November 2019

DON’T MISS: STAYING MOBILE IN A POST-APOCALYPTIC WORLD

SLEEP SOUNDLY WHEN YOU’RE UNDER THE STARS

IN THIS ISSUE:

GETTING HOME FAST WHEN A CRISIS HITS

NOVEMBER 2019

HACKS FOR HOMESTEAD LIVING

DO-IT-YOURSELF TORCHES AFTER THE SHTF

KEEPING PESTS OUT OF YOUR SUPPLY STORES

SIMPLE TECHNIQUES TO PICK A LOCK

THE RIGHT WAY TO HANDLE A GUN MISFIRE and more…

VIP SURVIVAL ACADEMY - NOVEMBER 2019

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Contents

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FEATURED

STAYING MOBILE IN A POST-APOCALYPTIC WORLD You want to know the first thing that’ll stop in a large-scale crisis? The cars on the road. Without gas, you’ve got a range of just a few hundred miles before your car becomes just another…

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SLEEP SOUNDLY WHEN YOU’RE UNDER THE STARS I’m a big fan of camping, and the great outdoors, but I also like my sleep. Over the years I’ve figured out how to ensure I always sleep soundly during a night out under the stars, and today…

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HACKS TO IMPROVE HOMESTEAD LIVING When you’re living off the grid, things are anything but easy. For me, the smartest hacks on my homestead are backup plans. Because things inevitably go wrong, that’s the only guarantee in…

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KEEPING PESTS OUT OF YOUR SUPPLY STORES Over the last year we’ve built our survival stockpile to almost 18 months’ worth of food, supplies and gear, to ensure we can withstand whatever comes. And with that we’ve also…

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THE RIGHT WAY TO HANDLE A GUN MISFIRE Getting comfortable with a firearm is an important skill, but many people fail to practice the misfire. Unfortunately, you never know when a round may misfire, and even with an…

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GETTING HOME FAST WHEN A CRISIS HITS Considering we spend less than a third of our time in our homes, with school, work, and everything going on in our lives, one area where too many survivalists fail to plan is…

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DO-IT-YOURSELF TORCHES AFTER THE SHTF Without a source of light, we’re are at a massive disadvantage once night falls, because our night vision is pretty terrible. We can hardly see in the dark, unlike many animals who are watching…

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SIMPLE TECHNIQUES TO PICK A LOCK I’m a big fan of learning useful techniques before the SHTF, and lock picking is right up there on the list. Despite the (justifiable) negative connection with learning how to pick a lock…

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SURVIVAL CHECKLIST FOR A NATURAL DISASTER Its far more fun building faraday cages and digging underground bunkers than preparing for some of the more common disasters, but that doesn’t mean you should be unprepared…

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VIP SURVIVAL ACADEMY - NOVEMBER 2019

STAYING MOBILE IN A POST-APOCALYPTIC WORLD You want to know the first thing that’ll stop in a large-scale crisis? The cars on the road. Without gas, you’ve got a range of just a few hundred miles before your car becomes just another abandoned vehicle on the side of the road. And even if you had the foresight to plan ahead (we’ve got two rather large diesel tanks on our property), these fuel sources will run out eventually, and the transportation we rely on will come to a screeching stop. But you’re still going to need to stay mobile. Not just to get you from point A to point B, but to also haul your gear and supplies around once you’ve made it to your bug out location. If you don’t start preparing now, you’re going to struggle to stay mobile when the SHTF. GET A BICYCLE One of the most reliable means of transport you can get your hands on is a bicycle. Powered by your legs alone, a good mountain bike with a set of gears will

help you to quickly and quietly evacuate most areas, skirting obstacles in your path with ease. Even without a lot of training, you can expect to cover anywhere from 40 to 60 miles in a day on a bike. I’d recommend getting saddlebags to store your gear, because in addition to your bug out bag you’re going to need a basic toolkit for your bike, at a minimum a tire pump and patch kit. The time is now to get comfortable riding a bike, if you haven’t for years or never really did as a kid, because when the SHTF a bike really is your best bet for fast and easy transport. GET AN EBIKE In a step up from a normal bicycle, an ebike comes with an integrated electric motor. They range from pedal-assisted models to those with more powerful motors that essentially turn your bike into a scooter, you can still pedal of course, but the throttle means you don’t have to. The downside with an ebike is they will need to be continually recharged, and beginner models start with a range of 25 to 30 miles.

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If you’ve got an off-the-grid power source on your property, like a set of solar panels or a wind turbine, an ebike is a smart choice. It’ll help you cover more ground, faster, and also tow heavier loads. The additional torque from the motor makes it possible to carry 3-4 times as much weight than you could move by yourself. Ideal, if you’re needing a versatile set of wheels on your property.

“When the SHTF a bike really is your best bet for fast and easy transport.”

