How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It - James Wesley Rawles [111]
If and when challenging times do arrive—whether natural or man-made—you’ll be ready and able to be part of the solution. You can help to put the workings of the Big Machine back in motion, give charitably, and restore law and order. Without folks like you and me, the lights of civilization may go out for a very long time. Are you up to the challenge? I pray that you are.
Appendix A
GLOSSARY
1911: See M1911
4WD: Four-wheel drive
AC: Alternating current
ACP: Automatic Colt pistol
ALICE: All-purpose lightweight individual carrying equipment
AM: Amplitude modulation
AR-15: Semiauto civilian variants of the U.S. Army M16 rifle
AUG: The Austrian army ’s 5.56mm “bullpup” infantry carbine. Also issued by the Australian Army as their replacement for the L1A1.
Ballistic wampum: Ammunition stored for barter purposes (term coined by the late Jeff Cooper)
BLM: Bureau of Land Management, a U.S. federal government agency that administers public lands
BOB, BoB, or B-o-B: Bugout Bag: Synonymous with G.O.O.D. kit
Camo: Slang for camouflage
CAR-15: See M4
CB: Citizens band radio. A VHF broadcasting band that requires no license for operation in the United States. Some desirable CB transceivers are capable of single-sideband (SSB) operation. Originally twenty-three channels, the citizens band was later expanded to forty channels during the golden age of CB, in the 1970s.
CC&Rs: Covenants, conditions, and restrictions
CCW: Carrying a concealed weapon (typically in reference to a permit)
Channelized areas: In the context of this book, the most likely routes that the Golden Horde will take WTSHTF. Also called refugee lines of drift. See also: Golden Horde and WTSHTF.
CLP: Cleaner, lubricant, protectant. A mil-spec lubricant, sold under the trade name Break-Free CLP.
COMSEC: Communications security
Conex: A continental express shipping container. The standard steel or aluminum international shipping containers used on trucks, rail packs, and ships. Usually manufactured in twenty-, thirty-, and forty-foot lengths.
CPAP: Constant positive airway pressure (some sleep-apnea patients require a CPAP machine at night)
CPR: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation
CQ: Charge of quarters
CRKT: Columbia River Knife and Tool
Crunch, the: See WTSHTF
DC: Depending on context, direct current or District of Criminals
Deep-larder concept: A pantry stocked with foods and essential oils for a family for two or more years
DMA: Daily moving average
E85: A gasoline/ethanol blend, 85 percent ethanol, 15 percent gasoline
EMP: Electromagnetic pulse
EMT: Emergency medical technician
ER: Emergency room
FDA: Food and Drug Administration (U.S. federal government agency)
FEMA: Federal Emergency Management Agency (U.S. federal government agency)
FFV: Flex-fuel vehicle
FIFO: First in, first out
FM: Depending on context, field manual or frequency modulation
G.I. or GI: Depending on context, general inductee (draftee), Government Issue (equipment specifications), or gastrointestinal tract. See also: U.S.G.I.
Glock: The popular polymer-framed pistol design by Gaston Glock, of Austria. Also derisively known as combat Tupperware by its detractors, because it was the first maker to ship its pistols in a plastic box with a snap lid.
Gold Cup: The target version of Colt’s M1911. Has fully adjustable target sights, a tapered barrel, and a tighter barrel bushing than standard M1911s.
Golden Horde: In historical contexts, the Mongol horde of the thirteenth century, but in the context of this book, the anticipated large mixed horde of refugees and looters that will pour out of the metropolitan regions WTSHTF. See also: WTSHTF.
G.O.O.D.: Get Out of Dodge, a generic term for leaving the big city in a hurry WTSHTF (acronym coined by JWR). See also: BOB, WTSHTF.
GPS: Global positioning system
Grid down: An extended period of time when the power grid is nonfunctional
Grid up: A situation in which the national power grids stay functional except for brief interruptions
HDPE: