Fellow Patriots,
Greetings and welcome to the Patriot Express Newsletter Edition #122. We appreciate you stopping by to share your time with the Hope for Survival family. Ms. Lucy and I had a great week of vacationing with family last week and I am excited to be back in the seat again. Wilson certainly was glad to see us get home. We asked him to watch over our home while we vacationed. He told me nothing happened but he noticed we have lots of nuts hanging around. I do prefer some mountain time but I did enjoy time at the beach. Just a personal choice. But it is awesome to see the world and God's creations through an open mind. I think it allows us to access more of what He wishes us to see.
This week's PENL is loaded and I focus on a critical topic we all need to keep active some place in our mind. No, no, no, it's not about Friday the 13th. It is a topic no one should take for granted. It is real and I can tell you that no one ever wants to deal with it, period. I have personally experienced it and I have witnessed it around the world. I'm not approaching this topic because it will scare or put fear in you. It is important and we all should be educated, plan for it, and hope to survive it. I hope the information will help you in some way.
Thursday Zoom Rallies – HFS conducted zoom rally #63 with a special guest from San Antonio, TX to speak on a topic we all have interest. Retirement and our 401K. That's right. The brief was titled 401K Survival. Good stuff. We also covered part 1 of a two part video on the threat of EMPs, preparing for them, and more. We also covered the monthly threat matrix for August, to include current drought and tropical storm threats to the nation. We ended our weekly rally with chatter that matters. Thanks to everyone who attended and supported the event. Next week's Zoom rally guest will be Alabama 5th District Congressional Candidate and retired Army Colonel Casey Wardynski.
Hope for Survival YouTube - Thank you, thank you. Going in to last weeks PENL we needed a single subscriber to get us over the 100 subscribers hurdle. Four folks signed up and we are now over the hump. A shout out to our North GA Patriots who subscribed as the No 100 and No 101. Thanks for the support and welcome to the new HFS YouTubers. We are happy to have you. If you haven't already subscribed to the page, please consider doing so. This informs you when HFS post a new video. Spend some time going through the videos.
You will find many helpful videos on canning, food preparedness, security and defense in depth, firearm safety discussions, canning meat, and other important topics. Thanks for your consideration. Because I still work a full time day job, time is limited and I have not been able to set up a routine schedule for recording and posting videos yet. Thanks for hanging with me. Share the link with family and friends. Thanks to everyone who subscribed in the past week few weeks.
HFS Mobile Schedule:
Aug 15 - Crossville, TN
Aug 17 - Frank/Dill Group Training Session - Clayton, GA
Aug 22 - Preparedness Training - Black Mountain, NC
August 27/28 - Monticello, KY - 2nd Annual Preparedness Training Day
Jan 2022 - Cannon Memorial Baptist Church, Central S.C.
If you would like HFS to come to your community to conduct training classes or speak on the important of preparedness feel free to contact me.
The 2nd Annual Preparedness Training Day Monticello, KY on August 27th and 28th will include a Friday evening meal with a Q and A session and Saturday will be a full day of training and opportunities to get better prepared and also participate in the Hope for Survival Preparedness Challenge Event.
This will be the first time the Preparedness Challenge will be conducted and the host of this event accepted the challenge and is reaching out to fellow preparers to participate in this three to four hour interactive training class where teams will build all preparedness plans for the given situation. Participants will take part as groups in urban, suburban, and rural settings. For more information email me at Preparedness101@protonmail.com
Communications: You can now follow HFS social media on the following outlets:
Facebook – Hope for Survival
YouTube Channel – Hope for Survival
MeWe: - //mewe.com/p/hopeforsurvival2
Connect and give me a shout. Share with family and friends.
Moving along …
If you are a guest or newcomer to the HFS journey, please check out this link for additional
information offered through HFS. https://www.hopeforsurvival.com/post/guest-and-newcomers-information-page
Hope for Survival books: You can obtain information on the two HFS books at this link: Survival, Preparedness, Disaster Management for individuals or family (hopeforsurvival.com)
Hope for Survival - How Food, Water, Shelter, and Security Could Save Your Life (Book 1)
Hope for Survival - The Mindset (Book 2)
We must make this brief public announcement to protect the innocent.
