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**AirborneSapper7** · 02-13-2012, 02:11 AM

Drug Quickly Reverses Alzheimer's Symptoms in Mice

— Neuroscientists at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have made a dramatic breakthrough in their efforts to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease. The researchers' findings, published in the journal Science, show that use of a drug in mice appears to quickly reverse the pathological, cognitive and memory deficits caused by the onset of Alzheimer's. The results point to the significant potential that the medication, bexarotene, has to help the roughly 5.4 million Americans suffering from the progressive brain disease.

Bexarotene has been approved for the treatment of cancer by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for more than a decade. These experiments explored whether the medication might also be used to help patients with Alzheimer's disease, and the results were more than promising.

Alzheimer's disease arises in large part from the body's inability to clear naturally-occurring amyloid beta from the brain. In 2008 Case Western Reserve researcher Gary Landreth, PhD, professor of neurosciences, discovered that the main cholesterol carrier in the brain, Apolipoprotein E (ApoE), facilitated the clearance of the amyloid beta proteins. Landreth, a professor of neurosciences in the university's medical school, is the senior author of this study as well.

Landreth and his colleagues chose to explore the effectiveness of bexarotene for increasing ApoE expression. The elevation of brain ApoE levels, in turn, speeds the clearance of amyloid beta from the brain. Bexarotene acts by stimulating retinoid X receptors (RXR), which control how much ApoE is produced.

In particular, the researchers were struck by the speed with which bexarotene improved memory deficits and behavior even as it also acted to reverse the pathology of Alzheimer's disease. The present view of the scientific community is that small soluble forms of amyloid beta cause the memory impairments seen in animal models and humans with the disease. Within six hours of administering bexarotene, however, soluble amyloid levels fell by 25 percent; even more impressive, the effect lasted as long as three days. Finally, this shift was correlated with rapid improvement in a broad range of behaviors in three different mouse models of Alzheimer's.

One example of the improved behaviors involved the typical nesting instinct of the mice. When Alzheimer's-diseased mice encountered material suited for nesting -- in this case, tissue paper -- they did nothing to create a space to nest. This reaction demonstrated that they had lost the ability to associate the tissue paper with the opportunity to nest. Just 72 hours after the bexarotene treatment, however, the mice began to use the paper to make nests. Administration of the drug also improved the ability of the mice to sense and respond to odors.

Bexarotene treatment also worked quickly to stimulate the removal of amyloid plaques from the brain. The plaques are compacted aggregates of amyloid that form in the brain and are the pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. Researchers found that more than half of the plaques had been cleared within 72 hours. Ultimately, the reduction totaled 75 percent. It appears that the bexarotene reprogrammed the brain's immune cells to "eat" or phagocytose the amyloid deposits. This observation demonstrated that the drug addresses the amount of both soluble and deposited forms of amyloid beta within the brain and reverses the pathological features of the disease in mice.

This study identifies a link between the primary genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease and a potential therapy to address it. Humans have three forms of ApoE: ApoE2, ApoE3, and ApoE4. Possession of the ApoE4 gene greatly increases the likelihood of developing Alzheimer's disease. Previously, the Landreth laboratory had shown that this form of ApoE was impaired in its ability of clear amyloid. The new work suggests that elevation of ApoE levels in the brain may be an effective therapeutic strategy to clear the forms of amyloid associated with impaired memory and cognition.

"This is an unprecedented finding," says Paige Cramer, PhD candidate at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and first author of the study. "Previously, the best existing treatment for Alzheimer's disease in mice required several months to reduce plaque in the brain."

Added Professor Landreth: "This is a particularly exciting and rewarding study because of the new science we have discovered and the potential promise of a therapy for Alzheimer's disease. We need to be clear; the drug works quite well in mouse models of the disease. Our next objective is to ascertain if it acts similarly in humans. We are at an early stage in translating this basic science discovery into a treatment."

Daniel Wesson, PhD, assistant professor of neurosciences at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and co-author of the study agreed.

"Many often think of Alzheimer's as a problem of remembering and learning, but the prevalent reality is this disease spreads throughout the brain, resulting in serious insults to numerous functions," he said. "The results of this study, showing the preservation of behaviors across a wide spectrum, and accompanying brain function, are tremendously exciting and suggest great promise in the utility of this approach in treatment of Alzheimer's disease."

Bexarotene has a good safety and side-effect profile. The Case Western Reserve researchers hope these attributes will help speed the transition to clinical trials of the drug.

Professor Landreth said modest resources funded this self-described "far-fetched idea." Crucial support came from the Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Foundation, the Thome Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Case Western Reserve University.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal Reference:

Paige E. Cramer, John R. Cirrito, Daniel W. Wesson, C. Y. Daniel Lee, J. Colleen Karlo, Adriana E. Zinn, Brad T. Casali, Jessica L. Restivo, Whitney D. Goebel, Michael J. James, Kurt R. Brunden, Donald A. Wilson, and Gary E. Landreth. ApoE-Directed Therapeutics Rapidly Clear β-Amyloid and Reverse Deficits in AD Mouse Models. Science, 9 February 2012 DOI: 10.1126/science.1217697

Drug quickly reverses Alzheimer's symptoms in mice

**AirborneSapper7** · 02-13-2012, 02:17 AM

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**AirborneSapper7** · 02-14-2012, 10:22 PM

Guest Post: Going Off Grid - Montana Style!

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/14/2012 17:08 -0500
Submitted by Brandon Smith from Alt-Market
Going Off Grid - Montana Style!

