Patriot Express Newsletter Edition #133
Fellow Patriots,
Greetings and welcome to the Patriot Express Newsletter Edition #133. Thank you for stopping by to share your time with us. Did you have a great October? Are you better prepared now than at the start of the month? I hope so. Time is dwindling away and access to preparedness resources are quickly vanishing from shelves around you. Many families will face a drastic change come Nov 22, 2021. That is the vaccination drop dead date for many. Take the vax or go home. Do you know another significant event in our history that happened on a Nov 22? Our former President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on this date in 1963.
It was another great week at HFS and we close October 2021. I am feeling blessed and appreciative to all the HFS Patriots for their work and efforts to prepare. I am seeing and hearing from many of you to learn all the great things taking place. Keep charging ahead and don't look back. Preparedness is a mindset and lifestyle. Once you start down the path it is hard to go back to life's ways before you started. Do you feel the same way?
Hope for Survival held the second annual Hope for Survival Preparedness Rally in Waynesville, NC on Saturday, Oct 23, 2021, and had a great response from Patriots to share their day together. I will share more on this under my thoughts for the week.
Let us move along...
Hope for Survival now a Satellite Phone Affiliate - This is the last PENL in October and Patriots continue jumping on the Satellite Phone deal. I can share numerous reasons why a Satellite Phone fits great in your preparedness plans. I can tell you many reasons why it is a great resource to have day to day. If and when a disaster strikes, I personally want every tool available to me for surviving and keeping my family and friends safe. It is that simple.
Owning a Satellite Phone offers a great communication advantage to a Family Communication Plan. Here is a link to more information on this topic. Hope for Survival - Satellite Phone Affiliate If you have decided you want a satellite phone already, go to the HFS website main page or blog page to find a box on the upper left and right sides. They are preloaded with the HFS Code. Check it out here as well :Blog | Survival (hopeforsurvival.com) If you have any questions please feel free to email me at Preparedness101@hopeforsurvival.com These phones are available until they sell out. If you purchased a phone already or plan to do so, watch this short video as Justin walks you through some simple steps to assist you. It's as easy as 1, 2, 3.
Thursday Zoom Rallies – HFS Zoom Rally #73 was conducted with topics covering perimeter security around your home and property, the bigger threat than marauders, the importance of having a team and the "What would you do" segment. We then conducted our chatter that matters session. It was great spending time together for our weekly zoom rally. Thanks to those who attended.
Hope for Survival YouTube - I posted a new HFS video this week titled HFS Preparedness Rally II for your enjoyment. This video discusses the second annual HFS rally just completed in Waynesville, NC. I shared some photos from the event as well. Here is the link to the new video. HFS Rally II Waynesville NC Oct 2021 Part 1 Merged - YouTube New Patriots will find many helpful videos on canning, food preparedness, security and defense in depth, firearm safety discussions, canning meat, and other important topics. Here is the link to the HFS YouTube page. (5) Hope For Survival - YouTube
If you have not already, please consider subscribing to the HFS YouTube channel. We would appreciate 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 Training:
If you would like HFS to come to your community to conduct training classes or speak on the importance of preparedness feel free to contact me.
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
Odysee - Hope for Survival (odysee.com)
Rumble - HopeforSurvival (Platform established. Videos coming soon)
Connect and give me a shout. Share with family and friends.
Guest and Newcomers
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: The holidays are approaching quickly and now is a great time to order and receive copies of my two preparedness books. In the past HFS members purchase books for family members who may be in their early stages of preparedness. It is also a good time to purchase books because all proceeds off the books goes to a local charity to fund food for those in need. The number in need today is high and they will go higher going in to winter as many work seasonal jobs or others who are losing jobs because of no vaccination. HFS donates the largest amount to this cause during the holiday period to help ensure all families will have a good meal over Thanksgiving and/or Christmas. HFS is very appreciative to past purchases of my books to help support this growing need.
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 –
The Second Annual Hope for Survival Rally was conducted Saturday, October 23rd, in Waynesville, NC where roughly 53 HFS Patriots gathered for the day to hear HFS Team briefs, receive four training classes, and share time meeting and sharing preparedness concerns, projects, and bonding together. It was a great day overall.
