Immunizations

All survivor group members need to keep up their immunizations! Critical ones are: Tetanus & Diphtheria (1/ten years), Hepatitis B (series of three, retest antibody titers at times), Hepatitis A (series of two, good for 10-20 years), measles-mumps-rubella (MMR; for measles, those born after 1957 need to have 1 dose unless they have contraindications). Contrary to endless hysteria, the measles vaccine does not cause autism; the original study which "proved" that the vaccine caused autism was poorly designed and used statistical analysis that would embarrass a ten year old.

Why bother? In the 1990s, it was estimated that about 30%+ of the US population of age 50+ had no immunity to tetanus, due to not keeping up on vaccination. Now, tetanus is a horrible disease; the death rate can be as high as 78%, it causes extremely painful muscle spasms that can be triggered by something as trivial as a slight breeze, and death occurs due to a spasm being so prolonged that the patient suffocates, fully aware until the end. Good reason to get a booster every ten years.

With hepatitis A, the average time lost off work is about six weeks from the infection. Imagine your group having to care for a patient with tetanus, diptheria , or hepatitis A post-disaster. Precious resources and personnel used to care for a person with an easily preventable disease.

For those survivor group member who are susceptible, varicella vaccine (chickenpox, a serious disease for adults). For those at risk, due to chronic illnesses, the pneumococcal vaccine. A good one to have anyway as it is a common bacteria in the nasal passages of people. Rawles merry band in his book, Patriots, Surviving the Coming Collapse, were all immunized against pneumococci.

A single dose of zoster (shingles) vaccine is recommended for those over 60. A single dose of polio vaccine, as an adult ,would be good and neighborly to do in case NWO really opens our borders.
For those survivors under 18 years of age, completion of CDC recommended vaccination schedules is necessary. Especially, in Montana, pertussis (whooping cough).

For preparedness for true TEOTWAWKI times, consider keeping up on: typhoid (every 5 years for oral form, not 100% effective), yellow fever (1/ten years, was a significant problem in the USA until early 19th Century, negligible risk ever in Montana) , meningitis (roughly 3 years of protection, a disease of young adults, in crowded places in the USA, shows up in North Dakota)

The CDC publishes adult and child vaccine recommendations. as needed, please read them. They also maintain a good page that answers common vaccine questions.

There is an good series of information sheets CDC publishes called Vaccine Information Statements that cover each vaccine in good detail, with the risks and benefits spelled out. I passed these out to the day care providers who attended our course and heard reports back of how well received the forms were by the parents in their programs. Print these out for you and your group.

Be prepared for the coming Change. Get immunized now, survive beyond the American Year Zero of Dear Leader and his cadre. More on this aspect of prepping in part two of Civil Unrest. In the meantime, remember to live your faith, tell truth to the Party apparatchiks and do your part to make this a better world.

Pain Relief and the Prepper Medic, Part 1

Providing relief for moderate to severe pain post-disaster can be a problem for the prepper group. Same for providing basic, light anesthesia for minor procedures such as wound debridement, wound closure, and bone setting.

Biting a stick or having the patient swig some whiskey may make for good cinema but it makes for bad medicine. The anesthetic dose of alcohol is near the fatal dose. The severe pain and stress associated with doing surgical procedures without pain relief or anesthesia can seriously compromise the patient's recovery.

This is the first installment of a two part article on very very basic “survival anesthesiology”. I'll cover some basic terminology and standard rules as well as the use of two herbs for pain relief. Part two will cover some good pain relievers that are not on the DEA's scheduled list, so easier to obtain legally. Part two will also cover local and regional anesthesia and list some useful references for learning more about this vital part of survivalist medicine.

I am writing from my experience as a former EMT, dental surgical assistant; my brief, additional anesthesia training; my experiences as a chronic pain patient for 16 years; and my research into anesthesia for austere environments. This does not constitute medical advice. These two articles are for informational purposes only. Discuss these subjects with your personal physician and get his or her advice in this area. I write this only to help the prepper to learn more about this important aspect of SHTF medical care.

The aim is not to enable the prepper to ape the highly trained anesthesiologists who are experienced physicians,with extensive post-graduate work. That could never happen without intensive, extensive study, a great deal of practice, coupled with an incredible amount of good luck. The end result of such madness would likely be a dead patient. But by using the information in these articles, coupled with some hard study and practice, the layman prepper medic could safely manage control of an injured person's pain and anxiety.

The focus here is on enabling the intelligent prepper to provide their wounded companion with some modern pain relief in an austere situation. Providing good pain relief to an injured companion helps with their recovery, through reducing the severe stress pain places on the body, and and enables the prepared, trained, practitioner to care for the patient's injuries in a systematic and thorough manner without having to additionally deal with a patients cries and throes of agony.

Always remember, whenever you anesthetize someone, there is always the risk of serious complications or death. It is a fine line between rendering a patient insensible to the procedure and killing them. Study hard, be alert, use common sense. And most of all, only use these techniques and materials when a real professional is not available within the needed time frame.