The concept of off-grid living is often encumbered by numerous false assumptions and associations. Many think that to delve into the lifestyle you must be either a grizzled anti-social mountain man, a pompous starry-eyed hippie, or, a criminal on the lam. The spectrum of characterizations range from “kooky” bunker building militia members to spoiled Al Gore worshipping vegan hipsters out to prove they are better than everyone else by reducing their “carbon footprint”. The point is, for the average television-fed American, the idea of off-grid life automatically conjures visions of the extreme.

I believe this reaction is due in large part to our society’s obsession with feeling “connected”. Ever challenge a friend or family member to go without touching their cell phone for a day? Ever ask them to shut off their TV and see if they can find other ways to occupy themselves? Ever ask them to leave modern conveniences behind, if only for a weekend, to take part in some simple camping? I can say that in my own experience, nine out of ten people will stare at you pale faced like you just kicked them square in the loins. For them, leaving behind the buzz of our make-believe culture is the same as stepping outside of time, or abandoning one’s very identity. The whole suggestion is alien.

Luckily, here in Montana, I’ve encountered far hardier souls than in most other places, and the pursuit of an existence disconnected from dependence on the system is not treated as quite so outlandish. In fact, many here have taken the leap into self-sufficiency and gone 100% off-grid. I was lucky enough to meet one of these pioneers recently, and take a tour of his farm, but what interested me most about him were his origins, which were rooted about as far away from his current environment as you can get…

Rich Scheben was once a highly respected sales associate in the world of big-pharma, who had spent much of his life in the urban landscape of New York. He received accolades for his performance working within titanic companies like Merck and Glaxo, but his dream had always been to pursue a career in forestry. Despite having a degree in the field as well as a long history participating in wilderness sports, he soon discovered that affirmative action quotas within state and federal institutions were stringent. His applications were passed up time and again while others with little to no experience or training were hired immediately because of their politically designated victim-status. The corporate world too was rife with people who climbed upwards on the efforts of more worthy employees, or who were given positions of prominence based on their willingness to schmooze with management, rather than work hard.

Finally, when Rich noticed troubling health difficulties creeping up on him, a fateful doctor’s visit revealed severe damage in his spinal column. The company immediately found out, and sidelined him.

These circumstances led Rich not only to question the structure and meaning of his efforts within the circus-like corporate framework, but to also question the structure and meaning of modern America. Today, he is an avid supporter of the Liberty Movement, a devout Constitutionalist, decidedly anti-corporate oligarchy, and even anti-big pharma. His day-to-day financial existence is built upon savings, sound money, and living below his means. His health habits have taken a 180 degree turn, and he is now subsisting on largely organic and home grown diet. Everything has changed.

Rich Scheben holding a bull trout caught in his backyard

In a beautiful corner of Northwest Montana, Mr. Scheben found a sizable plot of land to begin his off-grid adventure. He recommends varied terrain, rather than flat. The more rough the terrain, the more resources are generally available, and the more privacy you are usually afforded. With hills, valleys, gorges, and even a river, Scheben has an incredible array of land types at his disposal.

The main cabin is a straightforward structure without a lot of the elaborate design often seen in average suburban McMansions. Electricity is provided by a small solar array and a minimal battery bank. I have always said that it does not take much in terms of solar power in order to adequately supply an off-grid retreat or farm, and Rich’s system is a perfect example. With only four deep-cycle batteries charging on a minimal array, Rich is able to fulfill all his electricity needs.

The cabin itself is heated by a single wood stove, which is fueled by cords of wood from timber growing on Scheben’s land. Water is supplied by a well and pump, which is then hoisted to a large tank on the second floor. The tank uses gravity to feed the faucets on the first floor below.

Bathroom cleaning is handled in a number of ways. Hot showers can be had using a solar shower filled and placed near the wood stove to warm. Water can be heated and poured into the bathtub. Relieving one’s self is handled in a good old fashioned out-house.

Scheben's wood stove, which adequately heats his entire cabin

Though Rich still stocks bulk foods from town, his farm is completely capable of providing enough food that he would never have to leave if he so desired. His garden area is not immense, and can easily be worked by hand. In fact, it does not take much space at all to grow more than enough produce for a family if needed, and Scheben’s lifestyle proves that if every landowner used a corner of his yard for a garden, centralized farming and food production would disappear. Livestock rounds out the food necessities of Schebens farm, including chickens for meat and eggs, goats for milk and cheese, turkeys, etc. With land surrounded by Montana wilderness, wild game is abundant, and there is little to no chance of Scheben ever going hungry.

Scheben's homemade greenhouse with bathtub for summer bathing

Wild elk roaming through Scheben's property

One issue that is constantly raised when discussing Off-Grid living is that of cost. The problem is that so many people only consider the initial expenditures involved when diving into this new life, but never take into account the extreme SAVINGS involved after they have settled in. Scheben’s daily costs are next to nothing. His land provides nearly every essential imaginable, and the financial drain after setting up shop is minute in comparison to the average suburbanite. This is what preppers in the Liberty Movement need to understand when uncertain about the Off-Grid strategy. Ultimately, it is about providing for yourself for next to nothing what you once had to pay out the nose for!

Going off-grid also does not necessarily mean abandoning technology, and I was glad to see that Scheben felt the same way. He uses LED’s, not hurricane lanterns. He surfs the internet and keeps up with news events, instead of isolating himself in the backwoods from the concerns of the world. He rides ATV’s back and forth across his land, not horses (though horses are great if you can keep them). There is a serious misconception out there that going off-grid or living through a collapse will automatically necessitate a return to a pre-industrial 18th century type of existence. This is simply not so. The technological advances of today should be mixed and melded with the agricultural skills of yesterday. Neither should be hastily cast aside if we are to find balance once again in our culture.