Ding, Ding, Ding....Attention HFS readers..... Opinions shared in this newsletter are just that, opinions, and nothing more. Read at your own risk. The owner and author of this site is not responsible for hurt feelings or thin-skinned readers. I do my best to show restraint and respect to the best extent possible. I take as many precautions as possible and try to remain as nonpolitical as possible, however, there are times when I just can't help but point certain things out. Occasionally I use words only Patriots recognize and understand. It's not personal against any non-Patriot. It's just the truth. Sometimes we must pull up our spenders and suck it up. Just saying. Stay the course, read what you want, and avoid the rest. Avoid fear porn as much as possible and the day will be okay. When all else fails… Keep the faith and always have Hope.
Let’s move along and get to some thoughts...
Thoughts for the week –
One of the greatest joys of being a part of Hope for Survival is when Ms. Lucy and I get to take road trips out and catch up to HFS members. We get to do this locally while at our home base and also when out traveling. Over the past week we got to catch up with several HFS members.
When departing Myrtle Beach last weekend we redirected our route home a bit to catch up to two of our HFS original members. It was a joy to break bread and spend a few hours together talking about the area, preparedness, and specific preparedness regarding the family we met for lunch. It was truly our honor to spend time together. Thank you for taking time out to visit with us to discuss your preparedness projects and things you enjoy doing as part of your preparedness steps. We even had a great discussion about toilet paper and specific types and quantities. Thanks for lunch and your support to HFS.
We also got to meet up with four HFS Patriots for dinner during the week in our community. As always, it was great to have a few hours together catching up on life, travels, family, faith, and preparedness. Thanks for the time together and hospitality you so graciously provided. Thanks for your work in our community to keep our security team and community preparedness effort moving forward. We are blessed and we thank you for your support to HFS.
We also got to meet two local HFS Patriots for dinner here in our local area. It has been more than a 18 months since we last got to get together. It was wonderful seeing you again and having some time to break bread and chat before heading off to Wednesday night service. Thanks for your time and support to HFS.
Next ....
Some of the PENL supporters are long time farmers, gardeners, and canners, while others are just starting or with less than five years experience. It has been a great path to keep up with while communicating with many preparers who are planting and growing food. From gardens to smaller land plots, boxes and raised beds, our preparers are now reaping the rewards of their hard work. I often tell folks I would rather deposit canned meat or veggies to the preparedness bank than drive through the bank and deposit cash into the bank savings account. If and when cash becomes worthless, the food investment will help my family survive.
The other side of the coin is folks who have stated they can't grow weeds. Growing weeds is like growing hair, right? Realistically, some folks have never tried to grow a garden. That is not a problem and many never needed to do so or have the space to do it. Heck, many probably never thought about doing it. Why should I grow a garden when the corner market has wonderful fresh and cheap produce. Oh, I must include the "can't" crowd as well. As an old supervisor used to tell us troops, "can't never could do nothing." I agree. If you don't try, you never know. Pessimism will lead to starvation. One key to success is the confidence in yourself to achieve the objectives needed to reach the finish line.
One of the key areas HFS has focused on from day 1 is the importance of food. Identifying need and quantity, types, plans, and availability as needed. Last summer I set up a small garden on a wooden pallet. Small? Yes. But, it was a size anyone living apartment life could consider. I showed the start of the garden and through the growth process to show it can be done with some effort. You must figure out a way to get fresh produce and vegetables when you can no longer buy them from the corner market. It is that simple. This is why canning, freeze drying and/or dehydrating them today is so important. A year ago many folks expressed fear in using a pressure canner to preserve food. Those same preparers are now canning today. Here is a couple pics from last year's pallet garden.
As you can see from the pictures above, one can grow a small garden in limited space as long as you have the seeds, or a plant, dirt or rocks to plant in, a source of water, and sunshine. What you plant, how you plant it, growth periods/seasons, and methods can vary based on where you are at, threat to you or your location, and other local factors. But, with effort, you can do it.