VIP SURVIVAL ACADEMY - NOVEMBER 2019 cont. GET A BIKE CART After an extended trip to Northern Europe I fell in love with bike carts. They’re incredibly useful if you’re needing to haul anything from your kids to a load of groceries, and you have a few options for different styles of cart to best suit your needs. From trailers that connect in when you need it, to fully converted “tricycles” with an integrated cart (on either the front or the back), if you’re going to be using your bike for any sort of hauling, like collecting wood or foraging, a bike cart will allow you to carry far more than you safely could on a traditional bicycle. They add stability to the load which is ideal for me when I am going off trail in my property. GET A HORSE I never really considered myself a horse person until we got our property, and at my wife’s insistence we ended up with a couple of docile mares that our kids love to ride. They do take work to keep fit and shoed, and despite many preppers telling you they only need water and grass, my bank account would tell you that’s a lie. But if you’ve got the means, a horse is a great way to navigate your property, they can cover around 30 miles a day. Of course, the downside is they’re noisy on a road, can startle easily and require food and water, just like you, to stay alive. I include horses here because they are a way to stay mobile, but personally, I’d go with a bike. GET A WOOD GAS TRUCK Gasification is a little-known technique that’s not really popular today. But if you’re living off the grid, it can be your saving grace in a crisis. Essentially, it’s a wood gas generator, that you mount to your intended vehicle. They’re dangerous to run inside as they produce carbon monoxide, but outdoors, it’s an ideal substitute for gas.

Fueled with wood (or charcoal), a wood gas generator is a large chamber, that you start a fire within.

I’ve made the trip a few times, it’s beautiful fishing, but it’s also a hidden highway we can use to evacuate.

It’s massive, we lose almost half the tray in our truck to this device, but it’s worth it.

Powered only by paddling, we can silently slip away in our boats while the roads remain gridlocked.

The fuel wood is added inside, and as it heats releases carbon monoxide that you can use to power an internal combustion engine.

It’s also a way for us to go out and reach new areas for foraging and fishing when the SHTF.

Yes, it is slow to start, but wood is a renewable resource and our truck will keep running long after we’ve run out of diesel. GET A BOAT OR KAYAK If you live near any waterways a small boat or a kayak is a smart investment. We’ve got a large stream running through our property, that you can follow for a few hundred miles until it opens up to a large lake.

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I like to think I’ve got a backup plan for most situations, but when it comes to mobility you have to start preparing now. Because once the SHTF you won’t be able to fill your tank at the local gas station anymore, and within a couple of weeks, most cars are going to be absolutely useless once their tanks run dry. Don’t be the one left stranded.

VIP SURVIVAL ACADEMY - NOVEMBER 2019

SLEEP SOUNDLY WHEN YOU’RE UNDER THE STARS

It doesn’t take much room at all in your bag, and it does wonders in making sure I’m as comfortable as possible. Of course, I could always roll up a sweater and use this instead, but really, well, it’s just not the same. Pack a small travel pillow, and you’ll thank me for it.

I’m a big fan of camping, and the great outdoors, but I also like my sleep.

GET YOURSELF A SLEEPING BAG

Over the years I’ve figured out how to ensure I always sleep soundly during a night out under the stars, and today I’d like to share a few of my insights, helping those who may struggle.

Staying warm is going to be your next big comfort item, if you’re cold you’re not going to get cozy and it’ll be almost impossible to sleep soundly through the night. Make sure whatever sleeping you have is rated for the conditions you’ll be camping in, and consider using a bivvy sack or an additional cover for your sleeping bag if you’re going to be under the stars without a tent. It’ll help trap the warmth inside, even a mylar blanket between your sleeping bag and the ground (or your mattress) will add a nice insulating layer.

I love the guy to death, but he snores like a chainsaw. Almost as soon as he shuts his eyes, the entire camp starts echoing with snores that’ll stop you from getting even one minute of sleep, all night. But with earplugs at least you dull the violence from the sounds a touch, so you can.

GET IN THE RIGHT CLOTHES

HAVE YOUR GEAR CLOSE

It can be tempting to simply lay down in the dirty clothes you’ve been wearing all day and fall asleep, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

In the night you never know what may happen, and it’s important you’ve got your gear close.

Simple things make a big difference, and you’ll enjoy the whole camping experience so much more if you’re well rested after a good night’s sleep. FIND THE RIGHT SPOT It all starts with the perfect location. Your campsite needs to be on a piece of dry, relatively flat ground that’s free from any kind of debris that’ll make your bed uncomfortable. Steer clear of any roots or rocks, and scuff up the ground with your feet. Your goal is to not only clear out any branches that’ll dig into your back, but also see if you happen to stir up any ants or bugs hiding in the leaves. You don’t want to set your bed up only to find yourself being invaded 20 minutes later, so do a proper scout around. GET YOURSELF A MATTRESS Using a mattress makes a big difference when you’re camping out. Not only does it provide a layer of insulation against the ground (which is typically colder than you are and leeches away your warmth), it makes it way softer. Air mattresses these days are pretty lightweight and compact, and don’t take up a huge amount of space in your pack. If you’re camping in the cold, I’d highly recommend this. And in summer, the alternative option is to string up a nice, cozy hammock, and that’s exactly what I do. GET YOURSELF A PILLOW Much like an inflatable mattress, a small, inflatable pillow does wonders for your spine when you’re sleeping, especially if you’re a bit weird like me and prefer sleeping face down.

Go through the ritual of getting ready for bed, just like you do at home, giving your face a wash, brushing your teeth, and getting into a set of light and somewhat breathable clothes to sleep in. They’ll be more comfy than your proper hiking gear, even if you’re just wearing your long john’s you’ll be fine, the sleeping bag will keep you plenty warm enough.