The aim here is to point you toward some useful choices for relieving pain in hurt companions and facilitating relatively “comfortable” minor surgery in an austere or post-Obammacare environment. This first article will deal with two useful herbs for your prepper medical kit that could serve you well in lieu of morphine or ketamine: morning glory and salvia.

Note that the first one is illegal to use for non-gardening purposes in the USA, so only use this one under true emergency conditions. The second herb is illegal in several jurisdictions in the USA as well as several countries. Research your local laws before stocking this herb in your medical kit. And most of all, use these for legitimate medical purposes, not for “kicks”. Because if you use these herbs irresponsibly,then you risk the One World Government, or other modern demon, banning access to these useful herbs for all of us.

Definitions and Principles
For our purposes, anesthesia is defined as a state in which the patient is unconscious of their surroundings and of sensations , has amnesia for the operation, muscles are relaxed, and the body's visceral reactions to the operation (e.g. increased pulse rate) is blunted.

There are three types of anesthesia: general, where the patient is completely insensible and every term of definition is present. The patient's airway, circulation, and general well being are completely in the hands of the anesthetist. Regional anesthesia involves the injection of local anesthetics around a nerve such that an entire region of the body is anesthetized. Examples are wrist blocks to allow repair of a mangled hand. And finally, local anesthesia where local anesthetics are infiltrated into the soft tissues around the area that needs operation. An example is anesthetizing a tooth so it can be filled.


In a survival situation, local anesthesia and where needed, regional anesthesia are the preferred techniques for the prepper. There are risks of possible infection, allergies, and serious cardiovascular effects if too much agent is injected or injected into a blood vessel. But, with study and some practice, a reasonably intelligent, deft prepper could safely do the job. The patient is still fully conscious so airway problems will be nearly non existent.

General anesthesia is to be avoided for the non-physician because of the risk of complications up to and including death. General anesthesia means the patient is no longer conscious. At the depth of anesthesia required to do involved surgery, the patient has no gag reflex and if you are not careful, no breathing reflex! As we all know, the patient can "vomit" while going under or during the operation resulting in the risk of getting vomitus into the lungs--a serious complication. For general anesthesia, the prepper medic must be able to secure the patient's airway and be able to recognize a developing crisis and respond effectively to it. A very tall order for the layperson!

As prepper medics, we will only be doing minor surgical procedures so general anesthesia is not going to be needed.

The best, safest, choice for the lay person is local anesthesia and where needed, regional anesthesia if the prepper medic has received thorough instruction and practice in the procedures.

It is important to remember that local anesthetic agents relieve pain first, then at higher dosages' the other sensations (temperature, pressure, proprioception, etc.) are temporarily shut off. But these higher doses tend to be very near the toxic threshold for the agent, so just use local anesthetics to eliminate the pain of the procedure. In practice, this means that when you use a local anesthetic, expect your fully conscious patient to still report feeling “pinching”, stretching, and any temperature differences.

This is where distraction, use of sedation or "disassociative agents" is useful. The two herbs described below provide relative analgesia and some amnesia for minor procedures, with the caveats listed for the herb.

For our purposes analgesia is defined as the state of being pain free while still being conscious. Analgesia is familiar, with a little common sense, analgesia can be achieved safely for your patient.

The standard of care for anesthesia calls for monitoring of the patient's body state during the procedure. For our purposes, you need to monitor their pulse, blood pressure, breathing [depth and rate], and where needed, the amount of oxygen their blood is carrying at a point in time.



The instruments needed are simple: a blood pressure cuff, your two eyes and one hand (to check pulse), and for oxygenation, a pulse oximeter. There are several combo devices on the market that can monitor blood pressure and pulse simultaneously and pulse oximeters monitor both the pulse and the oxygen saturation (of the arterial blood). Pulse oximeters can cost under $200 or as much as $800+ for very advanced models.

For all survival medical procedures, keep good records. For the “survival anesthesia worker” , you must note carefully how the patient's physical and mental condition fluctuated over the course of the procedure as well as what effects the agents administered had on said conditions over time. By keeping good records you also tend to be more focused


Herbs
We've flotsam been, and the jetsam In highness being,
gonna get some On the water walking,
it's easy to be Centralised we to infinity
Dying Seas, Hawkwind


The two herbs described below are widely available in most jurisdictions and can be used for pain relief and the induction of light anesthesia in survival situations. Both provide a useful alternative to stocking morphine or ketamine, both DEA scheduled drugs, for relief of moderately severe pain and for [very] light anesthesia.

However, the DEA and NWO types want to ban people from using these herbs whose roots surely must be in Hell itself. Part of the reason is irresponsible [ab]users of this class of herbs, part is in getting political mileage out of sheer demagoguery. Neither herb, with the exceptions noted below, will harm the prepper who uses them for the stated purpose of pain control or light anesthesia. In many cultures around the world this class of herb is used frequently for various folk medicine purposes as well as use as sacraments. Common sense says that usage of these herbs does not mix with driving, handling guns or the like.

Long and the short: be responsible, don't encourage the DEA or manipulative politicians in curtailing access to this useful class of herbs for all of us. The effects from these two herbs can be very powerful; note the cautions given below, use them only for necessary medicinal or spiritual purposes, and take responsibility for using them—no blaming their being available for any stupid act you do which results in harm to another!

