Down In The Hills Survivalist Blog

I’ve said before that I don’t prep out of fear. But the current world situation does make me nervous. Prep wise all I really have to do is add more long term food storage. But life happens as you prep. This summer way too much of my money has gone into my vehicles. Let’s face it, vehicles are money pits. So I’ve been in a little bit of a hole financially. Nothing serious, if nothing goes wrong, goes wrong, goes wrong, I’ll be back on track soon enough. I am not whining for any of you smart asses out there. No matter how well you plan something always goes wrong. Pare for the course. The best laid plans of mice and men.

Now, when I can’t add some more preps, I get this nagging feeling in the back of my mind. I know that the smart thing to do is lay back what I can, when I can. But my preps have been somewhat put on the back burner for a bit. November saw a little more ammo and a little food put back. But I didn’t make my monthly goal. December will likely be a bad prepping month also. Long term it’s not a problem, but it still nags at my mind. I want to make it clear, I am talking to the reasonable people out there that live in the real world. Life happens while you prep and many of us deal with set backs. But we keep on keeping on.

Most of the serious prepping pressure I was under is behind me. When I decided that it was time to prep for real, I got on the ball. I had enough cash to make a lot of head way pretty fast. I didn’t buy all at once, but I got the big ticket items taken care of and systematically made additions. Now I am down to a little of this and a little of that. I am sharing this with my sensible readers, because let’s face it, we are a community. We have common goals.

Of course writing a blog attracts all kinds. I hate having to be an asshole and delete the negative comments and constantly deal with the riff raft out there, but that’s the price of blogging. To my good readers I give thanks and those of you who only spew trash, I give you the finger. Your time will come. All of us that prep work very hard at what we do. It’s some times a lonely task. My wife is somewhat on board, but not 100%. We had an extended power outage not long ago and we were well prepared. That kind of changed her attitude a bit. But I have taken on the burden of making sure we got it covered. I gladly take on that burden and ain’t complaining about it. I am a strong willed old fart and survived life in the trenches. I tend to do what I think is the right thing to do and damned the torpedoes.

Constantly being inundated with all the negative news and thoughts we have to deal with can make us a little crazy, if we let it. We work real hard on keeping up on current events. Got to know when to react in advance. This constant exposure tries even the strongest of us. But we do what we must. So for those of you who keep the faith, I salute you. We face the unknown future the best we can and still retain our humanity. We are the future.

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History is full of examples of regimes that have crashed and burned. When the greedy and power hungry get out of control, bad things happen. What we see going on today is a shining example of insanity. The people running the show are so out of touch with the common man that it is pathetic. Charles Schumer refereed to the average American as someone who makes $80,000 a year !!! What fantasy world does this jerk live in ? Most of the people I know don’t come anywhere close to making that kind of money, myself included.

Trillions of dollars are being printed out of thin air. This is insane. Money backed by nothing is worthless. I’ve been seeing many acts of insanity happening for a long time. To someone with a little common sense the actions of the powers that be are maddening. Up is now down, down is now up and left is now right. The world appears to be insane. So dealing with it ain’t so easy. This type of insanity has always preceded the collapse of civilizations.

When the few control the many, with no regard for the many, the system always collapses. It’s like gravity, you can’t ignore it. What goes up must come down. We survivalist are made to appear like nut jobs because we see the insanity going on around us. We don’t blindly follow the herd, we ignore the herd. We don’t do things that everyone else is doing, because we are trying to maintain some semblance of sanity in an insane world.

Personally I could care less about what people think about my preps. I talk about it on this blog, but my neighbors don’t have a clue. My immediate family knows, but that’s it. I don’t run around in camo or in anyway let on that I am a survivalist. I leave that to the yuppie preppers. I stay low key and go about my business. I am not 100% sure that things will collapse, but seeing the insanity, I wonder how things can keep going on. At best we will see a slow steady decent over time. At worst it could crash around our ears.

Just juggling such knowledge isn’t easy. Those of us that take it on ourselves to prep against the insanity often stand alone. Even our own families don’t fully understand it. It’s a burden, it would be nice to be in denial, but you can’t ignore it once you’ve seen. I accept the burden of seeing as I always have, it’s just what needs to be done. I am strong enough to shoulder the burden. I am not complaining, just letting you know that if you see, it ain’t easy. Standing against the coming madness is the warrior way.

