I am a big fan of the book ‘Generations’ by William Strauss and Neil Howe. Their book shows how man repeats his history about every 80 years. Although not scientifically proven, a lot of what they have pointed out has, in fact, come to pass, and they wrote this book over 30 years ago!
They studied generational behavior starting in 1584 and predicted what generational men would do up to 2069.
The thing that makes this so interesting is that they show how men act in a cyclical manner when looking at generations.
King Solomon said it best: “There is nothing new under the sun.”
If you know about ‘Generations’, you probably have heard the phrase “The Fourth Turning Point,” and many believe we are in this age of crisis right now.
We entered it, some think, somewhere around 2008. The “Peak of Crisis” will be around 2026, possibly to start coming out of the worse around 2029-2030, and then into a cycle of awakening.
Every time of crisis has its peak. It is the turning point where that period of time starts moving from Crisis to the Cycle of Awakening.
Generations points out that there are four seasons or turning points approximately 20 years in length. These seasons are High, Awakening, Unraveling, and Crisis. This time of crisis is referred to as “The Fourth Turning Point.”
Here is a historical example of The Fourth Turning Point:
- War of the Roses Crisis- 1459-1487; Peaks 1485
- The Armada Crisis – 1569 – 1594; Peaks 1588
- The American Revolution Crisis 1773 – 1794; Peaks 1781
- The Civil War Crisis – 1860-1865; Peaks 1863
- The next crisis was WW1
- The Great Depression
- WW2
The authors pointed out that each Forth Turning Point appeared to be more severe than the prior one.
So, knowing that man repeats his history, what happened back then could possibly give some ideas of what may happen now.
Get the book GENERATIONS – https://amzn.to/3Vw8z5q
WARS
The two great World Wars took place during the last Forth Turning Point. England, Europe, Russia, Japan, and the USA were at war. Many smaller nations were also invaded and sucked into the wars.
What are we looking at now?
Russia & Ukraine – we currently have the Russia-Ukraine war taking place. Sooner or later, NATO will be sucked into this conflict, and we, the U.S., will be sucked into this as well. Russia has also been threatening the use of nuclear weapons on multiple occasions. Sooner or later, they will drop a nuke, and things will go crazy.
China & Taiwan – This is a situation getting so tight that it will blow one day soon. The United States has said it will support Taiwan’s independents, which means we could go to war with China. China has been acting aggressively in the South China Sea, and things are getting tense. China also said they will get control of Taiwan by August 2023.
Israel & Iran – Iran has been working on getting nuclear-capable uranium so they can build a nuke and wipe Israel off the face of the earth. Right now, they are sitting at 60% purity levels, where they need a 90%+ purity level of uranium to build an active nuke. Israel will not allow Iran to do this and will strategically hit their nuclear labs sooner or later. This, in turn, will blow up into a Middle East conflict. The result will be skyrocketing oil prices. Where there is energy, there is life. Where there is no energy, there is no life.
South & North Korea – N. Korea has been launching missiles at Japan’s territorial seas this past year to the point that Japan has now increased its military spending to ramp up its defenses. South Korea and the US have been holding massive military training along the border of N & S Korea.
All these things are powder kegs waiting to blow. When they do, we will see another world war, but this time the odds are very good that we will see the use of nuclear weapons. This in and of itself ups the ante.
PANDEMICS
During WW1, the world experienced the Spanish Flu. It is estimated that about 500 million people, or one-third of the world’s population, became infected with this virus. The number of deaths was estimated to be at least 50 million worldwide, with about 675,000 occurring in the United States.
Yes, we have COVID-19, but I am more concerned with a possible mutated strain of covid or, even worse, a mutated form of the flu.
I say this because right now in Europe, the avian flu is killing millions upon millions of chickens. We have had the same thing take place here in the US. It is only a matter of time before this flu mutates and crosses over from chickens to humans.
Another flu that I am concerned with is the Swine Flu or H1N1. The Spanish Flu of 1918 was a form of swine flu / H1N1. If this mutates and comes back, it is a known killer.
Another killer that is sitting out there is Ebola, and when Ebola strikes, it spreads very quickly.
Mother Nature has a way of restoring balance, and one of her ways is via disease/pandemics.