These herbs are psychedelics, some call them hallucinogens or even entheogens. They provide pain relief and [very] light anesthesia by two mechanisms: making all sensory input “equal” so that pain becomes no more important than the fact that the Earth orbits the sun, and these agents facilitate a disassociative state in which the patient's interpretation of pain or pressure signals can be radically altered by simple measures such as playing music, reading of Bible verses or the like.

Extensive research in the 1950s and 1960s, and today, on LSD; for example, found that the drug provided better pain relief than morphine or demerol, with few, if any, side effects. The few formal studies done on salvia, the second agent below, have found that it also offered strong, short-acting pain relief, tends to calm the patient to a degree where continuing pain perception and anxiety are reduced for a relatively long period, and has the potential to be used as a general anesthetic.

In using these herbs, one must pay special attention to two vital factors; set and setting. Set refers to the state and focus of the patient's mind; a relaxed patient who is focused on positive thoughts will be unlikely to experience an anxiety attack whether given one of these herbs, ketamine, or morphine. Setting refers to how pleasant, or at least non-chaotic the treatment or convalescence area is. Operating in a quiet, clean room will help allay patient anxiety and thus reduce the need for additional meds during the procedure. If available, readings from religious texts or use of music will help control your patient's anxiety and pain levels.

Good setting, coupled with a show of calm competence from you, should help ensure a good psychological outcome for your patient. When using either of these two herbs, good set and setting are vital because of the mechanism of action of their active agents; as psychedelics. When using either of these agents, you need to assign one person to do nothing but serve as a "companion" for the patient, providing distraction as needed, monitoring their psychological condition, and serving as a "reality anchor" (point of stability for the patient's altered perceptions). If possible, this person should not be the same person who is assigned to monitoring the patient's vital signs.

This means that if you do not maintain a good environment and support calmness and positive introspection in your patient the dreaded "bad trip" (marked increase in anxiety, coupled with a shift of perceptions toward the horrific and negative)can occur. If this does occur, you must capture the patient's attention through mirroring calmness and serenity for them, keeping them from physical harm, redirecting them gently with music/religious text/beautiful objects (e.g. flowers, actual or in pictures). And most importantly, reminding the patient that they have taken a medication which has altered their perceptions and that the effects will pass as the drug effects pass. In extreme cases, confer with a psychological professional as soon as you can while keeping the patient physically and emotionally safe.


The first herb might be as available as your garden; morning glories, preferably Heavenly Blue or Flying Saucers. Yes, these are the real names. But the truth is that the active agent in the seeds, lysergic acid amide, is a strong analgesic that can provide six or more hours of pain relief with a single dose of roughly 200+ seeds that are chewed thoroughly and swallowed. Pain relief is less than that which can be achieved with LSD but is still an effective, strong analgesic.

Effects begin in about 1 hour after ingestion. Pain relief is variable, but generally this herb can relieve pain of level 6,or higher with larger doses, out of 10.The active agent, LSA, also has potential for use for cluster headaches.

The downside is that tolerance, of about three days duration, develops quickly. So that a second dose given for pain control 10 hours after the initial dose must be roughly twice as large and so on. The total effects last for upwards of 12 hours.

The seeds must not be treated or must be washed free of the arsenical which is commonly used on the seeds to prevent psychonauts or survivalists from utilizing them for non-gardening purposes.

The taste is vile and tends to induce moderate nausea and vomiting, treatable with mild anti emetics such as Benadryl, so the patient will probably never want to repeat the psychedelic trip. So be aware of the patient's state at all times; protect that airway if vomiting occurs. Satan is unlikely to make a new convert of the patient who is given these seeds to facilitate a wound repair.

Cautions. The seeds contain several ergot alkaloids and the active agent, LSA, causes uterine contractions so this agent is contraindicated in the pregnant patient! Do not use if the patient is taking MAO inhibitors such as Nardil or Parnate as dangerous cardiovascular effects can occur.

Use in patients who are in significant psychological distress or in patients with a family or personal history of schizophrenia is unwise as LSA or salvinorin-A (described below) can exacerbate psychological difficulties or activate latent schizophrenia. Or, with expert use, say by a psychologist, these agents may help the wounded person's psychological state.

This agent will permit wound debridement or closure as long as the patient's attention is captured by music, art, or a deep discussion about whatever interests them at that millisecond. It would provide good relief of pain for bone setting but careful monitoring of the patient's blood pressure and heart rate would be required because this agent is a poor anesthetic and provides no amelioration of the patient's body's response to the surgery. Used in conjunction with one of the strong pain killers described in part 2 of this article, such as tramadol, this herb could be used for minor surgical procedures.


Salvia divinorum, a member of the sage family,is an herb which provides good pain relief and can significantly ease the pain and discomfort associated with minor surgical procedures. It provides profound pain relief for about 5-10 minutes, then good pain relief for about 1.5-2 hours more. Salvia frequently produces a calmness and “afterglow” for up to a few days post-usage that will help greatly in reducing post-op pain and anxiety. No study to date has shown any direct harmful physical side effects from usage of this herb or its active agent. But be aware that this agent has only been seriously studied since the 1990s so it is to be considered “experimental”.

