Lost in the OCTO-shuffle

Somehow I always seem to recall that October is one busy month.

Maybe its because its my wife’s busy season with her business?  or maybe its because I instinctively look forward to the first cool breeze after summer blowing across my face or the first honk of migrating geese overhead, reminding me that hunting season is around the corner?  Well, I’m older and more jaded now so I realize it may be hunting season but I’m not likely to do nearly enough hunting with my schedule and big boy responsibilities these days, but I do think about it a lot.

My father was a Cowboy.

Well he really wasn’t, but inside I think he always thought he was.   From the time I could ride a tricycle we went hunting.  We hunted ducks, geese, turkey, quail, deer, hell, if it had fur and you could eat it we probably hunted it!  It wasn’t until I was older that I realized the whole hunting trip was a sham.  My Dad would hunt but that wasn’t really why he spent money on guns, ammo, licenses then drove six hours on Friday to the middle of BFE TX.

What he really loved was removing himself from the daily grind of being a CPA in the big city and getting out into the west Texas countryside, sleeping under the stars, drinking whiskey (scotch) at night, telling BS stories and jokes around a camp fire to his friends and listening to the coyote calls.

I think getting out there to hunt made him feel like the cowboys he’d watched on the big screen at the Heights Theater matinee in the 1930s.  He was always the first one up at 4:45am to get the coffee on and harass all the other sleeping campers with his famous chant “Wakey Wakey, Hands off Snakey!”  What an S.O.B.!!  It was 20 degrees in the cabin!

I hated hunting back then as a kid.  It was too freaking cold and dark and I saw no good reason you should freeze your ass off in the dark for two hours just so you can “Get a jump on Bambi”  I remember one year some fat lazy guy, who could never climb or fit into a box blind, shot the largest buck we’d ever seen right out the window of the camp cabin while drinking coffee!  I never bought into that early morning BS after that.  But I kept hunting with my dad.

At his funeral earlier this year I saw a few of his friends and business acquaintances we used to hunt with.  After the typical condolences comments, they could not wait to sit down with me to recount the crazy ass stories that happened with my Dad while hunting.

The Jeep killing story is still legend…   One year his business partner had brought out a brand spanking new Jeep CJ-7 Laredo.  It was a bad ass jeep and should never have come hunting with this group of wannabe cowboys.  After an evening hunt the guy went to pick my dad up and as he got into the passenger seat of the jeep with his 30.06 pointed downward (of course..safety first he always said) while emptying his magazine he accidentally fired off a round straight through the brand new transmission!  Uh oh…

We never saw a nice vehicle up at the hunting lease again, but his partner was a sport and found a Tonka toy jeep replica, had it mounted on a plaque with a deer tag attached and an inscription that said something like “Best shot of the season” with my Dad’s name on it.   Even this year, almost forty years after the event, it had a half dozen grown men crying with laughter recounting the story.

Good times indeed.  So I guess that’s why having my own hunting place was so important to me as I got older.  Its not killing a stupid deer I care about, its more about not letting the great hunting memories die and having an opportunity to share new ones with my family and friends.

There is something deep in a man’s soul that resonates with the primal hunting experience and I think that’s probably what the Native-american/Indians  talked about when they sat together around the camp fire at night.

Maybe it sounded something like this..  “Do you remember the time runs-with-two-bears shot his horse in the leg with that crooked arrow he made?  We all laughed so hard we fell off our horses too!”

Hell, maybe Dad was a Cowboy after all?

 

TSP Interview With Jack Spirko

Last Wednesday (9/20/2017) I had the pleasure of being interviewed by my friend Jack Spirko of The Survival Podcast.  The topic of the interview was basically an update and recap of the events I experienced during Hurricane Harvey and the subsequent flooding of Houston.  We also talked about the CACTeam  efforts (Citizens Assisting Citizens) that helped victims of Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Irma in Florida.  Rather than recap the interview, you can listen to the podcast interview here:   Mike Centex TSP Interview

I started listening to Jack’s Podcast around 2012.  The first few episodes I listened to I could tell this guy wasn’t the typical prepper-alarmist.  He was pragmatic and rational.  After a week or so I felt like I’d received such incredible value from his shows, I paid $50 and joined the Member Support Brigade.  That’s proven to be an exceptional investment.  Actually, Jack has suggested many actions that turned out to have exceptional ROI.