AND FOLKS… Covid was nothing compared to what I mentioned above if any of these diseases get a foothold.
FOOD SHORTAGES
There were rationing and food shortages during the first World War. Hunger stalked the civilian populations of all the combatant nations. Agriculture and food distribution suffered from the strains imposed by the war, and naval blockades reduced food imports. Some countries met this threat more successfully than others.
The war took men and horses away from farm work. Imports of nitrate fertilizers were hit. Reduced agricultural output forced up prices and encouraged hoarding. Governments responded by putting price controls on staple foodstuffs. Food lines formed all across the US as well as Europe.
During The Great Depression, there was a huge negative impact on the economy which included access to food. There was a scarcity of food and not enough food to feed everyone.
WW2 brought on food rationing and even rationing stamps. The government needed to feed the military campaigns taking place, so a lack of food was a serious problem. The government instituted and encouraged “Victory Gardens” and told the people to grow as much food as possible in urban areas and the cities.
People began to barter and trade food with friends and family, and I believe we will see this soon.
Today, we see a global shortage of fertilizer due to the Russia/Ukraine war. Russia and Ukraine supply about 40% of the world’s raw resources for fertilizer.
Because of this war alone, grain supplies are in short supply because Ukraine needs men on the war front instead of the farms. Ukraine is basically the breadbasket of Europe, and along with Russia, grain supplies are at an all-time low.
During the Dust Bowl years, when there was a massive drought, the Midwest suffered a huge loss of grains and agriculture. We are seeing this same thing taking place again in our West and Midwest areas with severe drought and heat. The Midwest and the West have seen a drastic crop yield reduction.
If we do go into massive war mode, we will also see a reduction of the workforce that could be used for food production being diverted to military efforts, and like in times past, when people are not working the fields, food will not be produced.
We are, in fact, repeating our own history. There is a saying, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” I believe we are there right now.
WHAT CAN WE DO?
MANY authorities that follow Strauss& Howe’s predictions are pointing to a peak time when things will explode, and that date is 2026. Today is January 2, 2023. This gives us three years to seriously buckle down and do what we need to do.
Folks, learn from Noah, who built the ark. He was the original “Doomsday Prepper.” The more you can do now to prepare your own family’s ark, the better.
We have approximately three years. I say ‘approximately’ because this is not written in stone. There are ebbs and flows that happen with man, so we might have two years to prepare or four years. We don’t know. I am stressing that we still have time to build our arks.
That is if you are serious and take the time.
My best recommendation is to research, learn, and even talk to those who lived through those past times. See what our successful ancestors did to survive during those hard times, learn from them, and put some of their strategies into place.
LEARN FROM OLD BOOKS
There is a plethora of information to be found in old books. I am a big fan of used bookstores and scour them when I get the chance.
Some of the old books that are my go-to books are…
The Victory Garden Cookbook – The War Edition. This is one of my favorite old books of knowledge. Not only does it have a lot of forgotten recipes, but it has a book within the book called “War Time Recipes.” In other words, recipes on a budget.
This book points out “The Return of The Soup Kettle” or “Perpetual Soup.” This was a common practice where you kept a kettle of soup always simmering on the back burner, and when people were hungry, they got a bowl of soup and a thick slice of bread. The pot was always going, and any sort of vegetable or meat was tossed in from beef, pork, and even squirrel.
It also talks about saving all your fats and oils. It teaches how to render down fat from meat and poultry. Cooking with fats and oils is good for the body.
It shows how to cook with whole grains like brown rice, barley, oats, and whole wheat. Learn to use more honey, brown sugar, molasses, and sorghum instead of white sugar to sweeten these grains for cereal in the mornings. During WW1, wheat was in short supply, so learning how to bake with rye, barley, and corn was needed knowledge.
Eating cheese, which right now, the US has a relatively large stockpile of cheese in reserve. Learning how to make meatless dishes or dishes with very little meat was encouraged. Splitting a can of SPAM or some sort of meatloaf with an entire family was often done.
Finally, canning and pickling any of your excesses that you may have harvested, bartered, or traded.
Books like this can still be found, and their knowledge could become extremely valuable in the days ahead.
STOCKING UP – Another one of my “go-to” books is “STOCKING UP – How to preserve the foods you grow naturally”. You can still find this book on Amazon, but if you can find the version from the early 1970s, there are methods talked about which are not mentioned in the more modern revised editions, particularly smoking and curing meats.
