Destiny Survival

You’re scouting out a new bug out location back in the woods. It’s well off the main roads. You’ll mark a path to that little creek which flows into the river.

As you tramp through the underbrush, you reflect on why it is you’re doing this. You stop for a second. Funny thing that word “reflecting.” It has a double meaning just now.

The chirping birds take no notice as you rattle the contents in the musette bag slung over your shoulder. You’re out here on a mission because of what’s in those plastic containers.

Most preppers are staying at home, no matter what chaos comes their way. But you’ve always marched to the beat of a different drummer, and there’s no way you’re going to stick around when things get hot.

You were looking for an inconspicuous way to mark your way when your brother-in-law Dick suggested the solution. He seemed like such an unlikely source, too, since he’s a “good old boy” who believes things will turn out all right once we get past the elections. After all, this is America, the greatest country on the planet.

Dick is a deer hunter, and at the family Thanksgiving feast he mentioned he uses reflecting metal tacks to mark the route to his treestand. He said the white ones he bought from Bass Pro Shop have lasted him several years.

Isn’t it strange where inspiration comes from?

You made a note to yourself about the tacks reflecting light from up to 200 yards away. You were impressed.

But you wanted to try the brown ones, in spite of the fact that Dick said they’re not easy to see. He said they only show with a dull orange glow, even with a bright white light shining on them.

But that’s the point, isn’t it? You don’t want just anybody spotting your markers. Only your little group needs to know.

You’ll be back out here at night soon and try it out for yourself. If the browns aren’t to your liking, you can try the white or orange ones.

Good thing the tacks are inexpensive. You got 50 in a pack for less than four dollars. You figured it couldn’t hurt to have at least two packs of each color.

Come to think of it, maybe you could use one color to mark the trail and another to indicate where your caches will be. Or use one color to mark the trail going to your bug out spot and another color marking the way out.

These reflecting tacks will do well for marking where the tents are. That will be helpful in the dark of night.

You know, maybe you could come up with a message code using different colors and numbers of tacks. This walk you’re taking in the woods will probably bring to mind other uses for the tacks, too.

OK, enough reflecting–er, musing–for the time being. Better get down to business.

Since you don’t live near a Bass Pro Shop like your brother-in-law, you ordered the reflecting tacks online. You came across a blog post about them. Lucky for you there was an image of them near the top of the page.

These Internet guys are amazing. You clicked on the image, and it took you right to the page on Bass Pro’s site where they’re featured. That made ordering easy.

All of a sudden it occurs to you that it’s past April 15th, or the 17th, as it was this year. But right now it’s tacks time in the woods.

Hey, you made a funny.

Now, how about placing a couple of tacks in that tree just up ahead and to the right?

If you’re one of those people who knows things aren’t right in America any more, and you know you need to start preparing for whatever’s coming, then Ray Gano wrote Survive the Coming Storm especially for you.

Ray is the executive director of Prophezine.com and was my guest on DestinySurvival Radio for May 10, 2012 to talk about his book. I’ve chosen it as my DestinySurvival Amazon Pick of the Week.

The full title is Survive the Coming Storm: The Value of a Preparedness Lifestyle. It’s over 200 pages in paperback and has a rating of 3.7 out of 5 stars. As of this writing, it hasn’t been reviewed by many people. Nonetheless, I’ve read it myself and think the rating is fair.

Ray’s open and frank about his faith in his book and quotes several Scripture passages. Some verses are quoted numerous times throughout the book for emphasis.

Ray is from New Braunfels, Texas, where he and his family experienced fallout from Hurricane Katrina and the swine flu flare-up a few years back. Those events were motivators that helped propel him and his family into a more active mode of preparedness. It’s a shocker when you shop for supplies and there are none to be had.

Ray believes we’re headed for disaster and disruption brought on by economic collapse. We’re incredibly in debt, and the dollar is doomed. Hyperinflation and rampant crime are headed our way.

He’s certainly not alone in that forecast, though scenarios from one analyst to another vary as to specifics. Too many are saying these things for us to ignore them.

He cites historical examples of how America has come back from economic troubles in the past, even if it took years. Supposedly cycles have a way of working themselves out. Therefore, he thinks we’ll come back again after whatever’s coming down the pike this time.

