Survival Archives - Page 8 of 12

The Peasant's Revolt of 1380 Caste System

Caste Systems During TSHTF

August 11, 2014August 10, 2014 James Burnette 195 Comments

Caste Systems

Today’s post is going to be a weird one. Interesting for sure though. I felt I had to write it though. I was bombarded with the idea constantly over the past few days. It seems caste systems were being brought up on everything. I was listening to a podcast on history that mentioned them several times. I then watched the movie Divergent. It was not terrible. I pretty much watch anything set in a dystopian future. In that movie society was strictly divided into a caste system. I got me thinking about how historically mankind has always implemented them. Still in parts of the world caste systems are still enforced. Are we here in America and other first world countries truly free? Are we not able to be anything we want? What about during any kind of disaster? A full on collapse? During a long term collapse would we fall back into our old patterns? So many questions posed today. This will not be a lecture by me but an open conversation with you. Please comment today and share your thoughts. Today is a mental exercise for us all. So let’s get into it.

Historically

So I started listening to Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History. It’s a podcast on interesting parts of history. It might be the best podcast I’ve ever listened to. Which seems odd to say about a history podcast. I have always liked history though. Dean is also a master of his craft. So I started with a podcast during the Lutheran Reformation period. It told the story about a town that was taken over by a lunatic religious cult. Many times the caste system was talked about. The peasants that were treated worse than animals are today. How the aristocracy calculated how much to abuse them without causing a peasants uprising. There was a level at which they would take the crap being dealt out to them. Like people being wholesale burned on the steak for questioning things. Did you know there was a permitted amount of torture? Legally they could rip out your tendons and tear off your flesh for an hour. The peasants thought the 1 hour limit was fair.

The system was still enforced even when it made no sense. If a blue blood was desolate and a cloth merchant made a fortune the merchant was still of a lower class. A farmer born and a farmer till death. No little Timmy you can not be anything you want. Most didn’t question it though. There is a precarious balance of not having things too bad to keep being a cog in the wheel.

Now

Finally though we evolved past that and became enlightened. Right? No longer are we chained into the caste system. I’m not really so sure. I don’t want to go down conspiracy lane here. Not far at least. We obviously do not have a strict caste system any more. There is quite a bit of freedom. We have a good deal of wiggle room. For many where you are born is where you will stay. If you look to the big corporations and government you almost have to be born into them. How many Bush’s are in government? Are the elite bankers and corporations not unlike the aristocracy? They dictate the laws that only apply to others. While I’m all about a free market and making money. Make all the money you can and need. It’s the shady back door political dealing that affect me I have issue with.

With the public school system making people drones only outliers really rise to the top. Of some of them I think there might be help from the elite. Not to get into conspiracy but there are very influential very rich folks. The others that make it big though I contribute to the internet. The internet has changed mankind. It might be the one thing to break the caste system.

The Future

In a collapse what would happen. I think a caste system would emerge in a long term collapse. Either organically or by force. Farmers would begin farming. Merchants would begin selling. Soldiers would fight and unfortunately bureaucrats would show up. If organic it might be beneficial. As an extension of the free market. The need for things to be made, grown, protected etc will cause the formations. The need for clothing will make a clothing merchant wealthy and they will want their children to continue. Farmers will need children to help and pass on to. Mankind will do what is necessary to survive. We always have and always will.

If not Organic it could be an ugly time. It forced upon us by a tyrannical government. Sold to us by the greater need. Sold to a divided world rithe with class warfare. Sold to us when people are starving. Sold to us for our protection. How many would beg for it. How many would demand that we need farmers? We would slip back into the same thinking of those peasants. It’s not that bad at least. We have food at least. We have a purpose in life. We only get tortured an hour.

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Conflicted The Game: The Survival Card Game

August 7, 2014August 8, 2014 James Burnette 184 Comments

Maybe I’m a bit late to the table with this review. Conflicted the game has swept through the survival community. For good reason too. I have tested the game out a few times now. I needed to see what all this hype is about. Why is every podcast about survival playing it? Myself included stay tuned. Unless you’ve been living under a rock I’m sure you have heard of this game. Today I’ll share my thoughts on it. What do I like about conflicted the game. What I don’t like about it and how I think it should be used.

Tannerite And 3,000 Calorie Rations

August 1, 2014August 1, 2014 James Burnette 175 Comments

I just have some cool things to share with you today. A few projects for this weekend to keep you busy. I know you like projects right. One is a project that goes boom! The other is a cooking one and it’s not paleo. I know some of you are not paleo. You have not yet become enlightened. You say James please share some recipes that are not paleo. I do. Sometimes I share low carb ones. This time it’s neither. So enjoy let’s have a look at how to make Tannerite and a 3,000 calorie ration bar.

Bugging In Place with the Elderly

July 31, 2014July 31, 2014 James Burnette 1,251 Comments

Today I have a guest post from Lukas Nicholson. Lukas contacted me about writing a guest post on a subject I hadn’t really thought about. Buggin in with the elderly. I know many of you have parents and grandparents at home with you. Enjoy -James

When SHTF, most of us won’t have a secondary bug out location we can run to and wait out the chaos. In fact, the vast majority of preppers plan to essentially bug in place. That is probably a wise decision. Unless you have a fully stocked location nestled away somewhere out of town that can provide adequate shelter, food, water and security for an extended period of time, you best not plan on “heading for the hills” at the first sign of trouble.

