Author: cityprepping-author

Outline

1. What is a Coup?
2. The Coup When the Current President Loses a Second Term
3. Even if the military stands down… 
4. The Coup When the Current President Wins a Second Term
5. What to Watch for and What to Do

An American President infected with a pandemic-level virus during the final days of a re-election year, double digit polling deficits for the incumbent even according to the most conservative polling from sources such as FoxNews, an election going on right now but already being challenged, a supreme court justice being added during the final days of a campaign year, and doubt being cast on every branch of government.  Fiction writers would have a hard time creatively coming up with the chaos we are seeing in real life today.  Regardless of opinions or political stances, there are only but a few possible outcomes to this presidential election.  In some scenarios Trump wins, in some scenarios he does not, in some scenarios we just don’t clearly know who the winner is.  Perhaps it is the times we live in, but anytime we do a blog looking at our currently politically charged climate, the mere mention of a possible outcome that doesn’t align with my viewer’s desires or the mere mentioning of the name of an opposing candidate, and my comment section and email inbox gets flooded with upset people.  These are the times we live in today.  To be perfectly candid and honest with you, we don’t care what political party you’re a part of or if you aren’t even part of a political party.  What we care about when we do a current happenings video, like this one, is assessing the possible outcomes even if they differ from what ourselves or our community would want.  As preppers we have to prepare for any possible outcome so we’re not caught off guard.  We are currently trying to prepare ourselves and our family for multiple potential outcomes, one of those possibilities being a coup d’Etat. In this blog, we’ll look at how possible a coup may actually occur in our country, and how it could arise out of a Trump win, loss, or a contested election.  What would that look like in America and what should you watch for and prepare for?

So what is a Coup?

There are many different types of coups, and full-blown military coups against democratically elected leaders rarely end well for democracies or constitutional republics.  Typically, when we hear the term coup it is applied to third world countries.  There are many types of coups.  Regime change coups—or coups de regime—alter the “rules of the game” and identity of the entire ruling group. Leader reshuffling coups—or coups de chef—only alter the identity of the top leader, without making fundamental changes to political institutions. According to the Colpus Dataset which seeks to track all coup attempts since 1946, “A coup d ́etat occurs whenever the incumbent ruling regime or regime leader is ousted from power (or a presumptive regime leader is prevented from taking power) as a result of concrete, observable, and unconstitutional actions by one or more civilian members of the incumbent ruling regime and/or one or more members of the military or security apparatus.” In other words, a military coup may target leader entry, not just a leader exit. For example, even if a leader does not exit due to a military coup, a new leader may still enter due to one, if the military preempts the constitutional or “regular” succession procedures. This means that “coups by invitation” in which the incumbent regime leader is complicit in their own removal by the military to prevent the presumptive regime leader from taking office qualifies as a coup event. As we have outlined in other blogs on this website, there’s a finite range of possibilities from this election ranging from a Trump or Biden landslide, to a close call, to a fully contested constitutional crisis.  Any constitutional crisis could end up with various branches arguing over who has the ultimate voice and determination of the leader of the United States.  In this case, the military, guard, or other federal or state protective forces may feel compelled to or be directed to maintain the peace.  Any martial law is not without also serving some political agenda, and when the military is politicized the populace can become even further agitated.  The type of coup you had really is determined by the historians many years after it has occurred.  The fact is that even the most seemingly stable of governments is susceptible to military forces being used to maintain or to change regime leadership; and that fact requires us to look to preparing ourselves.

A Coup If the Current President Wins a Second Term

If Trump wins in a landslide but the populace revolts, what is called a “non-military coup attempt” occurs.  In this scenario, the president and military would be pressed into fighting against citizens to maintain established leadership and order.  How that is implemented, could lead to an increase in violent altercations, and it is here where you could be most affected as violence spills over into your city, community, or neighborhood.  Places like Portland have often been seen as hotspots where this has nearly happened. If the win isn’t a landslide but has some doubts cast upon its legitimacy, states could seek to distance themselves from federal authority until a clearer confirmation and endorsement of election results and the office of president occurs.  That could result in the current president viewing this as an act of succession and could bring military forces in direct conflict with the populace or state guard units. That, too, could bring armed conflict to your city, community, or neighborhood. The president has an obligation to keep the states united and uphold the constitution.  He would be compelled to utilize all forces at his disposal, including the military, to suppress insurrection.  The continued fragmentation and division of the United States could exponentially increase after November third.  

The Coup If the Current President Loses a Second Term

If this year has taught us anything, it is that anything is possible.  If Donald Trump were to lose or be perceived to have lost in this election by a majority, and if he chooses to contest the election results and not leave office at the expiration of his constitutional term, the United States military would be compelled to remove him by force.  In our country, though, the military shouldn’t save us, and it creates an organizational nightmare that completely breaks down the chain of command.  The military as the primary tool of politics undermines the American trust in the military.  Activating the military on the nation’s borders or deploying them to solve domestic political disputes like crowd control, already undermines the character of our military and the pride we have in it as a force that sacrifices themselves for the country.  That is a dangerous precipice to cross, however, and the more we turn to the military to solve those disputes, the less we’ll really be America.  An overt coup requires the buy-in of at least a few of the general military leadership. Anyone familiar with the Oath of Enlistment knows that those in the military pledge to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”  The enlisted pledge to “obey the orders of the president of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over” them.  These are also in accordance with the “regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice.”  Failure to obey a military order has grave consequences; however, the Uniform Code of Military Justice is determined by the Commander in Chief and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  With the Commander in Chief in question, some responsibility falls on the soldier, in the heat of a brewing conflict, to determine whether his order is lawful.  That’s not a situation you or that soldier wants. So, would the Joint Chiefs sit on the sideline and choose to belay a contested president’s orders until another branch of government, congress or the Supreme Court, definitively ruled on who the president is and whose orders they should be following?  Would any commanding general have the support of those under his command to implement any extreme order against a populace, incumbent president, or a presidential candidates supporting base?  It’s murky at best.

Even if the military stands down… 

Should the two events of a Trump loss and a Trump choosing not to leave the office occur, what would be the Secret Service’s reaction to it?  The Secret Service has been structured under the Department of Homeland Security since March 1st, 2003.  Under HR 5938, former Vice presidents are afforded protection by the Secret Service, and candidates for the highest office in the land are provided the agency’s protection.  So, both Trump and Biden have Secret Service protection which is generally directed by the Department of Homeland Security, a department currently headed by a Trump appointed and acting United States Secretary of Homeland Security.  It’s important to note that the Government Accountability Office has said that both DHS Secretary Wolf and his acting deputy, Cuccinelli, were ineligible to run the agency under the Vacancy Reform Act. It is also important to note that according to reports, there appears to be some increasingly disgruntled current and former agents after the President’s car ride while a patient at Walter Reed, calling the president’s actions “callous” and “reprehensible.”  So, how will Trump loyalists in leadership react with their force who are reported to be increasingly unhappy in the event that the military were to show up at the White House with the intent of removing the president from the offices?  Could an armed conflict ensue?  If the Secret Service is split and unclear as to who the active president could be, and America is engaged in a constitutional crisis in Congress and the Supreme Court to make that decision, could the Joint Chiefs of Staff be forced into the position of making a determination in the interest of keeping the peace.  Were they to do so, some would see that as a clear provocation and a coup d’etat. There are a number of scenarios that open the possibility of some form of coup d’etat, so what should you be looking for and what should you be preparing for?

What to Watch For & What To Do

We become closer to a coup when certain things occur.  First, watch for any absolute declarations of power regardless of what the prevailing opinions or vote counts are.  This may indicate a leader attempting to retain power or fighting against an usurpation of his power.  This could lead to the military being utilized.  So, second, watch for military build ups in your country’s cities, states, or along the commonly travelled highways and byways.  This could be a pre-emptive deployment.  Third, remain vigilantly aware of the barometer in your community.  Are tensions running extremely high?  Are you seeing stressed out people, are you stressed out yourself, are you witnessing shouting matches, altercations, skirmishes with police, or among citizens?  All of these things to watch for can be early indicators of approaching civil disturbances, martial law, or an early warning sign of a coup d’etat. While any American coup d’etat, isn’t likely to be driven by ethnic cleansing, as has been seen in other countries, it isn’t going to occur without bloodshed or the threat of bloodshed.  You need to, first, be aware of this, and second, prepare for it.  Your home, barring immediate and overwhelming external threats, is the safest place you can be.  Your safest first choice is always to hunker down and seek to wait it out.  To do that you need to have your food and water storage topped up to survive a prolonged period in your shelter. Second, even if you are in what you feel is the safest location you have to have an escape route.  Walls fall, security can be compromised, and sometimes your final stand doesn’t have to be your home.  It can be from your bug out location.  Bugging out to a safer location isn’t always an option for some.  If you are part of that category of preppers, you need to go back to plan A and triple check your home is secured and supplied. Third, watch for the breakdown of established structures in little ways.  Even a slight power outage or a blocked freeway can result in supply lines being cut, panic among the people, runs on stores and banks, and more.  The tiniest additional spark or event can trigger exponentially larger breakdowns in the established systems.  Watch for these breakdowns and make decisive decisions about what you need and when is best to lockdown at home. Finally, make friends with your neighbors and expand your network.  Regardless of political views, in a coup d’etat it is really the innocent citizens who are the victims of the leaders’ power struggles.  You will share a mutual contempt for the current state of affairs and a mutual desire to return to whatever normalcy there is to return to.  While you commiserate about these things in casual conversation, get to know your neighbors a little.  How can they benefit you and how can you benefit them?  What are they going to need and what do they seem to have that you might trade for if the situation continues to deteriorate?