It also produces a slowed reaction time and coordination side effects so the patient should not operate the retreat's truck for several hours after salvia dosage. Since it acts on the kappa-opioid receptor in the brain, rather than the mu-receptor affected by morphine and the like, salvinorin A is highly unlikely to turn the patient into a raving, addicted, member of the Army of Darkness. Euphoria is very uncommon with salvia use, indeed people do not tend to ever take it for “kicks”. It also has potential for treatment of addiction as the kappa-opiod receptor is key in addictive behavior.

Overdose will not kill , but it will result in a dangerous agitation of the patient though of short, under 30 minutes, duration. With higher doses, salvinorin A induces a dramatic urge to get up and move that could easily result in your patient sustaining secondary injuries as well as knocking you flat as a cartoon character. Salvia is usable for our purposes only if the operator pays very close attention to dosage, using only enough to enable the surgical procedure, but not so much that the operation suddenly becomes catch-the-delirious-staggering-patient!

My personal experience with salvia has been with use for relief of chronic and acute pain. It has reliably relieved pain of level 7 (roughly the pain from a leg being shattered in a bike wreck) completely for 1.5 hours, and kept said pain at endurable levels for three hours or more from a single salvia dose. Tolerance does not develop so analgesic doses of salvia can be given consecutively.

A salvia researcher, Daniel Siebert, has published a guide to salvia which includes his model of “planes of the salvia experience”. As “survivalist anesthesiologists”, we will be getting our patients to Siebert's “plane” 4 (vivid visionary state-with eyes closed, outside world is “gone”) to 6 (amnesiac state, also high movement potential!).

Salvia can be purchased as a live plant which grows very well in the Northwest USA as an indoor plant. It can be grown elsewhere if due care is taken to protect from frost and to provide enough humidity, etc.

It is also available as dried leaves. Dried leaves are only marginally usable for our purposes though. It is also available as a crude 5x or 10x concentrate, or as a standardized extract. The standardized form is obviously the best choice for our purposes.

It can be administered by mouth, by chewing 15-20 fresh leaves and holding the chewed leaves in the cheek for 15 minutes. The effects then last about 45 minutes. Ingesting the leaves or concentrate is useless as the agent is inactivated by stomach acid. Obviously, using the agent by mouth increases the risk of nausea/vomiting so be aware and monitor the patient's airway carefully.

Or it can be smoked, vaporized actually. Effects occur in under 30 seconds. Vaporization allows the best titration to effect. It also is associated with a high “failure rate” as it is very technique sensitive. When vaporizing salvia concentrate, it is vital that the concentrate be heated as much as possible (with direct flame), the smoke drawn deeply into the lungs, and held there as long as possible. Throat and lung irritation can happen when using the vaporization method . I have asthma; salvia vapor does not induce bronchospasm for me, but “your mileage may vary”.

The active agent, salvinorin A is extremely potent, being effective at 200-500mcg for an inhaled/vaporized dose. Its effects begin in under 30 seconds which makes titrating an analgesic dose fairly easy. It provides good analgesia, being about as potent as morphine, though it only provides, at best, two hours of strong pain relief. After inhalation, drug effects begin to fade within 3-5 minutes of dosing.

At higher doses of 500-1,000mcg, it provides relative disassociative anesthesia for about 5 to 7 minutes. However, at these doses the drug causes severe “motor hyperactivity”. Think a PCP zombie who also drank three double espressos! Heed the cautions that Siebert gives at the previous link Titrating the dose to true disassociative effect ,Siebert's “plane” 6, without the patient lashing about and injuring herself can be tricky.

If used for just relieving the pain of simple wound debridement, having the patient “smoke” small amounts of concentrate until they report no sensation when the intact skin is pricked with a sterile needle . If possible, capture the patient's attention while the wound is cared for. Patient will probably still be somewhat aware of pressure and stretch sensation, thus the need to capture their attention elsewhere.Then, work quickly and efficiently. If patient begins to feel pain, use more salvia.

If a bone must be set or extensive wound debridement is required, then a higher dose of salvia must be used, preferably along with a “conventional pain med” and maybe (with all due precautions and pre-research) an inhaled agent such as trilene (warning: can be toxic to liver in prolonged use) or methoxyflurane (warning: can cause kidney damage). This will mean a brief excursion back to pre-19th Century surgical practice; the use of sturdy assistants to hold the patient in place. The purpose here is to keep the patient from moving about and injuring themselves or facilitating a horrible surgical disaster.

As you can see from the number of links in this article and from the detailed knowledge needed to safely use these agents, careful study is necessary before the balloon goes up so that you can make a positive difference with your wounded companion or family member. Basic anesthesia care can be provided by the well informed, meticulous prepper medic when the nearest physician or anesthesiologist is under 50 tons of rubble. Just act only within the scope of your knowledge and only in case of true need.

