possible or even probable, that is not the point.

This story described a “zombie level event”, which is the term I use to describe a major event.  When you plan for a zombie invasion you are planning for most possible disasters, whether natural or man-made.  This is just one such scenario.

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I have heard a lot of people talk about the immigration law that Arizona recently passed.  Most people seem to want to just have their opinion that it is good or band and divide the country with the argument over it.  To a point I am doing that here, however I am countering the largest argument against it.  Not because I believe in the law, nor am I saying I disbelieve in it.  I am making this argument merely because of how I view the argument itself.

I think that this leaves little room for people to attack the law, which means that it is likely to force the argument to be an attack against individuals (“you’re racist”) and not anything about the subject matter itself.  I consider it a win when someone does that, ad hominem attacks are for idiots and those who cannot otherwise attack the logic of an argument.  I also have not yet heard anyone make this argument in support of the AZ immigration law.

I also think that people who assume that all illegal immigrants are of a particular ethnicity, or do not belong to a particular ethnicity are themselves racist.  This is not about lawful immigration, it is about unlawful – as in illegal – immigration/migration.  Not all people who enter the country illegally are immigrating, some are just here temporarily. (continue reading…)

In a form of protest I have enabled SSL for this site.  While I do not expect anything particularly secret to happen here, and everything available encrypted is also available cleartext.  I am just trying to encrypt everything that I do online.  This is more of a political statement.  The government appears to be increasing its reach and scope into the internet and I wanted to generate as many packets they cant monitor, even if they are not trying to monitor me specifically.

The way the math works, if everyone on the planet used 40 bit encryption the government could not monitor everyone all the time.  Anyone they  opted to monitor they could decrypt with near instant results, but they would not be able to do that to everyone all the time.  I am trying to use much more than 40 bit.

For a secret project I am planning I decided to swap out the stock wifi card for one with alternate features.  I use the 1000HE eeepc for ham radio and some other tasks.  I really like it.  Due to my background and preferences I had installed linux, at the time I installed I wanted to get all the drivers and all as easily as possible.  To that end I opted for the eeebuntu distribution.  It is currently based on ubuntu, although the next release which is currently in beta will be debian due to severe problems with things breaking with each ubuntu release.

This is the saga of how I did it. (continue reading…)

I recently became aware of a situation where all chapter members to a Zombie Squad chapter are liable for the actions of the group as well as anything they say or do.  This liability is a personal liability and it is all members not just the ones that actually run the chapters.  At least this is the case with the California chapter, which is the only one I really investigated. (continue reading…)

Some people like to know where their next meal comes from.  Unless you are a criminal organization, you may enjoy hearing about Thrive brand foods.  Costco has a deal 1 year of food for 1 person for $800, this includes shipping, which makes it $2.20/day.  The downside is that it is 1300 or so calories per day.  This is fine if you are sitting in a bunker, but it is not fine if you are training for release from the bunker or if you are working daily to try to get additional resources.  Just chopping firewood can consume enough calories that 1300 makes you feel really hungry.

You can supplement your diet with fiber, each 14g additional fiber means that you can feel just as full on 10% fewer calories.  A person who feels full on 2000 calories would need 50g fiber per day additional to go from 2000 calories to 1300 calories, and that is additional to the amount of fiber they ate at 2000 calories (usually 24g). (continue reading…)

Today it was announced by the White House that if you are cauht in a nuclear explosion you should expect to wait 24-72 hours before they do anything.  You read that right, no significant federal response to a nuclear attack would be given for 1-3 days.  This is yet another reason to prepare.

The fear is that terorrists are likely to use nuclear bombs.  Al Queda, according to Obama, has been trying to get a weapon for a long time, he added that they would be likely to use it if they got it.  Crimnial organizations all over seek to line their pockets with money.  Some have sought the components to make a nuclear bomb, there have been 18 documented cases of theft or loss of the two key components to a nuclear weapon.

In part preparing for a nuclear disaster is about knowledge.  The 7/10 rule, having medication, a place that is sheltered.  In part it is about stocking up on clean food and water.  After a nuclear detonation (or dirty bomb) the fallout contaminates open wells, lakes, ponds, etc as well as the top 18 inches of top soil.  If you were relying on these for food you may become disappointed to learn that consuming them can kill you. (continue reading…)

I have often had discussions over the last few years on whether or not people should prepare.  There is one school of thought that the government will take care of them.  This is usually under the assumption that any disaster will be either so minor that there will be no outage of services or it will be so bad it wont matter.

Super major disasters could lead towards a mad max world, where the government would not be able to protect you and criminal enterprises would take over.  These types of disasters are also the hardest to prepare for, and generally the least likely to occur.  There are some more realistic ones that are much easier to prepare for.

In Barcelona a few years ago the truckers went on strike.  No food went into the city and after a could days there was no food.  Something about ‘just in time‘ delivery models.  More recently there are earthquakes that are making the media rounds.  A few years ago you had Katrina.  Kyrgyzstan is having a revolution, I also imagine going grocery shopping in Greece is not as fun as it once was.  None of these were so bad that a developed country would have been taken out, however there are the words of FEMA Director Craig Fugate just 2 weeks ago that come to mind.

“For everyone who could have and should have and didn’t, you’re getting in line ahead of that child, you’re getting in line ahead of that grandmother,”

If you are still undecided, perhaps this will help.  A simple “should I prepare” decision matrix.  You can see the benefits and risks associated with preparing or not preparing. (continue reading…)

A news article popped up today that has some application in a personal defense arena.  If you are a criminal organization then you probably should not be looking into this.  The item of course is the bullet proof t-shirt.

From the article

Here’s how it works:  By dipping pieces of cotton from a T-shirt into a solution of boron powder, the researchers created a network of nanowires made out of boron carbide – the third hardest material known to man at room temperature.

The claim is that it is less expensive than traditional body armor, and according to the lead researcher it could bring armor to the masses.  They also claim that the technique could be used to make light weight (read fuel efficient) and inexpensive vehicle bodies such as automobiles and airplanes.  If it has the strength, why not.  (continue reading…)