Conclusion

Nobody really knows with certainty how calm or violent this election cycle will be.  It behooves us not to dismiss it as everyday.  We are beginning to see signs that it will be anything but smooth.  We are seeing things we haven’t seen to this degree in previous election cycles.  Regardless of who wins the election and who is inaugurated as president of the United States, know that a coup d’etat of some form is possible.  Preparing for one isn’t entirely different than preparing for civil unrest, martial law, or even a natural disaster.  Watch for the warning signs and move decisively as a possible coup approaches.  Prepare your home and your family for the possibility of unrest showing up at your door. As always, stay safe out there.

Outline

1. Locks on Windows 
2. Door Reinforcement Hardware
3. Door Stops, Door Jams, Barricades
4. Home Security System
5. Secure Sliding Glass Doors
6. Door and Window Alarms
7. Lock the Garage Door & Keep Your Clicker
8. Solar Motion Lights
9. Lock Your Electrical Box
10. Home Safe

Almost half of all break-ins are opportunistic.  An open window or garage, an accidentally unlocked door, or a dimly lit window with concealment from prying eyes is all a criminal needs to enter most homes and take what they want.  Sadly, most Americans rely solely on that one flimsy door lock and no window locks for all their security needs.  In some parts of the country, over twenty percent of people don’t even lock their doors, and we all can remember at least once when we forgot too.

Securing your home is the most important and fundamental thing you can do.  It not only keeps your things safe when you are away, but it keeps you safer when you are at home.  A well-secured home can be an oasis of calm when disasters or crime is happening right outside.  In this blog, we’ll take a rapid look at ten easy and incredibly inexpensive things you can deploy today to secure your home and protect your prepping supplies, valuables, yourself, and the ones you love.  If you’re on a budget, you will definitely want to watch to the end, as most of the security solutions we talk about can be implemented for just a few dollars.  There are small things you can implement to make a big difference now, so let’s jump in.

Locks On Windows

“Understanding Decisions to Burglarize From the Offender’s Perspective,” was a study conducted by the University of North Carolina. It revealed that “Most burglars reported entering open windows or doors or forcing windows or doors open.”  Most studies you turn to or any burglars you speak to will tell you that windows are a fast, typically unprotected and unsecured means to rapidly enter a home.

It’s hard to understand why anyone wouldn’t harden these points of entry against intruders, especially when a typical window lock from the hardware store runs about two-dollars and fifty cents.  While window locks can sometimes be violently forced open and windows smashed, doing so would be loud and likely attract attention.  When you think about home security, it’s important to think in terms of building layers of deterrence.  If you have a lock on your window, a burglar is likely to reason that you may have other security measures in place and will pass your property for an easier target.

Knowing that windows are a frequent entry point, consider thorny plants beneath vulnerable windows if that’s something you’re able to do.  Keep shades and blinds drawn when you are away, and consider window sheers to prevent anyone from looking in and assessing if their extra efforts would be worth it.

Door Reinforcement Hardware

Entering through an unlocked door is easy, but a well-placed kick on a typical door is usually all it takes to break-in into most apartments or homes.  Just like the window locks, however, this can easily be prevented with door reinforcement hardware.  Another inexpensive do it yourself upgrade at under twenty dollars, typical reinforcement hardware can be added directly to the door bolt and/or latch mechanism.

It makes your door hundreds of pounds of force stronger, and it will take a little more than a karate kick to break in through the door.  Typical doors, especially on apartments, haven’t been upgraded in years, and this is a subtle addition landlords aren’t likely to bother with or be bothered by.

Another consideration for doors is interior flip locks.  These look like simple hinges and only cost a few dollars, but they are an effective way to secure yourself inside your home.  Easy to install they are great for interior doors, as well.  If an exterior door is breached, you can easily retreat into a bedroom, flip the lock, and buy yourself critical moments to contact the police or prepare to defend yourself.

Door Stops, Door Jams, Barricades

While less common than burglary, forced entry while you are at home is also a threat you should be aware of.  In at least twenty-two percent of cases from one study, criminals cased and surveyed the targeted home.  Even scoping the location out for a long period, they may not know all the occupants and could attempt entry while someone is at home or when they think nobody is at home.  In this scenario, a burglary could result in an assault or worse.

Doorstops, door jams, even door barricade brackets are another inexpensive means to make your door practically impervious to forced entry.  While many people don’t lock their door when they come home or don’t check that a door is locked before turning in for the night, to be at your safest, a twenty-dollar door stop, door jam, or barricade brackets can make this known weak spot a strong barrier protecting you.

A final note on doors, make sure you can actually see out of your peephole, consider a wide-angle peephole or a video doorbell.  A common tactic of criminals is to ring the doorbell first.  If someone answers they may ask for work, to use a phone, or for someone who doesn’t live there.  These questions are simply in response to the door being answered.  If there is no answer, no noise inside, or no dog barking, they know that the house is a good target for breaking in.

Home Security System

While you can piecemeal a system together to provide greater security, advances in technology have made fully integrated home security systems a very affordable option to rapidly deploy twenty-four seven monitoring solutions that allow you to keep one ear open while sleeping or an eye on your property when you are away.

Simplisafe is the sponsor of this blog.  We’ve used them for awhile now and have found them to be an incredibly effective, reliable home security system that will make sure your home is safe. Just out-of-the-box, plug it in and customize it for your home or apartment.  It is an expandable system that allows you to build out your own security system.  From sensors that distinguish between heat signatures of pets versus humans, to window and door sensors, you can customize a system that will provide you alerts that will never leave you unaware.  You cannot watch your home three-hundred-sixty degrees and twenty-four-seven, but you can if you leverage technology.  Continual monitoring and alerts can be sent right to your smartphone.  And should a natural disaster strike or a criminal flips your breaker box, Simplisafe is configured with redundant systems to continue to operate.  If power or WiFi goes out, your system will still be working and can still let you know when there is an activity in your private spaces.  

If you’d like to check them out, please visit simplisafe.com/cityprepping 

Again, this is a great way to quickly integrate an entire system and provide you a real peace of mind about your security.

Secure Sliding Glass Doors

The typical sliding glass door, the low-end doors which are most commonly installed by contractors, are surprisingly easy to break into.  Not only is there a method to simply wedge a prying device under them and lift them up and off their rails, but a burglar can simply jam a flathead screwdriver under the seam near the handle and flip it beside the glass and under the locking mechanism. 

If you don’t own the property, it isn’t likely you will be able to change your sliding glass door out for a more secure version.  Even without a full change out, however, a dowel cut to fit in the track is the easiest solution to the door being opened.  Bolt locks, cylinder locks, and step on locks are all under five dollars at most hardware stores.  These place a difficult hurdle in a would-be burglar’s way.  The more hurdles you have in place, the less likely your home will be chosen and targeted over softer targets.

Door and Window Alarms

If you are home and have the volume turned up on your favorite show, or you are sleeping soundly, you may not hear an intruder entering your home.  Entry sensors on windows and doors are an affordable, quick security system.  They can stand alone or be integrated into a larger WiFi or Bluetooth system.  Imagine scrolling your phone while watching the game and suddenly you get an alert that a window was opened in your bedroom.  Those extra seconds and minutes before an intruder has concealed himself in your house may be critical to your survival.

Lock the Garage Door & Keep the Clicker

Most garage doors have the means to lock them from the inside or holes in the tracks that allow for a padlock to be placed.  When you leave on vacation, it is critical that you take this extra step to secure your property.  Any additional walk-through door should be upgraded just for day-to-day living in the same way you upgrade your front door.  The garage is one of the most appealing spots for a burglar.  Typically, a garage has easy grabs like tools and bikes, which can be sold quickly for a few quick dollars.

For even bolder burglars, garages give them a long time to gain entry to the main living area through the other interior door.  Nobody can see them or hear them when they are in your garage, and they know nobody is home.  We mentioned the ability to lock your overhead garage door first because if you ever come home and your door seems to be stuck–wanting to go up but stalling and shutting again, it could mean that someone has already gained entry to your garage and locked the overhead from the inside.  This tactic buys time for the criminal to escape out the back while you contemplate what is wrong with your garage door.

Another common tactic is for criminals to walk the streets to find open car doors.  If you also keep one of your clickers for garage doors or gates in a car parked on the street, they can take that and gain entry to your home immediately.  Or, more likely, they’ll take the clicker and come back later when nobody is home. Don’t make the rookie mistake of leaving your clicker out for anyone who wants it.

Solar Motion Lights

Motion lights around your house or even on your patio if you live in an apartment complex, are the best visual deterrent you can have.  People with bad intentions don’t like to commit their crimes when they can easily be seen.  Over the last several years, lights have become brighter, use less electricity, and have dropped in price.  You can purchase a non-motion detecting solar light for under ten dollars to shine light near shadowy windows.  LED motion-detecting solar lights are just a few dollars more.  What I like about these is that they are constantly recharging themselves and are not subject to your home’s power.  If the lights go off in the city, you still have light.  If the power goes out for an extended period of time, you could bring one inside to have light through the night.  In fact, you might just purchase an extra and put it in your prepper supplies for this reason.

Solar motion lights are easy to install, independent of the power grid, and can flood shadowy, vulnerable areas with light, deterring criminals and alerting you.  Be aware, though, that many motion sensors are thermally based.  If you have one near the AC unit on the outside of your house, for instance, it will likely kick on when the gust of hot air from your AC blower hits it.  Position them away from heat sources like dryer vents and AC units and make sure they have a good range and can’t be easily reached by would-be burglars.