Please consider the subject of pain control in a austere environment in your medical prepping plan. Read about the two herbs discussed here, consider stocking them in lieu of or as supplements to prescription pain killers. In Part 2, I will cover some useful analgesics that should be relatively easy to obtain from your doctor, the [very] basics involved with local anesthesia.

Surviving Disasters: On Spike TV

Indian Police seek Out Terrorists near Colaba in 2008



Knowledge is power. And knowledge in a crisis, coupled with determination, can spell the difference between life and death. So today, here is a review of a must-see new series, Surviving Disasters. Show is on Spike channel and features high production values, excellent direction/editing, and most important of all, solid, practical information that anyone can use.

The host, Cade Courtley, is a former Navy SEAL who has the rhetorical skills to make this show appeal to all, not just to males who like “action” movies but to "regular folks" of either gender and nearly all ages.

Series premiered this week with an episode on surviving ,and prevailing, in case of an aircraft hijacking. Script is politically correct enough that ACORN and CAIR are unlikely to protest the episode as “racist” or “anti Muslim”. The terrorists look like two Maghrebis, a Latino, and a White, probably meant to be a Bosnian Muslim or Soros Agent of Change.

Likewise with the group of passengers who carry out a successful ad hoc plan to retake the aircraft. Women are given strong characters to identify with in this episode and men are shown “regular guys” who rise to the occasion to identify with. I hope the producers keep this paradigm; it will mean big success and strong audience share as those who don't like MMA or traditional “male movies” (sports, over the top war...) will tune in this show again and again.

Techniques shown are all simple, easy to remember, and easy to execute. Of course, we know that the best thing to do when confronted by violence is to try and find common ground with the assailants and carry out open, culturally sensitive negotiations to resolve the core issues which drove the formerly saintly perps' to violence. Or you can just strike back decisively in the name of saving innocent lives as the everyday folks depicted in this episode do.

The acting is good and the special effects serve to advance the plot and learning experience. Hopefully, some “directors” in Hollywood will watch this show and learn anew how to hook an audience. The blood and violence in this episode are enough to get the point across clearly without going over into grindhouse or gorno Hollywood sewage.

So this show is watchable by those who don't like the sight of blood, etc. At the same time, it will give those individuals an idea of what to expect if the real thing happens, thus enabling them to be more effective come the wolf at the door. From my years of training people of all types in preparedness, this approach works very well in truly internalizing the lesson and increasing the likelihood of the viewer being able to take effective, positive, action when confronted by the real deal.

Upcoming episodes will deal with hurricanes, a mall shootout and surviving fires. Give this one a look see. Very intense staging so not for young children. But outside of that, I think Spike has made a show for the whole prepper family to view and discuss. Be prepared, stay alive.

Airguns

Today's post is about a great tool for the well heeled prepper, airguns. Today's post is by a long term prepper and former Army officer from SW Montana. I've seen him demonstrate what these guns can do. Trust me, get one they're very useful and fun!




While most 'preppers' include a firearm in their preparedness plan, one weapon that is frequently overlooked is the air rifle. The air rifle can make an excellent addition to any prepper's battery and is probably more useful in anything short of a TEOTWAWKI situation, particularly for the suburban survivor. The Air rifle is useful for training, pest control and even hunting small game, while having a low report and limited range that makes it well suited for more built up area. Ammunition is widely available and relatively inexpensive. A can containing 500 rounds is the size of a chewing tobacco tin and can be purchased for less than $8. Also, because air guns are not firearms, there are few regulation regarding their purchase, ownership and even use (as always, check your local laws). This article will cover the various types of air rifles, discuss their utility and give some tips on selecting an air rifle for you personal battery.

Most Americans think of air guns as toy suitable for older children rather than as a serious tool. Many of us owned 'BB' or 'pellet' guns when younger, and look at these weapons as a sort of 'junior' firearm until we are old enough to get a 'real' gun. However, in countries with restrictive gun laws, the air gun is often the only gun one can obtain, and air guns in these countries (Germany, England, etc) are as refined as any American made firearm. The higher end 'adult' air guns are accurate, powerful and extremely well made guns that can last a lifetime or more.

Adult air guns were relatively unknown in this country until recently thanks to Dr. Robert Beeman, who began importing high powered air rifles into the US to be sold under the Beeman name. There are now a variety of importers, and literally dozens of high quality air gun from scores of sellers. One can buy air guns from hundred to thousands of dollars, and from small caliber precision plinkers to .50 caliber plus air guns capable of taking some of the largest game in North America.

Modern air guns are typically divided into three types: pneumatics, gas guns and spring guns. Pneumatics are further divided into single pump, multi-pump and PCP (Pre-charged pneumatics). Most common 'BB' and pellet guns fall into one of the first two categories. Benjamin and Crossman are well know for their 'pump up' pellet guns. The last type, PCP, utilize a built in air tank that is charged from a high pressure source like a SCUBA tank or via several hundred cycles of a special high pressure hand pump.