This year, I wanted to expand the size a bit to show that one can grow food with effort. I started out with two 8 ft x 8 ft boxes. I matted the ground to keep weeds out, then placed about 3-4 inches of dirt in the boxes. I then put in 8 bush type green bean plants, one zucchini, two squash, five beet, one cucumber, two tomato, one green bell pepper, three leaf lettuce, one jalapeno, two asparagus, one lavender, and one dill plant(s). From the start I had to give consideration to the size and method I wanted to use to make my point. I also had to resolve watering issues because of my availability over a gardening season was up in the air. Dealing with wildlife (rabbits, deer, bear, squirrels, ground chucks) is another issue, as I have had to do.
Here's a picture of the start up garden for this year:
This is the garden at the four week mark:
This is the garden at the eight week mark:
Here's the produce pulled from the garden when we returned from vacation (1 week away). We picked everything ready before we departed. The garden didn't take a vacation though. We came home to find 5 bags of veggies ready for the picking. Here's some pics of the treasures.
The great thing is this is not our first picking. This is picking four of the green beans. The first picking we froze about five servings and cooked one serving to taste the quality of the beans. Picking two Ms. Lucy and our grandson (9) washed, snapped, and canned about 9/10 pints. Picking three and four we froze about eight more servings of green beans.
With Ms. Lucy wondering what she would do with all these veggies, she checked out some recipes online and found one that would make for a tomato based sauce that would incorporate the squash and zucchini too. Combine 3 pounds of chopped tomatoes, 2 pounds of chopped squash with the seeds and soft part removed (she did 2 batches with a combo of the yellow and zucchini and 1 batch with just the yellow squash), 1 pound chopped onion (basically 2 of them), 1/2 cup minced garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 cup vinegar together in a large pan such as a stockpot. Bring to a boil, then simmer for one hour until the veggies have softened and start to liquify.
While this was cooking, she prepped the canning jars and lids following normal guidelines She opted to process using the water bath method, so it was important to have the jars sterilized and hot when the sauce was transferred to them. Once the sauce had cooked, she ladled small batches into our Cuisinart food processor and pureed. Then she ladled small batches into our food processor (or you could use an immersion blender), cleaned the rims of jars, and placed the softened lids and rings.
She used our regular pressure canner for doing the water bath technique which is basically getting the water boiling and having it an inch above the rims of the jars. This was started in time to be ready to receive the hot filled jars. They were processed for ten minutes in the boiling water and then removed to a towel to finish sealing. Love the sound of the "ping" that tells you they sealed. The recipe mentioned that you could also do an inversion seal. She had never done that before and was curious if it would work.
So with the 2 quart jars of sauce, instead of putting in the water bath, she turned them upside down for 15 minutes which let the heat of the sauce produce the seal. Then as they were turned upright, the vacuum was created. Sure enough, it worked and they are sealed. These 2 types of canning are only used for specific fruits and vegetables, so please do your research as she did on this, to take the necessary precautions and steps to insure that the final product is safe! Suggested shelf life was one year. Ms. Lucy let me taste test and it was very good. There you have it. Since this is not as thick as a pasta sauce, she will use it as a base for soups, chili, and casseroles. Is it dinner time yet?
If you didn't already figure it out, I love food.
I am sharing these thoughts with you for multiple reasons.
1. We grow food to enjoy the healthy and nutritional contribution the items make towards our diet, body and our family also. Canning, freeze drying, dehydrating....
2. We build a food stock in our home, and elsewhere, to have rainy day food stock to support us during natural and/or manmade disasters.
3. We also stock our food resources when we live further away from town and shopping locations.
4. We keep food resources available during rainy days such as seasonal periods, job loss, injuries, and long term events changing our way of life.
5. There's more but you get the point, right?
One question often asked is "how much do I grow,, when do I grow it and and what do I grow? The questions above are loaded questions because it could be a household of one, four, or more. What region of the nation do you live and what are your local growing seasons? HFS is currently working with an HFS supporter who is Excel program smart to devise a spread sheet for tracking your food supplies in your inventory.
