Author of The Dark Secrets of SHTF Survival and the online course SHTF Survival Boot Camp
Timing or the importance of perfect timing in SHTF can be a matter of life and death.
For a starting point, you need to understand something that I mentioned in previous posts. When SHTF occurs, the situation is fluid – it can change quickly, and you need to recognize those changes so you can react in time, and in the proper way.
The real danger is other people
I like to say that when the SHTF most probably your enemy is not going to be some foreign invaders, UN troops, or people that are very different than you.
It’s very possible your enemy will be the people that today live around you.
What will make them your enemy?
Well, a lot of things. The SHTF itself, the lack of resources, hate, polarization, absence of a system, absence of repercussion for their actions…
But always the main reason will be the lack of resources, and it is something I wrote about a lot in my book. That makes every person your possible enemy.
How does the importance of timing come into play here?
Well, it is on you to time your plans and actions based on the situation around you.
Here are a couple of examples:
- Are local criminal gangs going to go completely wild and storm your home?
- Can you feel absolutely free to shoot anyone who is a possible threat to you?
- When you are bugging out are you gonna run over whoever stands in your way on the road, or are you driving like a law-abiding citizen?
Answers to those questions are quite different based on the time (or timing) when you are answering them. Simply if there is no system still working, everything falls apart. The timing of your action is important. You must understand what the rules are so you can choose how (or how hard) your response will be.
And do not forget, since it will be fluid the difference can be as little as a half-hour of time. Or even minutes.
A law-abiding citizen
Yes, I know, most probably you are a law-abiding citizen.
But, you cannot be a law abiding citizens in a situation where there is no law at all.
So what are you gonna be?
I am not suggesting anything here, but, again, your actions should be different in normal times and world without law and order. I am talking here not about violence, but about your feelings of who owns what when all falls apart.
If you recognize in time that there is simply no system, and there are things that actually suddenly do not “belong” to anyone, you can make good decisions about acquiring things you need. And trust me if you do not make it then, you will make it later. Only later you are not gonna have so many choices or opportunities.
No, I am not talking about stealing from other folks or looting your local mall during a bad weather event or riot.
I am talking about your acts in the first days of an event that is gonna be complete and prolonged world without a regular system of law and order.
Timing there also means that you need to recognize when some things are more important than others…for example, food is more important than some big-screen TV.
Actions on the ground
Timing also means a lot while certain things are happening when SHTF, especially in the very early stages of SHTF.
The early stage is important, because most of the people in that stage are not sure of:
- what is exactly happening
- how serious it is
- how long it is going to last
- what exactly they should do
You, as a survivalist/prepper, should be ahead of those people and you should know, or at least have an educated guess about the 4 questions above so you can time your actions appropriately.
Looting/scavenging
There is nothing too much philosophical here, and here is one example:
Something happens, and people are looting the mall.
What are you going to do?
Well, the most obvious answer is that you’ll stay at home because it is safest.
But let’s say you need medicines, food, or whatever.
Well if it is a real and serious SHTF, I would say you are gonna go there and “loot.” Only it is technically not looting anymore, because there is no law and order. It is not coming back for a long time or ever. So if you are smart, you’ll go there and stock up with important medicines, or food, or lighter fluid or similar stuff.
The timing is perfect because the answers to all of the above questions are “satisfying” for that. And you as a prepper for sure are not gonna loot stereos and TVs.
Most of the other people gonna be stupid and loot that useless stuff, because they completely missed the understanding of what is going on.
The timing here can be tricky too because you need to check if there are other people who understood how serious the situation is (based on the above questions). If they did, then you might lose your life there looking for food or medicines, simply because a lot of other people could be doing the same.
And do not forget, criminal organised groups WILL eventually figure out what is important, so they will eventually come to control that.
So, the timing is important, but again, the timing of your understanding of the term “law-abiding citizen” here is something that you need to figure out first when something serious happens.
You also need to know when to leave.
I have said before if I had realized what was coming when the SHTF for me, I would have left. But I waited too late. I missed my time.
You must be ready to leave everything (physical) in a split second if that means survival and life.