Lock Your Electrical Box

One easy home security hack that almost everyone overlooks is locking the electrical box on the outside of the house.  Criminals know that they can disable many alarms, motion lights, and more, simply by flipping a switch.  They also know they can draw a person out of a locked house by turning off the main breaker.  When you go to check on this you provide access to your home and expose yourself.

Even a simple luggage lock provides some level of security, but a high-quality padlock is your best choice.  This is another good location for a solar motion light as well.  Should anyone approach your electrical box they will be deterred by the bright light.  If you need to check on the box, you will have light at night to do so.  If the solar light is illuminated and your power is off, you know someone has been around your box.  If you go to check on it and no solar motion light goes on, you know that someone has tampered with it.

Home Safe

Finally, if all other systems fail and someone does gain access to your home and property, a home safe is an affordable way to secure your most precious or valuable belongings.  A small safe built into your home or bolted to the concrete of your home requires a burglar to spend a lot of time and noisy energy to break it open.  Most safes today are also fireproof, so you won’t have to worry about grabbing your precious belongings when those seconds are more important to your survival by getting out of a burning home alive.  

A very high quality safe with a fire endurance of over an hour can be purchased for right around one hundred dollars.  They are heavy and hard to carry away even if they’re not bolted down.  It also would look highly suspicious if some unkempt person was carrying a safe down the road.  We are certain police would be checking on that.

Conclusion

So, there are the ten hacks and quick fixes that will add a layer of security on your premises that you will, hopefully, never have to use.  Remember, when choosing a target, criminals will gravitate to locations with the least amount of security in place, shadows, and free from prying eyes.  If your home or apartment has even a few protection measures in place, you will likely get passed over for perceptively softer targets.  From better locks to a fully integrated system, think of your overall home or apartment security like a spare tire for your car.  You will not need it most of the time, but when you need it, you absolutely will need it at that very moment.

We would love to hear about your home security measures.  What do you do when you are away to make sure your home is safe?  What do you do when you are home to make sure you are safe?  

As always, stay safe out there.

Why you should be preparing for the perfect storm of SHTF.

1. History of the government’s dealing with disasters
2. Possible scenarios
3. Martial law
4. On your own
5. Preparing for the “when,” not the “if”

Most government agencies have challenges facing one disaster or crisis at a time.  The reality is that a few major events occurring at the same time would be catastrophic.  You don’t have to look too far back into history to see bungled responses to hurricanes, fires, civil unrest, and tornadoes.  The government response, while well-intended and well-planned out, somehow still falls short when people need safety, water, or food.  Between FEMA and the many individual heroes, we somehow, mostly make it through to the other side safely; but have we just been lucky?  What happens when we have more than one disastrous situation happening within the same timeframe?  What happens when one disaster dominos into a second disaster?  It’s not unrealistic to imagine a major hurricane striking during this time of pandemic.  It’s not unimaginable that the lack of food and water would result in civil unrest, looting, and other crimes.  A wildfire or tornado forcing people to evacuate and centralize in a single evacuation shelter could result in a skyrocketing pandemic.  Do you feel safe putting your and your family’s safety in the hands of the government? In this blog, we’ll look at how more than one major event happening within a limited timeframe would lead to a domino effect cascading into a full blow SHTF scenario and leaving you and your family to fend for yourselves.  There are things you can do to prepare for “when” this occurs and go beyond the “if” it occurs.  Let’s take a look at the 5 components of a domino effect in disasters. 1- History examples of the government’s dealing with disasters Michael Chertoff, then Secretary of Homeland Security under George W. Bush, testified to congress that “The idea that this department and this administration and the president were somehow detached from Katrina is simply not correct. We were acutely aware of Katrina and the risk it posed.” Despite Chertoff’s claim, George W. Bush wasn’t made aware of the failed response until four days after the storm hit.  And despite Bush’s address to the nation on September 15, 2005 where he stated: “This government will learn the lessons of Hurricane Katrina. We are going to review every action and make necessary changes, so that we are better prepared for any challenge of nature, or act of evil men, that could threaten our people,”  America’s response to hurricane Maria wasn’t any better. While we are not criticizing any particular administration, as we think they do try their level best to deal with what mother nature throws at them, they are, after all, only human.  Humans do make mistakes.  Sometimes the government doesn’t manage its resources well.  In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Montgomery received 5,880 rotted protective masks from the national stockpile with a 2010 expiration date.  Which administration is responsible for that is of little consequence to those impacted.  The fact that it occurred, however, should indicate your need to become more self-reliant and less dependent upon the government riding in to rescue you. Further complicating any effective response to disaster is the hyper-partisan nature of politics.  Though people are suffering and in great need, congress needs to have its vote.  This held up aid in New Jersey after Hurricane Sandy caused major flooding.  History is clear with examples, it’s foolish to rely upon a partisan government to save you when the chips are down and your life’s on the line. 2- Possible Scenarios There are several possibilities that can turn a standard disaster into a larger, life threatening disaster.  Some are obvious.  When Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana and the southern states, freshwater supplies were flooded with sewage, chemicals and swamp water.  The risk of poisoning and dysentery rose significantly.  Desperate people looting whatever sources of food and water were available rose significantly.  Many police officers didn’t show up for duty in the early days of the disaster as they tended to their own family’s needs.  The later accounts of orders to “shoot looters,” “take back the city,” or “do what you have to do” were fragmentary. And it remains unclear who originated the orders or whether they were heard by any of the officers involved in shooting 11 civilians in the days after Katrina.  Police officers said the police orders – taken together with tough talk from top public officials broadcast over the airwaves — contributed to an atmosphere of confusion about how much force could be used to combat looting.  Repeatedly, history has shown us that the structures and protocols of order in society can rapidly evaporate.  Could a response to a disaster lead to a declaration of martial law and significant government overreach in the name of “public safety”?  How might a downed power grid as a result of flooding and a poor response with fresh water, food, and temporary shelter aggravate and agitate an already traumatic experience? Now witness the large scale civil unrest occurring across America today.  How would the perceived injustices compound a natural disaster like a hurricane, earthquake, flood, or tornado?  While it may have been difficult to imagine a domino effect of disasters beyond just lack of fresh water leading to dysentery in the past, we can easily see it now.  Imagine if the “big one” hit California and forced Californians to seek shelter in neighboring states.  During a time of pandemic and partisan politics, how would these refugees be welcomed?  With open arms? Even amidst a global pandemic, a massive dedicated denial of service, cyber attack occurred in early June.  If it had been more widespread or effective, what would be the cascading effect of an interruption in water or power, even the internet, during a time of wide scale lockdown?  The effects of COVID-19 have exposed how fragile our economy and food supplies really are, as meat processing plants were forced to shut down and farmers and ranchers had difficulty bringing their products to market during the early days of the virus. 3- Martial Law & Government Overreach The most realistic possibility following any disaster is the threat of Martial Law and government overreach.  The government sees its mandate as one of maintaining order and public safety, but what happens when that perception goes too far and encroaches on your freedoms and mobility?  We have seen curfews imposed in cities and rising conflicts in several major cities.  Martial law and government overreach out of the need to provide public safety, can stem directly out of any disaster.  It’s a manmade added layer to any disaster, natural or publicly induced. Martial law would give the government the ability to suspend your constitutional rights, seize your firearms, impose curfews and restrict your ability to travel, even confiscate your stores of food, and imprison you without cause.  When martial law is established, there is always the very real possibility that the government will go too far, take too much power, and not allow you to do what you need to do to survive.  You could be forcibly swept up in the chaos along with the general public.  This is why being prepared to bug-in and being prepared to bug-out is so critical to your survival. Even with the best response from FEMA, the local and national government, and local law enforcement, you are really on your own.  Even with the best intentions and efforts for the public good, the chances of these efforts encroaching upon you and threatening your own security are very real. 4- On Your Own So finding yourself on your own isn’t a far fetched concept.  It is actually a likely reality.  This is why we will always encourage prepping.  It isn’t about fearing what could happen, it is about being prepared for what will likely happen.  So many have become overly reliant upon the police department, fire department, even the grocery store, when time-after-time, our over-reliance has proven detrimental.  This is why we will always try to encourage people to practically prepare themselves for the worst that could happen.  It’s the same advice we give our friends and family and the same advice you probably give your own. Knowing you may be on your own is frightening to think about.  Rather than avoid thinking about it, preparing for the possibility, taking precautions, and learning the skills you may need to carry you through provides you with the internal resources and confidence to rise to the challenge.  It’s much better to look back and think you didn’t need certain supplies afterall than it is to look at the present and realize you don’t have what you need to survive right now. In every survival movie we have ever watched or book we have ever read, the survivor either drew upon skills and knowledge they didn’t realize they had or they, with great luck, stumbled through on trial and error.  You don’t see many movies where a person was fully prepared for a catastrophe, then the catastrophe hit, then they rode it out to safety.  Why?  Because the prepared person doesn’t have the same level of conflict as the unprepared person.  The prepared person, finding themselves on their own, already knows the right steps to take to prevent their descent into the chaos that accompanies any disaster. So, though we always hope that the right services and people will find us when we most need them, the wise and prepared person plans as if they will be on their own. 5- Preparing for the “when,” not the “if” As the recent pandemic, a situation we have only seen every 100 years or so, has proven, it isn’t a matter of if a scenario will occur but rather when it will occur.  It may not make sense to prepare for a comet hitting the Earth or the Yellowstone Caldera exploding, but you would be foolish not to prepare for an earthquake in California or a hurricane in Florida.  Prepping is a critical component of your self-reliance.  It’s you establishing and asserting your independence from a system that will, at some point in your life, probably fail you.  It has, even with the best of intentions and efforts, proven itself to fall short numerous times throughout our collective history. Preparing based on probability is a better, more focused approach to prepping, and we have to calculate into our plans that disasters will be compounded by other disasters.  You should be preparing for more than just one possible disaster.  Prepare as if a convergence of two or more disasters has occurred.  The domino effect sparked by either a natural or man-made disaster will be at least as dangerous and life-threatening as the originating event in almost every case.  Knowing this, what can you do to prepare? First, make a list of both national disaster scenarios that have a low to medium probability of happening and a list of regional disasters that have a high probability of actually occurring.  Rank these disasters according to the likelihood of them occurring in your area.  You, obviously, would not have Tsunamis high on your list if you lived in Missouri, but you would have tornados and flooding high on your list.  Once you have your list ranked, contemplate what other manmade disasters might add to or compound the severity of the original disaster.  Group them according to disasters which can lead to other disasters.  This should then tell you the immediate threats you should prepare for. So, start by detailing what would happen if multiple issues converged at once.  It is that intersection of probable scenarios where you should do your planning and preparedness.  When government systems and infrastructure are overloaded or failing and each person is on their own, will you be prepared enough to last in and see through to calmer times? Inevitably, disasters will occur.  You can choose to live with your head in the clouds and pray nothing bad will ever happen, but history reveals a different story.  Storing food, water, and the medical supplies you need to last a month or more independent of the system may seem overwhelming at first.  This is why I suggest addressing your needs with the convergence of two or more probable events.  Focus on the when this will occur and not as much on the if it will occur.  The need for food, shelter, water, medicine, and self-defense is common across all disasters, so it should form the basis of your planning.  If you live in an area prone to earthquakes, you may want an automatic gas shutoff valve installed or a wrench near your gas line before you purchase an inflatable dinghy or emergency fishing supplies.  That’s an obvious exaggeration, but do rank the prepping supplies you will need based upon your scenarios and begin to chip away at the list a little each payday or each month.  In no time, you’ll be prepared.  At the very least, you will be better equipped to handle a crisis situation when it occurs. Conclusion The domino effect of disasters approach helps you to focus on the probable disasters that are most likely to directly affect you.  It gives you a basis, a roadmap of sorts, that you can slowly build upon.  Based on recent events in our country, people are quickly realizing the value of being prepared.  You aren’t crazy or even kind of weird for wanting to insulate yourself from threats on the horizon.  Doing so is what separates you from the herd that will be caught up in the chaos and aftermath of cascading disasters. As always, please stay safe out there.

