Gyroscopic Investing

I'm relatively happy with where I am.  I live in a very 'cozy' culdesac in the suburbs outside of Minneapolis, MN.  My house has what we call a "cave"... basically a 440 sf room about 6'1" high below our garage for storage.  This has proven an amazing asset, especially after we cleaned it up and did a few things with our gutters & landscaping to keep it dryer in there.

Does anyone else have an unusually large store room like this?  I haven't really put its to its best use yet, but in an otherwise modestly-sized home (1,900 sf) it's appearing to be a huge asset since it gives us ability to hold some of the survivalist and other things that we otherwise wouldn't unless we used up one of our garage stalls.

Benko wrote: I'm a doc and am not crazy about shooting others if I don't have to (yes I am aware at least theoretically of what can happen).  I assume people don't think much of less lethal things.  I don't even know what the options are but I guess tasers, pepper spray and god knows what else.

Pulling a gun on someone is probably going to end the situation right there without any shots being fired. If shots are fired, that probably means a less lethal device probably would't have been effective. If someone is attacking you to the point that they need to be pepper sprayed, then they probably are very dangerous and a firearm is a better answer to defend your life and family.

I have taken a ton of martial arts through the years (two black belts in two different martial arts and a lot of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu). These things are fine and worth doing (especially the kickboxing/jiu jitsu combo which is most effective of anything I've ever done. BTW). But this requires a *ton* of time and dedication. And even if you trained up an attacker could still overwhelm you with a lucky punch, multiple attackers, etc. Bruce Lee films are fiction in terms of what happens when fighting.

A pistol is going to be way more effective in a self-defense situation than duking it out with people or trying to taser them.  I've hit myself with a stun gun before just to see the effect. It hurts, but you have to hold it on the person and that means being close to them. If you are close to them they can beat you to a pulp, knock the gun out of your hand, etc. You want distance from an attacker if you can get it. You don't want to be close to them unless it has gone hand to hand. In which case I'm going to grapple them because it makes it harder for them to get a solid punch off and knock you out and most people when on the ground can't fight.

But the basic list of things I'd want to have in a city is something like this:

1) Water and food to last at least a few weeks if needed. Some way to purify questionable water is also a good idea.
2) A good weapon for self defense.
3) Head lamps, batteries, etc. for power problems. A radio for information purposes.
4) Good warm clothing and sleeping materials for winter conditions with no heat.
5) Ways to cook food, boil water, etc. that is not dependent on electricity.
6) A reliable transportation method. Never let your car gas tank get below a certain point for instance in case you can't get gas.
7) A network of friends, neighbors, relatives you can work with in an emergency to have a flexible response, pool resources, etc.
8 ) Some junk silver and gold for bartering along with some cash on hand.

Really the book by FerFal goes into a lot of this and he explains exactly why something does or doesn't work based on his own experiences. As someone myself who has spent a lot of time in the backcountry solo hiking I can attest to the fact that people need very little to live comfortably if you have good shelter, good clothing for warmth, water and food.

Don't forget the knife/multi-tool.

***

While on this topic, I think it should be said again that the best self-defense skill that one can develop is often becoming skilled in the art of avoiding trouble in the first place.

While not all conflict is avoidable, I would say most of it is through a combination of becoming highly attuned to what is going on around you and putting layers of defensive measures between you and someone who might want to harm you.

I have also had very good luck in simply asking myself what the bad guys are typically looking for and asking myself if that is something that I can do without in order to lower my exposure to the risk of being targeted.

For every violent encounter, one can normally trace back many steps the victim could have taken to reduce the risk of being in that situation in the first place.

My goal is not to defeat those who might want to harm me.  I would much rather never enter into their thinking in the first place, or at worst frustrate them to the point of giving up.  Sometimes it's better to be a porcupine than a lion.

I've ordered the book and Craig's list (+ knife/multi-tool) posted above looks like a good place to start.

Thanks again all.

Scott

Benko wrote: I've ordered the book and Craig's list (+ knife/multi-tool) posted above looks like a good place to start.

Thanks again all.

Scott

For an overview of the psychological features of the "survivor personality" you might check out Laurence Gonzales's "Deep Survival."

I enjoyed it a lot.

My idea of survival is having enough gold on hand to get out of the country and start a new life somewhere else, like South America, Southeast Asia or Europe. I hate camping.

BTW, here is my choice for all-purpose knife. 

The Swiss Army Tinker:



I love the pliers!

Indices wrote: My idea of survival is having enough gold on hand to get out of the country and start a new life somewhere else, like South America, Southeast Asia or Europe. I hate camping.

How exactly would you do that, without putting your gold at risk of being confiscated by either customs, border patrol, bandits or thieves?

Coffee wrote:

Indices wrote: My idea of survival is having enough gold on hand to get out of the country and start a new life somewhere else, like South America, Southeast Asia or Europe. I hate camping.

How exactly would you do that, without putting your gold at risk of being confiscated by either customs, border patrol, bandits or thieves?

Some of the gold would be used as a bribe? My point is that I'll take my chances with a run to the border than living off the land shooting at bandits and foraging for food. As a former extensive camper I think people tend to highly overrate their ability to live off the land. A week doesn't go by where I don't read in the paper how a hiker in Yellow Stone got eaten by a bear or wandered off into oblivion in a forest. If civilization here collapses I plan on moving to Byzantium, not trying to find a quiet part of Gaul.