In light of our current chaotic economic situation, as well as the potential for social breakdown, energy crisis, hyperinflation, freight disruption, and global war, the off-grid life is not just a hobby, but a valuable form of insurance. There may come a day when, whether we like it or not, we will all be forced to survive off-grid. Some will be prepared with the expertise required to make it work. Some will have at least a practical understanding of the methods and philosophies that drive decentralized and independent living. Others will not.

Frankly, if a former New York big-pharma salesman like Rich Scheben is able to wake up to the social catastrophe looming in our country’s future, and the extraordinary significance inherent in off-grid knowledge, then anyone can, and the dismissive excuses I hear so often from those who can’t wrap their heads around the importance of this step in the realm of survival, now tend to ring lazy and hollow…

Guest Post: Going Off Grid - Montana Style! | ZeroHedge

**AirborneSapper7** · 02-14-2012, 11:24 PM

When the Grid Goes Down, You Better Be Ready!

Tess Pennington
February 14th, 2012
Ready Nutrition
Comments (53)
The article has been generously contributed by Tess Pennington of Ready Nutrition. After joining the Dallas chapter of the American Red Cross in 1999 Tess worked as an Armed Forces Emergency Services Center specialist and is well versed in emergency and disaster management & response. You can follow her regular updates on Preparedness, Homesteading, and a host of other topics at www.readynutrition.com

It is a fact that our country is more reliant on electrical power today than at any time in its history. Our way of life – from everyday conveniences and the security of local emergency services to commerce and communications – is contingent upon an always on, always available flow of electricity. But an aging infrastructure coupled with a rise in natural and man-made disasters threatens our entire modern day digital infrastructure. According to many experts from the private and public sector, we’re just one major catastrophic event away from a complete meltdown of life in America as we know it today.

So, what happens if and when the grid goes down for an extended period of time? Aside from the aggravation of not being able to determine what is happening through traditional media channels, for the Average Joe, his problems have only just begun. Our dependency to the grid doesn’t just stop at lack of electricity in our homes to power our appliances or an inability to charge our cell phones; it is much broader and affects every aspect of our lives.

We are regularly inundated with news reports covering outages that last several days or weeks resulting from inclement weather like snow storms or hurricanes, or heat waves in southern states that threaten to overload the system. During those times, when entire metropolitan areas or regions experience black outs, we get a glimpse into what a truly widespread emergency might look like. It is often the case that the first thing residents of affected areas do is rush to grocery and hardware stores hoping to acquire critical supplies like food, water, batteries, flashlights and generators. And while these supplies acquired at the onset of crisis may provide short term sustenance, any long-term grid-down situation that lasts for many weeks or months will prove dangerous, and perhaps fatal, to the unprepared.

Consider, for a moment, how drastically your life would change without the continuous flow of energy the grid delivers. While manageable during a short-term disaster, losing access to the following critical elements of our just-in-time society would wreak havoc on the system.

Challenges or shut downs of business commerce
Breakdown of our basic infrastructure: communications, mass transportation, supply chains
Inability to access money via atm machines
Payroll service interruptions
Interruptions in public facilities – schools, workplaces may close, and public gatherings.
Inability to have access to clean drinking water

Neil Swidey, in his article What If The Lights Go Out?, indicates that the grid may be ill-equipped to meet all the enormous challenges it faces in this day and age.

The last widespread outage in the Northeast, the great blackout of August 2003, showed how intimately interconnected and alarmingly fragile our power grid is. How else to explain the way a problem starting in northeastern Ohio quickly cascaded into a blackout affecting 50 million people across the northeastern United States and parts of Canada?

How quickly? Between the moment a power surge came rushing out of Ohio and the moment Manhattan began to go dark, exactly 10 seconds had passed.
..
If our society is more reliant on power than at any time in history – without it, we’ve got no commerce, no communications, no clean water – and if power becomes less reliable in the future, the big question is: Will we be able to hack it?
..
THE TROUBLE with the future of power isn’t that there is one big problem that could croak us. It’s that there are a host of them, any one of which could croak us.
Neil Swidey has grouped these potential grid-down antagonizers into three categories:

1. Extreme Natural Disasters
This includes earthquakes, hurricanes, snow storms, thunderstorms as well as massive solar storms that have the potential to seriously damage the electrical grid. You don’t think it could happen? In the article provided above, the author states, “It took just 90 seconds for a 1989 solar storm to cause the collapse of the Hydro-Quebec power grid, leaving 6 million Canadians without power for up to nine hours. A 2008 NASA-funded report noted the risk of significant damage to our interconnected grid in light of the forecast for increased solar activity. The 11-year solar cycle is expected to peak in 2013, and just two weeks ago we saw one of the biggest solar-radiation storms in years.

2. Acts of Terrorists
This category includes, but is not limited to a physical attack on the bulk power system, either at its source of generation or somewhere along its transmission route, cyber attack on the computers controlling our interconnected grid, electro-magnetic pulse, or EMP, weapon. Have you read One Second After by William R. Forstchen? EMP’s will create long-lasting damage that would incapacitate electronic systems across the country and forever change our way of life. Cyber-threats are another concern and someone with serious hacking skills could easily take out computers, networks or information stored therein to cause lasting damage to our way of life.

3. The Ailing Grid
Our ailing power grid is almost as sick as our failing economy. With one malicious event, be it man made or by natural means, it is down. Swidey compares the grid infrastructure to being as old and stooped as a pensioner. As it is upgraded and its capacity is expanded, our rapacious need for more electrical power races to max it out once again.

A wide-spread emergency, such as a massive power surge, solar flare or rogue electromagnetic pulse (EMP) detonation have the capacity to render our entire power infrastructure useless. Transformers and other key elements on which the grid depends could be permanently damaged as a result of massive electric surges.

In an event such as this our immediate problem will be finding a way to order, manufacture and take delivery of the components needed to replace the faulty ones. Most of the parts made for our electrical grid are made in China – and many are decades old. According to Congressman Roscoe Bartlett, who recently warned people to get their families out of major cities because of concerns about the stability of the grid, it would take months to get the parts shipped to this country and replaced.

During the outage, millions would be adversely affected, with some like Frank Gaffney, president of the Center for Security Policy, suggesting that within a year 9 out of 10 Americans would be dead from starvation, disease and violence.

Ladies and gentleman, if there’s one thing that can cause the veritable “S” to hit the fan, this is it.

So how do we remedy and/or prepare for a grid down scenario? Think retro – like pioneer retro- and by that we have to go way back to when we were not so dependent on the luxury of on-demand energy in its various forms. When preparing for a grid-down scenario, we must comprise different contingency plans for short-term and longer-term issues. That being the case, we have to admit to ourselves that it could last longer than we expect and much more than just a minor inconvenience. Therefore, the best way to prepare is to start with your basic needs. That is the need for light, heat, water, and food. Some preparedness items to stock up on are:

Alternative fuel sources such as solar and diesel, wood for burning.
Food preservation supplies – dehydrators, canners, smokers, fermenting/pickling supplies. To learn more, click here.
Bulk food – Canned, freeze-dried, dehydrated or dry goods.
Water filtration supplies, rain harvesting supplies and large quantities of stored water.
Light sources: Lanterns, flashlights, candles and matches and alternative light sources
Batteries and chargers
Emergency stove – solar oven, rocket stove, camping stoves, etc.
Wood burning fire place – Central air heating systems, even if they use natural gas or propane, depend on electricity for the blower that will circulate the heated air. When the grid is down, this system will not work. Having a wood burning fire place is an alternative to central heating systems.
Cash money and/or silver or gold currency.

The vulnerability of our grid is nothing new to preppers. Some have seen this problem coming for a long time and changed their entire ways of life by going off-grid. They have found alternative sources such as solar, wind and diesel to power their homes and machinery. A majority of us, who have not gone off-grid, are making a concerted effort to avoid dependence on this ailing infrastructure and preparing for life without it. That being said, all we can do is stay the course, prepare accordingly and continue on.

This article has been contributed by Tess Pennington of Ready Nutrition. Subscribe to Tess’ Get Prepped Weekly Newsletter for more emergency preparedness tips, homesteading ideas, and insights. As a subscriber to her free newsletter you’ll receive the latest updates from her 52 Weeks to Preparedness Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Planning Series. It’s well worth your time, and oh, did we mention it’s totally free?

Ready Nutrition and SHTFplan.com take your privacy very seriously and will not distribute or share your email address with other parties.

When the Grid Goes Down, You Better Be Ready!

**AirborneSapper7** · 02-14-2012, 11:24 PM

When the Grid Goes Down, You Better Be Ready!

Tess Pennington
February 14th, 2012
Ready Nutrition
Comments (53)
The article has been generously contributed by Tess Pennington of Ready Nutrition. After joining the Dallas chapter of the American Red Cross in 1999 Tess worked as an Armed Forces Emergency Services Center specialist and is well versed in emergency and disaster management & response. You can follow her regular updates on Preparedness, Homesteading, and a host of other topics at www.readynutrition.com

It is a fact that our country is more reliant on electrical power today than at any time in its history. Our way of life – from everyday conveniences and the security of local emergency services to commerce and communications – is contingent upon an always on, always available flow of electricity. But an aging infrastructure coupled with a rise in natural and man-made disasters threatens our entire modern day digital infrastructure. According to many experts from the private and public sector, we’re just one major catastrophic event away from a complete meltdown of life in America as we know it today.

So, what happens if and when the grid goes down for an extended period of time? Aside from the aggravation of not being able to determine what is happening through traditional media channels, for the Average Joe, his problems have only just begun. Our dependency to the grid doesn’t just stop at lack of electricity in our homes to power our appliances or an inability to charge our cell phones; it is much broader and affects every aspect of our lives.

We are regularly inundated with news reports covering outages that last several days or weeks resulting from inclement weather like snow storms or hurricanes, or heat waves in southern states that threaten to overload the system. During those times, when entire metropolitan areas or regions experience black outs, we get a glimpse into what a truly widespread emergency might look like. It is often the case that the first thing residents of affected areas do is rush to grocery and hardware stores hoping to acquire critical supplies like food, water, batteries, flashlights and generators. And while these supplies acquired at the onset of crisis may provide short term sustenance, any long-term grid-down situation that lasts for many weeks or months will prove dangerous, and perhaps fatal, to the unprepared.

Consider, for a moment, how drastically your life would change without the continuous flow of energy the grid delivers. While manageable during a short-term disaster, losing access to the following critical elements of our just-in-time society would wreak havoc on the system.