You have to prepare right now!

1. Social Polarization
2. Debt & Income Divide
3. Global Economic Depression
4. Climate Change
5. Housing & Shelter Insecurity
6. Public Health Crisis
7. Solutions

The year twenty-twenty has been a wake up call to many about the need to become self-reliant and to prepare yourself to be ready to survive in a crisis situation or through a time of economic and social decay.  From out of control wildfires, to civil unrest, to collapsing economies and wide scale unemployment, to hurricanes, to a derecho, to a pandemic, the year has brought a seemingly unstoppable wave after wave of compounding tragedies.  For those in the prepping community, we finally have a little more credibility and appear less eccentric to our family and friends.  For those new to prepping, you are probably realizing that it isn’t in your best interest to rely upon the local, state, or federal governments to swoop in and rescue you when you need them. If you think twenty-twenty has been crazy so far, realize that it’s very likely the tip of the iceberg.  It may very well just be the early indicators of the larger problems below the surface.  The next decade is already the most tumultuous you may see in your lifetime, and we’re not even out of the first year of it.  So, what’s next?  What can we expect in the next ten years, and what should we prepare for? In this blog, we will examine the top threats we can expect to come to a head and boil over during this next decade.  While proper preparing requires us to prepare for a wide range of possibilities, preparing for one type of disaster helps us prepare for many different types of disasters.  Proper preparing involves having your own solution in place when tragedy strikes, so in addition to looking at the top threats, we will look at simple solutions you can start plugging in today to make a difference and increase your odds of surviving.  In many of our other blogs we do a deeper dive into the things we will discuss here, so I encourage you to explore the other blogs.  So, what threatens our peace, sanity, and survival over this decade? 1) Social Polarization We have faced periods of deep division before in United States history.  From segregation to anti-war demonstrations to the rise of labor unions to a Civil War, America has had a history of tumultuous times.  There is every indicator that we are entering a period of even deeper ideological division in America. While there have been differences of opinion in the past, for the most part, Americans have rallied behind the common good and the desire to do the right thing.  Politicians occasionally crossed the aisle to unify around a cause: poverty, homelessness, foreign conflicts, and so forth. Twenty-twenty has definitely shown deep ideological divisions between people, but a new aspect of this has been the abandonment of the desire for rational unity in favor of ad hominem arguments, name calling, finger pointing, and even the dehumanization of political opponents .  With political parties being compared to Nazis, Communists, Demons or even labled pedohiles, there is little room left for civil discourse.  These uncharacteristically aggressive attacks have emboldened some of the more extreme and fringe ideologies and brought them into the light and mainstream.  Armed civilians have taken to the street and turned their weapons on other Americans.  Bricks, tear gas, pepper spray, paintball guns, and real guns are being used in the same city streets where many of us shop or travel to work on.  Left unchecked, we can expect a worsening of civility and an increase in civil unrest and heavy-handed government intrusion. The solution, of course, is for unity and rallying around common humanitarian causes to strengthen our citizens and people, but when there are such great divisions and deeply entrenched beliefs, there doesn’t seem to be a solution on the horizon.  As you prepare to survive this coming decade, prepare for civil unrest, the possible implementation of martial law, frequent lockdowns, and possible interruptions in utility and social services.  Make sure you stay safe on the routes you travel and have alternate paths of travel should conflicts ignite. 2) Debt & Income Divide You have heard politicians and economists discuss this for years.  The Federal deficit continues to exponentially grow, so much right now that each wage earning American’s share of it would be one-hundred-eighty-six-thousand dollars and rising per person if we settled up today.  Beyond the national debt, however, is individual debt.  Minimum wage has not increased since the nineteen-seventies, yet the cost-of-living continues to rise.  Many years ago, a single wage earner could support a nuclear family, buy a house, food, and decent transportation.  Now, many work multiple jobs just to earn enough to make ends meet and still live paycheck to paycheck.  Personal debt, as a result, increases. As the economy falters, the wealthiest become wealthier, the middle class falter, and the poor have even less.  The divisions between the haves and the have nots becomes greater.  The parallels between the period before the French Revolution or the Weimar Republic are glaringly apparent. Are we heading into a larger period of civil unrest, and are we seeing the early embers of a larger revolution?  If disparities continue as is or become greater, and compounded with a floundering economy and a relentless pandemic, we could very well be at the early to middle stages of an all out armed revolution.  At the very least, on the current course, we can expect to see pockets of armed insurrection and heavy handed government crackdowns.  We have already seen groups rise on both sides of the political spectrum who advocate for the overthrow of the status quo. There may not be a solution to either America’s debt, individual debt, or the income disparities we face now and in the future.  Things may get worse.  Unfortunately, given the deep divisions discussed in the first point, a peaceful resolution to this deepening debt and income divide isn’t on the horizon.  Be prepared yourself for the potential breakdown of established systems should these inequalities lead to civil conflicts. 3) Global Economic Depression  The global economic depression we face exacerbates the income gaps and further inflames people.  Many are saying we are already sliding into an economic depression that will be greater than the Great Depression.  Over thirty million people in the United States were unemployed.  Twenty-seven percent of Americans did not make their rent or mortgage payment last month.  Americans now owe more than twenty-one billion dollars in unpaid rent.  In some states, over fifty percent of all renters are at risk of eviction.  US bankruptcies are at the highest rate in ten years and expected still to surge in number.  Restaurants are closing forever.  Events and conferences, which employ thousands of workers each, have cancelled.  Manufacturers are scaling back production.  Airlines are laying off employees by the thousands.  The IRS is predicting thirty-seven million fewer W-2’s this year.  Globally, borders are closed, and world trade has plunged to the lowest levels on record. Regardless of what stock markets around the world may want to indicate with their lofty indexes, the fact is that we have been sliding into a global economic depression for several months.  Federal banks around the world are running out of mechanisms to keep money flowing.  The fact is that the stock market is a poor indicator of economic health for the average American.  A whopping eighty-four percent of all stocks owned by Americans belong to the wealthiest ten percent of households. And that includes everyone’s stakes in pension plans, four-Oh-one k’s and individual retirement accounts, as well as trust funds, mutual funds and college savings programs like five-twenty-nine plans.  It’s great if your four-Oh-one k is doing well, but that’s a meaningless measure if you are thirty years from retirement and facing eviction or can’t afford groceries. Remember that the last Great Depression lasted almost a decade.  It’s reasonable to assume from most every economic indicator out there, that we are facing a downturn that could be worse than that period.  