The outcome is never certain, many people are still sane enough to make things right. Once the upheaval rights itself, things may be stable for awhile. But many never learn from history and good times are counterbalanced by bad times. Such is life. If you see the insanity, stay above it and be a beacon of sanity. That’s all you can do. Prep and maintain your sanity in an ever more insane world.

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It’s official, we’ve been in a recession since December 2007 !!!

Please tell me it ain’t so !!! I thought everything was just peachy keen. We’ve been in a recession for a whole year ?!?!?! It can’t be. OK, enough sarcasm. Anyone who hasn’t had their head buried you know where knows we’ve been in a recession for some time. The signs are everywhere. Unemployment for November looks like it’s going to be high, as will as December and January’s. Of course the unemployment numbers are fudged as we all know. Just double the “Official number” and you get close to reality.

All we can do about it is keep prepping and hoping. The insane actions of Gov should make any one with an once of common sense, nervous. You can’t create money out of thin air and expect it to fix real world problems. I know, most of you already know this and I am preaching to the choir, what do you want a fluff piece ?

Main street has known that things are bad for a long time. The Ivory Tower living fools kept saying the economy was “Fundamentally Strong” Talk about a reality disconnect. The rich are certainly different than you and me. Off in some alternate reality is more like it. I am actually surprised that they even admit that we have been in a recession for a whole year. We do indeed live in interesting times.

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A gun is useless without ammo. Yea, we all know that. So how much ammo do we really need ? This is an ever present question. If you’re a Spray and Pray type, you all will need a bunch. If you’re a careful shot, a whole bunch less. Just having a few boxes of ammo ain’t likely to get it. You need enough to cover your needs. What ever they maybe.

Putting back enough ammo ain’t cheap. Unless all you got is a 22. That’s as cheap as it gets. You get into .50 cal and you are talking around $3.50 a round !!! I bought 100 rounds of .45 ACP yesterday for about $.30 a round which still ain’t that cheap. I bought 100 rounds of 9mm for about $.19 apiece. 9mm is about as small as I go for defensive rounds. It may or may not stop an attacker. But spit enough rounds and/or through proper placement, then it will do the job.

I actually don’t own a 9mm. My boy does and he can’t afford to stockpile. So I add some extra to mine. I will pick up a 9mm maybe later on, he (my son) has a Hi-Point 9mm and it shoots real nice. I’ll likely buy one. Anyway you look at it, stockpiling a decent amount of ammo ain’t cheap. I have as much invested in ammo as I do weapons (being Ex-Military a gun is an anatomical part as my DI’s made clear).  So if all you got is a box or two, now is the perfect time to rectify the situation.

I prefer keeping my ammo in ammo boxes. Adds to the cost but they are easy to sling around and store ammo well. Many surplus places sell them and you can mail order them (just watch the shipping cost). I consider stockpiling ammo to be just as important as weapon selection. The smaller the caliber the cheaper the round is a good rule of thumb.

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I just went and picked up 100 rounds of .45 ACP, 100 rounds of 9mm and 500 rounds of 22LR at Wally World. The prices were about the same as two months ago when I bought my last batch of ammo. I must admit I was surprised that the prices weren’t any higher.

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Just a step cried the sad man
Take a look down at the madman
Theatre kings on silver wings
Fly beyond reason
From the flight of the seagull
Come the spread claws of the eagle
Only fear breaks the silence
As we all kneel pray for guidance

Tread the road cross the abyss
Take a look down at the madness
On the streets of the city
Only spectres still have pity
Patient queues for the gallows
Sing the praises of the hallowed
Our machines feed the furnace
If they take us they will burn us

Will you still know who you are
When you come to who you are

When the flames have their season
Will you hold to your reason
Loaded down with your talents
Can you still keep your balance
Can you live on a knife-edge

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There are people that claim to be survivalist that put down anyone who plans to bug out. You’ll be a refugee. The locals will hunt you down. I’d shoot you on sight. I’ve heard all the mindless blather. If you have a place that is defensible and you wish to hunker down there, I certainly don’t have a problem with that. So what is the Real motive of these people.  Believe me I’ve thought long and hard on this one. I’ve come to the conclusion that they have an ulterior motive or are just plain stupid.

