Guns, Prepping & Resilience

Welcome to Spec Ops Gear, special weapons and tactics for civilians.

First off, I’d like to thank the Supreme Court for upholding our constitutional rights last week. While the right to carry a firearm is fundamental to America, we’ll need more than guns if we’re gonna make it through what the next few years might bring.

I’m a gun guy and I always have at least a few guns on my want to buy list. But lately, I’ve had to re-calibrate a little, and prepare for the future as I see it. Part of protecting my family is ensuring we have the ability to carry on basic functions like food, shelter and transportation. This means I’ve been a little distracted from guns and have had to focus on food production, debt reduction, community building and logistics.

Preparedness means Resilience

We need to increase our resilience. There is no resistance without resilience. And, if “they” can’t ban guns, then I wouldn’t be surprised if they offer food in exchange for people turning in their guns. I’m sure nobody here wants to be in that, or any other, bread line. So let’s get started. Some of the things below require money, others don’t, so let’s all do what we can. If you don’t have money, you’ll need to leverage community, learning skills and being an asset in any way you can.

These are just a few of the ideas I came up with to help us become more resilient.

Get Healthy NOW

When thinking about food preps, guns, ammo, water storage, getting off grid etc, it’s easy to forget that all resilience starts with our bodies, minds and spirits. Improve your cardio, stop eating garbage and lift weights. Yeah, I get it, you’re snapped up from various injuries, so am I. Doesn’t matter, find exercises you can do and do them. Excuses are for purple-haired basement dwellers.

I’ve broken bones, have bad knees and shin splints from martial arts, my elbow pops, I have a bone spur in my hip and ever since I broke a rib in MMA it pops out when it feels like it. True, there’s people a lot more beat up than me. Even still, you can eat better and there’s at least some physical training that you can and must do. As Garand Thumb said, “if you’re fat you’re gonna die.”

I don’t have a gym membership. Put on a David Goggins highlight real. Hang a pull up bar in your house. Do situps on your floor. Do pushups. Put on your kit and walk up and down your stairs 100 times. Stop eating garbage.

Deal with your depression. Forgive your parents. Forgive your Ex. Face your fears. Pray to God to beat your addictions. Write down your goals, break them down into daily baby steps and then do them one by one. Deal with your issues because if you don’t, you’ll be useless when it counts.

Join a Church & Volunteer:

If you’re an atheist, hear me out. Bad times leave people searching for meaning and community. Personally, I’m on team Jesus, but even if you’re an atheist, you still need a good group of people you can trust. Join a church. Sure there are bad apples, but there’s also millions of honest, hardworking Americans who believe in doing what’s right and helping others. Those people are called Christians and you can find them in a good local church. Find a church that is medium sized and growing. Churches can get stagnant, so you need to get where the momentum is. Ask some friends you trust to recommend one. Then, go to the church, volunteer your time helping others.

By volunteering in a local church outreach, you’ll meet people who like guns and freedom just like you, but these people also like helping others. By you giving your time, you’ll be building a local support network of people you can trust. Find God while you find good people who help each other.

Get a Basic HAM Radio

Community is nothing without communication. Get a basic HAM radio and coerce your like-minded friends to get them as well. In recent WORL and riots, “they” have cut cellphone and wifi service as a means of controlling people’s ability to communicate. HAM radios don’t require internet access or a cellphone carrier’s approval.
I’m still really weak on my radio comms and I should be better, but at least have a HAM radio and make sure your close group has them too.

Get an Electric or Plug-In Hybrid Car

We’re in the middle of a fuel crisis and with the severe drought in the Southwestern US, we may also have an electricity shortage. A plug-in hybrid car will allow you to use electricity or gas as either becomes available. We just got a used Chevy Volt that makes most of our miles driven fully electric. In a world of record high gas prices, this puts us miles ahead of others, while also having the ability to extend our range using gasoline if needed.

Move!

Oppressive laws, rising crime and high taxes have led to many people fleeing places like California and New York City, but there are other factors to consider as well. How well would your current home work for providing basics like water, food and security? If you live in desert, how long would you survive without outside water? Can you raise livestock? Can you grow crops? Do you have your own well? How much rainfall do you get?
While places like Texas seem great when it comes to rising economies and less restrictive gun laws, a lot of Texas is very arid. I live in the Pacific Northwest, and while this area gets a lot of bad laws from places like Portland and Seattle, the majority of these states are generally pro-gun, pro-freedom and get significant natural rainfall.

Food Production

After you move, clear land and plant things that will feed you. This could mean pasture for cows, goats or chickens, a garden plot and ample fruit trees. Do the math on crop production based on yield per acre and find out if these yields require fertilizer and watering. How much water will your crops require and can you supply that much water. Many areas have limited water rights, meaning you can water a personal garden but you can’t irrigate 40 acres of alfalfa. Areas with more rain will obviously require less irrigation.

Natural Disasters

When you live out in the woods, the biggest threat many will face has always been forest fires and brush fires. For others, flooding may be the biggest local threat. Maybe its earthquake. Some areas may have multiple risk factors. Learn your area and understand how you can protect yourself. In my area, forest fires are the biggest risk, but there have also been earthquakes, floods and even volcanic eruptions over the years.

A lot of fire prevention entails seasonal burning and thinning out overgrown and dead plants and trees. Burn it before it burns you. Learn about seasonal burning in your area, get a chainsaw and thin out your trees.

Get Your Tools & Hardware Squared Away

Can you fix your own car or truck? Can you fix your house? Can you repair equipment? Sure, guns and night vision are awesome, but even for the military, a lot of their equipment is for boring stuff like transporting food, repairing bridges, fixing infrastructure like water/sewer/power etc. I have some of my bases covered with things like a mig welder, building supplies, power generator and shop tools, but I could be much better.

Save your junk

In a world of collapsed supply chains, rising costs and scarcity, you might consider saving some of the stuff that your former self might have thrown away. Used junk clothing can be cut up for shop towels, washed and reused. Scrap metal can be used to fabricate improvised repairs. Scrap lumber can be reclaimed to use on projects. Old tiles can become makeshift ballistic materials. Old glass jars can often be used to can food that you grow. The list goes on and on.

With current lumber prices, a DIY chicken coop can cost over a thousand dollars in materials alone, not counting labor. With used wood that you already have on hand, you could cobble something together for free or near-free.

Stock Up

Food, fuel, hard to replace items, medical supplies, ammo etc may all prove very useful in a world of scarce resources. Over the last year, the bulk beef and chicken in my deep freeze has outperformed my stock market accounts.

Get Debt Under Control

Many of the above things listed above cost money, and at times I myself have panic purchased things like ammo and spare magazines, so this is one that I’m actively working on now myself. If the economy collapses but America still exists, debt could be a big problem.
During the housing crisis of 2008, things like 2nd mortgages, cash-out refinances and Home Equity Lines of Credit, and credit cards became traps that stripped away everything that millions of good people had worked hard for.

I like shiny things too, so this is a warning for myself as well as the audience. In uncertain times, I sometimes feel the urge to go out and fill a freezer with food bought on credit. But, we also have to be ready for financial distress as well. What happens if you get laid off and can’t work for 3 months, 6 months, a year?

Let’s make sure we’re prepped for economic disaster.

Let me know in the comments below if you’d like more prepping, culture and homesteading content.