Homlessness, food insecurity, migratory groups looking for work, possibly even shifts in government are all potentially at our doorstep.  The need to be as self-reliant as you possibly can be has never been greater.  Take a look at the other videos on this channel for how you can prepare yourself for the potential economic collapse and second great depression we may be staring in the eyes of right now. 4) Climate Change Climate change has been argued ad nauseum.   Whether it is stoked by man made emissions or a natural cycle of the Earth really doesn’t matter.  That is just arguing the cause instead of dealing with the results.  The facts are that global CO Two levels have continued to rise year-after-year.  The facts are that we have seen higher temperatures, bigger storms, dryer conditions leading to worse fire seasons.  Higher temperature climates are also tied to human health in a number of ways, so the frequency of some diseases and viruses is higher.  As a result of more extreme weather patterns, you may actually be left feeling “under the weather.” While all the arguing about the whys and hows the climate has or has not changed has been going on, the effects keep getting worse.  Even if you think the climate changing is some grand hoax, you can’t argue that storms, wildfires, earthquakes, and other natural disasters are simply going to go away.  Storms are bigger and their frequency and timing have become greater and more chaotic.  We can expect this trend to continue through the next decade, and every chart you look at slopes up. What this means to the prepper is that the threat of natural disasters is higher.  Even if you don’t live in a typical zone, as the recent dericho in Iowa, your food supplies could be significantly interrupted.  In that August tenth event, about fourteen million acres, or fifty-seven percent of Iowa’s planted area, were impacted by the storm, which unleashed winds of over one hundred miles per hour.  Add to this people displaced by fires, or hurricanes, and even the most stable of climate zones in the United States risk significant disruptions.  If you don’t believe that climate change is real or you don’t want to believe in it, that is okay too; but you still need to prepare for natural disasters.  Those aren’t going away because somebody might refuse to believe. Is there a solution we can plug in to mitigate the disastrous effects of climate change?  We don’t know.  What we do know is that we need to be individually prepared and not bury our heads in the sand or rely upon the government’s efforts to bail us out or evacuate us when disaster does strike. 5) Housing & Shelter Insecurity Housing and shelter insecurity is a major threat for many in the next ten years.  In January of twenty-nineteen, seventeen out of ten thousand people experienced homelessness on a single night.  That’s around a half million people in the United States.  That’s a lot of people, but if these evictions, bankruptcies, foreclosures, and natural disasters continue, that half a million people could seem like nothing.  The social network in place to provide some care for these people is already underfunded and strained to its maximum.  What happens if this number doubles to a million or higher? Can we sustain a large scale loss of housing security?  The chances are that people, just like during the depression and the dust bowl, will set out to new areas of America where jobs and resources might be possible.  Will they cross your land to get there?  How will you receive them?  If you are on the move, trying to forge a better or any life for yourself, what resources will you still have? The fact is that many of those who are currently renting, if trends continue, will be evicted within the coming months.  The fact is that many of those who live in homes and pay a mortgage will lose those homes and compete for rental properties.  We could be facing the biggest housing insecurity crisis of our lifetimes.  Do you have the basic necessities you need to survive if you are turned out to the streets, the local park, the woods, or deeper trails? 6) Public Health Crisis In many previous videos I have warned about our pharmaceutical dependence on foreign countries.  The fact is that we have a high dependence on pharmaceuticals and very little understanding remaining of medicinal plants.  We have several blogs about foraging and what plants to look for, but you have to understand that the medicines you rely upon to survive may not be there anymore.  What will you do then? While herbs and medicinal plants may not alleviate all your symptoms, they may be good enough to carry you through.  So, do you know what you need, are you growing it, or do you know where it grows to get you through a prolonged crisis? Beyond your daily needs, realize that as hospital beds fill with pandemic patients, or new viruses become prevalent because global climates warm, or you just get sick from a bad taco, your health is your responsibility in a public health crisis. As we saw with SARS-CoV-2, hospital beds can swiftly become in short supply.  Pandemics are not in the realm of the unimaginable.  Medical procedures can be delayed.  Our reliance on being able to call a doctor or a twenty-four hour on call service to inquire about our medical needs may be a thing of our past.  Maybe that service was tied to our employer who recently laid us off because of the recent economic downturn. Whatever the reason, the answer is for us and millions like us, to take our health and safety into our own hands.  As a nation, we are facing a health emergency and crisis that we have not seen before in this age of modern medicine.  Twenty-one-point-eight million people work in the healthcare industry in the United States, but what happens when half those people are unemployed? So, if you have asthma, what herbs can you take to help you in an emergency?  If you have diabetes, what can you take and what should you eat?  If you have a cut or a broken bone, whom can you turn to to assist you.  You need to consider these public health choices now.  You will not have time in the future, when the emergency is upon you. 7) Solutions Of course we would like to tell you that we are Nostradamus or that we have some clever crystal ball or time machine to help you dodge the bullet.  We cannot.  What we can tell you is that you need to see the bullets that are being shot your way.  If you support the efforts that bring Americans together; if you support the “helpers,” as Mr. Rogers would have said; if you look to the light instead of shouting in the darkness, there is the chance that we can avert the fate we currently face,  The fact is that we are staring down the barrel of hate, social divisions, massive debt and income disparities, a global economic depression, a climate crisis, and a housing and a health crisis like we haven’t seen in over a century.  Nobody that reasonably and with sober eyes looking at the world can deny this.  Do you want to win that, or do you want to figure out a way to solve the problems?  You cannot do both.  We will let you decide that. What we know to be the solutions are to secure yourself, protect yourself, prepare yourself.  Check your supplies and look at our other blogs to determine what you still need.  Become self-reliant.  If you end up with an extra fish hook and never went fishing, you won’t suffer; but if you are starving and you have an extra treble fish hook, it may mean the difference between surviving and dying. Look at your world now and know that the next ten years of this decade may be crazier than this first year of twenty-twenty.  There are more than a few indicators that should tell you to buckle up and buckle up tight.  Take this time, the quiet before the storm, to study up on this channel and get the things you need to survive the long haul.  There’s a lot more indicators pointing down right now than there are pointing up. Conclusion Whatever this next decade actually brings us, there is no denying from the current evidence, that we can expect a bumpy ride.  If you are new to prepping, here is your chance to catch up.  If you have been a prepper for a while, this is your chance to help others.  We are in this together, and we are stronger together, so please like and share this blog, and let’s get folks tuned into being self-reliant. As always, stay safe out there.