Challenges or shut downs of business commerce
Breakdown of our basic infrastructure: communications, mass transportation, supply chains
Inability to access money via atm machines
Payroll service interruptions
Interruptions in public facilities – schools, workplaces may close, and public gatherings.
Inability to have access to clean drinking water

Neil Swidey, in his article What If The Lights Go Out?, indicates that the grid may be ill-equipped to meet all the enormous challenges it faces in this day and age.

The last widespread outage in the Northeast, the great blackout of August 2003, showed how intimately interconnected and alarmingly fragile our power grid is. How else to explain the way a problem starting in northeastern Ohio quickly cascaded into a blackout affecting 50 million people across the northeastern United States and parts of Canada?

How quickly? Between the moment a power surge came rushing out of Ohio and the moment Manhattan began to go dark, exactly 10 seconds had passed.
..
If our society is more reliant on power than at any time in history – without it, we’ve got no commerce, no communications, no clean water – and if power becomes less reliable in the future, the big question is: Will we be able to hack it?
..
THE TROUBLE with the future of power isn’t that there is one big problem that could croak us. It’s that there are a host of them, any one of which could croak us.
Neil Swidey has grouped these potential grid-down antagonizers into three categories:

1. Extreme Natural Disasters
This includes earthquakes, hurricanes, snow storms, thunderstorms as well as massive solar storms that have the potential to seriously damage the electrical grid. You don’t think it could happen? In the article provided above, the author states, “It took just 90 seconds for a 1989 solar storm to cause the collapse of the Hydro-Quebec power grid, leaving 6 million Canadians without power for up to nine hours. A 2008 NASA-funded report noted the risk of significant damage to our interconnected grid in light of the forecast for increased solar activity. The 11-year solar cycle is expected to peak in 2013, and just two weeks ago we saw one of the biggest solar-radiation storms in years.

2. Acts of Terrorists
This category includes, but is not limited to a physical attack on the bulk power system, either at its source of generation or somewhere along its transmission route, cyber attack on the computers controlling our interconnected grid, electro-magnetic pulse, or EMP, weapon. Have you read One Second After by William R. Forstchen? EMP’s will create long-lasting damage that would incapacitate electronic systems across the country and forever change our way of life. Cyber-threats are another concern and someone with serious hacking skills could easily take out computers, networks or information stored therein to cause lasting damage to our way of life.

3. The Ailing Grid
Our ailing power grid is almost as sick as our failing economy. With one malicious event, be it man made or by natural means, it is down. Swidey compares the grid infrastructure to being as old and stooped as a pensioner. As it is upgraded and its capacity is expanded, our rapacious need for more electrical power races to max it out once again.

A wide-spread emergency, such as a massive power surge, solar flare or rogue electromagnetic pulse (EMP) detonation have the capacity to render our entire power infrastructure useless. Transformers and other key elements on which the grid depends could be permanently damaged as a result of massive electric surges.

In an event such as this our immediate problem will be finding a way to order, manufacture and take delivery of the components needed to replace the faulty ones. Most of the parts made for our electrical grid are made in China – and many are decades old. According to Congressman Roscoe Bartlett, who recently warned people to get their families out of major cities because of concerns about the stability of the grid, it would take months to get the parts shipped to this country and replaced.

During the outage, millions would be adversely affected, with some like Frank Gaffney, president of the Center for Security Policy, suggesting that within a year 9 out of 10 Americans would be dead from starvation, disease and violence.

Ladies and gentleman, if there’s one thing that can cause the veritable “S” to hit the fan, this is it.

So how do we remedy and/or prepare for a grid down scenario? Think retro – like pioneer retro- and by that we have to go way back to when we were not so dependent on the luxury of on-demand energy in its various forms. When preparing for a grid-down scenario, we must comprise different contingency plans for short-term and longer-term issues. That being the case, we have to admit to ourselves that it could last longer than we expect and much more than just a minor inconvenience. Therefore, the best way to prepare is to start with your basic needs. That is the need for light, heat, water, and food. Some preparedness items to stock up on are:

Alternative fuel sources such as solar and diesel, wood for burning.
Food preservation supplies – dehydrators, canners, smokers, fermenting/pickling supplies. To learn more, click here.
Bulk food – Canned, freeze-dried, dehydrated or dry goods.
Water filtration supplies, rain harvesting supplies and large quantities of stored water.
Light sources: Lanterns, flashlights, candles and matches and alternative light sources
Batteries and chargers
Emergency stove – solar oven, rocket stove, camping stoves, etc.
Wood burning fire place – Central air heating systems, even if they use natural gas or propane, depend on electricity for the blower that will circulate the heated air. When the grid is down, this system will not work. Having a wood burning fire place is an alternative to central heating systems.
Cash money and/or silver or gold currency.

The vulnerability of our grid is nothing new to preppers. Some have seen this problem coming for a long time and changed their entire ways of life by going off-grid. They have found alternative sources such as solar, wind and diesel to power their homes and machinery. A majority of us, who have not gone off-grid, are making a concerted effort to avoid dependence on this ailing infrastructure and preparing for life without it. That being said, all we can do is stay the course, prepare accordingly and continue on.

This article has been contributed by Tess Pennington of Ready Nutrition. Subscribe to Tess’ Get Prepped Weekly Newsletter for more emergency preparedness tips, homesteading ideas, and insights. As a subscriber to her free newsletter you’ll receive the latest updates from her 52 Weeks to Preparedness Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Planning Series. It’s well worth your time, and oh, did we mention it’s totally free?

Ready Nutrition and SHTFplan.com take your privacy very seriously and will not distribute or share your email address with other parties.

When the Grid Goes Down, You Better Be Ready!