Most of the American made pump pneumatics are inexpensive and fair quality, with barely adequate accuracy and no provision for scope mounting, and are relatively limited in their usefulness. PCP guns are typically higher end guns that are very powerful and accurate, but require a high pressure air source that makes them less than ideal for anyone beyond the dedicated air gunner. Gas gun are familiar to most in the form of CO2 guns. While convenient, they rely on CO2 cartridges and their accuracy and velocity is also less than optimal.

This bring us to the spring guns, which make up the majority of the 'adult' air guns available. In a spring gun, there is a large compression chamber much like a doctor's syringe. A spring is held under pressure by the trigger, and when the trigger is released, the spring presses the 'plunger' forward, compressing the air and forcing it through a small port into the rifled barrel where a pellet is waiting. The compressed air launches the pellet out the barrel. The gun is then re-cocked, compressing the spring and another pellet is loaded into the barrel. This relatively simple system results in a uniform volume of air each time the gun is fire, leading to consistent velocity and good accuracy. It is also capable of producing fairly high velocities. Some of the higher powered 22 caliber spring guns can launch a pellet at or over 1,000fps. These guns can place 5 shots within a 1 inch circle at 50 yards and humanely kill small pests and game at 30-50 yards with little noise. The air gun can also be used to 'discourage' larger animals like feral cats and dogs from intruding into your yard or garden . And thanks to the light weight of the pellet and it's low ballistic coefficient, the same pellet is relative 'harmless' at 100 yards. Unlike firearms, a air rifle can be fired relatively safely even in a small suburban backyard, and few neighbors are likely to complain about you shooting your 'BB' gun.

Adult air guns are like conventional firearms in that you typically get what you pay for. The cheapest spring guns available are often of inferior quality and not worth consideration. Spring guns actually require as much or more precision manufacture than firearms, so you should expect to pay a minimum of about $150 for a decent spring gun. There are a variety of cocking systems used for spring guns – break barrel, under lever and side lever – with break barrel being the most common. In a break barrel air rifle, a linkage is attached to a hinged barrel. To cock the rifle, one breaks the barrel until the piston is captured by the trigger mechanism. A pellet is then fed into the open breech, and the barrel is hinged closed until it locks into place. Typically, the safety is automatically activated so that the cocked and ready to fire rifle is already on safe. Break barrels are easy to operate and understand, and it is easy to check to see if the rifle is loaded with a pellet by simply opening the action. In the case of under lever and side lever gun, cocking the lever opens a port into which the pellet is loaded. Because the lever is under spring tension, these guns are equipped with an 'anti-bear trap' mechanism to keep from smashing your fingers while loading. For this reason, the break barrel is usually recommended as a first air gun.

Almost all spring guns are equipped with a 2 stage trigger. This type of trigger is favored by Europeans and is generally unfamiliar to American shooters. The trigger has a long, relatively light first stage (take up) followed by a shorter, crisp second stage which fired the gun. On firing, the piston is released forward, and a spring gun will often have a noticeable, but not uncomfortable recoil. Because spring guns use a forward moving piston, they actually have recoil in both direction, and the forward recoil can destroy scopes not rated for air guns, so you will need an air gun rated scope. In addition, air gun scope have their parallax set for 20-25 yards, rather than 100 yards on a conventional scope. Adjustable Objective air gun scopes will generally focus as close as 7 yards.

When selecting an air gun, even after determining type, there will be a a number things to consider. The two main thing to keep in mind are intended use and the user. While spring gun can generate a significant amount of power, to do this means using heavy springs which require some upper body strength to cock. Also, intended use will dictate caliber. The four most popular air gun calibers, in order, are 0.177, 0.22, 0.20 and 0.25. Of these four, only 0.177 and 0.22 should be considered by the 'prepper'. The other calibers are often difficult to find, and so unless you plan on keeping a large store of ammunition, stay with the common calibers which can be found at almost any sporting goods store.

The general rule of thumb is that 0.177 is meant for target shooting and practice, and 0.22 is for pests and hunting. This is mostly true, but small animals can be dispatched with 0.177 if you restrict your targets to small game (birds and rodent) at short distances. The best all around performer is a powerful spring gun in 0.22, but such a rifle may be too hard to operate for older children or even some adults. If the air gun will be used by teens or a person with limited upper body strength, you will need to select a spring gun with a cocking effort of less than 25 pounds. This will generally limit you to lower velocity 0.177 air gun. However, these gun can still function very well in the pest control and hunting role if you understand their limitations.

Rather than cover every possible gun on the market, I'll list a few of the 'classics' that most experienced air gunners consider good guns and good values.

Light weight air guns with moderate cocking effort. These rifles are suitable for older children, men and women. These also tend to be lighter that 'full power' air rifles, and much easier to carry around.

RWS Schutze – This basic training rifle will deliver a 0.177 pellet at about 580 fps and costs about $200. It is marginal for game but only requires 19 pounds of cocking effort. Equipped with iron sights, it has an 11mm dovetail for scope mounting.