Any one with military experience knows having a fall back plan is necessary. If your position gets over run, you need to fall back. Being mobile has certain tactical advantages. If you are rich and can afford a million dollar bunker, you might be safe there. But most of us don’t have that luxury. We have to apply common sense to our planning. Say you have a place out in the sticks. You’ve cleared an area around your place. You think you can pick off anyone who might attack. Maybe that will work and maybe it won’t. A shooter out in the woods might sit and pick you off while you are out working your crops. Before making a move on you, you better believe that some types will be studying you from afar.

Forget the brain dead zombie shit. If I wanted to take from you, you wouldn’t see me coming or here my report before you die. This is of course hypothetical to make you think, but it illustrates how really unprepared many are. A good sniper or two can bring down some serious shit on you in the blink of an eye. Smart marauders will sit around (unseen by you) and watch your every move and move when they are ready. How many of you own Ghillie suits and have sniper weapons. Believe me some of the marauder types will (the smarter ones). Your attackers will not likely be roaring onto your homestead on Harley’s. Forget the make believe and think it all out.

So you lock yourself up in your retreat and try to weather a siege. You get firebombed at three in the morning and need to get out, what are you going to do. I could come up with a thousand scenarios. It doesn’t matter were you are, in a SHTF situation there will be no place that is safe. Now, this refugee crap I keep hearing about, how many armed refugees have you seen ? People herded by armed groups yes, but how many refugee camps have you seen were the people were well armed ? For that matter how many of you have actually seen real refugees ?

If you want to stay were you are, by all means do it. But bad mouthing those that may have bug outs plan makes you look like very suspicious to some of us. What the hell is your motivation ? What are you afraid of ? You may not want to see us “armed refugees” in your area is the likely reason. But if TSHTF, a new reality will be on us all. If you have a bug out plan don’t let the nitwits concern you. Do what you think you need to do. Because too many people talk out their asses.

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It seems a lot of companies are squeezing us poor consumers. If they can come up with a way to extract or extort money from us they will. If you don’t read the fine print, you only have yourself to blame. I had to do battle with my stinking electric company recently. They won this round, but I’ll get my money back in the end game. Once upon a time in a far away time, the customer was king. Now you are just an account to be abused, fleeced and used. No this actually isn’t a rant. It’s a heads up.

More and more companies (including local and state governments) are out to fill their coffers at your expense. Watch every dime you got, because the crooks are out in full force and it will only get much worse. Money junkies (AKA Corporate America, State and Local governments) need their fix and they aren’t getting it, so they will be coming after you one way or the other.

Tax revenues are down and services are being cut. Some of our local police and sheriff’s are laying off. This of course breaks my heart. Less operatives to clean out our bank accounts. Since counties and municipalities  make so much money fleecing the populace, I am surprised they are laying off their henchmen. You know times are getting hard.

But seriously, watch all your financial transactions. The beast needs to be fed, both corporate and government. They will find a way to be fed…..

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That’s me. I am a mean old fart. I make no excuses nor apologize for it. When I started this blog I didn’t set out to be the most popular or most visited site. I didn’t start it to make money, hence no ads. Too much traffic brings smelly trolls and spammers. I’d rather cater to a few real survivalist then thousands of barely more than sheeple types. I’ve actually watched my traffic drop off from when I was writing daily. Mission accomplished. I know some people may not understand my reasons.

People who like my blog aren’t the I have to have it sugar coated types. I could care less about the need to be placated because I am a candy ass types. You’re non persona grata here. Same with gun grabbers. I delete gun grabber drivel on sight. I deleted a comment that said “Fuck America” and banned the asshole who wrote it. I love America, the government is NOT America, just a bunch assholes that don’t do the job they were elected to do. I learned a long time ago they don’t work for me or mine. I exist and they exist and frankly I don’t give a shit as long they aren’t up in my face. When they do get up in my face, I’ll deal with it come the time.