Many preparers buy bulk resources without any consideration to the basic health of the individual unless the person has special needs such as diabetes, gluten allergies, and so forth. We must consider nutritional values of what we plan to purchase or plant. Something rarely mentioned is the human Basal metabolic rate or BMR. The BMR is the rate of energy expenditure per unit time by endothermic animals at rest. It is reported in energy units per unit time ranging from watt (joule/second) to ml O₂/min or joule per hour per kg body mass J/(h·kg). Proper measurement requires a strict set of criteria be met. These criteria include being in a physically and psychologically undisturbed state, in a thermally neutral environment, while in the post-absorptive state (i.e., not actively digesting food). In brady metabolic animals, such as fish and reptiles, the equivalent term standard metabolic rate (SMR) is used. It follows the same criteria as BMR, but requires the documentation of the temperature at which the metabolic rate was measured. This makes BMR a variant of standard metabolic rate measurement that excludes the temperature data, a practice that has led to problems in defining "standard" rates of metabolism for many mammals. If you want to check your BMR you can follow this link to use the BMR calculator to identify body fat, calories needed per ones exertion rate and so forth. BMR Calculator
Here is information to help you determine how much to grow per person and the amount you will need per person: Ms. Lucy sent this to me to support this weeks topic. It is a product from Piwakawaka Valley LTD - Copywrite 2017
When do you plant what type of seed? Here is a simple product to follow from the Plant Good Seed company.
Nutrition? Have you considered the nutritional or lack of nutritional value from what you are needing vs what you are consuming?
You may be asking why I am focused on food this week and with so much information. Those who know me will tell you I don't do predictions and the information I type and share with my name behind it is information we believe to be accurate based on the most available information that has been analyzed or it is a compilation of information we have collected, studied, and/or verified through sources. I do not give out human sources, so please do not ask me who told me. Just as I try to protect HFS Patriots, I also will protect human sources of information. I try to not post fear porn or information that chases a rabbit across the jungle and down a hole. You are right, rabbits do not live in a jungle.
Over the past two years HFS has attempted to focus on preparedness for the individual, the family, the community, and all the needed ingredients to make the preparedness salad successful. We have discussed EMPs, Without Rule of Law, Sat Phones and Ham Radios, medicinal plants and HCQ, Mind Control and 5 G, society without the rule of law (WROL), silver, gold, and 401K survival, water purification and more. You get my point, right?
There's a lot of reasons why I prepare and one key reason is based around threats. I have covered and pounded the Risk Analysis drum like other teams pounded the 1988 Baltimore Orioles in Major League baseball. I have covered vulnerability assessments and racking and stacking priorities found in your assessment. We have addressed plans and the need for plans. emergency, evacuation, food, security, route surveys and planning, family communication, .....plans. I cover these topics not because I want to spend the hours doing the side work before I share it with you but because my past history, world travel, research, shared information and current global, national, and local threat assessments tell me we have a clear need for it. With a systematic process over the past two and a half years, we have covered about every key point and process I believe is needed to put together a solid preparedness package and plan going forward. Why? It would be wrong to not try to help others and share it with you. Right? It is the Christian, Patriotic, and brotherly thing to do. We have grown to be family here at HFS. The million dollar question is are you listening and paying attention? From my side I can tell you some are paying attention and some are not. Some folks get so wrapped up in media psychological operations against society they fail to do the things needed to be prepared. That is an observation and not an insult. Being prepared is a personal choice and to what degree is also a personal choice. Why am I making these points?
In the HFS preparedness process I walked you through what I believed to be a process to help get preparers prepared. We more closely detailed and specifically addressed topics. Through Preparedness 101, 102, Family Communication Plans, Risk Analysis and so forth, I walked you through the process. Most recently I shared a Protecting Your Five Mile Radius class and information to hone in more specific to your location. I also covered WROL or without rule of law and things to be concerned about during this period of a collapse. I discussed the importance of knowing and understanding your community now and how not to share your preparedness plans or resource information with others. In the past month I went in to detail discussing how people will turn on people, families against families, friends against friends, neighbors against neighbors, and community team members on each other. "I can hear it coming ahead of posting this PENL, "Oh Bravo Echo, what are you talking about. No way, no how. People aren't barbaric. Americans do not do this to other Americans" Really? Those who think this way are going to most likely be the ones either out trying to find food or else handing over their food at gunpoint to someone they know. Sad reality. It is a sad reality to see how many families, parents, men, who simply put their faith and dependency in a system or the corner store. Is this truly taking care of your family? This method is as bad as sending kids to school to get educated and never looking at their books or cross-checking what they are being taught. Look at our nation today and tell me how this has worked out for us. We see failures taking place around every corner and people still ignore it. This may not be you but it certainly will be the family across the street or around the corner. It may be your family to be clear.