My Own Survival Thumb Drive Collection – Over the years, I have also collected a rather extensive electronic library of books, PDFs, and electronic documents on survival. Recently I have been also downloading videos and adding them to this library. I think I have over seven gigs now of information that I keep on a specific kindle as well as stored on several thumb drives and DVD Rom.
If you are interested in this, contact me, and I can get you a copy for $30.00 and a thumb drive.
I have a lot of old books that were put on microfiche and then later transferred to digital media. It has taken me years to collect these, and I am still adding to it when I find great files.
LEARN TO GARDEN
This is a biggie. During the Great Depression and WW2, many people in the cities and outlining areas had gardens. They had to because the food was in such short supply. As I mentioned, the US Government even put out books and videos on starting a “Victory Garden.”
Like it or not, if you have a beautiful backyard full of lush green grass, rip it out and plant a garden. Your family can not eat grass, but you can benefit from the fruits and vegetables you can grow in your garden.
Now, I am going to let you know that your first year’s garden will not amount to much because you will make many mistakes. Yes, you will harvest some food, but you will not maximize the garden’s potential because you are learning how to garden properly. You are going to learn what works and what doesn’t, as well as what grows well and what doesn’t.
One just does not throw seeds into the ground and have a beautiful bounty of produce. There is a lot that you need to do and learn to get a great garden going. 2026 is coming, giving you a couple of years to get your green thumb going.
Now the bonus of all this is the excess you grow you can up and preserve. Food will be a high-value barter item, and a jar of home-canned green beans could fetch a good amount.
Growveg.com – First of all, I am NOT getting any kickback for this. I am telling you about this site because I am a HUGE fan of what it does, and I use it myself.
Growveg.com is a gardening layout app you can use on your desktop, cell phone, or tablet device. If you can hook up to the Internet with a device, you can get Growveg.com.
I have used several other online gardening apps in the past, but Growveg.com really surpasses them all. You are able to choose veggies, fruits, and herbs from their extensive library and even choose a specific variety.
Once you choose your produce, then you want to grow and add it to your garden, Growveg.com gives you timetables of when to start to indoor sow, outdoor sow, harvest, as well as swap out crops from spring to summer to fall crops. One feature I love is that Growveg.com will send you email reminders twice a month to start getting ready to early sow, outdoor sow or get ready to harvest your produce. It tells you what you need to do and when. So, crop rotation becomes pretty easy with this app. This is a massive bonus in my opinion; when you have so much on your plate, it is hard to remember when to get what in the ground so you can maximize your produce output.
It teaches companion planting as well as adapts to the “1-foot gardening” ideas.
If you want to extend your growing season with cover, it even will adapt to that and helps you extend your harvest, as well as help you with growing plants in the wintertime.
You are able to try it out for seven days, but you can either start with a 1-year subscription for $40 or a 2-year subscription for $70. Following that, there is a $ 29-a-year re-subscribe price. This is worth the money for me because of the app’s features. They are constantly upgrading and adding more and more to the app as well.
This is the beginning of my garden plan for 2023. I am pulling everything onto the screen for placement. Growveg.com will tell me when to plant as well as rotate crops. I wanted to show you how easy it is to figure out and use.
To look at all the features, check out their video here – https://youtu.be/FRwzjUgk7vM
Check out the app – https://www.growveg.com
START GETTING GARDEN SUPPLIES NOW
You have started laying out your garden using growveg.com; you need to gather the supplies you will need to get your garden going.
Fertilizer – We are entering the winter months and what I have noticed is that fertilizer goes on sale at the big box stores. When sleds move in, the fertilizer moves out. What was $11 a bag is only $3. So, check out your stores and start looking for your soil augments and if you do it now, you could save a decent amount of money.
Seeds – Starting plants from seeds can save a lot of money, but you’ll have to get your start early, or the seeds won’t have enough time to grow. Again, this is where GrowVeg can help you. It tells you when to sow indoors and outdoors and the projected harvest time.
Start looking over those seed catalogs by early- to mid-winter to decide which plants you’d like to grow from seed.
I am a BIG fan of heirloom seeds because you can save seeds from the previous harvest and use those for next year’s seeds.