I grew up hunting and fishing in the outdoors like Jack did so I could relate to many of his topics.  I met Jack later at the first workshop I attended and from their I met a lot of the other folks you’ll hear regularly on his podcast.  I found all to be much more generous and intelligent than your average bear.  One thing they all had in common was that they worked really hard to develop and share what they learned with others.  I think over the past few years that enthusiasm has rubbed off on me and that’s a big part of what motivates me to try harder to help others and give back where and when I can.

I’ve had a few people contact me with feedback from the interview and I really appreciate all the positive comments.   I’ve also heard from a few folks who came across the podcast and have more questions and interest in preparedness.  I think that is great and I want to do all I can to help guide folks to the valuable preparedness resources I’ve come across over the years.

Before we start though, lets get past the White Elephant of Preparedness. 

The stereotype of “the Prepper” is like all other stereotypes.  There are some that may fit the description but most don’t.   Unfortunately, the greatest damage to the national preparedness mindset, and reason for much of the stereotype (in my opinion) was the NatGeo series “Doomsday Preppers”. 

If you’ve never seen it, count yourself as one of the lucky.  It is simply modeled like most other “Reality” TV shows and developed, produced and edited purely for mindless entertainment value.  The typical script was to take a real person who might know or have done things to prepare for unknown disasters, and then give them a single disaster scenario, then build the show around the steps they think one should take to prepare for that single disaster.  Then, the producers and consultants grade the person’s preparedness on a scale of 1-100.  What could go wrong?

It is pretty obvious throughout the entire process they wanted to focus on things that would shock (killing animals, blowing things up) and make the prepper look like a crazy idiot who should be mocked by all.  To achieve this on each show they used creative editing (look up Frankenbite editing).

I have friends who film and produce reality TV so I know the truth about the directing, editing and coaxing of characters behind the scenes.  I also know several people who were on the show and none were pleased with the final results.  I’m really impressed that Jack Spirko had the smarts to turn down an offer to appear on this series and I hope that people see it for what it was, simply another reality TV show devoid of much “Reality”.  Maybe it’s creators thought it was just supposed to be entertaining, but I wonder how many people avoided learning or practicing preparedness because they didn’t want to look like one of those idiot “prepper” types?  I wonder how many got flooded in Houston and had zero preparedness plans or preparations??

FEMA has a 32 point preparedness plan.  I can assure you that your congressman and senators have a detailed preparedness plans for all likely disasters.   It is written down and drilled on yearly.  There are food, water, and medical provisions set aside and even fall back shelter locations for them to evacuate to in the event of an emergency.  I’d like to think that, at a minimum, if a detailed preparedness plan is good enough for my elected representatives in DC, its probably a good idea for me.

Being prepared for unknown disaster events does not make you an idiot, but not being prepared most certainly will make you look and feel like one at some point in the future.

The question I seem to get the most is “where do I start”.  That’s a good question because most folks take a scattered approach and start buying this and that, guns, ammo, MREs, Etc.   It doesn’t really have to be that difficult.

The basic pillars of preparedness are Water; Food; Shelter; Health/Medical, Security and Sanitation.  The easy way to start is to just prepare to be self sufficient for a short time (say 72 hrs).  Now pack a bag or a backpack and assume you are going to be at the hospital with a friend for three days.  There may be food and water but there might not.

So a quart canteen or water bottle combined with a small water filtration straw device would give you all the water you need for 72 hours.  Water Filtration Straw.  Boom.. water check!