Learn to operate in terms of “less is more” or in other words, try whenever you can to substitute dependence on things with owning knowledge of a particular skill. For example, owning a big stash of water is great, owning skills and means to purify near water sources is even better.
Be ready to alter your plans – do not value your current plan so much that you are ready to die for it. Have an open and flexible mind so you can recognize that moment when your current plan becomes worthless. Do not act like “my plan (bugging out, or bugging in) is so good that I am ready to die for it.
Timing is everything when the SHTF.
A lot of things and actions in the world of survival are simply words. Those words will have different meanings when SHTF, based on the moment in time and based on when you are taking your actions. You as a prepper need to time your actions according to the events around you, and you need to be ready to kinda bend based on the events unfolding.
The most adaptable will survive.
Have you ever had poor timing?
Have you ever been the victim of bad timing or missed a window of opportunity during an emergency? Share your stories and thoughts in the comments.
About Selco:
Selco survived the Balkan war of the 90s in a city under siege, without electricity, running water, or food distribution.
In his online works, he gives an inside view of the reality of survival under the harshest conditions. He reviews what works and what doesn’t, tells you the hard lessons he learned, and shares how he prepares today. He never stopped learning about survival and preparedness since the war. Regardless of what happens, chances are you will never experience extreme situations as Selco did. But you have the chance to learn from him and how he faced death for months.
- Read more of Selco’s articles here.
- Buy his PDF books here.
- Buy his best-selling paperbacks, SHTF Survival Bootcamp, SHTF Survival Stories, and The Dark Secrets of Survival here.
- Take advantage of a deep and profound insight into his knowledge by signing up for his online courses SHTF Survival Boot Camp and learn the inside story of what it was really like when the SHTF with his online course One Year in Hell.
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Real survival is not romantic or idealistic. It is brutal, hard and unfair. Let Selco take you into that world.
We all try to predict whats going to happen. There would have to be something really bad for there to be ” without rule of law”. What could that be? Id really like to know from others what they think would happen to cause ” WITHOUT RULE OF LAW”. I dont think there would ever be a ” mad max” scenario.
I think it depends upon what you personally would consider a “mad max” scenario or a WROL scenario.
Selco lived through a Civil war. I think that he would agree that that was a Mad Max/ WROL scenario.
The term SHTF is properly defined as: ” the total break down of civilization and social order”, which in plainer terms is WROL.
If it comes to a Civil War here in the US, ( which at this point is quite probable), I think you will see much of the same things Selco did.
I don’t expect we would have to much trouble with Snipers, But I would expect Race hatred to be more prevalent here. Instead i would expect more Mobs and the Racist type of Militia groups, will be causing trouble.
So I do not always totally agree with Selco’s ( and others) interpretation of what is likely to happen or is most important( hiding from snipers) because we are a different society. But Human nature is much the same everywhere, so when he talks about that stuff, he is right on target.
As soon as Law Enforcement is no longer active or “on the streets” all hell will break lose. Most LEO’s know this and will admit to their friends, that they are barely able to keep the bad elements of society in check right now. So if they are removed, look out.
As mentioned here, criminal gangs will soon figure out what is important and will take control over them. I suspect they will be Food ( stores and warehouses), Medicine, (hospitals or places that have drugs and medicine) and Water Sources (Clean and not so clean ones). (In Mad Max/ Thunder dome, Max checked some of the Water that they were selling in Barter Town and it was radioactive. Don’t expect this kind of behavior,(selling bad or tainted stuff) not to happen, during SHTF.)
If People are Hungry, Sick or Thirsty enough, People will pay any price to get the things they need to survive.
Non preppers will be at their mercy and some Preppers will be looted, to add to their supplies to those already under the gang’s control, making them in the same boat as non preppers.
No one in their right mind wants to see a Civil War or a Mad Max scenario. But we should not ignore the signs we are seeing in society. The Portland, Minneapolis and other city’s “protests”, are a wake up call and you better be awake to what they are showing about a WROL society would look like.
i have the utmost respect for SELCO.
I think a NORMAL president would bring in the military, if the cops wasnt around to make everyone ” behave theirselves”… but its just a hunch.