**AirborneSapper7** · 02-17-2012, 12:50 AM

INSTANT SURVIVAL TIP: Knife Tricks!

By John A. Heatherly, Author of The Survival Template

The following is a list of small things that can make a big difference in the care and use of knives. Have you tried any of these?1 – Use graphite/pencil lead to remove rust from hard to reach places on a knife. It works wonders by just “scribbling” away the rust.2 – Use a lanyard to secure your knife to a belt or other piece of clothing. I have seen pocket knives dropped in deep snow that shoot straight to the bottom, as body heat on the knife makes it dive bomb in an unpredictable fashion!3 – Sand or loamy soil can make a fantastic “scrubby-pad.” Take a small amount of earth and place it in the center of a piece of cloth (like a washrag or even a piece of parachute.) Wrap the sand or soil inside the material and start scrubbing. Many have used this type of round scrubby to clean metal that is caked with burned food or with char from the fire.4 – Carry a pen-style knife sharpener in your pocket and hone your knives after each use. This saves time in the end as you can avoid a marathon knife-sharpening session at the close of the day.5 – Many all-metal pocket knives can be boiled occasionally as a means to clean them. If you are uncomfortable boiling the entire knife, hold the blade in boiling water to clean it.6 – In a dry, desert environment, sand can constantly build up in knives. Simply blowing the sand out of a folding knife after every use can make a big difference.What other “knife tricks” are out there?© 2012, John A. Heatherly. All rights reserved.
INSTANT SURVIVAL TIP: Knife Tricks! | The Survival Mom

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**AirborneSapper7** · 02-17-2012, 12:56 AM

INSTANT SURVIVAL TIP: Seine Nets and Trotlines

By John A. Heatherly, Author of The Survival Template

As a new resident near the Gulf, I have much to learn about fishing and crabbing and many other disciplines that the Locals here have come to master. While I am learning, I thought it responsible to improve my stash of survival gear with a couple of useful items. For around $30, I purchased two tools that even a Newbie like me could use to procure food. Note: these items would also come in handy in freshwater lakes, ponds, rivers, etc … Just make sure to check State and Local laws before using them recreationally!
1. Seine Nets – These nets are meant to be drug through the water between two people and are often used to catch bait, though they can also be used to procure fish that are large enough to eat.
2. Trotlines – A trotline is little more than than long strand with multiple baited fishing hooks attached at intervals by means of branch lines, called “snoods.” The ends of a trot line can be secured near the shore, for example by tying to a tree, or can be converted into a “dropline” by tying a weight to one end. Once a trotline is in place, it can be left unattended and “run” periodically (the Locals around here don’t “check” a trotline, they “run” it.)
Next up on my list – crab traps! What experiences have you had with these types of gear?

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INSTANT SURVIVAL TIP: Seine Nets and Trotlines | The Survival Mom

**AirborneSapper7** · 02-17-2012, 12:59 AM

How To Purify Water With Household Bleach

February 9, 2012 By Creek 6 Comments

I’ve been getting a lot of questions about this topic lately and I thought it would be a good idea to do a more lengthy post on the subject.
As everyone knows, many municipal water systems use chlorine to disinfect water. Often, the use of chlorine is combined with other purification systems such as filtration and ultra violet treatments. All you have to do is sniff your water tap water – it’s no secret. Why chlorine? Simple – it works.
It just so happens that Sodium Hypochlorite is the active ingredient in common household bleach. Sodium Hypochlorite is the source of chlorine in bleach. Most ‘off-the-shelf’ bleach products will contain in between 4 and 6% available chlorine. It is in this range that all of the below information and ratios are based. You will want to read the label and verify this first – otherwise you are just guessing.
It’s important that you only use regular bleach – nothing fancy with flowers, fresh mountains and little teddy bears on the label. No frills – standard – unscented bleach. The label should look like below:

When it comes to disinfecting water, it seems there is a different ratio and percentage for all kinds of different purifying agents and it can get really confusing. It can be hard to keep these ratios and solutions straight but it is very important that we do. All of the liters, quarts, drops, gallons, mL, cups and percentages are very easy to loose track of. I have a very simple memory phrase when it comes to disinfecting water with bleach. Once you read this phrase, you will never forget how to disinfect water with bleach again. The phrase is:
You must be 21 to drink.

How simple is that? It is a simple reminder that you need 2 drops of bleach per 1 liter or quart of water – hence 21. And, that just happens to be the legal drinking age in the US so it’s very easy to remember. Now, you will never forget it. If you don’t have a 1 liter or 1 quart container in which to measure an exact amount of water, it’s OK. Just remember that there are 4 quarts in a gallon and you can guesstimate the amount from there. Everyone knows about how much is in 1 gallon. Think about 1 gallon of milk and divide into fourths. You do need to wait a while before drinking, though. The wait time is 30 minutes. I remember this with: 2 + 1 = 3.

Have you ever tried to get a couple drops out of a gallon of liquid. It’s actually not the easiest thing in the world to do. Here is how I do it. You just need the cap to the bottle and a little piece of paper – toilet paper works great.

Then, place your ‘paper wick’ into a full cap with one end hanging over and it will begin to wick up the liquid and when turned at a slight angle will provide you with nice steady consistent drip that you can easily count.