HFS started building preparedness teams for developing community preparedness at the start of 2021. Through Covid-19 obstacles, road miles, and lots of communication, HFS established nine regional Preparedness Teams/Nodes/Tribes in Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Georgia. I am proud of all the individuals for their effort, time, and dedication to this effort. Team members from the nine teams briefed everyone on training sessions and the positives and negatives the teams are encountering along this effort. One of the teams showed their team book, its contents, and purpose for the book. I can't stress enough the need for having things in writing. Plans. Plans. Plans. Great job.
The attendees also received training classes on; building a faraday can, making pitcher bread, securing your home doors, and the ABC's of Trauma Care. I noticed a lot of note taking during the training classes which was great. I was a bit surprised at the number of personnel not familiar with the purpose of a faraday can, bag, or cage. The trainers on this topic provided a great description of the purpose of this resource.
I appreciate all the team briefers and training instructors who took time to brief and educate all the attendees. I wanted this years rally to be about the HFS Patriots and for the attendees to hear the voices of their fellow members. You get to hear from Festus and myself enough during the year at the weekly Zoom rallies.
Along with Ms. Lucy and Festus, I want to thank everyone for making the effort to attend the rally and support HFS each and every day. I also want to pass a big thanks to the three Patriot sisters who helped me organize the event and arrived early to secure the pavilion. Additionally I want to thank everyone who contributed support items, such as the wood burning heater, snacks, propane stove for hot water, coffee, tea, and other goodies. Lastly I want to thank everyone who volunteered to assist with the medical emergency (not HFS related) that took place approximately 50 yards from the HFS pavilion.
Next....
As we live through this time in our history with so many unknowns ahead, a huge conflict taking place over the past months and the days ahead. That being, should I get the Covid-19 vaccination or not? The more conversations I hear on this topic the more divided sides have grown. Families are divided to the point children are swearing at their parents and denying access their grandchildren. Single parent homes are losing jobs. How many local businesses will close the doors for good? It saddens me to think of the end result for many.
I am not a doctor nor do I give any intent of being one. I have friends on both sides. I support both decisions because I do believe it is a case by case circumstance. The decision to be vaccinated must be made within the home by the applicable family involved. It is that simple.
For those who are not getting vaccinated and wish to seek alternative treatments below are a few committed providers to assist you with questions, care, and resources if that is the route you opt to take. We have been using one of the listed locations for the past 18 months are receive purchased resources ordered at a fair price. You can check one or more of these out if you desire.
• Seven Cells - Seven Cells – Promo Code – Deace
• Early Treatment Report - HOME | Early Treatment Report
• Silver Strand Urgent Care - Urgent Care | Silver Strand Urgent Care | Imperial Beach
• Ivermectin Tin - Ivermectin cost - Ivermectin for sale (ivermecten.com)
• My Free Doctor - MyFreeDoctor.com's Free Doctor consults all 50 states!
• Push Health Telemed - Push Health - Virtual Concierge Medical Care
• Dr Stella (Formerly Front Line Drs) - Welcome to Dr. Stella Immanuel MD (drstellamd.com)
• InsulinHub - Buy Insulin online at low cost | Get insulin online at affordable cost (insulinhub.com)
Next...
I had the opportunity to have a one on one chat with close friend who is also a coworker in my day job. I have mentioned him here in the PENL. He is a retired Marine and a Patriot who prepares at home and with his grown children. We had a great conversation discussing preparedness and where HFS is at today, things accomplished in the short history of HFS. It was nice to hear his observations and comments. We have worked together in Emergency Management the past 14 years. He asked me if when I started HFS, would I ever have imagined HFS would be where it is at today and I quickly responded absolutely not.
HFS is about 2 1/2 years old and we started with three people. Now, we have over 500 signed up for the weekly PENL, a zoom group that has met for 73 consecutive weeks, a YouTube channel with close to 50 videos and over 100 followers, nine regional HFS Preparedness groups, two books, and annual preparedness rallies, and the best patriot sisters and brothers anyone could dream of having. It is crazy.
The main point of our conversation was the discussion was the ability to continue focusing on the basic preparedness needs and goals. A faith focus, individual and group mindset, commitment, learning, sharing, bonding, building, to have individual self-reliance and capabilities. He also complimented the HFS efforts to get fellow Patriots involved at the local level. We compared a lot of the process to the same processes we learned and taught in our military years. Sadly, we both agreed a time is coming soon that will require the masses around America to survive through some rough days ahead.