Starvation is real. It is not something we read or hear about often unless one does their homework and research. Through history, studies are documented and history has proven over and over humans are barbaric and worse than animals towards one another when starvation is the issue. Starving humans will do desperate things to get food. Parents will kill to get food for starving children. Studies have proven teenagers are the most violent human to deal with when they are starving. Since the wall came down in Berlin and the Soviet Union collapsed, research the number of Eastern European parents who must prostitute their children, both male and female, to get money for surviving. Parents sale babies to get money to survive. America has been protected for the most part with the exception of the great depression. America today is different. People are lazy and they have minimal skills to survive. You can decide your own opinion on that statement. Think back to your childhood years. Boys would play Army or football in the side yard or neighborhood. Remember the bicycle ramps to jump over? Do you see this today? I digress.
When you secretly fire up your boiling water and start cooking a bagged meal or MRE, you better believe the person or family across the fence who has not eaten for two weeks will smell your food. Guess who is not coming to dinner? This is why it is so critical now to prepare and help others around you to prepare within your five mile radius planning.
I would encourage you to turn off your television and take some time to read these studies: Historically, starvation is one of the greatest weapons to use against a human. As Sun Tzu said in the Art of War (everyone should read this book) "When the enemy is relaxed, make them toil. When full, starve them. When settled, make them move.” It is more effective to starve you, your family, and community than me risk the life of my people or waste my resources to fight it out. Simply circle you and cut off your way of life and access to food. You will submit to me when starvation starts to settle in. Think about it.
I would encourage you to check out these studies and findings from past starvation studies:
1. The Psychology of Hunger - The psychology of hunger (apa.org)
2. The Minnesota Starvation Experiment - The Minnesota starvation experiment - BBC News
3. They starved to make the lives of others better - z4w00605001347.pdf (silverchair.com)
4. The great starvation experiment - The Great Starvation Experiment — University of Minnesota Press (umn.edu)
5. The Stanford Prison Experiment - Stanford Prison Experiment
6. Milgram Study on Obedience - Milgram's Experiments and the Perils of Obedience (verywellmind.com)
7. The Milgram Experiment:
There are many books you can pick up to read on comparable topics. I would encourage you to read:
The Gulag Archipelago - Vintage Solzhenitsyn
Survival Theory - A Preparedness Guide - Jonathan Hollerman
SHTF Survival Stores - Selco Begovic
The Lucifer Effect - P. C. Libardo
Street Survival Skills - Fernando Aguirre
Lights Out - A Cyberattack, a Nation Unprepared, Surviving the Aftermath - Ted Koppel
Blackout Wars - Dr. Peter Vincent Pry
As we live through unknown events and what the future may hold here on earth, a percentage of our population, mostly the Z generation desires a Socialistic style of government. They are simply brainwashed. You can research Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea, and other former Socialist/Communist regimes to see how the citizens end up starving. If a government starves you, they control you.
We can focus on all types of natural and manmade disasters, as we often do. An EMP of any level would be devastating to our great nation and our people. Long term droughts, floods, ice storms, food shortages ...... all directly impacts humans in the disaster area. The EMP could bring the entire nation to its knees possibly. We have never experienced a nationwide disaster. of this magnitude in America. Ever. If it happens and many of the top EMP experts believe it is only a matter of time, we will not be focused on the EMP and who launched. We will all be in full survival mode 24 x 7. It will be each man, woman, and child against the world. How well you prepare or do not prepare now could be the difference in your end story.
