There are plenty of threats that people associate with a major disaster. Infection, however, is rarely one of the first threats to come to mind. Nevertheless, it is one of the most dangerous. In the absence of modern medicine and modern conveniences, deadly infections will run rampant, potentially killing millions of people.

Below is a list of the most common deadly infections you are likely to contend with after the SHTF, as well as how to treat them. If you are squeamish, then be warned that the lists of symptoms below could put some disgusting images in your head, but this information is very important considering how many people are likely to die from infections in an SHTF scenario.

1. Dysentery

Dysentery is a colon infection that can be caused by a number of things including bacteria, parasites, viruses, and even protozoa.

Symptoms of dysentery include severe diarrhea, bloody stool, abdominal pain, and fever. The infection is spread mostly through the consumption of contaminated food or water, though it can also be spread by coming into contact with someone who has the infection.

If you come down with dysentery, your first and foremost goal should be to stay hydrated. Diarrhea alone kills countless people each year because of the dehydration it causes, meaning it’s essential that you drink plenty of fluids, not only to flush out the infection but also to avoid dehydration.

You’ll also want to take antibiotics and/or diarrhea pills if you have them. To prevent coming down with dysentery, be sure to boil your drinking water and only eat food from trusted sources.

2. Cholera

Like dysentery, cholera is a gastral infection that is contracted by drinking contaminated water. Rather than infecting the colon, though, cholera is an infection of the small intestine.

The symptoms of cholera include severe diarrhea that is clear/white in color and vomiting clear fluid. As with dysentery, the biggest threat of cholera is the dehydration and electrolyte imbalance caused by fluid loss through vomiting and diarrhea. If left untreated, about half of individuals who come down with cholera will die from the infection.

If you are experiencing the symptoms of cholera, be sure to stay hydrated and take antibiotics and diarrhea pills. To avoid cholera, boil or otherwise purify all the water you drink and only eat from food sources that you trust.

3. Norovirus

Norovirus is a highly contagious gastral infection that can be spread through the air as well as through the consumption of contaminated food and water.

Symptoms of norovirus include nausea, vomiting, watery diarrhea, and abdominal pain. There is no vaccine or proven treatment for norovirus, and the recommended treatment is simply supportive care such as resting and drinking plenty of fluids.

To avoid norovirus, be sure to purify your water and eat only trusted food sources, though given how contagious this infection is, it can be difficult to avoid even if these measures are taken.

4. Pneumonia

Pneumonia is a respiratory infection that can be brought on by a number of bacteria, viruses, and fungi. In most cases, the diseases that could lead to pneumonia are treated and eliminated before pneumonia ever has a chance to take hold. If left untreated, though, non-fatal colds and cases of flu can quickly turn into fatal pneumonia.

Symptoms of pneumonia include sharp chest pain, wheezing, difficulty breathing, fever, and chills. If the lungs fill up with too much fluid due to pneumonia, the infection could be fatal.

If you come down with pneumonia, it is best treated with a combination of antibiotics as well as oxygen in order to make up for the reduced amount of air you are able to inhale. The best treatment for pneumonia, however, is prevention.

Treat every cold and flu seriously no matter how minor it may seem and do your best to knock it out before it is able to transition into a case of pneumonia.

5. Tetanus

In the developed world, tetanus is quite uncommon. Being punctured by a rusty metal object certainly isn’t an everyday occurrence, and even if you do suffer an injury that makes tetanus a concern, tetanus vaccines are readily available.

However, in a disaster scenario where the likelihood of an unsanitary injury is much higher and access to the vaccine is no longer an option, tetanus becomes a much more serious concern.

Symptoms of tetanus include difficulty swallowing, stiffness in the neck and jaw, fever, high blood pressure, and sweating. If untreated, tetanus can make it extremely difficult to breathe, eventually leading to death.

In the absence of a tetanus vaccine, antibiotics can be used to treat tetanus with varying degrees of effectiveness. The best way to treat tetanus, though, in the absence of a vaccine is to try and prevent it by thoroughly cleaning any wound with alcohol or another antiseptic and covering it with a bandage.

6. Tuberculosis

Thanks to modern medicine, tuberculosis cases are extraordinarily rare in developed countries. In the developing world, though, tuberculosis is still a common and dangerous killer. Should a major disaster set the country back to a third-world state, tuberculosis could make a frightening comeback.

Symptoms of tuberculosis include blood-tinged coughing, night sweats, fever, and weight loss. Compared to most deadly diseases, though, the symptoms of tuberculosis can appear minor at first, making them hard to spot. Tuberculosis is a slow killer, but it is an efficient one nevertheless.

In the absence of modern medicine, there is no proven treatment for tuberculosis. Unless the right antibiotics are administered at the right times on the right schedule, the infection will develop an antibiotic resistance and become impossible to cure. This makes avoiding tuberculosis the best course of action in an SHTF scenario.

Take precautions when you’re around other people, especially if they are exhibiting signs of tuberculosis such as a bloody cough.

7. E.Coli

Many efforts have been taken within the agricultural industry and water sanitation industry to prevent the spread of the deadly bacteria E.coli. In a scenario where people begin to get their food and water from less trustworthy sources, though, E.coli infection becomes a major concern.

Symptoms of E.coli infection include nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps, bloody diarrhea, and a fever in excess of 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Thankfully, E.coli infections can often be treated with only home care, making this one of the more survivable diseases that you are likely to encounter in a disaster scenario. Plenty of fluids and bed rest is most likely all it will take to ride out the infection.

To prevent coming down with an E.coli infection in the first place, boil or otherwise purify your water and try to only eat food from trusted sources.

8. Measles

Modern medicine has almost wiped out the threat of measles entirely, and the World Health Organization projects that the disease could be eliminated completely by as early as 2020. Should a major setback come between now and then, measles would be poised for a deadly comeback.

Measles is highly contagious, meaning that all it would take for an outbreak is a few infected individuals in a world where measles vaccines are no longer prevalent.

Symptoms of measles include pain in the muscles, a skin rash, fever, sore throat, and a cough. Measles can also lead to blindness, encephalitis, and fatal respiratory infections. Short of preventing measles with a vaccine, there is no proven treatment for the infection. Fever reducers and vitamin A can be used to reduce its symptoms, though.

The best course of action for avoiding measles in the event of an outbreak is to follow good hygiene practices and avoid anyone with a skin rash resembling that caused by measles.

9. Flu

Even today and even in modern countries, the flu is incredibly common. What sets this infection apart and makes it so difficult to prevent is the rate at which it mutates. Every year, a new flu vaccine must be developed in order to prevent the latest mutation, and even then there is a lot of guesswork involved in regards to which form the virus will take.

There are two factors, however, that make the flu much more of a concern in an SHTF scenario: lack of vaccines and lack of treatment. In a scenario where the healthcare community is unable to develop a vaccine for the flu’s latest mutation, flu outbreaks are likely to become much more common. If left untreated, the flu can be fatal – especially in the elderly and the young.

Symptoms of the flu include aching muscles, chills, fever, sweating, and congestion.

All of this is bad enough, but it also assumes that the flu will take a form similar to the form it takes each year. The reality is, there are much more serious forms that the flu can take. In 1918, the Spanish flu infected an estimated 500 million people – one-third of the world’s population – and killed an estimated 50 million of those that it infected.

There is another strain of flu, though, that could dwarf the lethality of the Spanish flu – avian flu. The mortality rate of avian flu sits at a terrifying 60% – and that’s with modern medicine and appropriate treatment.

The only thing keeping avian flu from being a world-ending threat is the fact that it is very difficult to spread. However, a few mutations could change that in a matter of years.

Suffice it to say that the flu will be a major concern in an SHTF scenario, even if it is in its common, easily treatable form. If, however, we are hit with a pandemic of a flu strain such as avian flu in a world already crippled by another disaster, the results could easily be apocalyptic.

The prophet Isaiah warns us that in the last days God is going to “turn the world upside down.” He declares, “Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down” (Isaiah 24:1).

According to this prophecy, sudden judgment is coming upon the earth, and it will change everything in a single hour. Within that short span, the whole world will witness fast-falling destruction upon a city and a nation, and the world will never be the same.

If you are attached to material things — if you love this world and the things of it — you won’t want to hear what Isaiah has prophesied. In fact, even to the most righteous of God’s people, what Isaiah says might seem unthinkable. Many would surely ask, “How can an entire world be stricken in one hour?”