Except there is not enough “military” to go around, even to lockdown a couple of large American cities would strain the few divisions we have, that includes active, reserve & guard. Toss in all the essential spots around the USA, power grid, water, food/supply warehouses, airports, ports, medical, etc….just not enough military to do that job.
I do not think it is realistic to expect police or military….that is part of “normal” and any SHTF that is more than strictly local …well it won’t happen unless it might be an “occupying” military/police.
Just think of resources need for police/military…fuel, ammo, food, shelter etc
If SHTF…these will run out fast…or not be there at all…current aid/policies have left serious holes in our defense/response capabilities. ( Ammo, military equip., exporting manufacturing, depleting Strategic Oil Reserve, etc)
If it involves EMP or cyber issues…communications pretty much stop along with ability to move distance.
If it really goes crazy…those officers/military not already called up may be unable to respond from their location OR unwilling to leave their families to the chaos! No one, even a large police force or small group of National guard can overcome sheer numbers of people (think Korean War tactics) when it hits a tipping point…they are overrun….especially when they start w/o rule of law, consequences for actions etc…that is why we ARE already in a slow creep it just takes a flash point. Think Seattle, Portland,Minneapolis…peaceful? Consequences? Not so much!
I agree with the basics…mainly be flexible, plan ahead, keep priorities straight! Plan to be surprised! Just “thinking” these possibilities through is mental prep.
Sounds good, but in a total breakdown, there won’t be people to respond. Police and military will be taking care of their own situation. There is a limit to what I would do when I was LEO. Going INTO a nuclear situation? Nope…we were not going to do that. RESIFOYCE…resolve every situation in favor our YOUR continued existence. My guys heard that every night at roll call. You are no good if you don’t arrive.
I live in a place where there were no police for 2 weeks after Ian. We holstered up and took care of business ourselves. This was a year ago.
After a disaster if you can’t DO for yourself, there is nobody to DO for you.
Whatever you do, don’t lock yourself into one particular way of thinking – with the anchor of your thoughts being: “it can’t happen here… we’re different”…. that will only limit your self-training or group training and prepping. We lost men in Nam when little children would walk up to a soldier with a IED / bomb under their clothing… never underestimate the depravity of man – NEVER. Improvise, Adapt, Overcome
(some of…) THE BASIC LAWS OF COMBAT
ALWAYS REMEMBER:
“The most important rule in a gunfight is: Always win / cheat if necessary.”
1. You are not superman or John Wayne.
2. Suppressive fire — won’t.
3. If it’s stupid but it works, it isn’t stupid.
4. Don’t look conspicuous — it draws fire.
5. When in doubt, empty the magazine.
6. Never share a fighting hole with anyone braver than you are.
7. Never forget your weapon was made by the lowest bidder.
8. If your attack is going really well, you’re in control of the ambush.
9. No plan ever survives the first contact intact.
10. All five second grenade fuses will burn down in three seconds.
11. Try to look unimportant – the bad guys may be low on ammo.
12. If you are forward of your position, the artillery will fall short.
13. The enemy diversion you are ignoring is the main attack.
14. The important things are always simple.
15. The simple things are always hard.
16. The easy way is always mined.
17. If you are short of everything except enemy – you’re in combat.
18. When you have secured an area, don’t forget to tell the enemy.
19. Incoming fire has the right-of-way.
20. No combat ready unit has ever passed inspection.
21. If the enemy is in range, so are you.
22. Don’t draw fire; it irritates the people around you.
23. Radios will fail as soon as you desperately need fire support.
24. Anything you do can get you shot — including doing nothing.
25. If you make it too tough for the enemy to get in you can’t get out.
26. Tracers work BOTH ways.
27. The only thing as accurate as incoming enemy fire is incoming friendly fire.
28. Friendly fire – isn’t.
29. When both sides are convinced they are about to lose, they’re both right.
30. Professional soldiers are predictable, but the world is full of amateurs.
31. When the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is not our friend.
32. “Shoot what’s available, as long as it’s available, until something else becomes available.”
33. “If you carry a gun, people will call you paranoid. That’s ridiculous. If you have a gun, what in the world do you have to be paranoid about?”
34. “Don’t shoot fast, shoot good.”