Beeman HW30S – Another easy cocking 0.177 caliber rifle from Germany, it features the famous Rekord trigger, iron sites and 11mm dovetail. 675 fps. About $300

Beeman R-7 – A highly refined version of the HW30S with an American style stock and 700 fps. Weighs in at about 6 pounds and sells for around $400

Classic 'work horse' guns. These are proven and well regarded designs that will last for years, are accurate and powerful. They require a cocking effort of around 40 pounds.

RWS34 – this basic gun start at around $225 and goes up depending on options. Just shy of 8 pounds in weight, the 0.22 version will launch a pellet at 800 fps.

RWS 350 magnum – This is a true magnum air rifle, capable of 1000 fps in the 0.22 version. The basic model starts at just under $400 and weighs in at 8 pounds.

Beeman R-9 – Available in 0.177 and 0.22 caliber, this is one of the most popular air rifles among US air gunners. It's equipped with the excellent Rekord trigger and weighs only 7 pounds. The 0.177 version fires a pellet at just under 1000 fps and the gun has a deserved reputation for superb accuracy. Fit and finish is first rate, as you would expect from an air gun that starts at $500.

Beeman R-1 – This was the first air rifle to break the speed of sound. Also equipped with the Rekord trigger, dovetail for scope and superb fit and finish, this rifle is a burly 9 pounds and starts at $600.

In addition, there are a number of other quality guns, both break barrel, under lever and side lever not mentioned here like the 'classic' RWS 48 and 52.

Recently, an number of excellent Chinese made air gun have been imported in the US. While fit and finish are not up to the standards of the European made guns, they represent a good value for the cash strapped buyer. In the past, quality was spotty, but the latest Chinese made guns are very much improved. In particular, there are are several models that are virtual clones of much more expensive European guns that sell for half or even one third the price. The Chinese XS-26 is a copy of the Beeman R-9, the XS-28 is a duplicate of the RWS 350 magnum and the XS-B30 is a copy of the RWS 48. A little research on the web will turn up numerous reviews on these and other air guns.

Once you have selected and received your air gun, here are a few things you need to know.

1.Treat your air gun just like any other gun. Adult air guns are not toys and can kill. Follow the basic rules of gun safety.

2.Wear eye protection. Pellets can ricochet and you are generally much closer to your target with an air gun

3.Never fire a spring gun without a pellet. When the piston is released, it is cushioned by a column of air behind the pellet. Without a pellet, the piston slams into the front of the cylinder which can damage the piston and piston seal

4.Use only air gun oil, and only oil as recommended. The pressure and temperature of the cylinder get high enough to detonate petroleum oil, just like in a diesel engine. Smoke and noise from you spring gun is a sign of 'dieseling', and is bad for the gun. Many new guns will diesel for the first few shots. Don't amplify the problem by adding 'fuel'. Use only approved oil as recommended by the manufacturer.

5.Air guns require a break in period before they reach full accuracy and velocity. This is typically 500-1000 rounds before the gun 'settles in'. Give the gun time to break in.

6.Air guns will often show a preference for certain pellets. Try a variety to find out which shoot best.

7.Have fun. Use your air gun to practice your shooting skills in the back yard, barn or even basement. Dispatch those pesky garden pests without using poisons, bothering with traps, or disturbing your neighbors.

Useful air gun web sites:

http://www.airguns.net/ - Air gun reviews and other helpful information
http://www.pyramidair.com – Customer reviews of a huge variety of air guns, air gun sales.
http://www.beeman.com – The original importer of adult air guns. Lots of useful air gun info.
http://www.arld1.com/images/swfs/tx200whole.swf – Great illustration of how a spring gun works
http://www.xisicousa.com/airguns.html – Importer of Chinese made air guns
http://www.compasseco.com – Chinese air gun sales, under their own 'Tech Force' brand as well as other makers.

Disability and Prepping

http://olegvolk.net/gallery/technology/arms/wheelchair.jpg.html


"Not every prepper is a 20-something who jogs daily, hits the gym four days per week and mountaineers at every opportunity. Some preppers have too many family obligations to hit the iron pile at will. Some are middle aged or elderly. Still others are disabled.

How to deal with such people? Rawles excellent book, Patriots, Surviving the Coming Collapse, describes a prepper group who are all able bodied and fit 30-somethings. Some prepper pundits advise one and all to avoid getting entangled with such “liabilities” as disabled or elderly people.

But consider this, generally, the disabled and the elderly have an important psychological edge over the buff 20-somethings of popular disaster films and books. They are used to having to problem solve their way through days filled with obstacles, such as no curb cut or difficulties in manipulating machinery with poor vision. So the disabled do have something to add to a prepper group, as do the elderly. Just to the best of their ability, not necessarily in every area of work the able bodied members might want.

The disabled are rarely considered in community disaster plans or exercises. We generally don't think that the disabled can contribute positively post-disaster but it can be done. We just have to work around their particular disability. With the deaf, remember that "lip reading" does not work all that well and in deaf culture, detailed explanations are expected. With those with mobility problems, give due consideration to barriers to their movement. When evacuating the disabled, the "leave everything behind" rule of evacuation does not apply. Make sure to take vital meds, medical equipment and adaptive aids (reachers, bed etriers, etc.). With a little extra thought, the disabled can help out and be vital members of a survivalist/prepper group.