If we didn’t believe the Bible is God’s pure Word, few of us would take Isaiah’s prophecy seriously. But Scripture makes it clear: in a single hour, the world is going to change. The church is going to change. And every individual on earth is going to change.

The apostle John gives a similar warning in Revelation. He speaks of destructive judgment coming upon a city and nation: “In one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her…. For in one hour so great riches is come to nought” (Revelation 18:8, 17).

In Isaiah’s prophecy, the city under judgment is cast into confusion. Every house is shut up, with no one coming or going. “The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in” (Isaiah 24:10). The entire city is left desolate: “In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction” (24:12). All entrances and exits to the city are gone. The passage indicates that a fire has come, a blast that has shaken the very foundations of the earth (see 24:6).

We who live in New York City know something about this kind of scene. When the Twin Towers were attacked, the ominous fires and smoke could be seen ascending to heaven for miles. Recently, New Yorkers panicked as a mass of steam erupted from below a city street. People ran in all directions screaming, “Is this it? Is this the end-all attack?”

Today, multitudes of secular prophets are saying a nuclear attack is inevitable. The target they mention most often is New York, but it could happen in any major city: London, Paris, Tel Aviv, Washington. Neither Isaiah nor John names the city upon which destructive judgment falls.I don’t intend this message to frighten anyone.

Let me make clear at this point: I don’t intend this message to frighten anyone. Paul tells us that as disciples of Jesus Christ, we have already passed from death into life. We who call on Jesus as Lord should be confident that no matter what happens in this world, his shed blood saves and redeems us.

Therefore, we are not to fear any newscast, but rather to be attentive to what the Lord is doing in the world. Like many people, I hear grievous reports that make me want to tune everything out. But the truth is, God moves in the midst of such times, and through them he speaks warnings to all who would hear his voice.Isaiah’s prophecy points clearly to our generation.

I believe, along with many eminent Bible scholars, that Isaiah’s prophecy points to the last days. By that, I mean our present time. In short, sudden judgment is coming, and Scripture strongly indicates it is now at the door.

At this point you may be wondering: “How can we be sure we’re the generation this prophecy points to?” We can know by two reasons that such judgments are imminent:

1.A growing number of prophets warn of an apocalyptic disaster at the door. When I use the word “prophets,” I speak not just of those in the church. I’m talking also about “secular prophets.”

There are several precedents for secular prophets in Scripture. God used Assyria as his rod of correction with Israel. And he appointed King Cyrus as his servant to assist Israel: “(The Lord) saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure” (Isaiah 44:28).

Likewise today, God uses secular prophets to send warnings. These become “his prophets” for a season. And their prophecies can be harder than those delivered by believers. The message I’m writing here is mild compared to the prophecies being delivered by all manner of secular voices. Just check your newspaper or radio reports.

“Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7).

2.Sudden destruction comes when the cup of violence overflows. Sensuality, perversion and greed are running rampant throughout our society. Yet, when God sent the Flood upon the earth, it was because of a worldwide eruption of violence: “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence” (Genesis 6:11).

Right now, there are numerous wars and bloody uprisings taking place around the globe. Yet foremost in my mind is the violence being waged against children worldwide:

• I think of the sexual violence of pedophiles. Children all over the world are being raped, kidnapped and forced into enslavement in the global sex trade. Recently, a pedophile in the U.S. was discovered running a web site that advises other pedophiles on the easiest places to pick up children. There is no law in place to stop this man. The world’s largest church denomination has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to settle the claims of those who were molested in childhood by clergy. Tell me, how long will God endure the pitiful cries of children who are molested by those who would represent Christ?
• Thousands of children in Africa are being slaughtered in tribal wars, hacked to death by machetes. Young boys — even those under ten years of age — are enlisted into tribal militias and forced to murder men in initiation rites.
• Here in the U.S., the blood of millions of aborted babies cries out from the ground.
• Reports of school murders no longer shock many of us but continue to terrorize our children. We may grow hardened to such reports, but God’s heart is grieved by them.

I tell you, there is no worse violence than the brutalizing of children. Heaven is crying out, “Woe, woe! Your judgments have no cure.”1. In one hour, God is going to change the whole world.

A sudden cataclysmic event will strike, the first of the final judgments of God. This great event will cause the earth to reel. And Isaiah says that when it hits, there will be no place to escape: “The lofty [proud] city, he layeth it low…even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust” (Isaiah 26:5). “The inhabitants of the earth are burned” (24:6).

Once this happens, utter chaos will erupt. All civic activities will stop, and society will descend into massive disorder. Government agencies will be helpless to restore any kind of sanity. No state troopers, no national guard, no army will be able to bring order to the upheaval.

You well remember that when the Twin Towers were destroyed, help poured into New York from all over the world. An army of people came to assist in whatever way they could. But the scene in Isaiah’s prophecy is different: this calamity is clearly beyond humankind’s capacity to respond.

Once this judgment strikes, it will devastate the economy. Rich merchants will stand by watching in torment, weeping and mourning, as they face bankruptcy. In an instant, all the wealth they amassed will be reduced to nothing. John describes the scene: “The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city… For in one hour so great riches is come to nought” (Revelation 18:15–17).

Overnight, all buying and selling will cease. Every restaurant and bar will be shut down, and all drinking and music making will end. Indeed, every trace of mirth and delight, joy and gladness, will vanish: “All the merryhearted do sigh. The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth. They shall not drink wine with a song…. The mirth of the land is gone” (Isaiah 24:7–9, 11).

Yes, this is a picture of gloom and doom. But it is not my prophecy. This word was given by the Holy Spirit of Almighty God, to be delivered by his righteous prophet Isaiah. Even the secular world is preparing for it to happen. Billions are being spent on homeland security in the U.S., England, Europe and Israel. Why? Military experts warn that a world-impacting terrorist attack is sure to come.

You may ask: “Why would the whole world change, if a nuclear attack occurs in just one city?” It will happen because of the fear of retaliation. If a rogue nation sends such an attack, you can be sure that within hours that nation will be wiped out. Consider the plan Israel has in place, known as the Samson Option. The moment a nuclear warhead is launched against them, within moments Israel will unleash nuclear missiles to devastate the capital cities of all enemy states.

The world has become a ticking bomb, and time is quickly running out.2. In one hour, God is going to change the church.

This hour of devastation will suddenly change churches, whether they are alive or dead. Isaiah writes, “There shall be the shaking as of an olive tree” (Isaiah 24:13). The image is of God shaking an olive tree after it has been picked of fruit. In short, he’s going to shake everything that can be shaken, sparing nothing. It will be a time of cataclysmic destruction and overwhelming darkness.

So, you ask, “What about God’s people in the midst of all this? What will happen to the church?” Isaiah gives us an incredible word about what will happen with believers.

In the midst of the terrible shaking, a song will be heard, and its sound will grow steadily stronger. Suddenly, in that darkest of hours, a worldwide chorus of voices will sing praises to the majesty of God: “They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the Lord, they shall cry aloud from the sea” (24:14).

Do you get the picture? There will be panic everywhere. Men’s hearts will fail them for fear, as fires belch smoke seen for hundreds of miles. Disorder and chaos will reign on all sides. Yet amid the devastating fires and calamity, the world will hear a glorious song being sung: “Glorify ye the Lord in the fires, even the name of the Lord God of Israel… From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous [One]” (Isaiah 24:15–16).

A holy remnant is going to awaken, and a song will be born in the fire. Instead of panicking, the people of God will be praising his awesome majesty. Imagine it: in the darkest hour of all time, a collective voice will rise by the millions out of every nation, not in fear or agony, but in joyful praise to the Lord.

How will this happen, you ask? In one hour, God is going to regenerate and restore his church. Dry bones will shake and rattle, and the righteous will be awakened, as the Holy Spirit calls multitudes of lukewarm believers back to their first love. In his mercy, he’s going to rouse those who have neglected him, ignoring his Word, avoiding prayer, perhaps even contemplating divorce. Suddenly, their souls will be flooded with pangs of remorse and godly sorrow. And many will fall on their knees, crying out in repentance.

There will be a revival of glorifying God’s majesty. And the song of this revival will be heard from the uttermost parts of the earth. East, west, north and south — from Arab lands to China, Indonesia, Africa and all parts of the earth — a glorious song will rise up from the midst of the fires. In one day’s time, those who survived the fires are going to be singing a new song throughout the world.Isaiah 25 tells us wonderful miracles will come in this time, as “God makes all things new.”

All around the world, the Lord’s people are going to “feast” on his Word: “In this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined” (Isaiah 25:6).