I set my shoes at the foot of my bed (inside my tent so there’s no surprises hiding in my boots), with my jacket and pants laid out on top. My headlight is there too, so no matter what happens, I can find everything, even in the dark, get dressed quickly and be ready to move. Or you know, just in case you need to get up to pee in the night. Make it an efficient process by having all of your gear close.

COLLECT PLENTY OF FIREWOOD

GET ORGANIZED BEFORE DARK

A good rule when it comes to camping is that you can never have enough firewood, and if the flames die down too much, especially in cold weather, you may struggle to stay warm, especially if you’re relying on the heat to get you through the night.

Finally, I’d just say this.

Do a few firewood runs during the day to build up a healthy stock of big logs that’ll burn through the night. The larger the better, as it’ll mean you can sleep peacefully for a couple of hours while they burn through. PACK SOME EARPLUGS You may think this is funny one on the list, but if you’ve ever camped with someone like my friend Patrick you’ll understand why they’re important.

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Getting all of this set up in daylight is a hundred times easier than trying to do after night falls. So, take a few minutes out of the day and get organized. Clear your site, inflate your mattress and your pillow, lay everything out in its place and if you’ve got a tent, or a tarp, now is the time to set it up. Do your firewood runs and basically just get prepared before it gets dark. So that when night does fall you can enjoy yourself and relax a little bit in the evening. Getting a good night sleep while you’re camping is simply a matter of being prepared, the more organized you are, the better your chances of sleeping soundly under the stars.

VIP SURVIVAL ACADEMY - NOVEMBER 2019 Stockpile fish in the pond on your property. We’ve got tilapia in not only the natural pond, but as part of the aquaponics setup in our greenhouse. Find produce that’ll thrive in your local environment, and seed your property naturally. KEEP THE PIPES FLOWING Sanitation is a big one when you’re living off grid, and it’s important to have backups in place should your primary system fail. It’s not pretty, but it’s true. We’ve got two separate septic systems that operate independently of each other, as a first backup, connecting into the two different bathrooms in our homestead. We’ve also pre-prepared and dug a traditional drop-pit outhouse in a remote section of our land (near our bug out cabin) that we use when we’re up there. KEEP THE HEAT ON

HACKS TO IMPROVE HOMESTEAD LIVING When you’re living off the grid, things are anything but easy. For me, the smartest hacks on my homestead are backup plans. Because things inevitably go wrong, that’s the only guarantee in this life, and if you’ve taken the time to put each of these hacks in place, you’ll be laughing when things go wrong. Here’s how you can keep a homestead running smooth. KEEP THE LIGHTS ON Our solar panels are out main source of power, operating everything from the refrigerator to the deep freeze, and keeping the lights on above our heads. But that’s just not reliable, and you need backups in place. Set up a small wind turbine on a key area of your property. It won’t generate enough charge to run your entire home, but it could keep your refrigerator running in a pinch. Set up a small water turbine in the stream that runs through your property. It’s an alternative to the wind turbine, and it’s also a little stealthier from a distance. Invest in a generator, and store enough gas to keep it running for at least a month. More is always better, but keeping the lights on, no matter what, for a month, should give you an enough time to find a solution to get your main source of power operational again.

KEEP THE WATER FLOWING Our water tanks provide the vast majority of our water needs, and a small pump is what keeps it all pressurized so that when we turn on the taps, the water comes out. But we’ve been working hard to add a few additional options. Tap a well on your property (depending on local regulations) to ensure a continued and unpolluted water supply for years to come. Set up a rain catchment system on every building on your property, so that you’re making the best use of any rainfall and collecting it for use on your homestead. Set up a pump from any natural water source, so you can quickly and easily replenish your supplies if you have no other option. We’ve got a rather large pond we could use in a pinch. KEEP FOOD ON THE TABLE On our homestead our sur vival stockpile is our main source of SHTF preparations, and there’s enough food in there to last at least a year. But with long-term sustainability in mind, we’ve used the following hacks to bolster our supplies. Raise rabbits as an alternative food source, they grow quickly and can provide an ample supply of meat far more effectively than any other large cattle.

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During winter the last thing you want is to be battling the cold, so I’d also recommend thinking of a plan should your central heating go down. Our kitchen is primarily electric powered from our solar panels, but we’ve also got an old wood-fired stove that’s probably 100 years old but it continues to work a treat cooking and warming up that part of the house. We’ve got a fireplace in the living room, and another small one in our master. More than enough to keep us warm, so long as we’ve got enough wood stored in the shed. KEEP IT SECURE Finally, I just want you to remember one last thing. Security. It can be easy to forget how isolated you are on your homestead, and while it may be perfectly fine now, in a crisis you want to setup a few quick hacks now to stay secure. Consider entry points to your property, and ways you could limit access in a crisis. We’ve planted big pines along every key stretch of border, and you’d be lucky to get a car through the gaps there. Not to mention the fences we’ve strung up too. Thinking ahead is a smart idea when you’re living on a homestead and if you’re looking for hacks to make life a little better, these tips and tricks will ensure you’re never caught off-guard because you’ve always got a good backup in place.