Life is a bitch. It ain’t easy. Always someone out there that wants to fuck with you. Get used to it and deal with it. Only children and fools think life is fair. Get up each and every day prepared to do battle with the world. Because nothings changed one damned bit in the last 100,000 (or 100,000,000) years. It’s still a survival of the fittest game. If your not smart enough to survive, you perish. You’re born, life is hard, then you die. Nothing complicated about it. The only real question is, are you tough enough ?

I call myself a survivalist because I’ve been through all kinda of hell in my life. I just keep going on and on. Everyday day I face new kinds of bullshit. I adapt. I do what I have to do. I always have a plan. If I get evicted, I’ll find a way. I’ll move into my van or my tent. I don’t give a shit. If I get sued, I’ll fight back. If I have to pack up and hit the road quick, I’ll do it so fast I’ll leave a vacuum in my wake. Life is a journey. Transition is all we got in front of us. Because I’ve always stayed one step ahead of the devil, I’ve survived and adapted. That is the name of the game.

I’ve survived to be a cranky old man because I can adapt. How about you ? If you lost everything, what would you do ? Sit around and feel sorry for yourself ? Or will you kick it into high gear and deal with it ?
This blog doesn’t cater to chicken shit little losers that can’t make it without having their little hands held. The is a blog for adults that want to survive. For people who have some intestinal fortitude. If you don’t like this post, tough shit, what do you expect from a cranky old fuck like me. Sugar and spice and everything nice ?

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At some point, things get so FUBAR that there is no way for things to return to normal. I don’t know if we are at such a point or not. But the signs and indicators don’t look good. I’ve seen recessions before, but nothing like what is going on now. As the unemployment rate shoots up, less money will be spent leading to more layoffs. The Christmas season has always been the retail and many manufactures “harvest time”. Many are likely to face the worst holiday season in a long, long time. Thus meaning even more and more layoffs.

These are the real world dominos of the coming collapse. At some point enough will fall over that the whole process can’t be stopped. Looks like the Big 3 are going down. They have many suppliers and other businesses that depend on them for their survival. If the Big 3 go under (they build crap anyway), many more dominos will be knocked down. Even if they get a bailout, whose next ? The list of corporations looking for their handout and party money is long, I envision a line that stretches over the horizon. The inevitable crash looks like it can’t be adverted.

Sometimes things just get too FUBAR. I’d love to be optimistic and say it ain’t so. But I ain’t one not to look reality dead square in the face. I frankly see no solution to the coming Tsunami. All the talk and rhetoric won’t fix the problem. Firing up the printing presses at the treasury will only prolong the suffering. Clearly the ones that got us into this fix, ain’t smart enough to fix it. The new kid on the block ain’t got a clue and will likely only open Pandora’s box.

If you haven’t prepped, you are way behind the curve. Smart people saw this coming last year or earlier (in some cases much earlier) and did what they could to cover their asses. Where are you in the scope of things ? Are you prepared to deal with the hard times a coming ?  If you find yourself out on the street do you know how to survive ? Because it’s getting late in the game. We may not have reached the point of no return, but I suspect we are mighty close.

I think the key to surviving what is coming is to stay as flexible as possible. Dump the debt (there maybe some exceptions), have enough cash to transition. Have plenty of tangible assets. Dump unnecessary expenses and simplify your life as much as possible. Reduce that thermostat to save on heating cost and get used to living in a colder environment (if you live in a cold area). Buy some sweaters. Simplify your diet, get used to eating survival style food (let your body adapt). Be prepared if you lose your job, get foreclosed on or get evicted. Is your vehicle big enough to sleep in ? I drive a mini van. Why do I drive a mini van, because I always have a place live.

Find campgrounds and mark them in a notebook. Know where they are and how to get to them. Research resources in your area. Know what survival assets are available to you. Think about being homeless and what you would do to survive. Consider the worst case scenarios and develop a plan. Don’t have a van or RV, then how about a tent. A tent and a two tarps (one as a ground cloth and one to cover the tent) is cheap shelter that might come in very handy. Do you have a camp stove ? Sleeping bags and wool blankets ? An ice chest ? Sometimes just a few things can mean you will make it or you won’t.

I know it’s scary and uncomfortable to think about such things. But if you are too afraid to consider survival alternatives, you ain’t going to make it. Face any fears you have and consider what will happen if things go beyond the point of no return. If you do you radically increase your survival chances.

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