35. “You can say ‘stop’ or ‘alto’ or use any other word you think will work, but I’ve found that a large bore muzzle pointed at someone’s head is pretty much the universal language.”
36 You have the rest of your life to solve your problems. How long you live depends on how well you do it.
37. You cannot save the planet but you may be able to save yourself and your family.
38. There is no possible victory in defense only.
39. The sword is more important than the shield, and skill is more important than either. The final weapon is the brain. All else is supplemental.
40. Don’t pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he’ll just shoot you.
41. If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck.
42. An armed man will kill an unarmed man with monotonous regularity.
43. Beware of the man who only has one gun – he probably knows how to use it well.
44. ‘The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him. G. K. Chesterton
45. People that value their privileges above their principles will soon lose both.
46. “Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not….” Thomas Jefferson
47. Never let someone or something that threatens you get within ‘arms length’ of your position and never say “I got a gun.”
48. When a fight breaks out, bring at least two guns. Bring all of your friends who have guns.
49. Anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice.
50. Only hits count.
51. Move away from your attacker. Distance is your friend. [Lateral and diagonal movement are preferred.]
52. Accuracy is relative. [Most combat shooting standards will be more dependent on the “pucker factor” rather than the inherent accuracy of the gun.]
53. Use a weapon that works every time. All skill is in vain when an angel pisses in the flintlock of your musket.
54. Use cover or concealment as much as possible. The visible target should be in FRONT of your gun.
55. Flank your adversary when possible. Protect yours.
56. Don’t drop your guard.
57. Always tactical load and threat scan 360 degrees.
58. Watch their hands. Hands kill. In God we trust. Everyone else, keep your hands where I can see them.
59. Decide to be aggressive ENOUGH, quickly ENOUGH for as long as it takes.
60. The faster you finish the fight, the less shot you will get.
61. Be polite. Be professional. But have a plan to kill everyone you meet.
62. Be courteous to everyone, friendly to no one.
63. Your personal security is a lifelong commitment to avoidance, deterrence, and de-escalation.
Love this! Rules to live by!
Never ever trust the cops. Avoid them and never talk to them. They may be more desperate than you. Watch the videos of the cops stealing in Katrina SHTF.
Funny how that works…until you need them! Bad apples in every group…not every group is bad!
Not all of us are like that. I worked out in Andrew. It depends on the culture of the department. A department with a culture of not following the laws by the LEO won’t clean up for a disaster.
But, in a breakdown, there won’t be any police or other help. You are on your own.
Sent the rules to my fight age sons.
Just takes one guy with a rifle and a need to kill and there you go, don’t forget the rooftop Koreans in the infamous LA riots.
Great question.
People get fed up with the COVID restrictions? Heck, people in some parts of Europe are staging protests and not by a few dozen, but hundreds to thousands. And there has been some violence too.
Some kind of mandatory vaccine?
Gun confiscation?
As you say, we try to predict, but that is the problem with making predictions, specifically about the future.
I agree with you that I dont think there will be a Mad Max like situation. Even in Afghanistan, the 3rd world of 3rd world countries they still have rule of law. It can vary from tribe to tribe, village to village. But it is still there. And, the religion of Islam does provide for a degree of agreed upon laws. Granted here in the US there is a segment of society of those who are depraved or amoral enough to commit heinous crimes. They need to be dealt with.
I gotta tell ya, everybody is arming up, even the left. They are all gearing up for a civil war… Ive seen it first hand. Ive witnessed it in PAWN SHOPS. ive been in pawn shops and heard people admit they was ” left” and was arming up to defend against the right…. That is no joke.
Oh, you are correct about that. I have read more than a few articles on that very subject.
It is one thing to be armed.
But do they know how to shoot?
Owning said firearm does not automatically imbue anyone with marksmanship skills.
AND! Can they find ammo?
Or a range that is open?
yeah, I could buy a horse, but does that mean I know how to put on a saddle and get on and ride.
Right??
Out of curiosity, I just checked Midway for ammo.
They had in stock, ONE offering for .223Rem, a 55grn varmint ammo.
Nothing in .308WIN.
One offering of 9mm.
One offering of .45ACP.