VIP SURVIVAL ACADEMY - NOVEMBER 2019

KEEPING PESTS OUT OF YOUR SUPPLY STORES Over the last year we’ve built our survival stockpile to almost 18 months’ worth of food, supplies and gear, to ensure we can withstand whatever comes. And with that we’ve also made some pretty serious security upgrades around our home, but there’s another threat out there, seeking to raid and destroy what you have stored. Rodents and other pests. I’ve seen rats chew through soft plastic to get at the grain stored within, how they even knew it was there is beyond me, but the gnawed and bitten plastic they ate through is testament to how vigilant you need to stay with your preparations. Here’s how we keep our supply stores pest free.

Thin plastic packaging can be torn in seconds, and is barely even a barrier.

Step one, is to move all of the supplies to one side of the room.

You need to keep your supplies clean, free from any potential attractants, like cleaning up any spilt rice or beans, and locked down so that the pests cannot get into them.

Our shelves have locking wheels so this is relatively easy, and then it’s just a matter of taking the supplies off the stationary shelves that line the walls.

We primarily keep our supplies in large, heavy-duty plastic tubs, that are both airtight (so we can fumigate as we need without concern) and thick enough to withstand a bit of a chewing. If you’ve a particular problem with mice, it may be worth considering metal storage cupboards, metal trashcans, or glass masonry jars as rodent-proof alternatives. FUMIGATE ON A REGULAR SCHEDULE

LOCK DOWN YOUR SUPPLIES

Ever ything from ter mites to cockroaches can wreak havoc if left unchecked.

Most pests go for the easiest source of food, and if you’re leaving out waste and scraps, well, you already know where they are going to congregate, right? Same goes for your supplies.

And you don’t want to give any ground when it comes to keeping the food your family has stored to these little nasties.

You need to think about how accessible you’ve made your supplies to a hungry mouse or rodent.

We do a fumigation two times a year, which is a three-part process as there’s no way I’m hauling everything out of our basement for this.

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Step two, is to cover these with a tarp to reduce any contamination from the pesticides. We use a product that’s safe on people and pets, but as this is food for my family I don’t want to take any risks, the less it is exposed, the better.

“You need to keep your supplies clean, free from any potential attractants…”

VIP SURVIVAL ACADEMY - NOVEMBER 2019 cont. Step three, is to spray the area you’ve just cleared, and let it dry. After a few hours I’ll come back, sweep out any dead bugs, then move my supplies to the other side of the room and repeat. Once I’m done, I put everything back in place so it’s easy to access again. CLEAR THE AREA AROUND YOUR HOME Not only to create a zone that allows an unwanted person to approach unseen, having a wide stretch of clear ground between your property and the tree line stops rodents and other pests from getting too close. Keep any grass mowed short, and trim back and branches or trees that could be providing access to the roof. We struggled with rats initially in this property, and it was only once we ripped out all the ivy and heavy landscaping alongside our home did we start to see this reduce. Of course, it’s nice having big bushy and flowery plants under every window and surrounding your home, but it’s basically building a superhighway for all manner of bugs, critters and rodents to walk right into your home. PUT OUT RAT BAITS On our property we initially had a rather large rat problem. They had been left unchecked by the previous owner, and were running wild in our orchard, gorging themselves on the fruits and nut trees that were growing there.

I hardly see any in the orchard, and very little of our produce is harmed by these nasty little rodents.

Not only was this ruining a percentage of our crop, we were worried about the diseases and contamination it would cause if we didn’t act.

The rat baits in our supply room have been untouched for months.

Over the course of a summer, we used scrap PVC pipe and wire to create small rat bait “tunnels” (we didn’t want our dogs getting to the baits), and laid out almost 50 at different locations in the property.

I’ve never been a big fan of smaller dogs, but we got a medium-sized terrier a few months into life on our property and she has been one of the best deterrents for any sort of critter you can imagine.

Initially we changed the baits once a week, but now, it’ll be a month or more before a bait is even touched, because we’ve made such a dent in the population.

Where our older boxer just doesn’t seem to lift a finger, she’s got this uncanny knack of finding and killing any critter that doesn’t belong in our home.

GET A NATURAL PREDATOR

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She has taken down everything from possums to rats, snakes and even (somehow) got hold of a crow, dispatched it, and proudly left it for us to find on the patio by her kennel. She’s a small dog with a lot of fight, getting her has been one of the best decisions for our critter problems. There’s no point building up a large stockpile of supplies if you’re not vigilant at keeping the pests at bay. Left unchecked, they will do a massive amount of damage, and potentially even risking the health and safety of your family once you go to use your supplies and find them contaminated and spoiled. It’s important you’re keeping pests out of your supply stores.

VIP SURVIVAL ACADEMY - NOVEMBER 2019

THE RIGHT WAY TO HANDLE A GUN MISFIRE Getting comfortable with a firearm is an important skill, but many people fail to practice the misfire. Unfortunately, you never know when a round may misfire, and even with an impeccably cleaned firearm, it can happen. You need to know the right way to handle it. TAKE A BREATH AND REGAIN CONTROL Being able to remain calm is one of your best assets. Especially once your gun stops working, so take a breath. If you give in to panic, that’s when you make a mistake that costs you your life. Because panic invokes fear, and that’s when you do something stupid. You either freeze up, or give up, and that when you’re going to get shot. Take a breath, and regain control of yourself. DON’T TRY TO BLUFF Unless you’ve got a professional poker face, your attacker will see in your eyes that something has gone wrong. Don’t try to bluff your way out or pretend. If you’re pointing a gun at someone, you better be ready for the consequences, that is, they will be responding with deadly force. And if your gun doesn’t work, you’re at a massive disadvantage. Bluffing is the worst thing you can do in this situation. START MOVING FAST FOR COVER Look for something solid that will stop any incoming bullets and also get you out of sight while you clear the jam. Move fast, looking quickly for an escape route or the best cover available, while keeping the shooter in your sights. The hardest part is overcoming the split-second of initial confusion, and starting to move. If you move first, you’ve the best chance of surviving once the shooter realizes your weapon has malfunctioned.