Outline

1. Lights, Camera, Action
2. Prepare the Grounds
3. Prepare for Fire
4. Know Your Neighborhood & Neighbors
5. Have an Escape Plan and Bag
6. Leverage Technology

In twenty-twenty we have seen riots and looting in the streets.  We have seen armed forces moving through city streets and suburbs.  We have seen even the quietest of gated communities filled with mobs of people.  Violence in city streets can easily escalate and be pushed out or boil over into residential or even suburban areas.  We think it is safe to say that your homeowner’s association probably doesn’t have a plan for this possibility, but you and your neighborhood could.  So how do you keep your neighborhood safe from riots when they are near you or heading your way?  In this video we will examine different ways to keep your neighborhood and your home safe when civil unrest is at your doorstep. Lights, Camera, Action The best deterrent of unwanted invaders are lights, cameras, and the possibility of action on your part.  First lights.  Obviously, lights are only an effective deterrent from dusk to dawn, but this is a critical time when you and your property are somewhat vulnerable.  A well lit perimeter is not as inviting to a rioter or burglar as a dark or heavily shadowed property.  If you live in a suburban tract, lights also help your neighbors and community respond when you cannot.  Solar motion lights have gone up in lumens and down in price and energy consumption.  Because they are self-contained, they continue functioning when the power goes out, and they can be installed and made operational with very little effort and no need to hardwire into your electrical system.  Assess the perimeter of your home and make sure exterior walls, windows, and gates are well lit. Motion cameras, doorbell cameras, CCTV, security mirrors, even fake round plastic domes are another form of deterrent.  When someone knows they are doing wrong it is inherent in their thinking to avoid being caught on video or seen.  Nobody trying to break into a house, light a fire, or even throw a rock really wants that video admitted as evidence later on in their court case.  They don’t want the police using a screen capture to identify them later.  There are several low cost motion activated cameras available from multiple providers that can allow you to monitor several streams around your whole house, post captured videos to networked neighborhood groups, or even have your videos monitored by a twenty-four hour service. We have to stress here that lights and cameras are not going to stop all rioters emboldened by the opportunity to be lawless.  They are not a guarantee.  What they are is a deterrent.  A well illuminated and monitored home, or one that appears so, gives the impression that there is a vigilant homeowner inside that is ready to defend his property and life if need be.  Rioters are likely to move to softer targets.  If the majority of your community is well lit and appears to be visually monitored, rioters are likely to favor softer targets or retail verse residential areas where they will be able to loot to a greater degree. Prepare the Grounds You will also need to prepare your home for the possibility of rioters and looters moving through your streets.  Cars should be parked in garages or parked somewhere safer.  Flower pots, statuary, rocks, or anything else which can easily be picked up and thrown should be brought in or moved inside fenced locations.  Trash cans should not be left on the curb, because starting fires in trash cans and moving them against or inside buildings is a common action for rioters. Window shades, curtains, or blinds should be drawn and closed to keep concealed any valuables you may have inside.  To really stay ahead of the possibility of rioters consider applying a clear security film to windows.  This affordable option will keep your windows from shattering when hit with a projectile or blunt force object.  Even without rioters ever appearing in your neighborhood, window security films are great to add a barrier between you and any would be intruder.  As a deterrent, they will slow down intruders and they place one more hurdle they will really have to work at to gain access to your home over other homes.  If you are a shop or business owner in an area that may see violence, I cannot recommend clear security films enough to you.  It will make looting your shop far less desirable.  If you haven’t prepared in advance, making X patterns on your windows with duct tape will keep them from shattering completely and can be used as a quick last resort.  Finally, you may consider having sheets of plywood that can quickly be mounted just as you would to protect against a hurricane.  The downside of this is the space they require to store and the fact that they limit your ability to see and respond to an exterior threat.  An open and shattered window in a riot situation should be considered the same as an open door. To completely prepare your grounds and just as a general security measure we recommend in many of my videos, reinforce your doors.  Both the strike plate and the frame can affordably be reinforced to require thousands more pounds of pressure than a karate kick or shoulder can produce. Prepare for Fire The rioter has two main destructive tools at his disposal: rocks and fire.  Unfortunately, you can’t go throughout your neighborhood removing all the fist sized landscaping rocks, and that is another reason to consider security films for your windows.  More destructive than rocks, however, is the threat of fire.  Again, bring in any trash cans and remove any clear ignition sources around your property.  Dead bushes you haven’t gotten to clearing out should be cleared immediately.  Bring in any propane tanks from exterior grills, heating units, or fire pits.  Apply the same thirty foot rule applied to homeowners under threat of wildfires.  Look at your perimeter for thirty feet out and look for anything combustible, from lawn flags to dry trees to piles of fall leaves to old tires.  If you know rioters and looters are in your neighborhood or near your neighborhood, make sure you hose down any wooden shingles on your roof, wooden fences, and turn your sprinklers on and let them run.  Even a wet and slippery lawn is a form of deterrence.  The wetter the better.  Even lightly spraying off your exterior walls can be enough to keep any incendiary device from spreading further. Have a fire extinguisher on hand, as you should for standard home safety.  Remove the tool of fire from rioters and looters and keep your property safe. Know Your Neighborhood and Neighbors While the first part of this blog addresses the specific measures you can take around your suburban or urban home, the second part of this blog focuses on leveraging your neighborhood resources.  First, know your neighborhood.  So many people in tract housing developments, open their garage, leave for work the same way out of their neighborhood, return the same way and close the garage door behind them.  The hotter the climate, the more likely this is to be the norm; but you really have to know your neighborhood, even your apartment building or condominium at a boots on the ground level.  What are the means of entry and egress from your neighborhood?  Are there specific roads, community parks, or sidewalks that lead into your neighborhood from business areas or areas of larger populous?  Do you know the neighbors who are at these key points of entry and exit? Second, know your neighbors.  Who in your neighborhood is a first responder?  Health professional?  Police officer?  Military?  Veteran? Private security?  Can you form a patrolling group or a watch and monitoring schedule to make sure you have eyes on your neighborhood throughout the night?  Can you post people at apartment door entrances or at entry points for your neighborhood?  Armed guards at entry points into neighborhoods or apartment buildings can deter even the boldest of criminals.  In addition to forming networks with these people who can help in an emergency, remember that you are part of a whole neighborhood.  Know the vulnerable people in your neighborhood as well.  Are there elderly people in your neighborhood who may need assistance? Have an Escape Plan and Bag Your neighborhood and your home is obviously your last and final stand.  Between your own efforts and your neighborhood’s efforts, it should be enough.  There is always the possibility, however, as we have seen in instances of fire, where you absolutely have to flee your safe home or apartment for safer locations.  Making a final stand in a building burning around you is not going to be successful. To ensure your safety, always have an escape plan and a bug out bag.  Make sure your bag has any necessary medicines, as well.  If you live in an urban or a suburban environment the likelihood you may have to leave your premises is higher.  Know your escape routes.  Favor escape routes that move away from populous areas, avoid crowds, and circumvent conflict zones. Leaving the safety of your home is always the final and last resort, and should only be done when all possibilities of staying have been eliminated.  You may be able to fall back on other neighbors Leverage Technology Leverage technology to maintain security and awareness.  Using apps like Twitter, Facebook, MyCoop, Neighborland, Nextdoor, Life360, Ring, or WhatsApp can help you network your neighborhood and allows people to report problems, threats, or suspicious activities easily.  Sometimes public and HOA locations have webcams that you can monitor to track movements of people in your community who shouldn’t be there.  Even forming a community text string or applications like Slack can provide a networked group of active eyes and can provide instant message alerts to activities in your area. Do you have a drone collecting dust in your garage?  Why not deploy it to surveill your neighborhood?  You can track movements and alert others in your community while also creating a video record with even a low end drone. You can use the bird’s eye satellite view in Google Maps to make neighborhood watch patrol assignment maps or assess possible weak points or entry points into your neighborhood.  Armed with this information you can determine which areas of your neighborhood might need more protection or surveillance.  If you are preparing well in advance, you can lobby your homeowners association or neighborhood watch group for the installation of open IP cameras in high traffic and public areas.  This will allow anyone with the right access and passwords to login and observe points throughout the neighborhood.  Outdoor, weatherproof cameras have become very affordable in recent years.  These cameras can be easily installed outside public areas or willing neighborhood houses and aimed at neighborhood entrances and exits. Access to the cameras can be restricted to just people within your neighborhood to prevent unauthorized viewing. The streams can be viewed through most web browsers without the need for any specialized software. Walkie talkies or CBs shared with key neighbors can keep you in communication with one another even if cell service goes out.  In short, leverage technology to integrate networks of eyes and ears on your community.  Use technology to help you create twenty-four seven security. Conclusion The more in advance you prepare the better your preparations can be.  Perhaps, your neighborhood will never be infiltrated by mobs seeking to cause destruction and rob you, but measures you take now to protect yourself against that possibility will also have the added benefit of protecting you from everyday crime, even some natural disasters.  Observing the thirty foot perimeter for fires protects you better from wildfires.  Strengthening your doors and reviewing your lighting helps to protect you from other crimes.  Networking your neighborhood groups in-person and electronically makes your neighborhood less attractive for bad guys and gives you early notifications about bad situations brewing in your community.  They allow for many eyes and ears on your neighborhood and allow you to outnumber the mob that may be in your neighborhood.   Rocks, fire, numbers, and anonymity are the weapons of the rioter.  When you reduce the threats of rocks and fire, when you surveill and watch them to remove their anonymity, and when you display a unified neighborhood vigilance, you make your neighborhood and your home less attractive to looters.  They will opt for less vigilant, less protected neighborhoods, even if the looting score is less. As always, stay safe out there.

Choose Your Fate Now

1. Prepare to Hunker Down 
2. Prepare to Bug Out – Flee to a Safe Zone
3. Fight Outright or Undercover
4. Caught Up In the Storm

2020 has continued to deliver problems and challenges that only seem to compound daily which has led to a sense of unease in our country like we haven’t seen in generations.  Increasing partisanship, a dysfunctional government, widening wealth gap, the rise of extremist ideologies, a pandemic, a climate crisis, zero sum politics, and scorched Earth policies which will undoubtedly intensify with the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  Each day feels like a new problem arises only adding to the dumpster fire we’re experiencing this year.  In May of twenty-nineteen we published a blog on the seven signs civil war may occur and we covered many of things that we’re now seeing play out in real time in front of us.  The signs are clearly on the wall and the need to get ready has never been more important than now.  If civil unrest continues to escalate to something bigger, will you be ready?  In this blog, we’ll cover the steps you can take now to prepare for what lies ahead. If things don’t change, could we see an escalation of violence in the streets?  Groups dedicated to the ideological premise of the dismantling of our institutions are fuel to this fire, and our political divisiveness and dehumanization of political rivals burns clear a path to a massive escalation of dissension and violence.  In this blog, we will not look at the signs civil war is looming on the horizon.  We have already done that.  Nor will we examine to what extent it could occur or in what areas it is most likely.  The fact that we can even imagine the possibility so clearly now requires us to look at how you can prepare to survive widespread civil unrest even to the extreme of an all out civil war.  Will you be prepared if a civil war passes through, envelops, or consumes your town, city, or state?  Are your prepping supplies geared to surviving such a man made calamity?  Even if an all out civil war doesn’t occur, numerous pockets could explode throughout the United States.  Many fires are sometimes more difficult than a single large fire.  Be prepared for potentially massive civil unrest.