In the long run, you will want to create your own resource for seeds, and you can do that with heirloom seeds. The great thing is that in most cities, there is a seed exchange where you can take your seeds and trade them with other folks who grow heirloom fruits and vegetables. Thus, expand your seeds and the variety of fruits and vegetables you can grow.
Composting – If you live in an area with many leaves, start composting. Leaves have great nutrients for your plants and add to the soil. If you already have a compost pile, you can add any fresh kitchen scraps as long as they are not greasy or oily. So, veggie peels, eggshells, and even torn-up cardboard are things you can add to your compost pile and get it going.
TIP – if you have friends that want to get rid of their leaves, ask for their bags of leaves and add it to your own compost pile. I am sure they would be happy to let you have them.
Worm Castings & Worm Juice – I am a fan of worm castings, a/k/a worm poo. This is God’s fertilizer, and the great thing about worm castings is that you cannot over-fertilize with it as compared to commercial fertilizers.
Consider putting together a worm bin and start collecting your own castings as well as the worm juice, a/k/a worm pee. This is liquid gold and is chock-full of the nutrients that plants need. My mixture is a cup of worm juice to one gallon of water. Pour that directly at the base of your veggies and watch them take off. You will be amazed. Again, you cannot over-fertilize with the worm juice.
Plants love the byproducts worms produce, and you will get a robust and healthy plant from this. Another point is you will save money. Buying worm castings can get pretty expensive. You can also feed the worms your kitchen scraps, as long as they are not greasy or oily. They also love coffee grounds, which both the worm and the coffee grounds are good for your plants.
Creating your own worm bin is easy and something that the kids will enjoy.
I produced a video on how to build your own economical worm bin.
WATCH NOW – https://youtu.be/Vhm__GNWhv0
TOOLS FOR YOUR GARDEN
Now is a good time to also look for garden tools on sale. Another place you want to watch for gardening tools is garage, estate sales even Goodwill and Salvation Army. You can pick them up inexpensively, and you will be able to get a lot of variety of tools too.
There are several tools I have found to be great and super useful in the garden.
Barebones Hori Hori Ultimate Garden Tool – Think Rambo knife but made for garden use. This thick, stainless-steel blade has a black stonewash finish with a walnut handle, full tang, and stainless pommel. I used to have one of those wanna-be ones from the big box store, but about the third time I used it to pry up a root ball, the handle bent right over. That will not happen to you if you get the Hori Hori.
I own one of these, and it is one tough tool. It has a heat-treated double-edge (straight and serrated) blade, an integrated twine cutter, and a bottle opener. You can use the stainless flat pommel for hammering in garden spikes. It comes with a gray waxed canvas belt sheath with a copper snap. You will not believe how much you use this in the garden until you have one.
The Hori Hori Garden Tool – https://tinyurl.com/RM-Hori-Hori-Garden-Tool
Cold Steel Spetsnaz Tactical Camp Shovel – I LOVE this shovel, and it is way better than a miniature shovel with the “D” Handle. The shorter handle gives you better leverage, and you can use this comfortably on your knees in the garden. In fact, this is what the shovel was made for, digging trenches while on one’s knees or in a prone position. The edges come sharp, but you can sharpen them more to get a nice edge. This is considered a fighting tool; you can use it much like a tomahawk and short sword. This will easily hack through small roots, grassy patches, and such. But it is a great digging tool, and you can’t beat it.
OH… it is balanced, so you can throw it too! How cool is that!
Cold Steel Spetsnaz Tactical Camp Shovel – https://tinyurl.com/RM-Spetsnaz-Tactical-Shovel
Barebones – Pulaski Axe – When it comes to cutting gear for the garden, then Barebones is the best. I must admit that it is expensive, but think of how many cheap Chinese just tools you have bought, used once, or in my case, three times, and they break? How many of those have you purchased? I am a big proponent of getting the best gear that you can afford, and if you have to save up for some of the gear, then do it so that you will have it for a long time.
Barebones is one tool company that makes top-notch gear that will not break, will take a beating, and keep on doing the job.