I don’t share his optimism, and I don’t see how he can hold to his. When we talked about this on DestinySurvival Radio, I got the impression his hope hangs by a thin thread.

The “new normal” he writes about is like that of a Third World country. While I agree that this is likely to happen, I believe we’ll fall so much farther and harder than we’ve ever fallen before that the repeating cycle pattern will be broken.

Our dependence on computerized technology and the lack of character and moral fiber we had in past generations is the kiss of death on our society. And I don’t foresee enough Americans turning back to God in the face of calamity to make things better.

It’s up to you and me to make sure our own households survive, regardless of what the rest of the country does.

Ray quotes from Ecclesiastes 1:9 to say there’s nothing new under the sun. I agree with that. But our modern time has never seen the likes of what’s likely headed our way. Life as we know it will change irrevocably.

Having said that, I’m gratified that Ray says this won’t be the beginning of the Great Tribulation written about in the Scriptures. I agree with him on that, too. Ray and I touched on that and other end time matters when he was on my show last Thursday.

As with other books on prepping, Ray gives advice on what food to store. You can do well with carefully chosen canned foods. Have a dehydrator on hand, too.

The rule, of course, is to buy what you’ll eat. Then eat what you buy. Ray also recommends the Shelf Reliance shelving systems as a convenient means of food storage.

A preview of his next book discusses edible begonias. I like the direction he’s headed with that. We need to know about edible plants of all kinds.

I appreciate Ray’s attitude of readiness. He encourages us to imagine life threatening scenarios and visualize how we’d handle them. For example, could you face an attacker with handgun or knife drawn in self defense?

He shares his preference for knives in one chapter. In another he discusses firearms and calibers.

He’s partial to 9 mm Glocks, but says good things about .22′s as well. The 20 gauge shotgun is written about favorably, too. The AR-15 or AK-47 aren’t high on his list for prepping. But you’ll have to read the relevant section in his book for his full analysis.

Ray also writes about everyday carry (EDC) and becoming the “gray man.” The idea is to blend in. Don’t stand out by dressing in camo or looking like you’re ready to fight the world. I’m reminded of similar advice given in Selco’s One Year in Hell course.

Whether you agree or disagree with Ray’s Christian beliefs or his thoughts on our economic situation, he’s right in saying we’re going to have a “new normal.” And you and I had better be ready for it.

Get a copy of Survive the Coming Storm by clicking on its image below. You’ll be taken to the Amazon.com page where it’s featured. Add it to your cart to start the order process.

What do you think? How concerned are you about an economic storm coming our way? Are we sliding into the “new normal” already? Share your thoughts in a comment below.

Bring back a sense of community to your neighborhood and perhaps connect with other preppers. Nextdoor is a resource that could be just what you need to help you do that.

Recently I was contacted by a representative from Nextdoor.com. It’s a service that uses social media to connect neighbors in ways I’ll describe below.

I’m aware that electronic media may not always be so readily available. What if a killer solar flare or EMP from an overhead nuke wipes out the means of communication we take for granted now? We should plan to survive without it.

But who knows? By using a local social network in the here and now, you might meet up with others who are interested in prepping. When it comes to modern technology, why not ride the horse as long as possible and take advantage of wherever it takes us?

Some say living in towns and cities in times of trouble will give you certain advantages in the aftermath of disaster or collapse. For example, you can form neighborhood watch groups for safety and security.

That may not seem practical right now when one in three Americans today don’t know their neighbors by name, according to Pew Research. But Nextdoor.com is working to change that through its easy to use, free service.

Consider a couple of other tidbits.

Nextdoor helps neighbors “get to know each other” and connect as a community. They’re working together with law enforcement and community groups.

According to Nextdoor, neighborhoods are turning to this new neighborhood social network for several other reasons, too.

Nextdoor’s social network is free and secure. It has a free emergency alert service that lets members send a mass email and text everyone within a neighborhood in the event of a flood, earthquake, tornado, or other disaster.

Here’s how it works. Neighbors sign up for the service, verify their address, then invite individuals in their designated neighborhood to join.