“And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations” (25:7). Right now, in this time of prosperity, the world’s masses seem to be covered with a veil, unable to see the truth of Jesus Christ. But when God rises up to shake the world through judgment, the shrouds covering the minds of billions will be cast aside. The veil of darkness will be removed, and many will see the Lord in his glory. The Holy Spirit won’t force Christ upon these opened eyes and hearts; rather, a remnant is going to rise up from among them.

I believe the darkest shroud-coverings today are over the eyes and hearts of youth worldwide. This is especially true of college-age students, whose faith has been bombarded for up to four years. Over that time their minds have been indoctrinated by godless professors in classrooms where belief is attacked, mocked and scorned. Now these young men’s and women’s faith has been shipwrecked. They leave college convinced God is dead.

But in one hour of devastation — nuclear, economic and social — all such hypocritical veils are going to fall away. Those same professors who mocked them will realize, as they face the possibility of death, a choice must be made: “What about eternity? Is there life after death?” They’re going to look for someone to explain to them all that’s happening.

When the song is sung, it’s going to be heard by young people from every walk of life, from every nation under the sun. Many will harden their hearts and curse God at the sound of this song, but multitudes of others will join in singing of his majesty.3. In one hour, God is going to change us as individuals.

In a single hour, the focus of our lives will be changed. We’ll no longer obsess about our own adversities and troubles. Suddenly, so many things that we held dear will no longer be of any value to us. Why? In that hour, everyone will be in the same boat:

“It shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him” (Isaiah 24:2).

The sudden judgment that comes will not be a respecter of anyone. Rather, it is going to touch all who are within the realm of its fury. Presidents, kings, the world’s richest and most famous — all will tremble just like the poorest of the earth. And this cataclysmic event will bring to naught every idol, purging iniquity and tearing down all false altars:

“By this [the calamity] therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin; when he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder, the groves and images shall not stand up [be left standing]” (Isaiah 27:9).

The world’s most prominent idol is money, and right now America is facing a monstrous financial disaster. Investors are scrambling to move their money out of high-risk funds, and mortgage companies are going bankrupt. One recent financial headline read, “Abandon Ship!” Everyone is selling and nobody is buying. Many households are in a panic, as overnight their lives are changing. I think of the president of a multi-billion-dollar hedge fund, who recently put up for sale his 142-foot yacht and his sixteen-bedroom mansion in Aspen, Colorado. His fund had dried up virtually overnight.

The day is coming when sports will be the last thing on people’s minds. I have nothing against sports, but soon there will be no more 250-million-dollar deals for athletes, when so much of the world is starving. All idols will come crashing down, crushed to dust, and the playing field will be leveled. The richest and the poorest alike will face the same conditions.

It will all happen within a day. “When they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3).Why such apocalyptic warnings?

You may wonder: what good can come of these prophetic messages? Why should anyone have to live under such anxiety?

I remind you, Jesus warned Jerusalem of sudden devastation to come upon that city. It was going to be burned to the ground, with over a million people murdered. Christ explained his warning: “I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe” (John 14:29). He was saying, in essence, “When it happens, you’ll know there is a God who loves you and forewarned you.”

Paul calls such warnings “light,” insights that expel darkness. He says, in short: “You are children of light, because you know what’s coming in the future. So, when destruction comes, and there’s panic all around, you will have the calm of the Holy Spirit. Something will quicken inside you, and you’ll remember, ‘God warned me.’ This prophecy isn’t a message of wrath to God’s people, but a wakeup call to begin preparing.”

“God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him” (1 Thessalonians 5:9–10). Paul is speaking here of a time of possible destruction. Therefore, he says, “Comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do” (5:11).

In this day of prosperity, nobody wants to hear a message like Isaiah’s. I certainly don’t want to hear it. But we cannot ignore it, because it is here at our door. In such times, Paul says, when we have knowledge that sudden destruction is coming, we are not to tremble or sorrow as the world does. Instead, we are to comfort one another in faith, knowing that God rules over every aspect of our lives.

“Be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation” (5:8). Paul instructs, “Arm yourself with faith. Build up your belief now, before the day comes. Learn your song, and you’ll be able to sing it in your fire.” “Glorify ye the Lord in the fires, even the name of the Lord God of Israel” (Isaiah 24:15).

This is the hope of our most holy faith: our Lord causes a song to come out of the darkest of times. Start now to build up your holy faith in him, and learn to praise his majesty quietly in your heart. When you sing your song, it will strengthen and encourage your brothers and sisters. And it will testify to the world: “Our Lord reigns over the Flood!” ■

Preparing for the end of civilization or the world is serious business.

Whether it’s a zombie apocalypse, an economic collapse, or a natural disaster, you must be ready when the time comes to survive the event. Let people make fun of you and call you a doomsday prepper, but be proud of that title. The hecklers won’t be laughing when society falls and they’re not prepared.

What Disasters Can Heavily Impact Society?

There are a variety of disasters that can cause terrible damage and break down the distribution of community resources, wreak havoc on commerce, and crush society. World history records disasters in the past and shows us where we went wrong. Don’t think these events can’t happen again. They can and they will.

Earthquakes strike with no warning and, even though we prepare for hurricanes, the devastation can be catastrophic. All we need to do is look back at Hurricane Katrina to see this. There are also volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, flash flooding, tornadoes, and more.

Economic disasters cripple the economy. The most severe financial crises in the world include:

• 1772’s Credit Crisis in Europe
• The Great Depression 1929-1939
• The OPEC Oil Price Shock –1973
• The Asian Crisis –1997
• The Financial Crisis of 2007-2008

These economic disasters brought down some of the largest companies and banks in the world. The International Money Fund stepped in to develop bailout packages to help some countries avoid default.

The zombie apocalypse speaks for itself. Then there’s the nuclear holocaust and an asteroid strike—although we’re not sure any supplies can save you from an asteroid strike.

Survival Gear and Supplies Needed to Survive Disasters

To survive a disaster, you’ll need reliable survival gear and plenty of necessary supplies. Here are the main supplies and gear essentials that will keep you out of ration lines and increase the odds of your survival. Experts recommend stockpiling at least a 30-day supply of essentials for disasters of epic proportions.

Water

Water should be the number one priority on your list of survival supplies. You can go about two weeks without food but only 72 hours without water. The key here is drinkable water. Each person requires approximately one gallon of water each day, so, for a family of three, that’s 90 gallons of water.

There are short-term solutions, such as water bricks. They take up less space than other containers. You can also use a 50-gallon drum, as long as it’s for food. Don’t just purchase gallon water jugs and put them in your basement or garage. Over time, chemicals in the plastic leach into the water, contaminating it. Always look for food-grade plastics to store food or water in.

You don’t know what will be polluting your water supply. Keep bleach on hand because one gallon of bleach can cleanse about 3,000 gallons of water. It eliminates things such as pathogens, parasites, and bacteria from water, but not oils, poisonous substances, sewage, or chemicals. You can also purchase water filters, disinfecting tablets, and other methods to purify water. Boiling water also kills parasites, pathogens, and bacteria.

There are other long-term solutions to your water problem. You can set up a rainwater catchment system quite simply with a rain barrel.

Food

A 30-day supply of food is a lot to store at once, so you may need to stockpile food over time. Five-gallon buckets with gasket lids are excellent for storing dry, staple, and bulk foods. You can also purchase mylar bags for food storage. Just make sure that you get oxygen absorbers to drop in them before sealing them up.

Bulk, staples, and dry foods to store include:

• Sugar
• Honey
• Salt
• Legumes/beans
• Rice
• Wheat
• Oats
• Flour
• Powdered milk
• Pasta
• Powdered cheese
• Canned cheese
• Canned butter
• Energy/power bars
• Peanut butter
• Coconut oil
• Freeze-dried foods for variety
• Baking soda/powder
• Tea
• Coffee
• Cornstarch
• Soy sauce
• Spices
• Apple cider and white vinegar
• Canned food

You’ll also need things to cook with and some other necessary items for food preparation, such as:

• Can opener
• Paper cups, plates, utensils, and towels
• Cast iron cookware
• Camping stove or wood-burning stove
• Solar oven
• Pet food

Medical Supplies

Medical supplies are also critical for survival, especially when no more community resources or stores exist. Keep in mind your family’s special needs when storing medical supplies. There are some basic supplies that you’ll want to keep on hand:

• Band-Aids
• Hydrogen peroxide
• An antibacterial ointment such as Neosporin
• Steristrips or butterfly bandages
• Tape, pad, and burn gel
• Duoderm
• Rolled gauze
• ACE bandages
• Material for splinting
• Shears/scissors
• Blister treatment
• N95 masks
• Alcohol pads
• Surgical gloves, preferably Nitrile
• Aspirin/Tylenol
• Snakebite kit
• Mercury-free thermometer
• Vaseline
• Benadryl
• Needles/sutures
• Hand sanitizer
• Tweezers
• Syringes
• Quikclot
• Q-tips
• Chapstick
• Insect repellent
• Antibiotics
• Prescriptions/vitamins
• Potassium/iodide tablets for radiation poisoning
• Sunblock
• First aid manuals

Security

You’ll need to protect your family and property if things really go south. People may know that you stockpile supplies and, in desperation, they may try to hurt you or your family or break in to gain access to those supplies.