They did have some offerings of more unique or non-common ammo, like 10mm, 44 Russian, 460 S&W, .458SOCOM, etc.
Reloading and even casting is hard to find too.
Any idiot can point and pull the trigger. The untrained idiot will keep their finger on the trigger most of the time, the trained will not.
Most ex-military folks tend to be patriotic, and can shoot a whole lot straighter and handle their weapons better than most “Leftists”. Armed “Leftists” won’t be surviving very long.
I don’t understand people just buying a firearm, going to a range and shooting 100 rounds or so and thinking they will have the instincts and skill set to function in a true shoot-don’t shoot situation.
People ask me often about “getting a gun.” I ask them if they can stand 3′ away from me and UNDER THE RIGHT SITUATION shoot me in the face without a conscious thought? To a person, they say they could not. My answer is, “well, I can do it to you. I have the skill set.”
I have made more than one guy swallow hard as they are walking around with a visible sidearm in an open carry jurisdiction.
I have them. I can see their weapon, know what it is, know where their hands are….but they don’t know if I have one, where it is, or can guess at my skill set. I have them tactically.
When I go to the range, I get these men who want to help me. Little old lady. I decline. Once they watch me shoot, they back up. I only know how to shoot combat style.
Shooting a human will change your life forever. It’s a bell that cannot be unrung.
Selco has written in the past about this, and if my take away was accurate, it’s not really a matter of there ever being a WROL situation so much as Who’s Law will be enacted. Local, State, and Federal government’s can quickly be overcome by neighborhood enforcement warlords.
JW, here is Selco and my take on WROL, as previously published:
https://www.theorganicprepper.com/wrol-vs-drol-tc/
Thunder,
You may be afflicted with what is called “normalcy bias,” just like most everyone else (myself included). It is difficult to conceive of realistic SHTF scenarios or the total collapse of rule of law, but that doesn’t mean that they haven’t happened elsewhere, as Selco can attest. It also doesn’t mean that they couldn’t happen here.
If it helps at all, I make a distinction between a localized or regional disaster, SHTF and WROL scenarios. For example, a catastrophic hurricane does not result in a suspension of law and its damaging effects are confined to the path of the storm. Looters are dealt with, aid is dispensed and recovery operations begin as soon as the roads are opened. The resources of local, state and federal agencies and insurance companies are already on alert and respond to the best of their bureaucratic ability. Is the hurricane a SHTF situation? Yes, if you live in its path; but probably not if you live a mere 100 miles away. In that context, SHTF is a pretty subjective term.
On the other hand, I define WROL as the utter, total collapse of existing government authority at all levels, including its capacity to deal with conditions that are hostile to the safety and security of all individuals under its jurisdiction. WROL is when the local police chief and Justice of the Peace shoot each other while grappling for the last pound of hamburger in the supermarket.
If you think about it, SHTF is a triggering event. WROL is one of several possible results. And it happens to be the worst of all possible outcomes.
Welcome to the First World Revolution: Civil War or Revolution, what is the difference? In a revolution there are no safe spaces! That is not a play on words or a modern euphemism, it is quite literally the difference between what people speculate may happen and what will likely happen in today’s world of political turmoil.
In the United States Civil War (1861–1865) the lines of demarcation changed frequently yet were easily defined in the moment; but in the American Revolution and every Revolution thereafter there were no such territorial boundaries. City could be pitted against city, neighbor vs. neighbor, and even family member vs. family member. (Benjamin Franklin and his only son never reconciled after the American Revolution.)
Today we find ourselves sitting at the precipice of the First World Revolution. In the United States we over simplify things by saying that it’s political turmoil of Republicans against Democrats, in Europe Brexit rolls along, the Yellow-Vest protests in France continue, and COVID lockdown protests in Germany and Italy have become violent. Revolutions are fought when the people take back their sovereignty from the governments that they had acquiesced to in the past. That appears to be exactly what is happening today. The people of the world are fighting against “Globalism,” which is the current “politically correct” name for Communism.