DON’T STOP TO CLEAR THE JAM While you’re moving you need to be figuring out the jam and clearing it. You’ve got seconds, literally seconds, to get this done. If you stop moving, you’re an easy target for your opponent, so don’t stop to clear the jam. Bang the magazine back into position, pull and rack the slider to eject the defective round, and get your finger back on the trigger. The faster you can do this, the better your chances of coming out on top of this confrontation. STOPPING A MISFIRE IN THE FIRST PLACE I’ve shot thousands of rounds through most of my firearms and there’s a trick or two I’ve discovered over a lifetime of responsible gun use. And while not entirely foolproof, there’s a few things you can do to stop a misfire from happening in the first place. It starts with keeping a clean shop. You need to clean your gun after it gets used, because each time you go shooting the residue from firing starts building up again. Left alone and untreated, this residue solidifies and will eventually cause key mechanisms to stop working inside your firearm. That’s when a misfire is most likely to happen. Of course, you don’t need to do a full cleaning after every session at the range, just make sure you’re cleaning it regularly, even just a quick field strip, a few dabs of solvent, scrubs and lubrication works wonders on reducing the problems you will face shooting it. Next comes maintenance. Cleaning alone isn’t enough to keep your firearm working smoothly. Just like servicing your car every year, or every 12,000 miles or so, you need to do the same sort of maintenance on your guns.

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I take mine for a service with my local gunsmith about every 10,000 rounds. He takes them apart, screw by screw, carefully inspecting every part of my guns and replacing whatever is needed. If you want to rely on your firearms to save your life, it’s important that you keep them in good working order. Finally, is your ammunition. Yes, ammo is expensive and there is always the lure of the cheapest ammunition on the shelf. But cheap ammo has a cost of its own. To keep costs down the production is usually done in poor, third world nations, which means quality standards aren’t always up to par. And you can guess what misaligned, poorly seated bullets result in right? Misfires. Then add cheap gunpowder and steel casings instead of brass, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. If you want to trust your gun works when you pull the trigger, you need to put your money into high-quality ammunition. DON’T FORGET TO PRACTICE Ultimately, remember this. With a firearm it’s not a matter of “if ” a misfire will happen, but “when.” Your job is to practice, so it becomes almost a second nature to clear a jam. So your muscle memory knows exactly what to do without stopping your rhythm and momentum while you’re shooting. And the only way to develop this is to practice. Having a gun is a good start to being prepared, but if you’re not able to correctly handle a misfire you could find yourself stumbling when you need your firearm the most. Knowing what to do, how to prevent a misfire in the first place, and how to clear it quickly and effectively in the heat of the moment is critical to staying alive. It’s never too late to start practicing.

VIP SURVIVAL ACADEMY - NOVEMBER 2019 KEEP YOURSELF CONNECTED

GETTING HOME FAST WHEN A CRISIS HITS

One of our best assets we are almost always guaranteed to have with us is the tiny computer in our pocket, our smartphones. Your job is to outfit it with the tools you need to stay connected and informed in a crisis. In addition to downloading maps of your local neighborhoods and neighboring cities (so you can access these offline, should internet or cellular access go down), you need a way to ensure your phone stays charged so you can navigate no matter what. I’ve got a dynamo on my bike that recharges my phone as I ride, adapters in my car so I can plug it in there, and a power-bank I carry with me that recharges it fully, from 0% to a full charge, three times over. I’ve also got apps that let me follow the local AM/FM radio stations, an emergency police scanner, battery savers, and a massive library of survival books primed and ready to go. Information is key in a crisis, and the more you have, the better your chances to survive. KEEP YOUR GEAR CLOSE

Considering we spend less than a third of our time in our homes, with school, work, and everything going on in our lives, one area where too many survivalists fail to plan is getting home. They have all the supplies they need at home in their stockpile, a bug out bag ready to go, but they haven’t given a seconds’ thought to how they’ll actually get home. With that in mind, I’ve put together the following plans.

KEEP A BIKE HANDY

These center around my office, where I spend the majority of my weeks, but you could tailor these as you need for whatever locations you frequent.

The problem with a car, is that you’re limited to the roads, and during high traffic or road blocks and congestion, you’re stuck. Unless you’ve got an alternative. For me, that’s my bike. I bought a foldable bike that I keep in the trunk of my car, it takes up very little room, and while it’s not perfect for a long cross-country ride, it’s there and ready for me to use if I need a quick evacuation home. Plus, it’s quiet, let’s me go off-road and circumvent any obstacles, and if I had to ditch it to continue on foot, that’s easy too.