Purchase a handgun and a shotgun if you don’t already have one. Shotguns can be quite intimidating when you rack the slide. That sound makes people stop in their tracks. You may want to add a rifle to your collection. If the end truly is near, hunting for food may become a necessity. Don’t forget to stockpile extra ammunition.

You’ll need a knife for various reasons—perhaps for protection or for processing the animals you hunt. Good tactical equipment can also give you the advantage when the end is here.

Here’s another tip: Get to know your neighbors. If there is complete anarchy, your neighbors will be your closest enemies or friends. Get them into prepping for the end of the world and develop a plan for keeping your neighborhood and family safe.

Regardless of what others think, prepare for the worst but hope for the best—that’s an excellent motto to live by. If you prepare and nothing happens, then that’s okay, but if something happens and you’re not prepared, it’s too late. Stock up on important items such as medical supplies, food, and water. Create a defense plan with neighbors and stock up on ammo for your guns. Preparing in advance increases your chances for survival during whatever natural disaster or apocalypse occurs.

Forward thinkers are always ostracized. It has been that way throughout history. Preppers are no different. We just ought to be thankful we are not living in the time of Socrates, or else we would be lining up for the hemlock.

From large scale civil unrest to the one of an EMP generated by the sun, it’s clear that preppers have been way ahead of their time. These topics were once deemed “paranoid”, or “delusional” but all of the sudden names in pop culture and even world governments are paying attention to these types of threats.

One such threat seems to be leading the pack and has shown up in many recent government reports. FEMA in particular seems to be concerned about the threat of a geomagnetic storm that would emanate from the sun and cause massive power outages across the planet.

A once classified FEMA report has surfaced and goes in depth on the level of preparations and concern that they have for a storm of this magnitude.

Understanding Reports and Unpublished Documents

The government buys ammo, writes and drafts lots of reports and documents that never really see the light of day. Now, we must be smart about that bit of information.

It’s important to take a look at these for what they are. There is a lot of research and science that goes into creating these drafts and reports. They are not a bunch of made up steps and stats.

However, some of these reports are also never going to be acted upon. That means, though the report may contain some very effective information, it’s not going to affect law or protocol in any way.

To be completely clear, what we have here is an unpublished document that was written by FEMA. It contains some very important information that confirms the government’s understanding of the EMP threat posed by our own sun.

The title of this unpublished report is very telling.

Mitigation Strategies for FEMA Command, Control and Communications During and After a Solar Superstorm

FEMA and NOAA’s Geomagnetic Storm Timeline

There are many takeaways from this classified FEMA report, but the geomagnetic storm timeline is the core of this document. This timeline shows that this report was put together with a tremendous amount of research and a focus on following the solar superstorm, from its start as a sunspot all the way crashing into the earth’s atmosphere.

G Minus 5 Days

This is the first spotting of the large sunspot on the surface of the sun. The focus is on large, complex magnetic fields on the surface of the sun. From this point we would have a 5 day window to prepare, but it would be very hard to determine the threat at this point.

G Minus 17 Hours

At the launching of a massive CME we are left with just 17 hours to prepare. Radio, radiation storms and geomagnetic storm warnings and watches are also issued at this point.

G Minus 16 hours 40 minutes

The solar radiation storm arrives at this time and we lose 15% of our satellite fleet due to solar panel damage. There could be greater loss and efficacy issues with GPS.

We would have about 20 minutes notice before this happened. “We” doesn’t necessarily mean you and I would hear anything.

G Minus 15 minutes

CME arrives at the NASA ACE Satellite.

There is no going back from this point. This is basically the point when we have an EMP on our planetary doorstep.

0 Hour

Services Interrupted

At the heart of the EMP fear is the loss of services. We all know that once shipping stops things get ugly fast. When the food and medicine are no longer being shuttled around the nation, people get hungry and desperate.

Water systems will also be affected by an EMP. Much of the process that cleans your water is governed by computers and machine systems. Those go away, too!

In this report they discussed something that was very interesting in terms of communications and infrastructure. It is called the “Cascading Loss of Last Mile Telecommunications over Time”. It’s a terrifying look at how over the span of 8 days all communications will fall, starting with communications from home telecom lines.

The diagram below offers up a telling scenario where this cascading loss takes its grip starting at the residential level and working its way through to the Central Office.EMP Recovery

The infrastructure needed to tackle EMP recovery is expensive and hard to make. That’s the deal. We are talking about things like oil cooled transformers that are 60,000 a piece and require special equipment to move around.

Special equipment that will likely not be EMP proof!

Recovery from an EMP is something of a pipe dream if we are honest and if the whole nation is affected. Maybe the military could bring up sections of the grid at a time, or maybe not. However, it really is more of a countdown on human life.

The survival of our society will depend on how many people die in the time it takes to recover from that EMP.

What to Make of all This Reporting?

There are two big takeaways from all these documents coming to light, research being done and even Donald Trump bringing the threat of an EMP to the forefront.

#1. People are Paying Attention

While we can all agree that our bloated government is full of people looking for a way to bide their time and get another day closer to pension, this keeps coming up. Grid down situations are a concern in the halls of government. I don’t think we can deny that.

Even the most cynical of us must agree that without electricity it gets much harder to collect taxes.

How far they will go to take action against an EMP threat is another thing entirely. However, we also have to be honest about our responsibility in this.

We the people cannot bray about small government all day and then complain that they aren’t 100% prepared to assist the public following a total grid down situation.

#2. A Prepper’s Responsibility

The second and more important takeaway from this report is that we have a responsibility to prepare and get as many others prepared as possible.

A widespread grid down situation is going to kill anyone who is not prepared for it. It’s even going to kill tons of people who are prepared for it. Now is the time to take action and make your action known. I really believe that us, preppers, can influence the world positively.

People might seem put off by the message but, trust me, they go home, and they think about putting up their own food and being ready for when disaster strikes.

Although some survival supplies can be pretty expensive, most of the things people will need after the SHTF are dirt cheap. For example, right now toilet paper costs less than a dollar per roll. But when the store shelves are bare, most people will trade a lot for a single roll of toilet paper. And that’s just the beginning.

When you think about disaster preparedness, keep in mind that a lot of cheap stuff we take for granted will be extremely valuable after SHTF. This is the stuff you want to stock up on now. Not only will you need it for yourself and your family, but you may also need it for bartering.

Here are just 50 examples of cheap items you’ll want to stock up on while they’re still available. I’m sure there are plenty more, so if you think of any, be sure to leave a comment below. Now on to the list…

1. Activated Charcoal

Activated charcoal is a cheap yet potentially life-saving item that many people overlook. It helps treat poisonings, purifies water, and relieves gas and bloating.

2. Aluminum Foil

Aluminum foil has dozens of uses. Buy lots so you can use it for cooking, cleaning, gardening, fire making, and many other things.

3. Ammunition

Ammunition is fairly inexpensive, depending on which caliber you get. However, the price could skyrocket if Democrats take power in the U.S., so get it while you can.

4. Baking Soda

Baking soda isn’t just for baking. You can use it for many things such as cleaning, deodorizing, brushing your teeth, and more.

5. Bandages

Bandages are only a few bucks for dozens of them. Buy a lot so you can treat minor wounds, which will become very common in an SHTF scenario where you’re working outdoors, clearing debris, fixing broken windows, and so forth.

6. Batteries

AA batteries are less than 50 cents each, but during a long-term power outage, they’ll be worth a lot more than that.

7. Can Openers

You can get a simple can opener for just a few dollars. Can you imagine having all that canned food and no can opener?

8. Candles

Candles are fairly cheap and you will be surprised at how many you will go through. Candles can be used in place of flashlights to conserve battery power. And if you know how to make them, you can sell them when they’re no longer available in stores.