It was a good conversation and I wanted to share his compliments of HFS to all of you because HFS is about you and helping as many people as possible through HFS and through the regional groups in local communities. Of the thousands of veterans I have known and worked with, my Marine friend is near or at the top of my list for the ones I have the most respect.
Next ...
In the most recent PENL I covered one of the key essentials to basic preparedness. Water. This week I want to provide some thoughts on food and food planning. Regardless of the type; store bought, home grown, home canned, hunting and fishing, freeze drying or dehydrating, you will need a plan and understanding of what you are doing, how much you have, how much you need, and applying the "one is none, two is one, and three is better" philosophy to your planning. Do you have enough food to feed your family through two growing seasons in the event you can't grow enough food in a single season to feed your family. I cover food preparedness in depth in my first book, Hope for Survival, How Food, Water, Shelter, and Security, could save your life. Many folks rush out and buy loads and loads of food which is fine, but did they build a food plan before the purchase? You must lay out some degree of a food diet with the proper calories. Will your family eat and enjoy all the items you purchased? Did you even consider it? Do you understand how and when to apply the different types of food? Do you plan to feed your family a diet of dehydrated meals only? Really?
Here is some information from HFS Book 1 mentioned above:
Stage 1 – Short Term Preparedness
This is your basic level of food preparedness. Stage 1 food preparedness equates to preparing for a Level 1 event or up to twelve months. This is an initial disaster event cutting off some degree of your access to normality. Things you should remember would be: what is the direct threat to you? How are you and your way of life vulnerable to the threat? How will you possibly mitigate any portion of the threat that is impacting your way of life? Is there a short-term fix? Do you have the ability to monitor the event as it continues or progresses? This is important because you must monitor any changes that advances the event past the Level 1 stage. This is the initial stage where you will not only deal with your initial food stock, but the shock of what is going on around you to cause you to initiate Stage 1.
As previously stated, the Federal Government previously recommended you maintain a ten-day supply of non-perishable food and water to take care of you and your family during periods where events change day-to-day to life. The suggestion today is a six month supply. Initially the government advised us to maintain a three-day recommendation. Why the increase? Previously in some geographically isolated areas, there was a fourteen-day recommendation. You may wish to monitor this periodically to ensure any changes will not impact you. Remember, you want to stay ahead of the 90% masses. Avoid having to shop amongst the masses when resources are limited to the populace. If you are at Level 2 and going to Level 3, it will not matter because you are far past the fourteen-day requirement.
In your initial effort to get you to the fifteen to thirty-day food storage goal, ensure you avoid foods that will make you thirsty and choose salt-free crackers, whole grain cereals, and canned foods with a high liquid content. You can visit www.ready.gov/food for more suggestions and recommendations.
Keep the focus straight. Like I said before, you want to be a part of the 10% group and not the 90% group. You want to stay a step ahead of the unprepared, always. The 90 % group will not prepare or have extra food stocked for any given reason. This is not a slam against them. It is a reality in life, and you do not want to be standing in the checkout aisle while people fight over the last tootsie roll or plastic Cheetos tank.
During your initial food purchase, if you can afford to start with a two-week minimum supply and if possible a thirty-day supply, go for it. Get yourself over the initial hurdle. This will get you past the initial surge of citizens not preparing. Don't panic. You can't have 30 days before you have two weeks. You won't reach 180 days before securing 90 days.
Another consideration is to not only stock your home or bug in location, but also keep a three-day supply of food and water in your Ready Bag (Go Bag or Mobile Bag) in case you are stranded and cannot get home, or you must leave your vehicle behind and begin the walk to home. Plan for every imaginable possibility. Why do I need food in my car when I work five miles from home and could walk home to get more food? You are going to need energy to complete the walk. Especially if you are not in shape. You may not have a direct 5 mile walk home. You may encounter road blocks and be diverted miles off course to avoid threats. You want to stay out of the box and left of bang.
Because situations change, you should tailor your food plan according to your family and specifics. When developing the different levels of your food supply, include some dehydrated meals high in protein and calories in the event you must transition between home and an alternate location. In this case, you are leaving behind your primary food stock and anything other than dehydrated meals will add more weight. This does not include energy bars, nuts, sprouts, or things of this nature. You will have a fair selection of individual meals, bucket meals, and #10 can food selections to choose from. There’s several brands you can purchase however availability is becoming limited. Currently, Augason foods is shut down till at least January 2022, Mountain House, Wise, Mary Jane Foods, Harmony House, Meals Ready to Eat (MREs) and others. are still available but often on back order. Try a couple brands to find one or more that you like and that your digestive system can handle. Personally, I use an assortment of brands to fit my multi-faceted food plan. I also included sprouts in my food plan for my Ready Bag.