I became a fan of the Barebones – Pulaski Axe when watching Naked & Afraid XL Season 8. A gentleman named Gary Golding brought the Barebones Pulaski Axe as his tool. Even though Gary had to do a medical tap out, he left his Pulaski Axe with the rest of the crew, and they used it like crazy.
At a price of $148.00 and some change, this is a tool that you might have to save up for. But it is a beast of a gardening tool, and there is a lot that you can do with it, from cutting down small trees, clearing brush, chopping out those deep thick roots, digging furrows, getting under root balls, etc. There is not much this tool will not do.
So, save your pennies and get this one for sure.
Barebones Pulaski Axe – https://tinyurl.com/RM-Barebones-Pulaski-Axe
TIP – these three tools would be great to add to your get-home bag/bugout bag.
Digging Bar – This one is a lifesaver and helps break up that ground and prepare it for tilling. It weighs about 15 lbs. On one side is a flat edge, and on the other, a tamper head. I use this like crazy to break up the ground. Just lift it up and slam it into the earth and then pry the earth up.
Mantis Tiller – I have owned several of these for the past 20 years, and I love them. It is a serious workhorse and will till up a garden quickly. I personally own the 4-cycle version, and it has not died on me yet. I take it in for maintenance about every other year, and it eats up the dirt giving you a tremendous fluffy garden bed.
It has several other attachments you can get for it, like an edger as well as a lawn de-thatcher. But if you are ripping out your lawn, you will not need the de-thatching tool.
The best place I have found to get this is from Amazon, which runs about $399. Sometimes you can catch them on sale for $350 or less. But I advise you to get one because you will use this a lot. With the loss of buying power of the dollar, this and other tools will only go up in price.
Mantis Tiller – https://amzn.to/3XemRsT
Like it or not, you need tools to work your garden, and these tools are going to be an investment. Try to do your best to find the quality tools you can get; they will need to last you multiple years if we are going to be repeating history.
TOOLS TO HELP YOU PRESERVE THE FOOD YOU HARVEST
The next thing I want to share is what I have on hand to help better prepare and take advantage of grocery store sales and my home garden harvest.
Our great-grandparents were proficient at this, and it was the normal way of life. Current generations have forgotten many of these skills and have become dependent on the grocery store.
Gardening is also a critical skill that needs to be learned. As I mentioned, it will take a couple of years to become a good gardener and produce the food you need for yourself and your family. I am already teaching my 6-year-old daughter to garden.
Both the tools as well as setting up a garden will take an investment of time, energy, and sweat. So, consider having a garage sale or starting a side hustle job so you can get some of these kitchen and garden tools to help you better prepare yourself and your family.
Another point is that many of the kitchen tools I am going to share should be purchased in January. Most of the companies that supply many of these items also supply to the Mormon Church. January is when Mormons start their preps and purchase their equipment. So, you will find a lot of sales on Amazon for food preservation equipment.
Dehydrator
This is probably the best “preparedness tool” I can think of. You can dehydrate just about anything and extend the shelf life. You can make jerky, ferment yogurt, and even use it to raise your bread and make a sourdough starter. Start off with the round ones you find at Walmart and then graduate to The Excalibur Dehydrator. The round ones will burn out in a year or two where my Excalibur has been running strong now for the past 10 years.
What I Recommend, The Excalibur – https://amzn.to/3T6Pkj1
FoodSaver Vacuum Bag Sealer
This is also a great way to store food by sealing it and putting it in the freezer. You can seal other dry goods and such as well. The one I have also has a port so I can vacuum seal my mason jars. This is the second most crucial prepper tool I have when it comes to preserving food.
Here is the model I own – https://amzn.to/3T15M4a
European Fermentation Crock
I have several of these and make all kinds of pickled products. Like the dehydrator, you can pickle just about anything from fruits to vegetables to meat. Store the products you make in mason jars and/or keep them in the refrigerator.
If you store fermented foods in a hot area, they will activate the yeasts in the foods and continue to ferment. The problem is that it will put off gas and cause your mason jars to explode. So, keep them in a cool dark place so these foods will be there when you need them.
NOTE – You can pressure these pickled items, but you will kill off the positive probiotics for which lactic acid fermentation is known. You will still have nutritious food but will lose the benefits of the positive probiotics because the heat from the pressure canning kills them.