9. Candy

Candy will be an excellent way to keep the kids happy and reward them for helping out during hard times. It’s fun for adults, too, and a great way to boost morale when times are tough.

10. ChapStick

Chapstick is more important than many people realize. When you’re outside working in cold or windy weather, your lips will become chapped and it can be very painful. Plus, there are many other uses for it, some of which may surprise you.

11. Cheap Wine

Cheap wine is easy to come by and will store forever. After fighting all day, a nice glass of wine will go a long way toward calming the nerves. It also makes for a great barter item.

12. Cigarettes

Cigarettes may not be healthy, but after the SHTF, they are going to be in very high demand. A single pack could be worth a lot of supplies.

13. Condiments

Condiments like ketchup, mustard, salsa, and Tobasco sauce can sit on the shelf for years without going bad, and they can make an ordinary meal taste a lot better.

14. Condoms

Because having lots of babies after the SHTF is not going to be ideal, and chemical birth control probably won’t be available.

15. Cotton Balls

Cotton balls can be used for cleaning, treating wounds, and protecting the ears when you have to be outside in the bitter cold.

16. Duct Tape

Duct tape has all sorts of uses, from building shelter to treating wounds to fixing just about anything. Be sure to buy several rolls because you’ll need more than you might think.

17. Feminine Products

Feminine products will be in high demand as women get used to a new way of living without the luxury of feminine hygiene products in the stores.

18. Fishing Line

Fishing line isn’t just for fishing. You can use it to hang up items, make a snare trap, and set booby traps around your camp.

19. Glow Sticks

Glow sticks can serve as night lights, trail markers, signals, and more. They are very cheap, but very useful. (Bonus tip: These are really cheap right after Halloween.)

20. Hand Sanitizer

Hand sanitizer will be very useful when water is in short supply and you need to keep your hands clean.

21. Kleenex

People will continue to get colds and have allergy problems after the SHTF, and you don’t want snot everywhere or a raw nose.

22. Lighters

Lighters will obviously be useful in a disaster scenario, and they’re excellent barter items. Buy them in bulk and keep one with you at all times.

23. Lotion

Lotion can help prevent cracked and chafed skin which, for some people, can become a serious problem if left untreated.

24. Matches

Matches can be purchased for just a few dollars. Store hundreds or thousands if you can. Without stoves and heaters, you will have a lot of fires to start after the SHTF.

25. Nail Polish

You might be surprised how many survival uses there are for nail polish.

26. OTC Medications

OTC medications like aspirin, ibuprofen, and acetaminophen do expire eventually, but the first few years of a post-apocalyptic world will be a lot easier if you have them.

27. Paper Clips

Paper clips aren’t just for clipping papers together. You can use them to fix things, make a compass, make fishing hooks.

28. Paper Plates

In a disaster scenario, you might not have running water. If that happens, you won’t want to waste a single drop of your stored water. By using paper plates, you won’t have to waste water on washing dishes.

29. Paper Towels

You probably use these every day, and I guarantee you’ll still be using them every day after the SHTF.

30. Pens, Pencils, and Paper

Pens, pencils, and paper can provide entertainment as well as a way to send information and document your new way of life. In fact, if it’s the end of the world as we know it, you should definitely keep a journal. Not only will it be valuable to future generations, but it will also be therapeutic.

31. Plastic Sheeting

You’ll need this to cover broken windows, repair roof leaks, and setting up a medical quarantine.

32. Ponchos

Ponchos can be picked up at any dollar store. You can’t afford to get wet when it’s cold out.

33. Rubber Bands

These cost next to nothing, but there are at least a couple dozen uses for them, especially when it comes to organization.

34. Rubbing Alcohol

This is one of the things that disappeared from the shelves right after the pandemic began. Why? Because you can use it to make hand sanitizer. It’s also important for disinfecting in first aid situations.

35. Salt

Salt makes food edible and can be used for cleaning, de-icing in the winter, repelling pests that are invading your camp, and many other things.

36. Seeds

Seeds to grow a garden will be crucial to creating a sustainable life. Store a large variety of heirloom seeds so you’ll also have seeds for next season and so on.

37. Sewing Supplies

Sewing supplies will be needed to mend your clothing when you can no longer stop by Walmart any time you need new clothes.

38. Shoestrings

Shoestrings aren’t just for keeping your shoes on. They can be used as cordage for all sorts of things, from setting traps to building shelter.

39. Soap

Soap is so cheap today that we tend to take it for granted. But when it’s gone, people will miss it badly. It is crucial to maintaining cleanliness after the SHTF to keep diseases from spreading.

40. Socks

Another simple item that people use every day and tend to take for granted. You don’t want to be stuck wearing wet socks all day. Or worse, no socks.

41. Spices

Spices like basil, cumin, oregano, garlic powder, seasoned salt, and the like will turn that bland soup or stew into a delicious meal.

42. Sugar

Sugar makes life better all the way around. You want to enjoy the food you eat; not just eat for survival. I know some people will scoff at this, but morale is very important during a disaster.

43. Sunscreen

Sunscreen is very important and needs to be used to prevent serious sunburns that can leave you dehydrated or suffering from heat exhaustion.

44. Super Glue

I can’t overstate how useful this stuff can be for fixing gear or repairing everyday items.

45. Toilet Paper

Toilet paper is pretty self-explanatory unless you are fond of leaves and what-not. If you can’t find any.

46. Toothbrushes and Toothpaste

Toothbrushes and toothpaste should be stored in bulk. Good oral hygiene will be incredibly important when there are no dentists around. You don’t want a bad toothache when that happens. In fact, you may want to put together an emergency dental kit.

47. Towels

Towels can be picked up at yard sales and thrift stores. Use them as intended, to make slings, to blackout your windows, to seal up a drafty door, and more.

48. Vitamins

Vitamins will help keep your immune system strong, which will be crucial when you’re living through the stress of a disaster scenario. Remember, most survival food isn’t very high in vitamins, and your body desperately needs vitamins to stay healthy. Especially Vitamin C.

49. Zip Ties

Zip ties are versatile and extremely useful for putting up a quick shelter, holding a door closed, fixing small things around the house.

50. Ziploc Bags

Ziploc bags will be helpful to store leftover bread and other treats you make, or for keeping socks, tinder, small electronics, and other things dry.

Conclusion

Next time you visit the dollar store, take a walk down each aisle and start stocking up on all the little things that will make life easier after the SHTF.

Hacktivist group Anonymous has released a chilling new video – urging people around the world to prepare for World War 3 – warning that the US is maneuvering its military for battle.

“All the signs of a looming war on the Korean peninsula are surfacing,” the group claimed in a six-minute clip, posted on YouTube over the weekend.

“Unlike previous world wars, although there will be ground troops the battle is likely to be fierce, brutal and quick. It will also be globally devastating on environmental and economical levels,” Anonymous warn.

Thefreethoughtproject.com reports: For more than a decade, North Korea has been unsuccessfully attempting to prove its military might to the world through a series of failed missile launches, nuclear proliferation, and threats to anyone who attempts to come near their border. And for more than half a century, the US has enabled it. In spite of threatening nuclear war on the world, most countries have never acted. However, the Trump administration appears to want to change that.

As the Free Thought Project has faithfully reported, tensions between the US and North Korea continue to rise — almost intentionally — as the US rattles the saber at the crazy Kim Jong-Un.

Just last week, North Korea, feeling pressure of encroaching American and allied vessels, threatened to make a ghost ship of a U.S. nuclear submarine.

“The moment the USS Michigan tries to budge even a little, it will be doomed to face the miserable fate of becoming an underwater ghost without being able to come to the surface,” railed propagandic North Korean outlet, Uriminzokkiri, quoted by the Independent.

“Watching as each country moves strategic pieces into place,” Anonymous notes, in their signature distorted robotic voice behind the Guy Fawkes mask. “But unlike past world wars, although there will be ground troops, the battle is likely to be fierce, brutal and quick. It will also be globally devastating, both on environmental and economical levels.”

The very real threat of nuclear war would most assuredly be devastating on all levels.

Instead of attempting to achieve peace, the US is responding in kind with intercontinental ballistic missile tests of their own.

To show Kim Jong Un that launching test missiles won’t be tolerated, the United States, last week, launched an unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) from a US Air Force base in California — just seven days after a previous launch.

“This is a real war with real global consequences,” Anonymous explains. “With three superpowers drawn into the mix, other nations will be coerced into choosing sides, so what do the chess pieces look like so far?”