Sure, you would be a fool to think that the paraplegic in your group can help split wood. But that person could certainly be a medic or quartermaster for the group. I was in a wheelchair, off and on, for over one and a half years; my computer, medical, and organizational skills were still there. I just ambulated using a vehicle instead of walking on my legs. If there had been a disaster, I was ready, willing, and able to pitch in to help. It is the same generally in the disabled community. Self sufficiency is highly valued, problem solving proficiency is constantly honed, there is always a strong undercurrent of wanting to contribute to the situation or community. But, as in the general population, many don't think about prepping.

At some disaster scenes, the disabled and elderly are treated as “automatic casualties”, to be immediately shuttled off to “medical care” areas. The key rule of etiquette in the disabled community, and by extension amongst the elderly, is that the person will ask for help if they need it but they will nearly always want to try to do it themselves initially. It is considered an insult for an able bodied person to press unsolicited offers of help on the disabled person. The Americans with Disability Act may have been stupidly misused in the past, but it was passed so that the disabled in this country would gain the basic respect for their capabilities that the able bodied take for granted.

I have done classes for disabled resource organizations before where no one in the class could move without mobility aids and with several blind or deaf persons. For example, the blind can do CPR, they just have to rely on tactile and auditory cues without visual cues. Paraplegics can give first aid, even if it means leaving their chair and crawling to the injured person. And it is true; if you lose one sense, the others become sharper in compensation.

Post disaster, we will all need all the help we can get. Study how the disabled and elderly can contribute to your and your group's survival post-SHTF. Think this through ahead of time, be better prepared for when the balloon goes up.

Here is a link to a group, Disabled People and Disaster Planning, that has been around for several years. Their site has some good short articles on planning for the disabled in disaster protocols. Eye opening stuff!:

http://www.citycent.com/dp2/

Radio Communications Article

Very good new post at West Virginia Preppers Network on radio communications protocols. I learned a great deal from this post that should help dealing with radio communications in the Helena Valley. For those who don't know our situation here, the "public radio" bands (GMRS, CB, and FRS) are often rendered useless by incessant chatters, kidz, and those who don't know how to use a radio properly. We shiver to think of what would happen come a disaster here as our public safety agencies rely on a single relay point, using 2meter radio. This will leave preppers on their own to maintain communications ad hoc. The information given in this article will help make our SHTF communication more likely to succeed .

Read it, please comment so this guy, Falcon 9N, will continue to share his store of knowledge. Here is a link to his article. Plan before you press transmit, be brief, use good radio practices.

Psychological First Aid

So the earthquake has ended in your town, the dust has settled, you and your family are still alive and uninjured. But your area is out of contact with the rest of the state for at least 48 hours. You, and others, go round, giving medical first aid, mark structures in accordance with good CERT practice, you shelter in place. But some people in your area are in seemingly severe mental crisis; some are hyperactive and get in your way constantly, a few others just sit there in spite of the bitter cold, still others are disruptive and complaining constantly. What can you do?

Learning some psychological first aid is as important as learning CPR and [medical] first aid. It is simple and is mostly common sense. It can be important as victims of psychological distress can endanger you and your group; extremely rarely by assaulting, mostly by getting in the way (often from the best of motives) or being a "drain" on scarce resources.

The way I learned it way back when was as the Four Rs; a model used for dealing with combat stress:
R emove (from stressful environment); can be as simple as blocking their view of the scene
R est
R eplenish; food, water, etc. , unless contraindicated by injuries, etc.
R estore (their confidence/"to duty"); treat them as if you expect them to recover, no "labels".

This is about as simple as it gets; give immediate care to help keep the person's condition from worsening, reduce the risk of their condition worsening, provide reassurance, punt ASAP to qualified personnel if the person does not improve. I have successfully used this model post-earthquake, at accident scenes, and once with victim of a sexual assault.

Remember that people react to emergencies in their own way; some "rise to the challenge" and do what has to be done, then, maybe "it hits them" and they experience some anxiety or "shut down". Others react with hysterics, still others shut down with the "thousand yard stare". Take them as you find them, deal with what you see, just use common sense. And remember, people in crisis, especially children, take their cues from you: model competence and calm, be systematic, smile.

Here are a few suggested readings for you to learn how to deal with this important aspect of post-disaster and survival situation care:

(Book) Where there is No Psychiatrist; Very well written, easy to understand and apply. Covers all aspects of psychological well being, excellent chapter on disaster/war trauma. Good shelf companion for your copies of Where there is no Doctor and Where there is No Dentist.

(online document) Psychological First Aid...; Medical Reserve Corp: Step by step guide to providing basic psychological first aid. Gives very good examples to illustrate the concepts being described.

(online document) Psychological First Aid Heath Care Professionals; NY Office of Mental Health: Brief outline of principles of care in the context of a flu pandemic.

(online document) Psychological First Aid ; American Mental health Counselors Association: Technical article on various early intervention strategies. Good,short, discussion of critical incident stress debriefing (CISD), one of the "touchstones" of the field of early intervention which does not seem to work.