There has been a movement to install communism throughout the world since the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. I would argue that the movement began in the United States in 1913 with the creation of the Federal Reserve, Federal Income Tax, and rescinding the ability of the individual States to recall their Senators from Washington D.C. Without regard to when it started, few would argue that the efforts have not grown over time. The “Democratic Socialists” have openly adopted the platform of Communism and use word manipulations and an ever-changing narrative to call it something else. If it walks like a duck, sounds like a duck … it’s a DUCK!
The steps to create a “Communist Utopia” have been clearly laid out over the years:
-Healthcare: If you control the healthcare you control the people.
-Debt: Increase debt to unsustainable levels. This will allow the Government to increase taxes, produce more poverty, and further control the people.
-Poverty: Increase the poverty level as high as possible. Poor people are easier to control and less likely to attack the source of their survival.
-Gun Control: Remove the ability for citizens to defend themselves from their Government, thus allowing for the creation of a police state.
– Welfare: Take control of every aspect of their lives and survival: food, housing, healthcare, income.
– Education: Control what people listen to; control what children are taught in school. Emphasize progressive ideals only.
– Religion: Remove people’s belief in God from Schools and Government. No ideology or authority can supersede the authority of the State.
– Class Warfare: Divide the people into warring factions: wealthy vs. poor. This will foster further discontent, animosity, and justify raising taxes necessary for the redistribution of income through social programs.
These “Steps” are taken from Saul Alinsky’s book Rules for Radicals published in 1971 and adopted as a road map by many of our most powerful politicians including George H.W. Bush, Bill and Hilary Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. It should be noted that every point in this plan has been accomplished to greater or lesser degrees in the past 50 years, and these pervasive tactics have been employed at every level of government. The fight is real.
One cannot overcome their adversary if they cannot first identify them. Let us look at our world today in contrast to when Saul Alinsky’s book was published. In 1970 the American dream was often described as getting a college education, landing a job or career where one could have a sense of fulfillment and earn a competitive wage and in many cases a pension; to improve their standard of living, culminating in owning their home outright and enjoying a peaceful retirement where they could sustain that standard of living. Our stores stocked their goods well in advance in hopes of selling their wares and meeting the needs and desires of the community. Our towns, villages, and cities sustained the infrastructure and sought to improve community services through paving and maintaining roads, expanding libraries, and increasing the efficiency of waste removal services. The police and fire fighters were empowered to perform specific duties and were held accountable if those tasks were not completed or were done outside of the parameters described in their contracts. The citizens within these communities all participated in local PTA’s or insisted on at least having their neighbors acts as a liaison to the local school system. The Mayors and city counsels fought to maintain and improve the standard of living in their communities, making them more desirable to attract businesses and more affluent families. It was far from a perfect world, but it was predictable.
In contrast today our colleges and universities have increased the cost of higher education to that of the average home, so when these kids graduate, they have a mortgage with no place to live. Furthermore, our government recently took over the oversight and servicing of this multi-trillion-dollar industry which ensures that the costs will continue to rise, and the individuals can no longer seek any type of relief through bankruptcy. Our government has encouraged offshore manufacturing, so work in those professions are in short supply, but big tech is booming in certain well-defined city centers where the cost of owning real estate is prohibitive to all but the most successful. Defined pension plans no longer exist outside of governmental jobs or political positions. Towns, villages, and cities have outsourced most of the municipal services through contracts; and government service unions have exploited the resources of every community. Single family homes are in short supply and Mayors and community leaders are giving preferential treatment to builders of multi-family dwellings. They have discovered that running a community is a “numbers game” whereby it doesn’t matter if the local population has a better standard or living, just having them present generates the money they want and need to become more powerful. The citizens no longer operate our government, but instead our government controls the citizens.
All of the above seemed for most of the average citizens to be a natural progression brought about by the advent of computers, the internet, “just in time” delivery systems, and the most fast and efficient communications systems that the world has ever known. For those that thought this to be true, and even for most that questioned whether this was “normal” they adapted, overcame, and made little to no effort to change things as long as they lived with relative safety and comfort, until 2010.