Nextdoor communities are self-started. This has helped neighborhoods across the country…

Nextdoor is described as a San Francisco based startup, founded in 2010 by internet veterans with deep experience in creating thriving online communities. They’ve been featured in such publications as USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, AARP, TIME, Forbes, FastCompany and others.

Find out if Nextdoor is the resource that can help you connect with other preppers by going to www.nextdoor.com.

What do you think? Is this something you’d be interested in trying out? If you’re already involved with Nextdoor, how’s it working for your neighborhood? Leave a comment and let others know.

My guest on DestinySurvival Radio yesterday was Ray Gano of Prophezine.com and PZ Radio on the Preparedness Radio Network. His book, Survive the Coming Storm, came out last summer.

Ray sees a financial collapse coming which will likely bring us down to the level of a Third World nation. Hyperinflation and crime will be rampant. Thus, he’s telling everyone to get prepared now.

We didn’t get into many specifics about the book because our discussion took a different direction than usual. I think you could say it was more philosophical than anything else. Some might call it religious, though I’m not comfortable with that term.

I’ve interviewed several Christians before, but we’ve never gotten into our beliefs–and the implications of those beliefs–as deeply as Ray and I did. It was refreshing for me because Ray and I are on the same page regarding many things. It’s always good to talk to someone of a kindred spirit.

I’m sure we’d have a rousing discussion on the finer points where we might disagree, but yesterday we covered big concepts and core issues about what motivates our prepping endeavors.

Many preppers and survivalists are Christians of different stripes, and I realize we’re not all going to see things the same. However, it wasn’t my desire to be controversial or alienate anyone.

It’s just that Ray and I had a good conversation between too brothers in Christ, and you’re invited to listen in, if you haven’t already heard the show.

Here’s a taste of what came up in our conversation.

I encourage you to listen to my interview with Ray Gano on DestinySurvival Radio for May 10, 2012. You can buy Ray’s book from his site, or click on Survive the Coming Storm and buy it from Amazon.com.

Ray’s site, Prophezine.com is a ministry oriented site which looks at world events from a conservative, premillennial, pretribulational, dispensational point of view. Those are big words, I know. If you know what they mean, you know a lot about where he’s coming from.

There aren’t many who hold to such a position these days, and I applaud Ray and his wife for adhering to their beliefs. Go check out the site for yourself.

Are you spiritually prepared for what’s coming? How’s your relationship with the Lord?

I’m guessing you have opinions about something I’ve brought up in this post or something Ray and I discussed on DestinySurvival Radio. Why not leave a comment below and share your thoughts?

I’ve got exciting news that will make finding your essential prepping supplies easier. Cabela’s is now one of DestinySurvival’s affiliate sponsors.

Now you can shop Cabela’s by clicking on the ad banners you see in several different places here at DestinySurvival, such as the Prep Mart pages on Survival Kits & Essential Supplies, Food Storage & Preserving, Outdoor Survival, and Personal Defense & Security.

I’ll bet you’ve heard of Cabela’s somewhere along the way if you’ve been prepping for any length of time. Maybe you’ve shopped at one of their stores.

They’re not shy about saying that they dominate the outdoor industry with high-performance hunting, fishing and camping gear at competetive prices.

They’ve been around since 1961. Since then they’ve built their reputation on strong brand recognition, unmatched customer loyalty and a guarantee that could be called legendary. They have an ever-growing national customer base and a large international following.

Cabela’s offers you…

With over 250,000 items, you’ll not only find hunting and fishing gear, but you’ll find…

On top of that, Cabela’s constantly updates sale items and gives you customer incentives. Plus, their popular Bargain Cave makes them a value leader with special buys on top items and great money-saving deals.

I’ve been waiting a long time for an opportunity to make Cabela’s available to you. Now they’re here. Whether you need ammo, fishing or camping gear, or even a Mother’s Day gift (No kidding.), you’ll find it at Cabela’s.

And it’s so easy to click on their ads any time you see them here at DestinySurvival. In fact, click on their ad below while you’re thinking about it. Take a few minutes to check them out and add those essentials you’ve been needing for your prepping supplies.