Indices wrote:

Coffee wrote:

Indices wrote: My idea of survival is having enough gold on hand to get out of the country and start a new life somewhere else, like South America, Southeast Asia or Europe. I hate camping.

How exactly would you do that, without putting your gold at risk of being confiscated by either customs, border patrol, bandits or thieves?

Some of the gold would be used as a bribe? My point is that I'll take my chances with a run to the border than living off the land shooting at bandits and foraging for food. As a former extensive camper I think people tend to highly overrate their ability to live off the land. A week doesn't go by where I don't read in the paper how a hiker in Yellow Stone got eaten by a bear or wandered off into oblivion in a forest. If civilization here collapses I plan on moving to Byzantium, not trying to find a quiet part of Gaul.

If things got that bad I'd look to get out too. But I think the reality is that nature abhors a vacuum and the chances of a total breakdown remaining as anarchy are slim. Probably what would happen is that the states/cities/towns would form communities and govts. to protect themselves and enforce some kind of law. Now that law may not be great which is a reason to move. But the idea of heading out to a remote survival bunker or national forest to live like a mountain man isn't very realistic to me either. Ironically, you may be safer in a smaller town/city than out in the country with nobody around. Humans are communal creatures and there is safety in numbers.

MediumTex wrote: While on this topic, I think it should be said again that the best self-defense skill that one can develop is often becoming skilled in the art of avoiding trouble in the first place.

[...]

For every violent encounter, one can normally trace back many steps the victim could have taken to reduce the risk of being in that situation in the first place.

Absolutely! My friend visited Peru with his brother last month. They were together most of the time, but on one particular night in Cusco, when they were at a bar, they got separated somehow. Later that night my friend was walking back to his hotel (about 1 km away) and made the mistake of taking a shortcut through a dark alley. Somebody snuck up behind him and choked him out. He woke up on the ground a few minutes later with his wallet and eyeglasses gone.

He then hailed a taxi to drive him back to his hotel. After a few minutes, they were still driving and he wondered why they weren't there yet. He realized the driver was taking him out to the middle of nowhere. He got panicked and started to look for the door handle, then someone in the backseat (he had no idea anyone was in the backseat) started choking him from behind--again. At the same time, the driver took out a baton while still driving and started to beat on my friend with it.

The driver then pulled over--they were in a deserted area--and the guys pulled my friend out of the car and both started beating on him with batons. All my friend could do was shield his head with his arms and scream at the top of his lungs. Miraculously, the two guys decided not to kill my friend, but they broke his left forearm clean through (commonly called a "nightstick break") and put 4 or 5 large gashes on his head that required stitches. For the rest of his trip in Peru, my friend traveled with a knife in his pocket and made sure he was with his brother at all times.

The point of the story, in my opinion, is that what happened to my friend was completely avoidable. You never walk around in an unfamiliar area at night by yourself--especially in a foreign country--and never walk down dark alleys. A lot of the time, trouble can be avoided simply by using some common sense.

Tortoise wrote: For the rest of his trip in Peru, my friend traveled with a knife in his pocket and made sure he was with his brother at all times.

If one is looking for something to complement the Swiss Army Tinker, Spyderco knives are really beautiful instruments:



Japanese design and manufacturing at its best.

Tortoise wrote: He then hailed a taxi to drive him back to his hotel. After a few minutes, they were still driving and he wondered why they weren't there yet.

Same thing happened to me in a Jeepney in the Philippines. The driver took me outside the city and then pulled a machete and demanded all my money. Had another angry Filipino put a loaded gun to my head in a dispute over a camera and/or girl and I think he would have pulled the trigger if it hadn't been for the Filipinas crying and begging him not to. This happened shortly after surviving a typhoon in a small craft on our way back from Vietnam where we had been hauling cargo up the Mekong River just before the Cambodian invasion. Upon my return to the U.S.A. I picked up some hitch-hikers who pulled a gun, drove me out onto the desert, and had me kneel down with another loaded gun to my head while they argued over whether to blow my brains out. Obviously they didn't.

I am not making any of this up.

As for emergency preparedness nowadays the only thing I can point to is that I have a small generator in storage out back but I haven't started it since hurricane Charley came through in 2004 so I suspect it's kaput.

I guess my attitude has become that shit happens and you should always be prepared to meet your maker as that is one of the few certainties in life.

And I guess my thinking is also that if things ever got so bad I would have to fight off my neighbors with guns and knives that it wouldn't be much worth living on this planet any more any way.

But if I was younger and hadn't lived a somewhat full life already I might feel different about it.

The idea of fighting off your neighbors is misguided.  It's survivalist fiction.

In reality, individuals do not survive.  Communities survive.

Choose your community, wisely.

Coffee wrote: The idea of fighting off your neighbors is misguided.  It's survivalist fiction.

In reality, individuals do not survive.  Communities survive.

Choose your community, wisely.

I agree. Good neighbors, family and friends nearby is a lot better idea than going it alone out in the middle of nowhere. Humans progressed through division of labor, including defense of life and property.

Wow my most exciting stories are from living in Bahrain and watching rioters and the government shoot them with tear gas canisters. I fortunately left before the failed revolution. But it goes to show you that if you have to leave the country, choose a stable one, not some dump.