“The citizen will be the last to know, so it is important to understand what the other nations are doing,” the group stated.

“The pragmatic Chinese, it seems, are starting to lose their patience.”

The Chinese do appear to be making moves for a potential conflict.

Last month, China’s Foreign Minister warned that an armed conflict with North Korea may break out “at any moment,” urging Washington and Pyongyang to tone down their hawkish rhetoric and realize the price to pay for both sides if a new Korean War were to start.

Shortly after the warning, China issued a notice to its citizens telling them to leave North Korea at once.

Anonymous also points out that war is likely imminent due to President Donald Trump meeting with the murderous president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte.

Duterte, who compares himself to Hitler and publicly calls for the extrajudicial murder of his own citizens for using drugs, was invited to the White House by Trump.

“When President Trump starts reaching out to those like President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines to assure they are on the same page, one must start to wonder,” Anonymous says in the video. “However, even Duterte has advised the US to back away from Kim Jong Un.”

“Prepare for what comes next,” warns Anonymous.

“We are Anonymous.
We are Legion.
We do not forgive.
We do not forget.”

https://youtu.be/GfOC2nz5Nmc

With all the talk about the risk for civil war in America — and the new Nancy Pelosi push for impeachment that will drive America into more conflict — it’s crucial to realize how your proximity to left-wing population density hubs will largely determine your fate.

Over the last several months, I’ve been asking many of my best contacts what they think about the risk of civil war and what such a conflict would actually look like. These contacts include former military intelligence, special forces and law enforcement. They all agree that several upcoming events could trigger a rampage by the increasingly hysterical Leftists, including if Trump wins re-election in 2020, or if Ruth Bader Ginsberg passes away, giving Trump the opportunity to nominate another U.S. Supreme Court Justice.

There’s also the increasing risk of systemic financial collapse, which the central banks are desperately trying to stave off through “repo” actions that are just another form of quantitative easing. The writing is on the wall, however: Even the central banks know this is the final blowout chapter in the history of global debt. It’s only a matter of time before the ability to create new money can no longer fund the runaway debt spending of the governments of the world, include the U.S. government.

Practical actions that can help keep you alive

One of my goals in all this is to translate intelligence into practical action that can help keep you safe. When I learn things that might help you survive, or relocate, or defend yourself against what’s coming, I make it a point to share those conclusions publicly. That’s why I routinely talk to so many well-connected individuals who are either former or active military and law enforcement. These people know far more about what’s really going on than you might suspect, and they are almost universally supportive of defending America (and our president) from domestic enemies.

What they’ve recently told me has reshaped some of my own thinking on this subject, and the new analysis they’ve offered seems so important that it just begged for this article to share everything.

Here’s what I learned, in the aggregate, from multiple sources, many of whom have operated inside collapsing, war-torn cities and countries:

• There won’t be a nationwide kinetic civil war fought like America’s first Civil War. Instead, outbreaks of kinetic violence will be very limited to the areas in and around high-density population centers dominated by Leftists (i.e. Antifa and similar left-wing lunatics).
• This means your proximity to left-wing cities largely determines your risk of being caught up in any kind of kinetic engagement. The closer you are to the “zombies,” the worse off you’ll be when it hits the fan.
• At the same time, if you live in rural America, far from left-wing strongholds, your risk of being involved in kinetic engagement is virtually zero, according to my sources. They do not expect any mass exodus from liberal cities, since it is well understood that liberal zombies are incapable of doing anything that requires effort (such as walking a distance, or reading a topo map, etc.).
• Evacuating those cities will be largely impossible. Law enforcement isn’t even planning to try to run such evacuations for the largest cities like Los Angeles. The strategy is to keep people in place and attempt to support them with deliveries of food, water and medical supplies, should circumstances require. In effect, the response strategy will be to quarantine cities that are collapsing, and not risk National Guard troops trying to enter those cities once they’ve passed a certain point of lawlessness. (I was specifically told that the first responders already realize that trying to stop crime is just playing a game of “whack-a-mole” once the crime rate passes a certain point.)
• Ironically, the closer you live to left-wing stronghold cities, the more likely the government has restricted your ability to own firearms and normal-capacity magazines. Thus, the very people who will need firearms the most are being stripped of their Second Amendment rights in advance of the coming chaos. (Hint: Move to somewhere else.)
• When it comes to safety buffer zones from liberal cities, there are three distances that matter. First is the walking distance from your nearest liberal city. In other words, how long would it take the zombies to reach you if they are on foot? 25-50 miles away is generally considered to be sufficiently far away from the majority of walkers, although such distances are considered quite small for military veterans. The second distance to consider is the driving distance, which means how far someone might get on one tank of gas. This is roughly considered to be about 400 miles, although in a collapse scenario, even the zombies won’t have much success driving anywhere since the roads will likely be either jammed up or rigged as ambush points. The distance of 400 miles means there is practically no place along the East Coast that is a safe distance away from a liberal city. You have to head West — into Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Idaho, Wyoming, etc. — to get away from the cities. Along the Left Coast, you of course have to head inland, getting yourself situation in Eastern California, Eastern Oregon or Eastern Washington rather than risking proximity to collapsing cities like Los Angeles, Portland or Seattle.

• By the way, as a relevant side note, when it comes to cross-country fleeing via vehicles, stupid zombie liberals will drive their cars at night with their headlights on and tail lights functioning. Experienced veterans will pull the fuses for all their lights and drive using night vision, which is very dangerous but not as dangerous as running with your headlights at night, right into an ambush.
• If you live far from the liberal “zombie” cities, your biggest issue will be collapsing infrastructure such as grocery deliveries, fuel deliveries, communications infrastructure, medical supplies and possibly regional power grid failures. Thus, the strategy for those who are not in close proximity to liberal cities is to stockpile supplies and prepare to ride out a period of chaos and disruptions. During this chaos, there will of course be local looting and crimes of desperation, but there will not be organized left-wing waves of communist lunatics trying to sweep across the geography.
• This means the survival strategies are very different depending on your proximity to left-wing cities. To summarize, if you’re close to a city, you may be swept up in kinetic engagement initiated by the lunatic Leftists. If you’re in rural areas, your most likely challenge will be surviving disruptions of logistics, deliveries and essential services.
• The biggest gap in the preparedness efforts of most people today is a lack of communications capabilities. Even many preppers don’t have radio skills to monitor frequencies, use repeaters or coordinate community defense or rescue operations when needed. Most people have no idea what frequencies are used by local police and emergency services, and they don’t even have practical radios to communicate with neighbors or family members who may be on patrol around their own property. Even the simple MURS or GMRS radios can be incredibly useful, but acquiring and learning to use radios that can listen to a far large spectrum of frequencies is strongly recommended.
• One website that’s been recommended to me is ForwardObserver.com, which will soon be indexed by Censored.news as well. Forward Observer is written by individuals with impressive real-world skills in intelligence gathering and action responses to incoming intel. The mission statement of this website is, “Deliver high impact intelligence to shape a real-world, ground level understanding of America’s likely tumultuous future.” The site is largely written by U.S. Special Operations and Intelligence personnel, which explains how I came to know about this work (I know the people who know those people, in other words). As you’ll learn on this site, it’s also highly recommended that you acquire detailed topo maps for your local area so that you can navigate streams, roads, railroad tracks, etc., when needed.
• All the standard preps such as food, emergency medicine, water filters, ammo, etc., are obviously needed no matter what happens. But beyond the bullets and band-aids, you need intelligence, communications and ground-level familiarity with your geographic reality if you hope to shore up your community defenses and resilience. We’ve got a decent selection of some preparedness gear at HealthRangerStore.com, including our ever-popular Ranger Buckets which are certified organic, lab-tested storable food pails that come with bonus survival gear items. We can barely keep these in stock, but we’ve recently added more personnel to our operations, so we hope to have more inventory over the next few months. If those are out of stock, we offer an alternative, which is sealed #10 cans packed with a variety of lab-verified freeze-dried fruits, vegetables, miso soup powders, spirulina and more. See the full selection here.
• The goal of rural communities that don’t have to deal with left-wing zombie waves will be to maintain the rule of law, re-establish barter and trade in a safe environment, and keep the roadways safe and usable so that citizens can engage in trade. From this, communities can survive and even thrive.
• As recent attacks in Saudi Arabia revealed, key infrastructure in America are now highly vulnerable to drone attacks. In the United States, this includes power grid substations, oil refineries, communications towers and water delivery facilities. Drones enable an ease of attack that has previously never existed. For example, how hard would it be for domestic terrorists to fly a drone filled with some sort of high potency poison right into the water canals that feed a city like Phoenix or Los Angeles? There are essentially zero defenses against such acts, and similar vulnerabilities exist for power grid substations and power generation stations that feed the power consumption of large cities. Without power, large cities very quickly collapse into chaos.
• If you do not yet own some sort of night vision device such as a PVS-14 (or something better), you are already behind the curve and are hopelessly out-geared from an equipment point of view. Such devices allow you to see the IR designation beams or IR illuminators of organized attackers. They also allow you to see and maneuver in low-light or nearly no-light conditions, especially if you have your own IR illumination device. ReadyMadeResources.com sells numerous night vision devices and is run by very knowledgeable people.