A note about the water

It is important that your water be clear and void of debris for the above calculations to be effective. Ideally, you are already beginning with clear water. However, have you ever heard of an IDEAL survival situation? Me neither. Consequently, you may need to Pre-Filter your water BEFORE you disinfect it. You can prefilter your water using a huge variety of items – sock, t-shirt, bandanna, dried grass, feminine hygiene product and the list goes on an on. You may even want to prefilter a couple of times. Chlorine will not disinfect sediments. If your water is cloudy, double the chlorine dose and the wait time.
Don’t Forget the Threads

If you are using a bottle with a threaded/screw-on cap, don’t forget to unscrew the cap a bit and slosh some of the chlorine treated water into the threads. Otherwise, the water trapped in these threads could contaminate your water all over again.
Using bleach to disinfect water isn’t just a back-yard survival tactic. It is even recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a viable form of disinfecting water in an emergency scenario. You can check out their writings on their web-site here if you wish: Emergency Disinfection of Drinking Water | Emergency Preparedness | US EPA They also cover Iodine.
Conclusion

Chlorine bleach is a very common item in our society. It’s good to know how we can use it to disinfect water if we needed to one day. As I always say, it’s better to know it and never use it than to not know and need it. Hopefully, this has cleared up some questions that anyone has about disinfecting water with bleach. It certainly isn’t the only available chemical that we can use to disinfect water but it is a very common and viable option.
Thoughts anyone?
Remember, it’s not IF but WHEN,
Creek

How To Purify Water With Household Bleach |

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**AirborneSapper7** · 02-17-2012, 01:01 AM

12 Reasons Why Everyone Needs a Bug Out Bag: Series Post 1 of 12: Water and Hydration

January 9, 2012 By Creek 4 Comments
Series Introduction

This post series is for anyone who has an interest or curiosity in building their own Bug Out Bag. In the next 3-4 months leading up to the release of my book Build the Perfect Bug Out Bag: Your 72-Hour Disaster Survival Kit, my publisher has authorized me to write a series of 12 posts outlining the 12 Supply Categories needed to build the perfect Bug Out Bag and WHY they are important and necessary. Each post in this 12 Step Series will highlight a separate Bug Out Bag Supply Category.
In my book I elaborate on each of these supply categories in great detail with 100s of detailed photos, instructions, practice exercises, recommended gear and specific supply check-lists. The purpose of this 12 Step Series is to identify, define and explain why each of the 12 Supply Categories I outline in my book are critical elements of a well-thought out Bug Out Bag. I will not get into recommended gear, survival instruction or specific check-lists – I have to save something for the book! This blog series isn’t as much about pitching my book as it is about selling the idea of building a bug out bag. I truly believe that every person should have their own 72 hour disaster survival kit – especially in the uncertain times we live in today. You can almost look at this post series as 12 Reasons Why People Need a Bug Out Bag. It is my hope that this series motivates people to begin building their own kit that may very well serves as their survival life-line one day.
Supply Category # 1: Water & Hydration

Sourcing Water from Open Sources

One of our most critical survival needs is WATER. The human body is comprised of approximately 65% water. Our brains are upwards of 85% water. From digestion to circulation – water (or the lack of) affects everything. Naturally, when we deprive ourselves of water, bad things happen. First, just annoying discomfort like headaches and dry mouth. More severe symptoms of dehydration include dizziness, light headedness, poor concentration, weakness, fatigue and nausea. Severe dehydration then starts screwing with our vision, brain function, circulation and muscles. Your body basically starts to shut down after about 10-15% of water loss. That’s not that much. Water is CRITICAL.

Make-Shift Rain Catch with Trash Bag

A common survival mantra is the Rule of Threes:

In extreme conditions, you can live 3 hours without shelter, 3 days without water and 3 weeks without food.

Needless to say, water is at the top of your list of priorities in ANY survival situation. When prepping a Bug Out Bag, you MUST include 72 hours worth of FRESH DRINKING WATER. Disasters (both man-made and natural) can decimate fresh drinking water supplies. During and following almost every disaster, local water facilities are often off grid and well pumps will stop working once the electricity goes out. Combine this with failing sanitation facilities and you’ve got a recipe for a shortage of drinking water. When Hurricane Katrina struck, for example, bottled water had to be shipped in by the semi-truck load and emergency crews still couldn’t keep up with the demand for fresh water. Almost all of our natural waterways have been polluted beyond the point of no return – making them unsafe to drink without treatment and filtration…which brings me to my next point.
Filtration and Purification

In addition to a 3-Day supply of drinking water, you should also be prepared to gather, filter and purify more water from other sources in the event that you need to do so. This equipment and/or treatment option should be packed in your kit and you should know how to use it without instructions. There are countless scenarios that can require you to need more water than a 3 day supply. Below are just a few:

Extreme heat or travel
Water is lost or stolen
Water gets contaminated
Container(s) broken
Traveling for longer than expected
Personal hygiene needs
Charity (giving water to someone else who needs it more)

Without question, one of the first supply categories that needs to be checked off the list when prepping a Bug Out Bag needs to be WATER and THE MEANS TO GATHER, FILTER AND PURIFY MORE OF IT if necessary. I spend a lot of time in my book about the latter. From the containers you choose to the water filtration and purification process you use, every decision and choice must be intentional and, ideally, many of your kit items should also be multi-functional – serving more than 1 survival purpose.

Prefiltering Water with a Bandana

I know that packing 3 days worth of fresh drinking water seems obvious but you’d be surprised how many people I speak to tell me that water is too heavy and they’ll just find some along the way.
If a disaster strikes my home and I have to Bug Out, I will be packing water.

