Some people see themselves as a militia which exists to be an auxiliary to the organized militia, i.e. the armed services in America. Others have a more practical view of what a militiaman is. Some of us see ourselves as part citizen - soldier, part survivalist, and part citizen - activist.
Successful fighters will tell you that you should train for the enemy you will face. Many modern militia organizations will have you driving two or three hours to "train" in the back-woods with people you barely know in scenarios which probably will never exist in the real world.
For that reason, I tell everyone to have an Evacuation - Rendezvous Plan for their home. If a Katrina type of disaster happens in your neighborhood, you may have some difficult choices to make... and in a hurry. Right now is the season for tornadoes, hurricanes, etc. And the most likely scenario which could potentially tax your readiness skills is the act of nature that wakes you at 2 a.m., demanding that you use all of your survival instincts or curl up like a scared rat and hope that you live through crisis.
Playing army in the woods with your SKS and an MRE might be fun, but this subject we're on right now must be practiced every few weeks, almost religiously. Whether you are young or old, this is the most important starting point and the most necessary skill that you will acquire. And the fact is this: If you can get out of your house, equipped and ready within two minutes, it will have militia applications you cannot even begin to dream of.
Your "enemies" will not schedule an appointment for you to get your excrement together before they do their damage. Whether that "enemy" carries a firearm or is just an act of Mother Nature, whatever they do will come unexpectedly and at the very most inopportune moment. Further, if you can evacuate your home on a moment's notice, with your Bug Out Bag in hand, and have a predetermined spot to rendezvous with family members at (in case of an extreme emergency) then you are well ahead of the game when the local militia asks you to come to an FTX that anticipates training for any SHTF scenarios.
In a military context, when a unit is attacked, they have predetermined spots that unit members will go to in order to defend their area and also to rendezvous for accountability purposes. In the home, a well practiced evacuation and rendezvous plan can be the difference between life and death in an emergency (be it a house fire, hurricane, or attack by JBTs just before dawn.)
When you were in school, they may have had fire drills. Here, you learned how to exit the school and then meet up at a designated area (ours was the parking lot.) It's such a basic skill, but not even a single percent of the people in the militia actually practice it. And if you don't have an evacuation and rendezvous plan, you simply are not ready for anything - except maybe a fantasy in your mind... and I doubt you'd be ready for that.
Now then, this is a discussion board. Hopefully, you will take that as a hint to begin askng questions, giving us some antecdotal stories about your evacuation and rendezvous exercises, and suggesting tips for getting the family covertly into practicing militia skills. So, the ball is in your park readers.
Okay, nobody took the hint. We've been offline, so that may have played some part, but let me be the first with an anecdotal story here:
Every few years a catastrophe hits my neighborhood. Several years ago, the catastrophe fell on the last of March. We had an ice storm that shut down the roads for five days. Not only could you not travel, but I was out of electricity for eight days. Adding insult to injury, I have a gas tank out back and the gas company conveniently "forgot" to fill it. So, on day three of the exciting event, I had no electricity and no gas.
But, being the survivalist that I am, it posed no problems that could not be overcome. An emergency cylinder of gas was used to boil water for baths and while the water boiled, the kitchen warmed. My bathtub was the kitchen floor and afterwards with all the rest of the house closed off, the living room and kitchen became the living quarters.
Battery operated electronics like a television and radio (with shortwave) kept me informed and entertained while candles / oil lanterns and books provided with me warm entertainment.
When the refrigerator began to warm up, I put the food into pillowcases and tied them on a rope dangling across a tree limb outside. It stayed between 28 and 34 degrees... the milk had some ice in it, but still edible.
Last Wednesday, a realty company called in and ordered the utilities cut off next door. They cut my water off while I was at work. Then the water company said they could not cut me back on until the following day. And the catastrophes began. Power was lost in our entire neighborhood. It whizzed me off because it cut me out of being online, but other than that, it was just an inconvenience. No lie here: After five hours of darkness here, you see people loading up and going to a motel for the night.
So, how would you fare? Got some water stored up? Candles? Oil burning lanterns? A way to take a good ol' dump without using your toilet? Does anyone except me take this subject seriously?
So, how would you fare? Got some water stored up? Candles? Oil burning lanterns? A way to take a good ol' dump without using your toilet? Does anyone except me take this subject seriously?
Last question firs: Yes, the MPA (everyone of us) takes this subject extremely seriously! Anyone who doesn't is making a huge error!!
I can say with some confidence that our members fare very well during these kinds of contingencies. Security and mutual support is not an issue.
Everyone has been trained to store enough water to last (most of us are on city water and can't depend on a well) several weeks. Interestingly enough, 8 drops of non-scented pure chlorine bleach per gallon into ordinary tap water of a 6 or more gallon container filled to the brim will keep the water potable for more than a year.
Those who do have a well or have extra money have, in many cases, purchased a large enough generator and enough fuel to keep their fridge or freezer cold for up to a couple weeks and a transfer switch to take their house off the grid. As far as toilets go, a little bit of quick lime and a hole in the back yard (if that's all you have) or a heavy plastic bag lined 6 gallon pail laced with a bit of QL after use will do nicely. Of course, if you can 'tune up' the pail or latrine with a toilet seat (maybe $7 at Home Depot or Lowe's or wherever), folks are a lot more comfy.
Everyone knows how to drain their hot water heater and put out basins to catch rain water as a last resort.
Everyone of us has various types of lanterns, a year's supply of TP, at least 6 months worth of food (minimum) in larder.
We also know, and some in the larger city's don't, that if you have an analog phone (the old rotary dialer type), you can plug it into the phone jack during a major power outage and you'll still have phone communications until the phone system goes all the way out (sometimes can be as long as several days). Digital phones are dead without juice, so we advise folks to go to a garage sale, get an old rotary dialer, and keep it either plugged in down in the basement or some other out of the way place or at least keep one handy. It could be the difference between getting a friend to help or not.
I could go on, but I think I made the point: Yes, you're right: This is a super important subject, and we are fairly equipped up here (in the MPA) to deal with it.
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