Listen to my full podcast from Brighteon.com for more discussion on these points. Also read Survival.news for daily news focused on survival and preparedness:

Finally, I also strongly recommend you keep up with the articles at TheCommonsenseShow.com which is providing some of the best coverage of the coming collapse. SHTFplan.com is also a solid publisher with excellent coverage. They are indexed with real-time headlines at Censored.news.

As a survivalist and hunter, I go through a good amount of ammunition. This includes both bullets and shotgun shells.

Whether I am out tracking down game or enjoying target practice after a stressful day, there are shell casings left over. With such an abundant resource, I would not be a good prepper and survivalist if I threw them away.

The obvious solution is to reload my own ammunition. While I know how to reload ammo and have the supplies, I simply don’t have time to reload all of it. If times were tougher and I was hunting every day, I would take the time to reload everything.

In the meantime, there are lots of additional ways to repurpose brass casings and plastic shotgun shells.

There are many crafty projects for these leftovers, but I wanted to put together a list of practical uses. Most of these would be ideal for a survival scenario.

Working With Brass Casings

Brass is a fairly soft metal, so it is relatively easy to cut and bend it. You can use it for decorative purposes, but it is more functional in bearings and seals for machinery. It does not spark, so you can use it around volatile substances like gasoline. It melts easily, so you can melt it down to form it into other shapes.

For cutting brass you can use just about any saw or heavy blade. You can use a grinder, a file, or even rub the casing on concrete to sand it down. For a flat piece of brass, you just need to cut off the closed end with the primer. From there you just hammer it flat. You can drill through it with any kind of bit or can even use the point of your knife to punch a hole.

Repurposing Shotgun Shells

Shotgun shells are made of plastic, so they are even easier to cut. Any sharp blade will do. You can cut just above the brass to remove the plastic.

However, the cleanest way to remove the plastic is to heat the brass. If you flip a clothes iron upside down and set the brass portion on top, it will start to heat up. With just a little heat, the plastic will pull free leaving the brass portion separate. Be sure to clean out your shells first so there is no residual left to catch fire.

Here are the functional ways you can reuse your casings and shells:

Emergency Whistle

In a survival scenario, it is vital that you have a way to alert people of your presence. This could be to alert rescuers, or it could be just to communicate with your family.

A good survival whistle is perfect for this.

The sound will cut through the wind better than just yelling, and it won’t wear out your voice.

Long casings for pistols are best, but you can cut the taper off of rifle casings as well.

Cut a notch with the edge closest to the opening perpendicular to the length of the shell. The other side of the notch should be 30 to 45 degrees off parallel. Find a stick that tightly fits inside the casing. Make sure the end of the stick is completely flat. Then shave down the side facing the notch so there is a little gap for air.

When you push in the stick, it should make a whistling sound.

Sinkers For Fishing

It is always nice to have a variety of different weights available to attach to your fishing line.

Brass casings work great for this. Just fill your brass with sand and pound the open end shut.

Cut a hole for your line and you are ready to fish.

Chimes

Larger casings will work better for this project if you want a good amount of volume. These work great for tripwire perimeter alarms or just to let you know when the wind is blowing.

Just cut off the closed end and punch holes to attach strings to each shell. String them up on a frame and you have chimes.

Dog Tags

When I refer to dog tags, I really mean just a metal label. It could be for your pets, to label your keys, or it could be for labelling products in your garage. You just need to cut off the primer end and pound the casing flat. Punch a hole in one side. Then just stamp any info you would like using a normal metal stamp.

Shims

Sometimes you need a spacer or a shim to fill in a small gap on equipment or in the joints of a wooden project. The thin sheets of brass you get from flattening a shell casing is perfect for this job. Just put in as many sheets as you need for the thickness and cut off any excess brass.

Arrowheads

To make arrowheads out of brass casings, start by flattening the casing.

Cut off the end and then pound it flat. Cut out the shape you want remembering to have a good shape to attach the arrowhead to an arrow shaft. Sharpen both edges and you are ready to go hunting.

Seals

If you have a piece of equipment made of a harder metal like steel, it may need a seal to maintain pressure. A soft metal can be cut to shape and installed in the junction to seal and maintain pressure.

Colored Lens For A Flashlight

Having colored light at night can be helpful in a survival scenario.

Red light does not disrupt night vision like white light does. Green light is ideal for hunting hogs at night. Any color can be used to turn your flashlight into a signal.

Just remove the brass from the plastic shell and flatten the plastic with a heat gun. Then cut it to the correct size and attach it to your light.

Drawer Handles

Shotgun shells make good handles as they are brightly colored and easy to grab. For tools or equipment, just add epoxy inside the shell and press the tool or equipment lever into the epoxy.

Let it dry and you are good. For drawer pulls just put a screw in the epoxy with the pointed end facing out.

Bearings

Brass is great for bearings in machinery to prevent metal rubbing on metal. In some cases, you can use the primer end as is. In others it would need to be melted down to cast a bearing.

Buttons

For quick buttons just cut off the primer end of a shotgun shell or brass casing. Then drill holes and you are good to go.

Candles

Shotgun shells are ideal in size and shape for emergency candles. They are small enough to put in your pocket, but large enough to stay lit for an hour or so.

The shell itself keeps the wax from getting all over everything. Just add a wick and some melted wax and let it set up.

Push Pins

If you are planning a foraging grid or a route for bugging out, you will need to mark landmarks on a map.

Push pins are easier to use if they have a shell casing attached. Just find push pins that fit inside the casing and glue them in place. They are less likely to end up in your carpet or your foot that way.

Grommets

Brass Grommets are needed at the corners of tarps and other things to prevent them from fraying when attached to cordage.

You can cut the primer end off of either shotgun shells or brass casings.

Then pop out the primer itself and you have your grommet.

As you can see, there are lots of uses for your discarded brass casings and shotgun shells. You just need to take the initiative to try out a few of these projects. Start collecting all of your casings and shells. When SHTF, you will be ready to use these to their maximum potential.

On October 29, 1929, the US Stock Market crashed, surging the country into what we know as the Great Depression. During the Great Depression, countless jobs were lost, millions lost their incomes, and families started to go hungry. This was during a time when many still lived off their own homestead, and if they didn’t, they needed to start.

Situations got so desperate, hungry people made food out of almost nothing. Canned goods, flour, and eggs from your own chickens were sometimes all that was available, if anything at all. Some only had one meal per day, and went hungry at nighttime. Others ate the same food for days or weeks on end because that’s all that was available to them.

Although this happened over 90 years ago, today we prepare ourselves for all types of worst-case scenarios. We know that, of course, this Depression-era famine will happen again, so here are some recipes that your parents or grandparents made during the Great Depression out of nearly nothing.

By no means you need to follow any of these recipes exactly, just adapt with what you have.

Depression Bread

Firstly, this bread is a huge loaf made from only 4 ingredients, all of which will already be in your food reserve.

Keeping homemade bread on-hand adds to many of the dishes on this list.

Ingredients

• 5 lbs. flour
• 5 tbsp yeast
• 6 tsp salt (optional, if you have it)
• 6 cups warm water, more or less depending on your flour

Instructions

Add flour to a bowl or board and make a well in the flour mound.

Add yeast, salt, and warm water to well and knead into a dough.

Allow to rise for 60 minutes, or until doubled in size.

Add to a baking pan and make 3-4 slits with a knife on the top of the dough.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes until the bread is nicely browned on top.

Chipped Beef On Toast

Secondly, using the bread you just made, slice off some nice thick slices to serve with this dried meat Depression delicacy.

What You’ll Need

• 
• 8 oz. dried beef jerky
• 2 tbsp butter or oil
• 4 tbsp flour
• 4 cups milk
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Sliced homemade bread, for serving

1. Add jerky and oil to a pan over medium heat. Cook until the meat softens, about 3-4 minutes.
2. Stir in your flour and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add milk and bring to a low boil. Allow sauce to thicken for up to 5 minutes.
3. Season with salt and pepper if you have it.
4. Serve over homemade bread, toasted if desired.