During your planning phase, think about possible threats to impact your home that would impact your ability to prepare meals. If your threat is a loss of power, fires, ice, and floods is your food supply tailored around this possibility so you can still utilize the food? What are your cooking options after the above events? Do you have a propane grill? Gas? Fireplace? Solar? Build this capability into your plan.
Just as importantly, can you protect your food stock during your preparedness period and Level 1 event? Keep your plans and efforts to yourself. Remind your children not to speak of the resources. Better yet, store the resources out of sight and consider not sharing it with your children. You do not want your 12-year-old sharing a picture of your 500 Twinkies stocked beside the 500 Slim Jim’s on the internet.
When the societal system breaks down and citizens become hungry, they will search high and low, and hurt or kill anyone in their path to find something to eat. As previously stated, the Federal Government noted in a study that 90% of society will die in the first 12 months of a long-term disaster such as the EMP, a pandemic, or a total collapse. If you want to know more about the starvation threat read my earlier article on the topic at this link: PENL #122 under thoughts for the week discussing starvation. Patriot Express Newsletter Edition #122 (hopeforsurvival.com)
Stage 2: Mid-Level Preparedness
Following all the previous guidance and thoughts in preparing your food supply, Stage 2 is preparing for one to three years. This would be resources required for a Level 2 event. Storage space becomes a bigger issue as your stock builds. You must also consider maintaining stocked supplies at multiple locations in the event you are robbed, or you suffer a disaster at your home. Imagine stocking a three-year supply of resources and your home burns. When you are in the 1-3-year stage of preparedness, you should consider the fact you may have to relocate from your “Bug In” location. If so, can you physically move your supplies if you haven’t previously cached them at another site?
Stage 3: Long Term Preparedness
Again, follow all the previous guidance and thoughts in preparing your food supply. Stage 3 is preparing for a three year and beyond event. This would require resources for a Level 2-3 event. You need a multifaceted food plan for this stage. This would most likely be some type of event impacting all the United States or a global type event. As previously mentioned, one of the most important things to remember is to create your own food source through gardening and raising animals.
Some basic information you should know is this. We know a single person requires
approximately 1055 gallons of water for one year. You can divide that out to equal just under three gallons per day. This does not include bathing your pets or flushing the toilet. This is the minimal to survive. And, did you know a household of two requires 188 rolls of toilet paper per year. Doesn’t sound important, huh? That is until you don’t have any at all. If you believe that it is not important, ask the people in Venezuela who are walking across the country’s border to obtain the precious paper.
So, you ask, “How much food is needed?” in this preparedness process. There’s many guidelines to keep in mind. I would strongly encourage that you use a food calculator that allows you to input the number of personnel, adults, children, pet(s), how many hours, days, months, servings needed per day/person along with how much you desire for grain, fruit and vegetables, dairy and meat/protein. Then you can figure out the serving amount needed for these staples, and other items such as sweets, drink mixes, and fats.
The above suggestions are for the individual with time and finances to complete the Level 1 – 3 recommendations. You may or may not be allotted the time and may have to put together as much as possible in minimal time. Regardless, you should keep a food calculator available to help you measure out meals and calories per person in your group. You will find many food calculator examples on the internet. Test them and see which works best for you. Here are a few examples: www.familysurvivalplanning.com/food-storage-calculator.html
This website provides a very easy system to understand and help you identify your food needs. You basically input the number of individuals 7 years of age and over, or number of individuals 6 and under, hit calculate, and the food totals are displayed. Now, this isn’t perfect science, but it will get you in the ballpark of your needs. Remember, it’s better than starting with nothing!
http://www.thefoodguys.com/foodcalc.html
A noticeable difference in these first two is the recommendation for stored water.
https://modernsurvivalblog.com/food-storage-calculator-for-one-year-bulk-supply/
You will find each food calculator provides comparable quantities suggested. I did not see any significant differences in the process used or the numbers provided. The key is to use it while it’s available and print it out for current and future use. Another great source is The Mormon Handbook for Prepping.
