How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It - James Wesley Rawles [8]
There Is Value in Redundancy
A common saying of my readers is: “Two is one, and one is none.” You must be prepared to provide for your family during a protracted period of societal disruption. That means storing essential “beans, bullets, and Band-Aids” in quantity. If commerce is disrupted by a disaster, at least in the short term you will have only your own logistics to fall back on. The more you have stored, the more you will have available for barter and charity. Just as important as redundancy are the attributes of versatility and flexibility. For example, a Rawlesian survivalist who is wealthy likely owns as many as four vehicles: one powered by gasoline, one by diesel, one by propane, and one that is electric. The same individual probably owns a tri-fuel backup power generator that can run on gasoline, propane, or utility natural gas. But even folks on a modest budget can have considerable multi-fuel versatility by making their one and only vehicle a diesel. (I’ll talk more about that in Chapter 12.)
A Deep Larder Is Essential
Food storage is key. Even if you have a fantastic self-sufficient garden and pasture ground, you must always have food storage that you can fall back on in the event that your crops fail due to drought, disease, or infestation.
Tools Without Training Are Useless
Owning a gun doesn’t make someone a “shooter” any more than owning a surfboard makes someone a surfer. With proper training and practice, you will be miles ahead of the average citizen. Get advanced medical training (MedicalCorps.org). Get the best firearms training that you can afford, at a place like Gunsite or Thunder Ranch. Learn about amateur radio from your local affiliated American Radio Relay League (ARRL) club. Practice raising a vegetable garden each summer. Learn how to weld, and buy your own oxyacetylene rig. Some skills are perfected only over a period of years.
Old Technologies Are Appropriate Technologies
In the event of a societal collapse, nineteenth-century (or earlier) technologies such as the blacksmith’s forge, the treadle sewing machine, and the horse-drawn plow will be far easier to reconstruct than modern technologies.
Charity Is a Moral Imperative
As a Christian, I feel morally obligated to assist others who are less fortunate. Following the Old Testament laws of tzedakah (charity and tithing), I believe that my responsibility begins with my immediate family and expands in successive rings to supporting my immediate neighborhood and church, to my community, and beyond, as resources allow. My philosophy is to give until it hurts in times of disaster.
Buy Life Assurance, Not Life Insurance
Self-sufficiency and self-reliance are multifaceted. You need to systematically provide for water, food, shelter, fuel, first aid, communications, and, if need be, the tools to enforce Rule 308 (lethal force).
Exploit Force Multipliers
Night-vision gear, intrusion detection sensors, and radio-communications equipment are key force multipliers. Because these devices use high technology, they cannot be depended upon in a long-term collapse, but in the short term they can provide a big advantage. Some low technologies such as barbed wire and defensive road cables also provide advantages and can last for several decades.
Invest Your Sweat Equity
Even if some of you have a millionaire’s budget, you need to learn how to do things for yourself, and be willing to get your hands dirty. In a societal collapse, the division of labor will be reduced tremendously. Odds are that the only “skilled crafts-men” available to build a shed, mend a fence, shuck corn, repair an engine, or pitch manure will be you and your family. A by-product of sweat equity