Bugging out becomes even less of an option if you have elderly family or friends to account for. But I would guess that when most people are making plans they are not realistically considering the needs of their elder members. Before continuing, it should be made clear that not all older individuals will need special attention. Many are physically and mentally fit and perfectly capable of taking care of themselves.

But the truth is that many more elderly individuals are quite dependent on modern society for their needs. They may have extreme limitations brought on by maladies like diabetes or debilitating arthritis. They may depend on daily prescription medications to keep them relatively healthy. In our modern society they may get about and function with relative ease, but that shouldn’t bear on our assessment of how they will do when the lights go out permanently and we’re living like we did 150 years ago.

Realistically, there is only so much you can do to ensure the health and safety of the elderly during an extended period of catastrophe. But here are some things to think about and prepare for as best you can.

Bug In at the Older Member’s Home

It may make sense to make your bug out location at the elderly person’s home. If they are supportive of the idea, consider stocking your supplies at their location so when SHTF occurs, they don’t have to travel to meet you. Instead, it would be easier (but still dangerous) for you to bug out to their location.

This is advantageous for several reasons. They will have the comfort of staying in familiar surroundings and have all of their medical needs, such as walkers and other appliances, already in place. Staying in familiar surroundings will help them cope with the fear and may subsequently lessen the resulting depression as they experience the outside world crumble apart. In addition, many elderly are either particular about the food they eat or have health restrictions on the types of food they must have. For these reasons it might be far easier and sensible to plan on weathering the storm at the elderly person’s home.

Secure Your Home

Regardless of where you plan to stay, you must ensure the security of everyone in your party. So instead of focusing energy and resources on a vague plan for bugging out, it would be better to focus your efforts on securing your home for SHTF. Human psychology being what it is, people will still be creatures of opportunity, even under harsh circumstances. If your home is hardened against break-ins, looters and those searching for resources will tend to opt for your less secure neighbor’s home. This is not to say that in time they won’t get around to your home, but by then you will have had adequate time to assess your situation and devise concrete plans for your extended survival.

Lukas Nicholson hails from a family of preppers hardened by numerous Florida hurricanes. He found an outlet for his skills in the security industry, where he has spent the past seven years. He is now interested in sharing his knowledge online, where he writes in association with Topconsumerreviews.com.

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Archery Series: Getting Practice

July 28, 2014July 28, 2014 James Burnette 178 Comments

Hopefully you have enjoyed and learned something new from my previous two articles, so we can move on and get you out in the field on the next step…… The first thing you need to do after you purchase whatever equipment you have determined would best suit you, is practice!

When you start, if you haven’t ever shot a bow, you probably should begin at an archery range, with someone that has a significant amount of experience. Beginning at a 5 yard distance is ideal, you should be comfortable with short yardage before you move to longer yardage. After you get comfortable with shooting your bow, start moving and shooting from different angles, side to side and up and down. You need to practice shooting from all angles because you never completely know where your game is going to come from.

There are a multitude of possibilities, whether it be uphill or down hill and you need to be confident when you let your arrow go. Try if you can to practice with a friend and create distractions for each other (my wife and I do this and have a pretty good time). When you get your concentration down, work on your strength. Start at a closer range and start holding your bow drawn back for 30 seconds before you shoot and work your way to holding your draw at farther distances, then try it again holding for 45 seconds and so on. The longer you can hold your bow back before you shoot, the better.

I have been in a situation where I had to hold my bow back for over a minute before I let my arrow fly and to be honest I was shaking so bad, lost some control and I missed because nobody ever told me that I might have to do this. I was very disappointed in myself that day, so I stepped my practice and strength training up, now I can hold for 90 seconds without waver. I cannot stress the importance of practice enough, it will be the difference between a quick and painless kill shot and a painful wounding that you will have to track down.

When you practice in your backyard or in an archery range, you need to have the mindset that you are hunting and it is the real deal. If you have your quiver on your bow, make sure it’s full of arrows when you practice, because that slight amount of weight will make you shoot different if you don’t practice with it. If you are going to use a back quiver hunting, practice with it on your back full of arrows. If you might have to shoot with a pack on your back, practice with a pack on your back.

Practice shooting from a sitting position, from a kneeling position, as well as leaning over. Practice shooting your bow every way you possibly can, so you are confident to make the shot you are given every time.

If you are wanting to set something up in your backyard or elsewhere, you will soon find out that targets are expensive, so I will share a couple ways to make your own target that can save you some money.

Take any empty garbage can, put a plastic liner in it. Use a couple cans of spray foam insulation and spray them in the liner. Take the liner and fold over the top of the foam and put a heavy book on top of it in the garbage can. Give it a few hours to cure and pull it out of the can, then peel the plastic off and you have a foam block you can paint on to make your target.

The next way is to get a card board box and stuff it full of equal size pieces of card board and when I say stuff, that’s exactly what I mean. Stuff it so full there is no way you could get another piece in it, the tighter you get it the better it will stop your arrow. I have used both of these DIY targets and they work great!

If you practice like me you will be making a new target once a month, but it’s rewards are well worth it when you take down your first big game animal. I would also recommend taking it easy your first week of practice and work into strengthening those new muscles you will discover you have.

I hope this helps you in your adventure!!!

Robert

Find Robert at Rice Family Creations