With the advent of the “Affordable Care Act” in the United States, many of the masses who had been “asleep” suddenly woke up when they realized that their healthcare was soon to be State controlled. A movement to educate the average citizen about Saul Alinsky’s plan grew and took on many faces. The Tea Party seemed to be the most notable, but there were many people and groups throughout the country that could see the writing on the wall. We were in the depths of a financial crisis, there were more enrolled in financial assistance (welfare) programs then ever before. Our government had record debt that few could fathom, and taxes had become more than burdensome to many. Small businesses were folding along with the large powerhouse companies, unemployment skyrocketed in all 50 States. We had rioting with “Occupy Wallstreet,” race riots in Oakland, and an “Arab Spring” had broken out in the middle east. Coincidently ammunition shortages seemed to be a new anomaly, and the government started to regulate magazine capacity and even the types of cartridges that could be used with the most popular modern sporting rifle. The parallels from world events to Alinsky’s plan could not be denied by the objective observer, a populist movement was born.
People started to network in groups of like-minded individuals. They formed collective farming projects, preparedness communities, and off-grid homesteads. Many societies formed with their sole basis being that something was wrong even if they could not identify exactly what it was that they were sensing.
The technology that lulled many to sleep also woke up some unsuspecting forgotten people world-wide. In 2013 Cody Wilson uploaded the designs to 3-D print the “liberator pistol” to the internet. Other designs for many firearms were also uploaded as “share-ware” files available for anyone to access and build firearms without the regulations of government. In Western Europe, where gun ownership of nearly any kind is illegal, there are groups like “Deterrence Dispensed” formed expressly to empower people to protect their freedom of speech by enacting their freedom to bear arms. (Neither of which are guaranteed by their governments.) They have uploaded further designs of firearms like the FGC-9, a 9mm carbine which stands for F*ck Gun Control, along with hundreds of others to be shared world-wide. This and many other groups actively teach people how to build their own firearms and manufacture their own ammunition. This is in Western Europe where most Americans think everyone is docile and enjoying their socialist governments. Movements like Deterrence Dispensed are popping up all over the world, and their memberships are growing. These are not militia’s as they are commonly thought of; these are groups that have no political ideology, but instead have a reverence for sovereignty. The rights of individuals first, and then the rights of groups, collectives, or nations to follow; but the rights of the individuals are foundational. While assemblages like this are commonly banned from social networking sites, their word spreads internationally through sponsorships and endorsements by individual websites. Communications are almost always encrypted through programs like KeyBase, Signal, and others, and members strictly maintain their anonymity. Their philosophy by design, is that if/when one person is compromised, another will quickly take their place. Natural leaders will inspire others, but there is no hierarchy, so there are no prioritized targets for tyrannical forces to center their sights on.
The neighborhood watch has gone global, and it is on steroids. Many collectives have and continue to study the tactics of Che Guievera, The Irish Republican Army, The Weather Underground, and several other covert Guerrilla tacticians from all over the world including the U.S. Special Forces. Most of these groups are made up of peace-loving individuals and families. They want to be left alone; and to have the opportunities to live fulfilling lives and create a better standard of living for their children. Still, they have become hyper aware of their surroundings and the circumstances of the world. They witness the anomalies of strange bedfellows. Things like Antifa teaming up with the police in Germany to impose restrictions and curfews for COVID on the greater population. They balk when the media reports that Antifa is “right wing,” and the BLM wants only peaceful equality of opportunity. These people know better, and having witnessed the atrocities of the past, they are preparing for the worst.
The coming revolution like those of the past will consist of three distinct groups; those of the oppressor, those of the liberators, and those that want no part in the fray. In some cases the oppressor seem to be the currently installed governments, and in others it may be a faction of government that believes or announces itself to be more legitimate, but in all cases the oppressive party aligns themselves with “globalism.” Whether in the United States of America, or any of the many nations in Western Europe, the lines are seemingly drawn, and either freedom and liberty, or subservient oppression will prevail.
What are you doing? What anomalies have you noticed? Which of the three positions will you take when the SHTF?
I want no part in the fray. But what I want and what I’ll get are not necessarily the same.
I’m on the side of justice. Hopefully we’ll not face a situation like the Spanish Civil War of the 1930’s, where it was Marxists against Marxists with no room for justice or freedom.
To the OP (Selco’s) and poor timing: Yep.
About a year or so ago, I was looking into casting lead for both center fire and black powder.
