Home intrusion…not just one intruder..multiple...

Most people, when they think of home invasion, think of just 1 intruder…what if there are more? The trend lately seems to be 3 or more intruders attacking at night. Reasoning seems to be, instead of searching, home owners can show the intruders were the valuables are more quickly.

Some cases unfortunately, involve more violent and nefarious agenda.

Many say 'no problem', I have a shotgun (or other firearm)…but it is not as easily done as it is said. You are surprised, multiple targets in multiple directions with loved ones in close proximity, in close quarters is not the same as paper targets at a range. Adrenaline is pumping, have to get to weapon (not many people wear their firearm while sitting on the couch watching Monday night football) then have to engage targets.

Some simple steps can be found HERE and HERE.

But preppers should seriously consider going further and getting professional training for home invasion and/or multiple targets.
JB Training (NE FL, SE GA)
CRI (Nevada)
Please note…I have not tried either course, but will probably take JB's course and will post a review. I encourage people to do their own research and find what works best for them.

International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA) is also a great way to learn pistol shooting at a whole different level. IDPA uses realistic scenarios to engage multiple targets, moving, loading, shooting from cover, etc..

The situation isn't pretty out there folks. If the present economic down trend continues, we can expect this to occur more frequently. Don't be a target! Prepare and train now.

Water distillation…the quick way.

I live on an island of sorts. This is a bonus in some aspects as I have a rather large continuous supply of tasty seafood year round. The draw back of course is in times of need…I am surrounded by salt water. This can present a problem during the dry season, which sometimes occurs during the wet season. Sometimes it rains every afternoon and sometimes it doesn't rain for weeks. So the ability to procure drinkable freshwater can be a challenge. An easy method is water distillation. The simple method of causing water to evaporate and then condensing it elsewhere. This is exactly what nature does to create rain. There are several methods to doing so, but one of the quicker methods is to boil water and then condense the steam and collect the water.

Materials are rather simple:

-Pressure cooker (recommend stainless) or any container which can withstand a heat source under it and can be sealed to prevent loss of steam except through 1 hole.

-Heat source (fire, grill, etc.)

-food grade vinyl hose (not required, but makes connection easier)

-hose clamps (unless not using hose)

- stainless or copper tubing

-rubber stoppers

-5 gal bucket

Water distillation leaves you with water that is free of salt, bacteria, viruses, etc. Now point of caution…chemicals with a boiling point less than or equal to water can end up in your collected water. A trick to avoid this is boil water for ~10 minutes uncovered..this cooks off the volatile chems.

CDC lists the following things distillation can can do:

Distillation Systems

• Distillation Systems use a process of heating water to the boiling point and then collecting the water vapor as it condenses, leaving many of the contaminants behind.
• Distillation Systems have a very high effectiveness in removing protozoa (for example, Cryptosporidium, Giardia);
• Distillation Systems have a very high effectiveness in removing bacteria (for example, Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shigella, E. coli);
• Distillation Systems have a very high effectiveness in removing viruses (for example, Enteric, Hepatitis A, Norovirus, Rotavirus);
• Distillation Systems will remove common chemical contaminants, including arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, lead, nitrate, sodium, sulfate, and many organic chemicals.

Set up is easy. Salt water into your pressure cooker (or what ever container) place it over your heat. Secure lid to pot (now a tea pot and hose attachment to the spout can work too). Attach hose/condenser coil to your lid valve/hole. In warm weather it's good to have the condenser coil submerged in a bucket of water (any water is fine) to help condensation. If it is cool outside, air cooling on the condensing coil works too. It takes a bit to get water boiling, but once it is going you are in business. 

It is a good idea to produce water for about 20 minutes, then use that water for the garden. This sterilizes your hose/condenser coil in case any contaminants got into them….in other words don't drink it.

Once the system in perking along you should be able to produce between 1/2 to 1 oz of water per minute. The great thing about this system..once it is going, it produces well…the drawback is that it is very fuel (for the heat source) intensive.

Present to future situation…and remembering the unorganized militia.

2 interesting if not eye opening articles on Business Insider show not only the present situation economically in the US via photos, but also a peek into what perhaps maybe the future situation for more and more as this economy slowly degrades.

First is a bit of a photo essay comparing the great depression photos and today's so called non-existant recession.

We recently published some color photos of the Great Depression, which make that era look a lot more familiar than when it is viewed in black and white. The more-familiar black-and-white shots of the Depression are moving, but they make it seem completely dissimilar to the vivid color era in which we live today.
And now we find ourselves in an economy that has several unsettling parallels to the Great Depression, one that in many ways is the worst economy since that horrific decade. 

Next is another photo essay on a tent city that has arisen in NJ.

Inside his tepee in the woods outside Lakewood, NJ, at the homeless Tent City, the roosters wake early and the mornings are already cooler.
A musician who lost his Florida home in the housing crisis, Hardman says he floats in and out of Tent City, that he's proud of his kids, and misses the life he no longer has.
He has company out here.
About an hour south of Wall Street, where some bankers quietly gripe about how hard it is to survive on a million dollars a year, other Americans are making do with less.

Lastly, a great article by Randy Barnett on the unorganized militia and how they saved an untold number on 9/11/01.  Originally written on 18 Sept, 2001 it pushes home the idea of who the unorganized militia is and their capabilities.

” The next time someone tells you that the militia referred to in the Second Amendment has been “superceded” by the National Guard, ask them who it was that prevented United Airlines Flight 93 from reaching its target. The National Guard? The regular Army? The D.C. Police Department? None of these had a presence on Flight 93 because, in a free society, professional law-enforcement and military personnel cannot be everywhere. Terrorists and criminals are well aware of this — indeed, they count on it. Who is everywhere? The people the Founders referred to as the “general militia.” Cell-phone calls from the plane have now revealed that it was members of the general militia, not organized law enforcement, who successfully prevented Flight 93 from reaching its intended target at the cost of their own lives.