KEEP YOUR TANK HALF FULL

KEEP YOURSELF FIT

My primary means of transport is my car, and it’s always within a few hundred meters of me. But it’s useless without gas, so I make sure of two things. I purposely bought a secondhand car with an LPG conversion, and while the extra tank does reduce my trunk space, the key benefit is that it allows me to choose between LPG or gas for fuel. Options that are ideal when you’re planning for whatever is coming. Plus, I’ve a LPG station near my office, so I make it a habit to never let this drop below half. It does mean I need to fill up every few days, but at any given time I’ve got a range of 600+ miles with a full tank of gas, and at least a half tank of LPG.

Finally, your last resort is always walking. It’s what we humans were built for, and if you’re forced to get home on foot, you’ll have a much better time of it if you’ve kept yourself fit. I get out for a morning run as part of my daily routine, sometimes it’s as little as 15 minutes, other times I can slowly jog for miles. It wasn’t easy when I was first changing from my previous (sedentary) office lifestyle, but over the months I’ve gotten used to moving, and now I’m comfortable on even the longest hikes. The key benefit to walking is mobility, if you need to change your pace, hide to escape notice, or even jump of climb an obstacle, being on foot gives you plenty of options.

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I call it my every day carry, and essentially, it’s a stripped-down version of my bug out bag. Small enough that I can have it with me as I go to work each day without raising notice, but giving me a few vital things that I may need in an emergency. • My concealed carry firearm of choice, currently a Ruger LCR • A strikepen that I can use for hand to hand fighting and self-defense • A micro-flashlight that clips in to my keychain so I can see at night • A Gerber folding knife and case for any cutting of defense needs • A small lock-picking kit and case for opening any doors I need • A cheap cigarette lighter to get a flame or a fire going quickly Not a whole lot, by any means, but tucked into my pockets and holsters these items are barely noticeable, but are within quick and easy reach. Getting home fast when a crisis hits requires a little forward thinking, ensuring you’ve got not only a ready means of transport to get you there quickly, but the ability to stay connected and the essential survival gear you may need on the road home. Put these in place today, and you’ll be much better placed to make it home in a crisis.

VIP SURVIVAL ACADEMY - NOVEMBER 2019

DO-IT-YOURSELF TORCHES AFTER THE SHTF Without a source of light, we’re are at a massive disadvantage once night falls, because our night vision is pretty terrible. We can hardly see in the dark, unlike many animals who are watching closely as you stumble past, and if you don’t know where you’re stepping or what you may encounter in the inky blackness, you’re going to find it challenging to move at all. Putting it bluntly, you need a source of light to survive and navigate after dark. The easiest option, of course, is to pack a torch into your bug out kit. With a flick of a switch you’ve got plenty of light to see everything in your path, and quickly get where you need to be going. Some torches even have night vision modes, with special red-light filters to minimize the chances you’ll be spotted at a distance. But there’s a limitation, these generally run on batteries and once you’ve burned through the stored charge, in a crisis you may not have an alternative. You need to fashion a torch.

Something that’ll serve as the wick for the torch, and something to burn. One of the fastest torches you can make is a gas torch. Cut a green limb from a branch, I like to look for one that’s about an inch thick and about 3 feet long. Fallen branches also work, but you do run the risk they catch fire. This branch becomes your handle. Tear a long strip of cloth from your shirt or some scrap material you can find. Look for cotton, not polyester that’ll melt, you want something that’s going to burn. Tie it tightly to one end of your branch. What I like to do is split the end of the branch with my knife, and use it like a wedge to hold the cloth in place as I wind it tightly, then tie it off. This is your wick. Then you need a source of fuel. You want something flammable, that’s going to provide a source of fuel to the torch and keep it burning longer than the cloth would on its own. Kerosene is good, as is Vaseline, diesel, or even lighter fluid. Soak the wick in whatever flammable material you have, and when you need your torch, simply set it alight. These torches will burn anywhere from a few minutes to a half hour or more, depending on what’s fueling the flames. I find the tighter I wrap the cloth the longer the torch lasts.

THE QUICK AND DIRTY SOLUTION

THE ALL-NATURAL SOLUTION

First, you’re going to need to find a few things. No matter what type of torch you’re building you need three things.

Of course, sometimes you’re not going to have cloth to sacrifice or even a source of fuel. Then what?

A handle, because let’s be honest, you’re going to want to keep the flames close but you do need some distance between the fire and your skin.

Well, you’re going to have to improvise again. First, you’re going to have to find something to serve as your wick. Pine needles can work here but they do burn fast, I’d recommend dry roots or anything that’ll burn yet is still flexible to wrap around your handle, but is substantial enough that it will take some time for the flames to consume.

“There’s something reassuring about being able to see at night…”

Vines also work. Wrap these tightly around the end of your torch handle, providing a wick for your natural torch. Then you need to find your fuel. Across the vast majority of North America, the best source of fuel is pine sap. Get your knife and star t investigating any of the trees that leak resin in their cuts. I’m not saying to vandalize the trees to get this, you should be able to collect more than enough naturally occurring sap where branches have fallen, or the tree has sustained older injuries.