Consider playing around with one of the calculators and input different numbers and get different quantities needed. Why? If you plan for four and you end up with three, five or seven, and if the internet is not available to you or your cook, you may use more supplies than planned for. Print out each sheet with adjusted numbers for future use and keep with the food stock or in your library that was suggested earlier in the book. Aside from the food calculator, use some form of a nutritional chart to allow you to keep your meal menus as close to possible to a nutritional diet. Just because your stomach is full, doesn’t mean you are eating healthy.
Nutritional Requirements
I will cover food storage options in the next PENL #134
And that is it for my thoughts this week. Let's move along now to some preparedness and other news for the week.
Preparedness News –
1. From Rick Murphy - Urban Survival - Emergency Radio Frequencies Every Prepper Should Know (urbansurvivalsite.com) - Communications is one of the most time consuming parts of preparedness preparations and planning. We have ham, GMRS, walkie-talkies, cell phone and now the satellite phone. The comfort of having the satellite phone gives us more confidence we can communicate during emergencies. This list provided here is a great addition and should be printed or written down for tools to support radio communications.
2. From Cery - Back to our roots - Homemade Soft Italian Bread Recipe For Beginners (backtoourroots.net) - This is another good recipe to add to your collection.
3. From Bob Rodgers - Survivopedia - Home defense and perimeter protection - Survivopedia - You have probably heard much of this before if you read my first book or follow articles on the HFS website. It never hurts to hear other opinions and pick up on additional information. You must also tweak and adjust your plans according to changing threats.
4. From Linda Loosli - Food Storage Moms - Disaster Preparedness Plan Every Family Needs - Food Storage Moms - Plans, Plans, and more plans. I'm all about having a risk assessment and building plans around what you are doing and the associated risk to the plan. Do you have plans?
5. From Keitha Thuy Young - Milkwood - Start Your Own Home Herbal Medicine Cabinet - Using Wild Plants Growing Near You - Milkwood - This is a great topic and need for preparers. Investing time and understanding the topic is the key and commitment.
6. From Rhonda Owen - Preppers Will - Tips For Harvesting and Eating Flower Buds (prepperswill.com) - Another great asset to consider in your preparedness training and planning.
Other News -
1. From Rich M. - Ask a Prepper - What Is The Closest Power Plant To Your Home - Ask a Prepper - Great information to be knowledgeable of in your area.
2. From Kim Severson - Seattle Times - This year’s Thanksgiving feast will wallop the wallet | The Seattle Times - The shot has been sounded. Buy it while you can and consider buy a bit extra. As HFS predicted one year ago, food prices will continue to sky rocket through the holidays. By January 2022, there be no food stock available.
3. From Didi Rankovic - Reclaim the Net - ProtonMail wins appeal against surveillance laws (reclaimthenet.org) - Many of the HFS Patriots currently use Protonmail for its end to end encryption capability. This is a big court win.
4. From John and Nisha Whitehead - The Rutherford Institute - The Rutherford Institute :: Mayhem & Madness: Authoritarian Monsters Wreak Havoc on Our Freedoms | By John W. Whitehead & Nisha Whitehead | - A famous line from my military career was the Sgt coming out and yelling "smoke them if you got them." Today, its more like you better enjoy your freedoms while you got them because tomorrow they could be gone.
5. From Tyler Duren - Zero Hedge - Biden's "Come On, Man" Defense Will Not Fly On Religious Freedom | ZeroHedge - Biden? Religious Freedoms? What? Maybe todays pastors need to grow a spine and stand up to the government and corporate establishments to represent the word of God and the church. Remember back during WW II how the church was an essential factor in towns and cities?
Drum roll...........
That's all my Patriot brothers and sisters.
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.
Even with all the worldly challenges, struggles, and heartbreaks we must always give thanks for the blessings in our own life and our family each day. Life can be hard and sometimes unfair to us, but we still have many things to be thankful for each day. We must not forget them.
Many HFS Patriots are in tough situations and having to choose between the Covid-19 vaccine or losing their jobs. Please pray for wisdom and discernment as these folks move forward with a decision.
We have Patriots with personal prayer needs and/or family members with prayer needs as well.
Please keep our Patriot family in your prayers as they work through the struggles of life each day after the death of family member in the Middle TN area. We watch the nation unravel around us and wonder about the future. This family lost a husband, father, and friend and the struggles are in the home and everyday life. I know your prayers would be appreciated.
Please keep our Patriot sister in your prayers for proper and timely heeling following eye surgery. We pray her vision will be better soon.
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,
Preparedness101@protonmail.com