The path we choose going forward remains uncertain however you are being afforded the early warning siren to prepare yourself and your family and community to do your best to avoid starvation. The question remains what will you do? No one else can do it for you. It is on you. I often hear Patriots and others state they will trust in God to provide their needs. I don't doubt God will provide but I can also state there are 75 references to hunger and starvation in the Bible. God does not recognize laziness or dependence on others as a solution. Even the strongest can be weakened and psychologically altered through starvation. When the local grocery store is empty and neighbors shoot trespassers in their gardens, what is your plan to get food to survive if you chose to ignore the warnings around you now? If you prepare now and things turn out fine in the future, great. You now have plenty of food going forward. It is a win win situation. If you choose not to prepare a food plan and stock resources and things turn bad, it is not a win win outcome. It is your choice fellow Patriots.
Okay, lets move along to the news…
Preparedness News –
1. From Indiana Lee - The Organic Prepper - What Are the Benefits of Living in a Sustainable Community? - (theorganicprepper.com) - A sustainable community would be awesome. At this point in the game being a part of any type of preparedness community would be a plus.
2. From Bob Rodger's - Preppers Will - How To Refresh Your Survival Skills (prepperswill.com) - If you are a true preparer you know and practice an evergreen style of preparing. That means, you continually check and recheck your resources and adjust accordingly. You also include a "one is none, two is one, and three is better" philosophy in all you do.
3. From Tim Mackay - Modern Survival Online - So How Long Will My Propane Last? (modernsurvivalonline.com) - Wow, this could be one of the most important questions one could ask if they are depending on resources fueled by propane.
4. From Old World Garden Farms - How To Freeze Sweet Corn - Step By Step Instructions Included (oldworldgardenfarms.com) - If you have ever pulled frozen corn from your freezer and said "yummy" when the corn glowed until cooked and it turned out mushy, this article is for you.
5. From Christine C.- Ask a Prepper -What You Should Do With Your Eggshells - Ask a Prepper - We use egg shells in our composting however you can learn many other methods in this article.
Other News –
1. From Michael Snyder - The Economic Collapse - 2021 Is 1984 – Our Liberties And Freedoms Are Being Ripped Away From Us And America Is Almost Gone (theeconomiccollapseblog.com) - Isn't it funny how we watch Patriotic movies and watch and cheer for good guys fighting tyranny and oppression? Isn't it also funny how in the real world we see the same tyranny and oppression all around us but we don't see many of the good guys out in the streets taking it on? Just saying.
2. Living through a Coup - 1979 Iran and lessons for Americans today:
Drum roll...........
That's all my Patriot brothers and sisters.
Thanks for your continued support to HFS, your emails, messages, and prayers to the HFS family. We appreciate each of you.
Prayers - Please keep our great nation, our elected leaders, military and first responders in your thoughts and prayers. We pray for good health and wisdom. Please pray for our leadership to find answers and guidance to the problems facing our great nation. May your faith remain strong and answers to the unknown provided. God is good and may our prayers blanket and protect you and your circumstances. I pray for each, and every one of our Patriots.
May we pray for all the blessings and things in life to be thankful about and continued hope for revival around the world. We must continually pray for the unsaved, our family and friends who live each day without the protection for eternal life and salvation.
We have Patriots with personal prayer needs and/or family members with prayer needs as well.
Please pray for our Patriot brother in Northern Alabama who is suffering from Covid and has been hospitalized over two weeks in ICU. He needs immediate uplifting in prayer and recovery. Prayers to his family as well.
Please keep our Patriot sister in Western, NC in our prayers for a complete recovery from health issues she suffered from over the past week. Prayers also to her husband and doctors going forward.
Please pray for a Patriot sister and her husband who awaits much needed surgery to relieve his pain. Hospitals are full and his surgery could be postponed.
As we have prayer needs for answers to health and family matters we also have prayers of thanks for recent health answers and recoveries.
We all must pray strong and often for the citizens of our great nation. Many of our sisters and brothers are struggling daily with things they witness, encounter, and are surprised with out of the norm. Many times we are in unchartered areas, however, we still must keep our faith and focus on the big picture. Our prayers and faithful strength together will be required often to battle the evils being thrown upon all of us minute by minute.
As Patriots we must stay strong and never give up. Our home, community and nation needs us now more than ever. Stay focused on your local community and things that will impact you around the nation. Don't allow the events around you to create fear in your life. Build your own self-reliance and focus on hope. Remember we are a blessed nation and we must continue to be great people today and make a better tomorrow. Keep charging."
Blessings,
Bravo Echo Out,