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Sometimes it’s clear with a yellow tint and sticky, other times the sap has hardened into whitish yellow crystalline lumps. Collect as much as you can find, you want at least a good handful of pine resin for your torch to work. Then you need to melt it down. A tin or an old beer can work really well for this, but in a pinch, you could also use a natural hollow in a rock. You just need a place for the melted pine resin to collect. Slowly heat the pine resin, and when I say slowly, I mean slowly. Get it too hot too quick and the smoke will burst into flames, so be careful. Once it’s liquid, take your torch and the improvised wick you’ve made, and dip it in the resin, ensuring you get quite a lot soaking into the material. Now, of course, cotton is one of the best wicks you can use, but your roots or vines will do the job fine if you’ve not got an alternative. After the pine resin cools, the torch is ready for you to use, all you need to do is dip it in the flames of your campfire and it’ll light up. Though a word of warning for this particular technique. As the pine resin burns, some of it will drip down and fall, and this can wreak havoc inside a polyester tent. Only use these torches outside, and be very careful you’re not dripping burning resin onto your hand or your clothing as you’re using this particular type of torch. They work great, but they’re not the safest option. There’s something reassuring about being able to see at night, especially if you’re in the woods. Fire will keep most animals at bay, and knowing how to create your own torches is a must-have skill for anyone serious about wilderness survival.

VIP SURVIVAL ACADEMY - NOVEMBER 2019

SIMPLE TECHNIQUES TO PICK A LOCK I’m a big fan of learning useful techniques before the SHTF, and lock picking is right up there on the list. Despite the (justifiable) negative connection with learning how to pick a lock, there are quite a few situations where it could definitely come in handy in a crisis. You already know the rules go out the window in a disaster, and those who make it, those who thrive, are the ones who are most ready when the situation demands.

Escaping a pair of handcuffs for one, gaining access to a building for shelter, or getting into a previously untapped s e t o f r e s o u r c e s w h e n yo u ’r e scavenging to survive.

Slight misalignments, things out by fractions of an inch, and while they not be a big deal in the grand scheme of things, these tiny misalignments allow lock picking to work.

Plus, it’s discreet.

Because when things are off-center, you have a tiny ledge to work with.

Destroying a door to break into a particular location may cause too much noise and draw the attention of unwanted people, and if you’re seeking shelter, you certainly wouldn’t want to destroy the protection a locked door provides.

Being able to access locked areas could make all the difference, both for your own personal safety and to ensure a steady supply of everything you need to stay alive. It’s time for you to learn the art of lock picking.

You simply want to open it, get in, and then still be able to lock it behind you.

WHY LEARN TO PICK A LOCK?

And the art of lock picking started when the first person realized that they could take advantage of the manufacturing imperfections inside a lock.

Knowing how to open a lock (without the key) can come in handy in many survival situations.

HOW WE CAN PICK LOCKS But you can do this without a key too.

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“Being able to access locked areas could make all the difference…”

VIP SURVIVAL ACADEMY - NOVEMBER 2019 THE TYPES OF LOCKS TO PICK Now there are a wide variety of different locks, and this guide is going to focus on the most common, the pin tumbler lock as this bad boy is what you’ll find on almost every door in America. Inside the lock there are six fundamental components. • The housing, which holds the whole lock together. • The plug cylinder, which is the rotating section once a key is inserted. • The shear line, which is the gap between the plug cylinder and the housing. • The driver pins, which is what keeps the lock, locked. • The key pins, which are what press up against the key once it’s inserted. • The springs, which move the pins into position once the key is inserted. As the right key is inserted into a lock, the springs move the key and driver pins into position, so they line up precisely along the shear line. With the right key of course, this happens without a second’s thought, and the plug cylinder turns. Easy.

cont. And with the right tools, the microscopic ledge inside a lock is enough to allow you to pick it. THE TOOLS YOU NEED TO PICK A LOCK If you’re interested in learning this technique as a skill, you need the right equipment. Search amazon and you’ll find hundreds of different lock picking kits, of a variety of different quality. They all perform a similar function, so choose a beginner level kit that’s well rated, that should be more than enough to get you started. HOW TO PICK YOUR FIRST LOCK The technique I prefer when lock picking is known as raking. It’s the fastest and easiest way to get through a lock, and when you get the technique down you can open a lock in under 30 seconds. According to the guides I followed that is. In reality it still takes me a few goes, but I can get through most of these locks in just a couple of minutes.

Watching a profession pick a lock looks amazing, but there is a bit of a knack to it that you’ve got to practice if you want to get good. In your lock picking kit, you’ll need to use either the rake, the diamond or the ball tool for this technique to work best. Depending on lock you’re working on, any one of these tools may work better than the others, but in my experience the rake tool is a great one to start with. Insert the tension wrench, and apply a little tension to the lock. Insert the rake tool to the back of the lock, then quickly draw it forward.

With the rake tool inserted, you want to angle this upwards and rake it forward, so each pin is hit, if you’re not hitting each pin as you do this it will not work. Then just repeat the same motion three or four times, until you’ve got all the pins set in place along the shear line. The lock should turn. If it doesn’t, release the tension and listen. You should hear the pins drop. If you don’t hear anything, it means you were applying too much tension (or not enough).

What you’re trying to do is get the driver pins to hit the shear line and stay there, because of the tension you’re applying on the cylinder (remember that not-perfect alignment I mentioned, this is where it comes into play).

Adjust and try again.