Dandelion Salad

This salad can be harvested from your own backyard, just as they did in the 1930’s.

As we know, dandelions are totally edible and delicious, they just require lots of cleaning before eating.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. freshly picked dandelions, cleaned well
• 2 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar
• 2-3 tbsp oil

Guidelines

Head outside and pick the largest, freshest dandelions you can find.

Then, cover the dandelions completely in cold water and rinse 3-4 times.

Using a knife, peel off the darkest outer leaves from the root. Rinse again.

Once clean, either chop or leave whole, depending on your preference.

Add to a large bowl and season with vinegar and oil. Serve immediately.

Baked Beans

Beans are cheap, plentiful, and filling.

They were very common in the Depression era, and recently have had a resurgence with the Covid-19 epidemic.

If you do not have every vegetable used, omit without issue.

What It Is Needed

• 1 package soaked dried beans, or 2 cans of beans
• One tomato, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tbsp lard
• Two tbsp molasses
• One cup water
• Instructions

1. Soak your beans, if using dried, overnight and drain the liquid.
2. Prepare your veggies by chopping. Omit any vegetable that you do not have on-hand.
3. Add lard to a stock pot and cook your vegetables until tender.
4. Add the beans, molasses, and water. Cook all together with a lid on for 2-3 hours or until the beans have your desired consistency. Add more water if needed.
5. Serve hot. Leftovers of this dish keep very well and can be eaten many days in a row.

Ash Cakes

Ash cakes got their name because different renditions are cooked in the hot white ash of your campfire. These are only 3 ingredients but are filling and have a great texture.

Ingredients

• ½ cup cornmeal
• 1 cup meat stock or water
• 2 tbsp lard or grease

Instructions

Mix both ingredients together in a bowl and allow to sit overnight to hydrate the cornmeal. Pat into a bread pan and refrigerate or add to your cool storage before allowing to set up.

The next day, slice into 1-inch slices and fry in melted lard. Serve hot and crispy.

Hoover Stew

This stew is an amalgamation of what you currently have in your reserve. This recipe is very easily adaptable to the items you already possess.

Essentials

• 1 box noodles
• A can of tomatoes
• 1 package of hot dogs, or 1 can of sausage or meat
• A can of corn, peas or beans
• 2-4 cups water

Guidelines

Mix all ingredients together in a pot until boiling.

Then simmer for 15-20 minutes until the noodles are tender.

If you have aromatics, onion and garlic would be a great addition.

If not, the recipe is great as is.

Potato Soup

Many of us have potatoes buried in our yards right now, saving them through winter. This is a great way to use up your potato harvest at the end of winter, but you can always use canned potatoes too.

Ingredients

• 4 large potatoes, peeled and sliced (or 2 cans of potatoes)
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• One carrot, sliced
• A can of meat, sausage, or hot dogs (optional)
• 3 cups water or stock
• 3 cups milk
• Any herbs you have on-hand
• Salt to taste

What To Do

Slice all your potatoes, garlic, and carrots. Add to a soup pot with the meat,  water, and milk. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat, keeping the mix at a low simmer.

Then, cook for 30 minutes until all veggies are tender.

Add herbs and salt, if using. Serve hot.

Rice Pudding

And finally, our only Great Depression dessert recipe. There aren’t many comforts during a depression, but at least this rice pudding will bring some familiarity to an undesirable situation.

What It Is Needed For This

• 1 cup rice
• 2 cups milk
• 2 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp honey, maple syrup, or molasses
• Pinch of cinnamon
• 
• Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over low heat, about 20 minutes, stirring frequently.
• Taste for doneness and cook an additional 5 minutes, tasting until desired consistency.
• Serve warm.

Therefore, we may need our parents or grandparents’ Great Depression-era recipes sooner than we think, thanks to the increasing instability brought on by governments and the current pandemic.

Cooking with almost nothing is possible, as the 1930’s and early 1940’s taught us. All of these recipes are easily made with what you should already have in your root cellar and non-perishable reserves. Use your judgement to add or omit any ingredients that suit you.

In conclusion, the next time the economy crashes, which may be sooner than we think, keep prepared with some recipes to keep your family fed and your homestead moving forward.

What would our society be without the thin blue line? There are some people who are pretty interested in finding out. I don’t think they will like the results. If not for this small group of brave people and the silent contract that most of us agree to in following the laws, our nation could never be what it is today.

We would become a destabilized, highly armed, and dangerous populace run by warlords and gangs. None of that is good. I don’t care what you think of the nation we have inherited.

What about those imposters out there who pose as law enforcement? This is extremely popular in other nations. It’s a great shakedown tactic.

“You gotta pay the bridge fee of $50 to get across this bridge.”

If we see massive civil unrest and a further crumbling of our society there will be many more instances of these fake cops running around taking women and children, stealing money, or even just committing murder.

So, how do you identify fake law enforcement?

At Your Door

What do the police in your area look like? You should know this. When an officer comes to your door simply give them a look before opening the door.

Look at the uniform, badge, numbers and look at the belt to see if they are carrying all the items on the utility belt.

While there are many places selling legitimate police gear these days, you can always tell you are not sure, and you would like them to verify that they are the police. There is almost no reason why a police officer should want to come into your home unless you have given them a reason to.

Another tell is to look for the police cruiser. Is there a legitimate law enforcement vehicle parked outside your home? The police are not going to walk to your home. They will park the car out front before the approach.

Pulling You Over

For most people, getting pulled over is nerve racking. That is part of the issue. You are already excited, and you want to be calm in all of this. This is where an imposter will take advantage of your panic. They can be aggressive and make you do what they want, if you think they are really a cop.

Imagine being loaded into a fake police car. What on earth is coming next?

Take note of the car being used.

Is the car beat up, different than the typical police car? Are the lights different? Is the siren different than anything you have heard?

Take note of all this before pulling over. If you are concerned do not pull over.

There are also some telltale reflective decals on the sides and hood of the police cars. Look for these!

Online

The police are getting savvy online, but it is exceedingly rare that they contact you. Any interaction with police through social media, or something like that, should be verified. Simply call 911 to be sure this is what it should be.

Also, don’t give any of your information to the “officer” online. Do not give any addresses or anything like this.

Reacting To An Imposter

Identifying the imposter is one thing but what happens next is of the utmost importance. If you are quick to grab a firearm it could cost you your life if your imposter turns out to be a real cop! So, we must be smart about the steps we take after a fake police officer is identified.

At Your Door

If you identify a fake police officer at your door there is one thing you should do, immediately.

Get the police on the phone and tell the person at the door that you have 911 on the phone. Ask the operator if they have a police officer at your location. This can be verified pretty easily.

If it is an imposter they will likely run away at this point. If they continue to try and break into your home, at least you know you are dealing with a violent intruder and not a police officer. You can also tell the operator to send police to your location.

Pulling You Over

Again, go back to the 911 operator in a situation like this.

If you are unsure about the car or the person inside you can just keep driving with the 911 operator on the phone. They will be able to verify what is going on with the police car that is tailing you, with the lights on.

Immediately, head towards the nearest police state. This will be a further deterrent to the imposter who is following you.

Online

This is easier because you don’t have to worry as much about immediate violence of action. That is the most terrifying instance. Online you don’t run the risk of arrest or even bodily harm. Still, a clever hacker can take advantage of someone who is intimidated by the presence of law enforcement in the online world.

If you are being questioned online by someone who claims to be law enforcement, simply ask for a few things.

• Department
• Contact Phone Number
• Sheriff or Superior’s Contact Info

You should be able to easily verify whether this is an imposter or not by using this information.

We are living through very strange and dangerous times. The definition of a criminal has been blurred over the last 40 years. This puts the average person at risk. Criminals are better informed and better outfitted these days, too!

To intimidate someone and pose as fake law enforcement would not take a lot of research or effort. It would have much more to do with finding the right kind of victim. Never be the RIGHT KIND OF VICTIM. Know your rights and understand that you can use the steps we mentioned to verify a police officer, in most situations.

If you are dealing with someone impersonating a police officer, it means that your life is potentially at risk. Someone who is willing to do that kind of things understands the risks but looks at the reward as something that is worth the heavy price! Do not take this lightly. As always, you should be prepared to defend yourself but take smart precautions to keep yourself safe.