1 – Prepare to Hunker Down

Your best option is always to be prepared to hunker down for an extended period of time.  If water, power, police, and fire services go out for weeks or months, are you prepared to sustain yourself?  Are your food and water supplies adequate to sustain you.  Do you have a means of water purification or filtration?  Foreign governments that would seek to do harm to the United States will not sit idly by and let us sort things out, and some domestic groups advocating a philosophy of accelerationism have actually encouraged members to attack power grids in the United States, a nuclear power plant in Florida, even natural gas pipelines.  It is more than just a possibility that power and water supplies will be interrupted.  Make sure that you have alternative forms of energy like small solar batteries, a means to heat your home and stay warm during these winter months, and a supply of water.  Have a radio on hand to obtain your news and information with the assumption that televised news, electricity, and internet will not be available.  We recommend having enough supplies on hand to survive for three to four months independent of outside systems.   Cleanups after natural disasters don’t typically require the same level of supplies as systems are restored and people find new avenues to get what they need to survive; however, large scale civil unrest or a civil war is a grid down and supply lines down situation for months.  The worse it gets, too, the more likely you are to be raided for your supplies.  Maintain OPSEC–operational security– as once people find out you have supplies, the word will spread quickly. Transportation lines will be dramatically impacted by road closures, pockets of violence, and, literally, highway robbery.  This will mean shortages in stores will be even further exacerbated by panic buying and manufacturing and production supply and demand inequities.  So, if your preferred option is to hunker down, which is probably also your safest option, above all else make sure you have adequate food, water, and other key prepping items and durable goods in your supplies. You will also need to prepare your house and neighborhood.  First, your house.  You will want to make sure your house does not look unoccupied but is not necessarily occupied either.  You don’t want it to look abandoned, but you also don’t want people seeing the glow of your flat screen television from the street.  The possibility of a heavily armed or secure occupant can be enough for some to want to pass by.  Security signs, true or not, provide you an added layer of protection.  Beware of dog signs, true or not, can be a deterrent.  CCTV cameras and systems, real or not, provide the possibility of any misdeeds being recorded, and can act as a deterrent.  Motion detecting lights, cast light on people who would rather operate under a cloak of darkness.  Draw your curtains, close your blinds, lock your gates and circuit box, put your car in the garage and lock your garage from the inside.  Make your home an unattractive target for would be looters, agitators, or armed forces or patrols. Beyond this, remove anything from your front lawn that indicates any political, religious, or personal persuasion.  While you may have felt it important to express your political leanings, beliefs, or philosophies in peaceful times, they are merely invitations for conflict during a civil war.  Even the US flag, sadly, could be interpreted as a stance. Make sure that any decorative rocks, pots, or other throwable items aren’t easily accessible to mobs that may seek to create chaos.  If your large front window ends up broken, you are exposed to a breach in your security that could result in looting or violations of your personal safety.  Do realize that in a time of incredible civil unrest, you won’t be able to place a call to have someone come out and repair your window.  Just as people prepare for a hurricane by boarding up their windows, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to also have the plywood, nails, and screws on hand, stored in your garage or other space, necessary to board up all the windows on your lower floor.  Prepare a safe room or safer zone within your home where kids can be insulated from any conflict that may breach your perimeter.  Prepare for the possibility you may need to defend your home.  Discuss scenarios with your family and the other occupants of your home or apartment.  Begin to define the levels and areas of safety within your home and neighborhood.  Discuss some hypothetical scenarios and what if situations.  Give your trusted friends next door one of your walkie talkies.  Have a plan, and don’t be afraid to discuss it with those you want in on your plan.  Practice extreme caution sharing this information with anyone you don’t know. It may also be essential for you to prepare your neighborhood.  Blocking off the street entrance to your cul-de-sac as a neighborhood course of action, may be what you need to have people choose a less arduous route.  Cars or felled trees can accomplish this rather quickly.  Forming alliances and courses of action with neighbors, even watch groups and neighborhood patrols, may help to keep the violence from entering your neighborhood or neck of the woods.  It’s estimated that less than ten percent of the population of the time engaged in the Revolutionary War.  A higher percentage of the population engaged in the great Civil War, but in both wars, the majority of people wanted nothing to do with it when it came to their community.  As righteous and just as some people may feel their cause to fight is, there will be even more people who want no part of it.  Unfortunately, there will be some who will view the civil discord and strife as an opportunity.  They will seek to take advantage of the chaos to loot, steal, and cause mayhem.  Clear sides may not be apparent as causes and circumstances and loyalties shift, but neighbors, even of differing opinions and values, can still find a common cause to unite in the protection of their piece of the world.  Even as a civil war is actively waged out there, your neighborhood could remain safe and cohesive. Your first and best choice is to hunker down, and there are many things to consider when this is your course of action.  Sometimes this course of action isn’t viable or becomes unsustainable. 2 – Prepare to Bug Out If you are forced from the safety of your home and neighborhood by brute force, or fire, or threat of harm, your likelihood of survival increases if you have a prepared plan in place.  Usually, there is a period of time prior to the necessity to flee where you have a decision to make– do you try and get out of the coming conflict while you still can?  Has the window of opportunity to safely travel to an unaffected area passed?  What are the conditions of travel now and in the immediate future?  Realize that as systems and social norms break down and opportunists and desperate individuals try to seize more than what they need to survive, roads and methods of travel will rapidly become unreliable.   If you can safely stay ahead of the breakdown and societal collapse, you may want to move back with family or friends in safer zones.  Even during the civil war, for instance, newly conscripted, young Union troops and Confederate troops in Missouri spent time together, even had a great picnic afterwards, before shipping off the next week to join opposite forces and try and kill each other.  Safe pockets around the country will still exist, though their situation may change and they may too become unsafe at some point.  Coming together as a family or pod of friends, can provide you a layer of networked safety from the strife around you.  If aunt Mae lives on a farm in rural Kansas, this may be the time to ask to stay with her.  She will likely love the company and you can be isolated and safe together. We recently created a blog on assessing the safety of your bug out routes, and we will link to it in the comments below.  As much bravado and ammo you may have on hand and as safe as you may feel, there is always the possibility that you may need to flee the safety of your home or make your final stand there.  That being said, even if you’re fairly confident you can stay bugged in, you need to have a prepared plan to fall back on for bugging out.  You still need a grab-and-go bag to get you to safety.  Foxes usually make more than one den to serve different purposes.  Rabbits build more than one exit from their clutch.  You still need to assess the routes you can take and how their safety may deteriorate in an unfolding crisis. Realize that when you simply flee without a destination or plan in place, you are a refugee.  You can be robbed, abused, forced to travel through areas at gunpoint, held captive, detained, or even thrown into a government or opposition run detainment camp.  Traveling with stealth and keeping a low profile will be essential to your survival.  There will be checkpoints, marauders, and possibly even the need for travel papers.  Because of the pandemic, the likelihood of fleeing to another country is of reduced possibility. In these times and given the current circumstances, if you aren’t able to make it to a safe family or friend location, you may want to make a direct route out of civilization and to the woods or country.  You may be able to strike a deal with someone in a rural location to trade goods for rights to squat on part of their land, but that’s a big maybe.  You may be able to go into the deep wilderness of State parks and nature preserves to stealthily live off the grid and away from detection. One of the factors in your timing and decision to flee has to be your knowledge and health.  If you are unhealthy or advanced in age, this may not be a possibility for you late into a conflict.  You may not have this option anymore after a certain point.  If you are healthy and know how to and have experience surviving in the wilderness, your choice as to whether to flee can be deferred for a longer period of time.  My advice to the elderly or frail is either hunker down or decide early on to go visit younger, healthier relatives who will be able to assist you through a prolonged period of civil unrest.

3 – Fight Outright or Undercover

Though not our first or second choice, one of your viable courses of action is to stay and fight outright or covertly.  You may feel that you cannot stay idly on the sidelines or that your cause is worth dying for right now. Remember that everything changes in war.  Even the most noble of causes can be cheapened and horrible acts of violence can be inflicted in the name of perceived right.  If you have ever been to a war zone, like we have when we were in Afghanistan in 2003, or ever talked to a refugee from a war, you will easily pick up that war changes everything and the fight for a perceived just cause can swiftly become murky, at best.  You can talk to a veteran of a foreign war, and they can provide you the perspective of a heavily armed and supported fighting force.  The perspective of an organized war is important, but civil wars are a little more chaotic, forces are more widely varied, lines are not as clearly drawn, enemies are perceived.  To really understand war you need to talk to its victims– often the civilian population. If you are determined to fight, wait for clear signs and places as to where to be recruited and join the fight.  If you merely set out to find a place to join you may be viewed as a hostile combatant or an armed refugee and caught up in the scrum and chaos.  Know what you are choosing to leave behind when you go off to fight, and know what you may be asked to do. You may fight covertly as a type of organized resistance.  Criminal groups or armed groups may be able to seize control of areas when chaos abounds throughout the country.  Protective forces may be called elsewhere or no longer in existence in your area.  You may need to fight to hold on to whatever order and stability you can, either individually or as part of a group. While fighting overtly or covertly as a type of resistance is a possibility, it is not without significant personal risk.  It is far from a game, and the consequences to you, your family, and your community cannot be undone. 4 – Caught Up In the Storm Whether you stay in place, flee to safety, or choose to fight, you may not have any control over where you end up and the choice you want to make.  If you hunker down the fight may come to you.  If you flee to safer areas you may have to fight along the way, or you may find the area you were going to is no longer safe.  If you choose to fight overtly or covertly, you are putting yourself willingly into the storm.  Regardless of your plans and prepping, you may find yourself unwillingly and uncontrollably swept up into the melee and bloody conflict. Again, make sure you have the supplies you need to provide yourself options.  In those supplies, you may want to consider some lightweight ballistic protection.  In any civil unrest projectiles from bullets to gas canisters can be shot indiscriminately.  Rocks and bricks are thrown.  It is safe to assume that you will not be guaranteed medical services for you or your spouse or your children. We’ll provide some links to several lightweight forms of ballistic protection systems in the description section below, and if you think it is at all possible that you or someone you know might be drawn into or caught up in the conflict, please consider getting some personal body armor. If you do have to travel out, use the usual logic to stay out of the storm.  Avoid conflict or potential conflict zones.  Avoid potentially confrontational gatherings or any groups of desperate people.  If you are not forced to go out alone and it is still operationally feasible, go as a group of two to three individuals. Communicate within your network your plans.  Just as you always let someone know your route before hiking into the wilderness, you also want that knowledge of your route, intent, and whereabouts amongst your friends and family.  They may have to attempt to find you.  They may be able to warn you if there is a brewing conflict in your area.  Support networks increase your individual senses and security.  They expand your eyes and ears.  You may also find that critical medicine you are going to risk life and limb for is also taken by a friend’s neighbor who has a good supply. If you do get swept up into the conflict, do what you can to get out of it.  Conflict zones often move like wildfires.  The area you find yourself in may be free of conflict in a little while if you can hunker down safely.  If you see the opportunity to escape a conflict zone, take it, even if it means you are moving away from home.  Circling back through other areas is safer than trying to move through a conflict zone. Conclusion There are no winners in large scale civil unrest or a civil war.  Knowing this, it doesn’t matter if the conflict comes to your doorstep, forces you to find a safer area, to fight for survival, or sweeps you up into it as an unwilling victim.  Prepare now for the possibility that things could go south very quickly.  Peace and calm can swiftly erode into violence and chaos.  We have seen it before.  We have seen it in other countries, and we may be on the cusp of it today in the United States.  Use this time to prepare for that possibility. If you found this blog informative and helpful, please like and share it with your friends, family, and community. We invite you to visit our website CityPrepping.com to learn more and stay informed.  As always, please stay safe out there.