For this to work you need to keep tension on the lock, but there’s an art to it, and you need to use just the “right” amount.

I’ve got to the point now where I can open almost any pin tumbler lock within three attempts, though this has taken me quite a bit of practice.

Too much pressure, and as you hit the pins they’ll bind below the shear line.

And in a crisis, that means I’ll be able to pick almost every lock I come across.

Too little tension and the pins will not bind at all.

Could you?

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As you practice this more, you’ll get a good feel for the right amount of tension to apply, and you’ll rapidly start improving.

VIP SURVIVAL ACADEMY - NOVEMBER 2019

SURVIVAL CHECKLIST FOR A NATURAL DISASTER Its far more fun building faraday cages and digging underground bunkers than preparing for some of the more common disasters, but that doesn’t mean you should be unprepared.

• Local services (police, hospitals, fire) will not be able to cope

Because, and recent history is the best example of this, you’re very statistically likely to get hit with at least one natural disaster in your lifetime.

HOW TO START PREPARING FOR A NATURAL DISASTER?

And if you’re serious about survival, having a plan in place to make it through unscathed, well, that’s just common sense.

Look back over the history of the local area, the last couple of hundred years or so, and see what major catastrophes have happened.

Now, when you start getting into the specifics of the crisis, there are going to be a number of unique challenges you will have to face, but after living through a few of these myself, there’s quite a few things that you can expect, no matter what.

Perhaps you’re living in a flood plain, or on a fault line.

And if you’re prepared to deal with them, you’ll have far less headaches throughout the disaster. In short, you need to consider that you will be: • Up to several weeks without any utilities, like gas, power or water • Facing severe food shortages in local stores and supermarkets

• Needing to defend your home and property from opportunistic looters

The first step is awareness.

Perhaps you’re vulnerable to a hurricane or a tsunami. Perhaps severe drought and fire is the primary threat. Your job is to know what’s priority number one for your natural disaster planning, you need to plan for this first. I’ve got a list of two potential natural disasters that are priority one (there’s a very high likelihood they will reoccur in the next 5 years) and three more that are level five (there’s a moderate chance they will reoccur in the next 10 years.

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This is where I focus my efforts when preparing for a natural disaster, on what’s most likely to happen. HOW READY IS YOUR HOME FOR THE DISASTER? Based on your primary threats, your next job is to get your home ready to face that particular disaster (and any others that could reasonably occur). Think about what needs to be done in your home to “batten down the hatches” and ensure it stays intact and unscathed to survive yet another day.

“when the bad guys come knocking… it’s your job to step up”

VIP SURVIVAL ACADEMY - NOVEMBER 2019 cont. In my home this is a two-stage approach. It starts with shutting ourselves off, turning gas and water lines off at the mains, and getting into our basement.

HOW WILL YOU PROTECT YOUR FAMILY? Looters are one thing, but when the bad guys come knocking on your door it’s your job to step up and keep your family safe.

This is our designated safe room as it has external access, is structurally the safest room in the house, and is where all of our supplies are stored.

I’ve written many times before about the importance of arming yourself for these such situations, and in a natural disaster, the same logic applies.

HOW SECURE IS YOUR HOME FROM LOOTERS?

If you’ve not got a means to protect your family, you’re doing them a disservice.

Next, you need to consider fortifications around your home. The last thing you want is to be targeted by anyone looking for an easy score, so it’s important to have your lockdown on point. Everything from security frames on the windows to a large dog in your yard works wonders to keep potential looters at bay, and you also need an evacuation plan should someone breach your home and you need to get out to a safe location, fast.

Get yourself armed, get the training you need to be effective with a firearm, and make sure you’ll keep them safe, no matter what crisis is going on outside. HOW MUCH FOOD AND SUPPLIES ARE ON HAND? Now, the government will tell you that 72 hours is a good minimum, but in my experience, you want to have at least 3 months’ worth of food and supplies stored.

Overkill?

When supply chains get disrupted from a localized crisis, it can take a significant amount of time to get operational again. And that means days, weeks, stretching your meager supplies to make it through.

Maybe, but it means no one will ever be able to sneak up on our perimeter without us knowing, and for me, that’s what’s most important.

A far smarter option is simply getting your supplies sorted, now, so you’re not relying on the government to put food on your table.

We’ve got private alarm systems, as well as enough floodlights to light up a college stadium.

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They will not have your (individual) best interests at heart, they will only ever care about maintaining order. HOW WILL YOU KEEP THE LIGHTS ON? Of course, you probably don’t want to advertise to the world that you’re one of the only houses left in the neighborhood with power, but it’s important to consider electricity once a disaster hits and the grid goes down. Without power, your entire home shuts down, which means no air conditioning, no television, and worst of all, no refrigeration. You want to have an alternative to keep your fridge cold, and make sure you’ve got backups for both heating your home, and cooking in your kitchen. You can’t rely on electricity alone. HOW WILL YOU EVACUATE? In any natural disaster there’s a turning point. Where the situation changes, escalating from a localized calamity to something deadlier, a sinister storm or situation that will wipe your family out if you’re in its path. Not only is it a smart idea to have a bug out plan should you need to evacuate, but you need to teach everyone in your family when and how to make that call. They need to be able to think and act independently, otherwise you risk them making the wrong decision when it really matters most.