Two Liter Crock – https://amzn.to/3c47SzL
Five Liter Crock – https://amzn.to/3AzNn7e
NutriMill Harvest Stone Grain Mill – One of our preps should be whole grains, but how do you mill the grains so you can use them for flour or cereal? This is the solution.
The NutriMill Harvest Stone Grain Mill is the answer. As opposed to the other mills out there, you can dial in your grind from coarse to very fine flour, so you are able to make cereals, bread, and even grind up corn for chicken feed. But the one thing I really like about this mill is that it only pulls 450 watts and can run off a solar generator. I have tested this out a number of times, and it does not pull much from my solar generator at all. This is a pricy item with around $345.00, but it has more features than the standard impact mill that will only grind a fine to medium flour grind. This mill will also grind just about any non-oily grain. So, wheat, rice, beans, lentils, barley, and any dry grain can be processed through this mill.
NutriMill Harvest Stone Grain Mill – https://amzn.to/3X1MTPT
Presto 23 Quart Pressure Canner
I must admit I am not much of a canner, but I am always improving my canning skills, especially when we have a large excess of veggies. The pressure canner that I own is made by Presto and is the 23-quart version. It is great, and you can get a lot of canning done in a pot like this. The great thing is that mason jars can be used repeatedly. So, keep an eye out for those at garage sales.
OH…a side note about this canner, it can double as a still to create alcohol and sterilize medical equipment as well.
Presto 23 Quart Pressure Canner – https://amzn.to/3WNqGVA
5-gallon food-grade buckets and twist on/off “Gamma Lids”
This is the way to store a lot of your dry goods and keep them fresh. This also allows you to buy in bulk and save money. 25 pounds of grains will fill a 5-gallon bucket.
Gamma Lids are a must – https://amzn.to/3pvr64g
LEARN TO HUNT AND FISH
Again, this is something our grandparents and great-grandparents did. Many people still hunt and fish. This is a skill that is learned, and as I pointed out, 2026 is only three years away. A lot of luck also comes into play when hunting and fishing; otherwise, it would be called shooting, catching, and eating. There are no guarantees, and a lot of it has to do with the animals that you are trying to pursue. So, the more you can get out there, the more you will learn.
Then there is the issue of cleaning the game or fish so that you can eat it. But with practice, you will be able to catch on to cleaning your own game and then process it and preserve it for future use.
Get A Good Air Rifle – If you live in the city or in the suburbs, having a good air rifle is going to help you put meat on the table when hard times hit. I would recommend getting a .22 air rifle vs. a .177. The bigger caliber will help you bring down some of the bigger game, and if times are getting super tough, shooting that occasional cat squirrel, maybe? may be a godsend. You will need the .22 for raccoons, groundhogs, possums, as well as protection from feral cats and dogs.
The rifle that I have is a Gamo Swarm Gen 2. This is an incredible pneumatic rifle. It is a single-break barrel setup, but it also has a magazine that will hold 10 pellets. The first-gen version had problems keeping the pellets in the magazine, but the gen2 seems to have fixed that, and I have never had that problem happen to me. Now, if you want to shoot it with a single pellet, no problem; just break the barrel to cock it and put in a pellet.
This version comes with their “whisper” technology, and if you are shooting the .22, you will not get that “crack” of the pellet breaking the sound barrier like you would if you were shooting the .177 version. Having the heavier pellet will slow it down enough, and coupled with the whisper tech, you have a pretty good and quiet weapon. This would come in handy, especially if you live in an urban situation.
Gamo Swarm Gen 2 – https://amzn.to/3Vx7ZEp
If we are in a total SHTF situation, you could take down a deer or other larger animal with this rifle using .22 darts and go for a headshot.
NOW…There is one negative with this rifle. It does come with a scope, but the scope is crap. You shoot it, and it constantly gets off target and will not hold its sighting. You will need to spend some money on a good scope that will hold its sighting in.
The scope that I have is CVLIFE 4-16×44 Tactical Rifle Scope. It has a lot higher magnification which was a plus for me. I am getting up there in age, so my eyes are not as good as they used to be. The best part about this scope is the price, sitting around $54. Despite being priced so low, it’s really a pretty good product.
This scope is durable and it’s shockproof. The inside of the scope is purged with nitrogen as well. So, it’s fog proof. The outside structure has sealings to make it waterproof. All in all, a perfect all-weather hunting riflescope.