Prepare While You Have Time

1. An October Surprise or Election Surprise?
2. Top-up Your Food & Water
3. Prep What You Know You Need (Bidet, cast iron, etc.)
4. Know Your Polling Locations
5. Know Your Urban Escape Routes

An election on the horizon as the world wrestles with a pandemic, the political division between parties descending into shouting matches and shootouts, anarchists and self-proclaimed nationalists clashing in the streets; a not thoroughly tested vaccine being rushed to production to be ready as an October surprise; foreign governments attacking our voting processes; it sounds like the plot of Hollywood thriller, but it’s not.  It’s the election year twenty-twenty, and it is happening right now.  Will you be prepared if violence erupts across America?  Do you have what you need? In this blog, we will address the coming election and provide you a few practical things to do before the election to make sure you aren’t caught off guard and you are prepared to survive what could be the most volatile election of our time. 1- An October Surprise or Election Surprises? Why is this election different from previous elections?  Extremists in both parties believe that the other party winning will result in the death of Democracy.  One side feels the other will bring fascism, and the other believes a win will result in socialism or communism.  The likelihood of a peaceful, calm, and uncomplicated voting process is less than the very likely armed conflicts that may occur on election day and afterward in pockets throughout the United States.  You may already feel the tension building in your area.  Any conflicts may disrupt normal processes, if anything in twenty-twenty can still be considered normal.  Stores could run out of items and the economy could slide down further causing wide scale panic buying.  And don’t forget to be prepared for whatever natural disasters you still face.  Those aren’t going away either.   In American politics, an October Surprise is an intentionally crafted and timely maneuvered media event to attract or distract the voters and influence an election result, particularly for the US presidential race.  It’s become a staple of American politics.  This year, however, I think people have had enough surprises, from wildfires to hurricanes to a lethal virus and more.  This election year’s October surprises could be many.  They could rush a vaccine and skip critical testing processes.  The government could mandate vaccinations, and people are not likely to respond well to that.  Mail or mail-in-ballots could turn up in trash bins creating doubt on the voting system.  There have even been rumors on some internet channels of domestic and foreign provocateurs creating election day chaos to keep people from feeling safe going to the polls.  The fact that nothing is that unimaginable is scary. If twenty-twenty has stressed anything, it’s that you need to be prepared and have some level of self-reliance and self-sustainability.  Expecting the government to come in and rescue you in your time of need may not be your best option.  As a prepper, have a plan when the rest are scrambling for a plan.  Be ready before election day comes, and start preparing now in this relatively quiet time before that day.  Be prepared to spend up to a minimum of eleven weeks in your home following election day.  This would be the eleven weeks between election day and inauguration day.  That is the period where any ongoing violence and civil unrest is likely to occur, so it provides a solid base number for a conscientious prepper to work with. 2- Top-up Your Food & Water First and foremost, make sure your food and water supplies can sustain you for an extended period in your home or apartment.  Having a specific timeframe like this of eleven weeks actually provides you with a great opportunity to look at your food and water reserves with greater clarity.  Write out eleven weeks of meals and water consumption with the stores you have on hand.  Is it enough?  Does it provide you with the recommended minimal amount of water of one gallon per person for seventy-eight days?  We will link to other blogs in the description section for you to review other blogs we’ve done regarding water storage.  As far as your food goes, will it go far enough?  Does it have enough caloric content to allow you to survive even if you’re a little thin at the end of those seventy-eight days?  Do you have enough water or liquid to rehydrate dried foods? If you are bugging-in for any extended period of time, you are going to probably experience a pretty severe diet alteration.  Having even one large multi-vitamin and a protein powder on hand can be a life saver.  If you already have these items in relatively everyday use, this is simply a matter of checking, updating, and topping off your supplies.  Pull out your calculator and a pen and paper and using the specific time frame of eleven weeks start making some calculations.  Fill in the gaps where you can while you can and slowly in the days preceding election day.  Even a little more preparedness will position you better. 3- Prep What You Know You Need Beyond food and water, recent store shortages from the quarantines and lockdowns have revealed shortages of some primary items.  Panicked shoppers cleaned stores out of a personal lifetime supply of toilet paper, feminine products, pasta, rice, beans, meats, and more.  Stores were forced to limit quantities per customer.  Suppliers could not keep up with demand.  Some products like a spray disinfectant are just now starting to reappear on store shelves. Perhaps you came to prepping from this event and are catching up on the items you now know you will need.  Perhaps you have been into prepping for a while and recognize a possible gap in your supplies.  We purchased a bidet before the pandemic and it has come in handy saving on toilet paper. We have done blogs on affordable items to have on hand to get you through an economic depression, and we would encourage you to take a look at those, as these same items can help you through a crisis of eleven weeks or longer. The real positive about prepping is, when done right, you have that little extra to get you through rough patches and you’re not just storing it away but using it as part of your daily processes.  Buy the cast iron dutch oven, but don’t just pull it out when camping.  Learn to use it to cook tonight’s pot roast.  Buy a rocket stove for cooking, but also give it a try on your balcony to cook breakfast.  Just like your food, put your items into use.  Obviously, you won’t be able to use your hatchet or axe much in an apartment setting, but look at the items you have on hand and the items you are still planning to get and start to put them into use in your life.  Even the best of items will be useless to you if you haven’t taken the time to familiarize yourself with its use. You won’t need every item you may have prepared for an eleven week bug-in, but take a critical look at your prepped items and use this opportunity to fill-in the gaps where you may be lacking. 4- Know Your Polling Locations Beyond using this opportunity to bring your food, water, and prepping item supplies up to where they need to be, be prepared for election day itself.  Know your polling locations.  If tensions continue to rise up to November third, in some areas polling locations will be hotspots for conflicts. If agitators of any kind with any ideology seek to cause chaos on election day it will be at these locations or on the routes to these places. It wouldn’t take more than a single crazy person to fire shots initiate a situation at a polling location to trigger an event causing the two sides that are protesting each other to launch into a conflict. All it takes is one provocative action and a call to action from the leadership on either side and you’ve got a real problem on your hand. Get a good local map of your area and mark the polling places around you to raise your situational awareness on that day.  City metro maps are great to have on hand to mark locations.  In addition to knowing where these potential hotspots are, know the routes you need to take to get to and from your home base.  Will you be working on election day or trying to vote yourself?  Make sure you have more than one way to get safely home. If you are planning on voting, we would encourage you to vote absentee, by mail, or as early as you can.  Peak voting crowds begin around eleven AM, so that is the time most likely for chaos to strike.  If there is any problem at polling locations on election day, being in your home is going to be the safest place to be, unless you are actually next door to a polling location. 5- Know Your Urban Escape Routes As we mentioned, you may want to pre-emptively vote early and then leave the city for a few days, if it is within your capabilities to do so.  Urban areas could have greater and more spontaneous flare ups of significant chaos. Whether that is from people calling themselves protestors, from outsiders driving into the city, or even foreign agitators and provocateurs, it  shouldn’t matter to you how the violence chaos is sparked as much as how insulated and safe from it you are.  There can be little doubt that if this election is contested, angry citizens will pour into the streets to protest while the votes are being counted. One fire that the police or firefighters can’t respond to, could force you to have to flee your bug-in location.  Make sure you have a seventy-two hour bag ready, filled with what you will need to grab and survive on if you are forced to escape your urban environment.  Having a grab-and-go bag is critical in most disaster situations as well– hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and more, so you will be glad you have one ready to go. Map out multiple routes and modes of leaving your urban environment should it be compromised.  Have a plan to stay put, but prepare a plan to get out as well.  Metro stations or areas where large groups have to congregate will decrease your safety in a civil unrest situation.  Surviving any crisis or disaster comes down to choosing the best survivable option from many options.  Your survivability drops as your options drop.  When you are left with just one option, your survivability is at its lowest.  While you can prepare, look at your various routes and rank them based on how safe they will feel during the current crisis you are planning for.  If your first choice is blocked or suddenly unsafe, you will easily be able to fallback to a safer option through this method. Conclusion The chatter channels that we monitor are largely suggesting that election day is a great day to be on that camping trip or visiting friends or family in the suburbs, exurbs, or country.  If that’s an option for you and your family, we can’t disagree.  Barring that option, it’s in your best interest to hunker down and lock down until you know your area of the country is safe.  Maybe this election will go off without a hitch.  Maybe America will wake up on November fourth and have an uncontested popular and electoral vote winner, maybe while still being upset with the results, everyone will accept them.  Maybe…but it is that “maybe” that, as a prepper, you need to plan for. I would love to see a peaceful election process and a smooth transition or sustaining of power, but as you can probably see in your own communities, this isn’t likely to occur.  Be rationally prepared now because by election day it will be too late.  Use the timeframe of eleven weeks to look at your food, water, and equipment.  Prep your grab-and-go bags for your family.  Know your escape routes.  Be safe and prepare while you can. If you found this blog informative and helpful, please feel free to like and share it with your friends, family, and community.  As always, please stay safe out there.