Food, well you can pack crackers, breakfast bars, nuts or whatever non-perishable food you have around and could keep long term in a backpack.  Or if you’re lazy like me, just order some of this stuff its good for years.   Emergency survival rations     So food for 72 hrs, Check!

Shelter: Now that includes everything from your clothes up to a tiny house but for 72 hrs we’re going to probably need a change of underwear, socks, shirt, maybe pants or shorts and a weather proof coat.  You should also have a hat for outdoor protection.  with this you’ll be fine for 72 hours in most environments.  You do own clothes don’t you?? Check!

Heath/First Aid – I’ve never found a first aid kit that had everything I thought it should, so I try to by kits with nice cases that’ll hold up, then I add my allergies, stomach, Etc. meds to that.  Here’s a decent starting kit First Aid Kit

Security is a deep rabbit hole filled with fears, opinions and realities.  So I’m going to make this easy for you.  You should be able to fend off a 100 pound dog or bear from your 72 hour kit.  For under $12 you can’t do much better than this Pepper Spray Protection

Sanitation simply means pack your toothbrush, washcloth, soap, and everything you’d take on a short vacation.  Also pack some toilet paper and plastic bags in case you have to go and there’s no facilities nearby.

Additional – I’d include a pocket knife, flashlight, some string, rubber bands and clothes pins.  A pad and pen to write with and whatever else you think is important to you in a 72 hour stay at the hospital.

So, assuming you already have a backpack, toothbrush, water bottle and some of the basic stuff I mentioned, you now have a 72 hour go kit for less than $50 and you are prepared for a local emergency or evacuation.  Now, do the same for each family member in your home and you have the start of a prepared family. 

So would anyone every really need a 72-hour go bag???  Yes, I needed one last month.  During Hurricane Harvey, a rash of tornadoes started hitting around the area.  My phone started ringing with an emergency alert tone and here is what I saw on it:

This meant that a Tornado had been confirmed and was near my location. Guess what my brilliant and beautiful wife told me to do?  “Grab our 72 Hour go bags and bring them into our shelter in case we have to evacuate“!  This is why its always smart to marry above your IQ and prepare ahead of time!

There are many other methods of disaster preparation, but I wouldn’t suggest any until you are prepared for a knock on your door at 3am and having a cop tell you you have 3 minutes to evacuate the area.   During the boat rescues after Hurricane Harvey, fire and rescue boats would move on to other houses if the occupants didn’t come out when they got there.  They rescuers are not going to wait for you to assemble your go bag.  You have to do it NOW!

Can you imagine how much more comfortable flood victims were who had dry clothes, food and water after escaping their flooded homes with a go bag? 

If you like this kind of information and find it useful, please let me know.  If folks want more information I’m happy to cover many more aspects of preparedness in more YouTube videos.  Here some topics that I have presented on, practiced, learned and studied since 1998 and easy topics for me to address in blogs or videos.

• Why you want a smaller emergency gas power generator
• Why solar power has very limited uses in an emergency
• You need an inverter before a battery bank and battery bank before a gas generator
• How to acquire and store a years worth of survival food for under $75.
• Why you need a network of reliable, preparedness minded people to survive a disaster
• Why you should have immediate access to a weapon 24/7.
• Why survival seed banks are a joke if you’re not a farmer or gardner
• The most likely disaster to impact you and turn your life upside down.
• How to raise a majority of your food in your backyard.
• Where and how to find land with the least restrictions on use
• Why you should own some real estate free & clear of any debt
• Why Fish are easier to raise for food than chickens, but you should have both
• How to live long term in your vehicle
• Why you should own a pistol before a long arm and a shotgun before a rifle
• Why you should learn to garden, hunt and fish NOW
• How I teach people to hunt who have never done it before
• Why you must have non-lethal self-defense options
• How to deal with people who are scared or afraid of firearms
• What’s statistically most likely to kill you, in order from 1-10.

As always, I appreciate your feedback, comments and likes/subscribing to my YouTube videos.

Thanks!

MC