The lenses are the key to victory, and CVLIFE didn’t cheap out on the lenses. They are made out of glass, not plastic like other similar-priced scopes with a glass etched reticle. They are incredibly bright and vibrant. Now, the low-light performance isn’t something to write home about, but again it is a decent scope for the price.
Now, can you go for a more expensive scope? Yes, you can, and if you are willing to breach the $100 price range, there is much to choose from. But for me, the key is keeping things good and affordable, and when I did my research, CVLIFE won.
CVLIFE 4-16×44 Tactical Rifle Scope – https://amzn.to/3WAoa5t
Collapsible Fishing Rod Kit – Fishing gear is up to the person doing the fishing. We have a lot of steams here in my area, so I do not need to be casting way out there. We have the typical perch, bass, trout, and like in this area, so a simple spinner rod is all that I use. In fact, I have this rod that collapses into itself, and it is easy to throw in the car along with a small tackle box, and I am ready to go.
I also have a number of rods I don’t use as much, but I have them on hand. I like the small setup because it is easy to transport without hauling a bunch of gear.
Here is a simple combo kit that I found on Amazon that is pretty much like the one I have and comes with a good number of hooks and such to get you going.
Collapsible Fishing Rod Kit – https://amzn.to/3Z0ZtR0
This is a case where checking your local garage sales will help you can find a lot of fishing gear for sale, and you can build up a pretty good supply of gear that will get you through hard times.
Foraging For Local Vegetation – This is another skill that needs to be practiced. I was brought up picking mustard greens, berries, and the like. We would often stop by the side of the road if we saw a good patch of some edible and pick something for dinner that night.
But to do this, I would highly recommend getting a good book or two so that you know what you are picking and what you can use it for.
The best author out there, in my opinion, is Samuel Thayer. He has a number of books on wild edibles that are in most parts of the US. The more you know about the wild edibles in your area, the better. Again, the key is to augment your grocery bill, which, if things get terrible, you will need to augment it big time.
This is a good reason to check out those used bookstores, I have always found good wild edible books in mine, and I have a growing collection.
Farming Your Local Wild Areas – I want to point out that if you have land in your area, think about creating/planting a wild garden out in the forest. This is becoming more popular and giving you another food source that you can draw from.
We have a lot of forest in our area, and I am looking at seeding some of our local areas with ramps, which are wild onions. Also, Chicken of the Woods is a prolific fungus that tastes great, as well as other fungi like Hen of the Woods, oyster mushrooms, and shiitake mushrooms.
Garlic, ginger, and ginseng also grow well out in the wild. You just have to find the right place that suits their habitat, and it will pretty much grow on its own.
Another great book on this topic is “Farming the Woods” by Ken Mudge and Steve Gabriel. In this book, they detail how to set up your local wooded area, create a wild garden, and grow medicinal plants.
I have this book myself, and it has given me a lot of great ideas on what I can grow in my local area. The one drawback is that many of these sorts of plants need time to mature. Ramps, for example, take 3-5 years to really establish. Hen of the Woods takes about 1-2 years to establish. So, forest gardening is a long-term effort, but if you start now, then you could be reaping some benefits in about 3+ years.
Farming The Woods – https://amzn.to/3vsSOSb
CONCLUSION
If we look at history, we can see that a lot of what has happened in the past could quite as well happen to us here in the present. A lot of the same parameters and situations are taking place now that took place back then.
If Strauss & Howe are correct, which a LOT of their predictions have come to pass, then it might be a really good idea to pay attention and prepare.
We are living right now in the Fourth Turning Point, a time of crisis. And all one has to do is just look around, and you can see crisis points happening all over.
So, wouldn’t it behoove you to start preparing now while there is still time and things are still some “easy” vs. waiting till SHTF and things turn for the worse?
Just so you know, I am not the only one out there that has been promoting this. There are a number of prepper channels and authors that are seeing the same writing on the wall as I am.
I hope this had been a helpful article for you and that I have equipped you with solid knowledge and tools to help you build your ark.
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to reach out and contact me. I work hard to answer all my emails and comments on social media sites.
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Stay Safe & Keep Pushing Forward!
Raymond Mhor
The Kilted Prepper
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