Bug Out Bag Water and Hydration |

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**AirborneSapper7** · 02-17-2012, 01:03 AM

12 Reasons Why Everyone Needs a Bug Out Bag: Series Post 2 of 12: Food and Food Preparation

January 23, 2012 By Creek Leave a Comment
Series Introduction

This post series is for anyone who has an interest or curiosity in building their own Bug Out Bag. In the next 3-4 months leading up to the release of my book Build the Perfect Bug Out Bag: Your 72-Hour Disaster Survival Kit, my publisher has authorized me to write a series of 12 posts outlining the 12 Supply Categories needed to build the perfect Bug Out Bag and WHY they are important and necessary. Each post in this 12 Step Series will highlight a separate Bug Out Bag Supply Category.
In my book I elaborate on each of these supply categories in great detail with 100s of detailed photos, instructions, practice exercises, recommended gear and specific supply check-lists. The purpose of this 12 Step Series is to identify, define and explain why each of the 12 Supply Categories I outline in my book are critical elements of a well-thought out Bug Out Bag. I will not get into recommended gear, survival instruction or specific check-lists – I have to save something for the book! This blog series isn’t as much about pitching my book as it is about selling the idea of building a bug out bag. I truly believe that every person should have their own 72 hour disaster survival kit – especially in the uncertain times we live in today. You can almost look at this post series as 12 Reasons Why People Need a Bug Out Bag. It is my hope that this series motivates people to begin building their own kit that may very well serves as their survival life-line one day.
Supply Category # 2: Food and Food Preparation

Though Food and Food Preparation is the 2nd Bug Out Bag Supply Category detailed in my book, it certainly is not the 2nd most important. ’Important’, though, is a relative term when it comes to a Bug Out Bag. EVERY category is important. It’s just that some are more important than others. When it comes to a 72-Hour Survival Bug Out situation, FOOD and FOOD PREP would be fairly close to the bottom when it comes to survival necessities. We can survive for up to 3-weeks (or longer) without any food at all. Notice my emphasis on the word SURVIVE. You CAN survive but it would get progressively more and more uncomfortable and difficult as your body slowly suffers the debilitating consequences of starvation.
BOTTOM LINE: The longer you go without replenishing the calories you burn the less efficient you will become.

Food, and by food I mean CALORIES, is to the human body as gasoline is to an engine. You need to put calories in the human engine to run at peak condition. Without them, your body will putter out and eventually stop working all together.
So far, this is pretty much common sense.

However, when it comes to packing food in your Bug Out Bag, it is anything but common. It has to be easy to prepare, light-weight, have a long shelf-life and be PACKED with calories. Some food products make better candidates than others and these must be carefully and strategically selected – every OUNCE of WEIGHT and every CALORIE counts. With that said, this isn’t 5-Star dining – it’s survival food to get you through an uncertain time and place.

Your Bug Out Bag food doesn’t need to break the bank, either. You’d be surprised how many items fit into the Bug Out Bag food requirements mentioned above. I don’t have more than $12 worth of food in my personal Bug Out Bag and it all easily fits into a 1-gallon resealable bag with room to spare.
Food Preparation & Related Tools

In my opinion, every Bug Out Bag should also include items for FOOD PREP and COOKING. At the top of the list is a small, portable and efficient stove with fuel. Your stove can be used for heating foods or boiling water. My Bug Out Bag food items are all OPEN AND EAT – meaning I do not need a stove or fire to prepare them. However, I still carry a small Esbit stove with solid fuel tablets just in case. There are many factors to consider when selecting a stove.

A metal cook pot and cup are 2 other essential Bug Out Bag Food Prep items for a variety of reasons. In my book, I discuss how a Bug Out Bag is designed for a 72 Hour time period. However, I also stress the importance of including some items that can be instrumental in getting you through a longer period if necessary. FOOD PREP ITEMS are definitely in this list. You can burn through a few meals in your BOB pretty quick – especially if you don’t ration them properly. Packing some key FOOD PREP ITEMS and TOOLS gives you the option to gather, scavenge, hunt and prepare food along your journey if necessary.
AMERICA is 9 meals away from chaos.

I don’t remember where I heard or read that phrase but it’s always stuck with me. What this means is that your average American household has around 9 meals worth of food in their pantry. When people run out of food, things get ugly quick. Hence – 9 meals away from chaos. While I’ve never personally been through a Full-Scale Bug Out, I’ve experienced several small scale emergencies such as 2-3 day power outages, ice storms, flooding, severe winter storms and the like. I’m sure most of you have experienced events like these – OR EVEN LARGER. Have you ever tried to go to the grocery store to get a few last minute items right as the 5 o-clock news announces the eminent arrival of a huge winter storm? PEOPLE GET CRAZY! They will clear the shelves over a few inches of snow – imagine what they will do in the wake of a large scale disaster. If you don’t already have your BUG OUT food supply, you’re screwed – plain and simple. I can remember when 9-11 happened years ago. Even in the middle of Indiana where there were no attacks, I could not get gas and the grocery stores were insane. People who have been through large scale disasters such as Katrina will attest to the fact that immediate supplies are quickly depleted and people get down right dangerous when it comes to finding more.
Remember, while we are preparing for 72 Hours, this is certainly not a guarantee.

The only guarantee we have is that an actual Bug Out will be much different than we can even imagine. Preparing for the unexpected is crucial. In this particular chapter in the book, I discuss many of the items that help you prepare for the unexpected. You might be surprised what’s included.

So as you begin your ‘build’, don’t forget the importance of FOOD and FOOD PREP RELATED ITEMS.

12 Reasons Why Everyone Needs a Bug Out Bag: Series Post 2 of 12: Food and Food Preparation |
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