Then life happens.
And as a result, finding casting equipment is very hard right now, along with finding loaded ammo, and reloading center fire ammo (bullets, brass, primers, powder, dies etc.).
I was able to get some equipment, but not as much in the variety of cast bullets as I would want.
A number of people noted early in the first (one of likely many) COVID lockdowns, the availability of seeds. Some seed companies were weeks behind in orders. Fortunately for us, we save our seeds and always have bought open pollinated, not hybrids.
True. Even though the supply chain may be in place (and it will unless there’s some serious Mad Max s*%t going on), it’s not hard to see that there will be shortages. Many industries are broke and/or going down. I hear people everywhere saying things will be normal, but they don’t realize that there’s a tipping point for everything: even if the demand is in place, sometimes the cost isn’t worth the risk/trouble. Then things are shut down.
The available money/demand for all the variety and quantity of things is not the same as in 2019 and before. And it won’t be for a long time, maybe ever again. It will be a decade of contraction, not expansion.
heres the million dollar question. How close are we to …..SHTF.
My 2 cent answer: SHTF Will happen any second now.
The cops wont be there to protect you but they will be there to prosecute you!
EXACTLY.
I’m 65 years old, living in the USA. Throughout my life I have yet to see a situation where the police have NOT turned against our citizens whenever they’ve been ordered to do so. We have many, many good and honest law enforcement officers. But their “superiors” partner them with cops who are literally warped in their thinking and have no morals, and so they sabotage the good efforts of their honest partner. PREPPERS & MILITIA HAVE NOT BEEN PAYING ATTENTION: Local police departments in the USA now routinely use mercenaries dressed-up in the uniforms of the local cops to do their dirty work. You won’t see United Nations troops doing USA gun confiscations. You WILL be seeing local cops (mercenaries) go door to door, getting the guns and killing anyone who resists (or who they perceive as a threat).
I read some comments saying “there’s always SOME law”. It’s true that over a period of time, a law or some law (or many laws) are established. Any number of people together need some rules, or there’s no group.
But when things f-up, to get to this point there’s a period of crazyness and confusion. When there’s no law at all. From what I have seen myself, it’s wild-west until exactly the group of people that figure things out faster than others FIGURE THINGS OUT and organize to command or impose. That’s fluidity and timing IMHO.
When the dust starts to settle down, a new Bartertown is created: organization comes in and it will have its own laws. But then I guess if SHTF there will always be some medieval places out there. It’s usually called “the road” in movies and it’s said to be avoided.
It isn’t looting if you leave a note. I read that advice and it makes sense. Taking from abandoned properties even less so – now you are scavenging for survival. This is for perishable supplies (i.e. food, medicine) items required to live. Jewelry – not so much.
The key to survival
1. Mind set
2. water
3. food
4. power
5. medicine
6. patience
Agree, in fact I wrote an entire section on my survival book about PATIENCE alone. Ïf you make haste you make waste”. I guess it also relates a lot to what Selco wrote in this article.
Bob, You forgot Guns and Lots of Ammo. If you cannot protect what you have, you really have nothing.
BS! It is looting, because a real prepper should see the problem at least a few days in advance, already bought what he needs and be safely away from the great unwashed doing the looting.
IMO spontaneous order, especially in a country with long traditions of self government, is far more likely than anarchy. I live in a very rural county. Everybody has guns and I would expect the county sheriff to deputize everyone so they are acting under cover of law and establish a chain of command and communications. That is the real militia concept.
Yeah, in big cities they might eat each other and I don’t care because of what they have inflicted on the rest of us politically and culturally. No big loss. We have resources and knowhow and can sever transportation arteries effectively. Farms have miles of barbed wire, explosives and earth moving equipment and we know how to use them. IMO we will be selective as to who crosses the county line.
I think all the armored house and bunker people need to remember Combat Rule #25 If the Enemy can’t get in you can’t get out and welcome back Selco
Timing is everything? No no no. Location is everything. I live in a small rural Australian town of 4000 people, 99% White people. Practically zero crime and everyone is respectful to each other. A lot of survival mantras are false and to expose them all you need do is sit down and “think” for a few minutes.