Every Citizen a Soldier

  I. Canned Goods  Canned Goods Video As long as they are stored properly, most canned goods can be stored over the 2-3 years that their expiration dates suggest. And, other than bulk rice and beans are probably the least expensive way to up your family’s food storage. I would suggest to anyone that they combine the bulk, Mylar stored foods, and canned goods to add variety and nutrients to your diet. You should concentrate on storing a lot of the foods you already eat, with large amounts of vegetables and fruits that won’t be available fresh. I also suggest a supply of meat oriented dishes that you might not typically use every day, such as canned stews or spam. These will also be handy at extending and adding variety to your bulk preps. It is difficult to store enough canned goods for a long term situation. This is due to their bulk, once you get a system of canned goods going you probably want to begin looking at other food storage methods. There are basically two different ...

 Pressure dressings, also known as battle dressings or trauma dressings are a piece of first aid gear that include an absorbent material and the means to fix it over a wound. This means some gauze and an elastic wrap. This idea has been around at least since WWI. Essentially it is supposed to allow you to apply direct pressure to a wound in order to stop bleeding. In many cases the tourniquet has supplanted the pressure dressing as the go-to first aid response in any place it can be applied, but pressure dressings certainly have their place in first aid kits. There may be instances where a TQ can not be applied, or does not need to be applied. The pressure dressing has evolved a lot in the last 20 years and in this article I want to list the three most common products on the civilian market in the US. I will list what I see as the major advantages of each design so that you might be able to purchase a few for your (hopefully non) use. These are all in the under $10 range so...

  A Note on Training: This article will cover a wide variety of gear and supplies. I believe that certain levels of training are required to properly employ various bits of such equipment. Some of it, you might be OK with what your mama taught you or what you learned in the BSA. But as we approach the more serious level of equipment you need to have learned from, and practiced under, the supervision of a trauma professional. If you are carrying around a tourniquet or decompression needles and you have never properly learned how to use them, you are making yourself a shit-sandwich that you will have to eat on the worst day of your life. “ Normal” First Aid First Aid Supplies The household, vehicle or camping first aid kit probably doesn't have a lot of trauma oriented supplies. I call these the “BooBoo Kit.” These are arguably your most important items, because (we hope) you will never need the trauma gear. There are a lot of these commercially available, however I like to as...

It is easy for a nation state to plan for the logistics of the future, logistics and economics are topics at the war college. Dedicated smart professionals study this, and the nation state has more resources than you can imagine. How can a citizen soldier prepare for an uncertain future? This uncertain future can include economic collapse, local disaster or an asymmetric war against an oppressive regime. We do this by balancing our efforts, we do this by thinking of the “five B’s.” I first heard of the “three B’s” (the first three on my list) before I was in the army in books about Vietnam- the resupply consisted of the three B’s. That stuff that keeps an army fighting. It has been expanded in prepper circles to include things for the family, to protect us from natural disaster, and as a last resort, to fight. I am going to explain them here with my own thoughts. I. Beans Even in the worst conflict, you will be eating more than you will be shooting. Food (and water) should be you first...